2.2006.39-14 IT2006 available at maemo.org

[fanoush]

Looks like there is new update available at
http://www.maemo.org/downloads/nokia_770

mentioned in https://maemo.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=663
so BT keyboard crash is fixed

[falcn]

I there a "whats new" list for this update?

Bugzilla is down ATM.

[Boke]

http://maemo.org/pipermail/maemo-announce/2006-November/000030.html

Here

[phi]

"finger usage improvements?"

its also available if you use Nokia's Windows Update Wizard tool for those on Windows.

[benny1967]

Anyone who tried it? I don't want to be first ;-)

Also, does it matter where I'm from or is this a universal release for Europe and the US?

[xnio333x]

No mention of a flash player upgrade. Grrrrr....

I think I'm going to sell my 770 and get a Q1...

Anyone get a chance to install it yet? I'm at work and won't be able to install it until later.

[maxilogan]

I'm trying now, it succeeded and I'm currently restoring my backup, I'll let you know...

[falcn]

Alternative download link:
http://www.nokiausa.com/support/phones/softwareupdate/1,8461,770,00.html

[Hedgecore]

Looks like this was a house-keeping release; excellent! I'll dump it on when I get home and see if stability has improved much.

Any word on Opera Links being unresponsive for the first couple clicks?
Is the onscreen KB more responsive like it used to be in 2005? (Using the quick gestures for linefeed, space, etc takes multiple tries sometimes now)

[ascherjim]

As I just reflashed my 2006-OS yesterday (and went through all the throes of restoring apps, etc.,), how do I determine whether I downloaded and installed this latest one on my 770? Where on my 770 is this information contained. Dumb question, I know.

[wiredless]

ascherjim It will say in control panles/device/about product.

[schmolch]

YAY, flashing right now :-)

[maxilogan]

Do anyone know wheter or not the old kernel with NFS enabled will work with this release?

[schmolch]

The new kernel is this: 2.6.16.27-omap1
Doesn't look much different, right?
Im gonna have to flash the mmc4 kernel now.

[schmolch]

I just feel kinda stupid because i backuped my ext3-module on a ext3 partition.

[schmolch]

Oh no, the mmc4 kernel does not work, the 770 goes into a reboot-loop.

[fanoush]

Kernel is different, initfs seems to be a bit different too. I'd suggest to not to use any hack from my page. For kernel update we may need to wait for kernel sources. Last time it took few days.

[ascherjim]

Wiredless: Thanks for the quick response. I'd previously checked that Control Panel Device locale, but because it indicated that the present version (which I'd flashed yesterday) was presumably identified as 1.2006.26-8, and the new one according to fanoush is 39-14, I suspected that there might be some imprecision in the Device locale's information. Hence my query.

Fanoush: As I'm so dependent on your various "hacks," I indeed will wait until you and others have appropriately sorted all these matters out. What a slog! But not entirely unenjoyable -- and certainly educational.

[schmolch]

There comes a ext3-module with the update but i can't insmod it: Unknown symbol in module (-1): No such file or directory.

[Peter The Plumber]

I'm missing something here, probably really simple. I tried to use the Linux flasher found at and following the directions on <http://maemo.org/maemowiki/HOWTO_FlashLatestNokiaImageWithLinux>. Both as root and as ordinary user I get 'permission denied'. I still have a MS box available so I might try that but as many others I rely on programs written and put out by some many people I should probably wait. I'm assuming that this update will eventually show up under 'check for updates' in the App manager. I would like to sort out just exactly what it is I'm doing wrong with my Linux machine for future reference.
Peter

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

I'm missing something here, probably really simple. I tried to use the Linux flasher found at and following the directions on <http://maemo.org/maemowiki/HOWTO_FlashLatestNokiaImageWithLinux>. Both as root and as ordinary user I get 'permission denied'. I still have a MS box available so I might try that but as many others I rely on programs written and put out by some many people I should probably wait. I'm assuming that this update will eventually show up under 'check for updates' in the App manager. I would like to sort out just exactly what it is I'm doing wrong with my Linux machine for future reference.
Peter


This may be helpful:

http://maemo.org/maemowiki/Flasher_tool_usage#head-5fca2a5ef2fcdf24126e59b6624e85726b0d9ec1

Etaoin

[phi]

Was painless with the Windows Wizard. I haven't noticed much difference although they still don't support bluetooth networking so I had to restore all those scripts back along with the root hacks.

[Patnet]

Right scroll bar on the browser is missing. It's like Nokia don't have any quality control on this.

[Peter The Plumber]

This may be helpful:

http://maemo.org/maemowiki/Flasher_...24e85726b0d9ec1

Etaoin

Thanks! I was looking at the wrong set of permissions. Doh!

[ilia]

Right scroll bar on the browser is missing. It's like Nokia don't have any quality control on this.

right scroll bar appears fine for me.

[ascherjim]

Having had to reflash the 2006-OS yesterday and installing it on my new Kingston 2GB mobile MMC card and only partially then reinstalling all my applications before this latest OS "hit" us, I find that the only really complete and intact operating system I now have on which to rely is on my ext2 partition on my former1GB card. How great it is to have that as a backup operating system. Now, I can sit back and wait for further developments before trying a further upgrade.

[Patnet]

right scroll bar appears fine for me. Yes, it amazingly re-appeared after a couple of re-boots and changing the background from orange to gray. Somthing to do with the Tableteer home page code maybe. Anyway, alert over.

[benny1967]

I am happy to report that there's a major improvement with opera (at least for me): a popular austrian news site, derstandard.at, now works for the very first time. It used to crash the browser whenever I tried it in the past, even with settings like "no images, no flash". - so, no more need for minimo... until minimo implements 90° screen rotation. ;-)

[penguinbait]

I am happy to report that there's a major improvement with opera (at least for me): a popular austrian news site, derstandard.at, now works for the very first time. It used to crash the browser whenever I tried it in the past, even with settings like "no images, no flash". - so, no more need for minimo... until minimo implements 90° screen rotation. ;-)


I am running the old 2006 OS (not beta, first release) and that webpage loads fine for me, nothing crashing. It could be maybe your cache was corrupted, and clearing it might have fixed it for you. Or maybe they changed there website?

[=DC=]

Web surfing is definately snappier than in the previous binary.

[cybe]

impressive!

have noticed:
- feels snappier...
- handwriting input seems to be useful now...
- that bad bug with the virtual keyboard fixed..

[fanoush]

but the old bug - 'close one window -> browser crashes and all windows are gone' is still there :-(

[benny1967]

I am running the old 2006 OS (not beta, first release) and that webpage loads fine for me, nothing crashing. It could be maybe your cache was corrupted, and clearing it might have fixed it for you. Or maybe they changed there website?
Strange - maybe I was too enthusiastic about the new release. :)

I'm quite sure I cleared the cache 2 or 3 weeks ago and did a comparison minimo/opera afterwards, with opera still crashing on derstandard.at. I also don't think they changed the site. But: derstandard.at includes a lot of ads in the most unusual places. Maybe crashing or not with opera depends on which ads (and how many of them) are there? Could be...

[=DC=]

Has anyone else noticed a failure to access memory cards? It's showing that there's no card inserted.

Edit: Nevermind, just needed a reboot.

[maxilogan]

finally, as promised in the release notes, handwriting recognition appears to be much more reliable to be nearly usable! Not as much fastas the keyboard but almost...

[maxilogan]

The results of an intensive hour of tests: Opera crashed a lot more than before :( I was trying to access to the garage / app catalog to add again the repos (that the bacup didn't save :mad: )

And now it even won't connect to either my gmail account or my wife's :confused:

already thinking of flashing back the old image!

[Rocketman]

I backup my repository list by opening up an xterm, gaining root and copying everything in /etc/apt/ to a directory on the mmc card and then copying the sources.list file back after reimaging the device.

To copy it back after reimaging, you will need to reinstall becomeroot (or become root via some other means) and then install an xterm. I keep the .debs for most of the common programs I use in a directory on my mmc card, but it is nice to have the repositories in place for updates.

It took me about an hour and a half to rebuild my 770 to backup, flash and restore/reinstall all my apps. It would be really, really nice if Nokia provided a more comprehensive backup option...I am used to my HPC devices, which had the capability of doing a complete reimaging/backup restore in the field in a matter of minutes. The convenience on my Jornada 720 and Netbook Pro of being able to revert back to a "known good" config in a matter of minutes was a HUGE advantage for me.

[=DC=]

No flash update [still v.6], No Google Talk update [file transfer? voicemail?], No significant Opera update [so it's a little faster], No Java [what will it take Nokia?].

All the improvements were minor with the exception of the web browser being a bit faster, and I'm still not sure how much of that wasn't because it cleaned the cache.

It wasn't really worth the time to get everything back to normal. Wake me up when we get an update that has a little more meat to it.

[dcarter]

With such gushing release notes,
I wonder if I am really missing much by not flashing....
Things are just so fine with my current OS
I don't see the point!!


Release Notes
=============

Internet Call
-------------
o Volume level improvements
o Improved microphone background noise filtering

File Manager
------------
o Improved file handling operations:
e.g. moving files from folders between local device & MMC
o Added function to rename folders

Multimedia
----------
o Local playback of MPEG video improved
o Streaming of WAV improved

Browser
-------
o Improved stability
o Improved handling of streaming audio formats
o Patch for certificate signature verification

Connectivity
------------
o Improved quality of Bluetooth connections
o Improved quality of WLAN connections

RSS Feed Reader
---------------
o Added image support to previously saved feeds
o Fixes to memory leaks

Internet Search home applet
---------------------------
o Pre-installed Wikipedia search engine added

Memory Card
-----------
o Capability to use 2GB RS-MMC memory cards
o Possibility to rename the MMC-card

General Improvements
--------------------
o Improved device SW stability
o Finger usage improvements
o Localization fixes
o Improved stability of hand-writing and teaching of hand-writing

On behalf of the whole Maemo Team,
Ferenc

[1] http://maemo.org/maemowiki/HOWTO_FlashLatestNokiaImageWithLinux


hmmmmmm, reconsidering my stubbornness,

should we flash it???



DC

[schmolch]

Btw. does anyone else have to regularly restart opera because links stop working?

[N770-Freak]

Btw. does anyone else have to regularly restart opera because links stop working?
YES!
It's the same in old and new version!

[Mac]

anyone experience a LOT of opera crashes? Opera never crashed for me on 2.0 but the latest update made it unusable! The maemo.org application catalogue crashes the device so it has to reboot... Is it safe to reflash it with an older firmware?

[Invicta]

anyone experience a LOT of opera crashes? Opera never crashed for me on 2.0 but the latest update made it unusable! The maemo.org application catalogue crashes the device so it has to reboot... Is it safe to reflash it with an older firmware?
Before Opera crashed every now and then when opening or closing window. Now it crashes a lot more. I couldn't even get Opera to save changed image setting untill I figured out that I have to restart Opera, not exit with crash!

[Peter The Plumber]

I backup my repository list by opening up an xterm, gaining root and copying everything in /etc/apt/ to a directory on the mmc card and then copying the sources.list file back after reimaging the device.

To copy it back after reimaging, you will need to reinstall becomeroot (or become root via some other means) and then install an xterm. I keep the .debs for most of the common programs I use in a directory on my mmc card, but it is nice to have the repositories in place for updates.

Thanks Rocketman, that is a huge PITA reloading all that stuff. Maybe Nokia will figure out a way around that. Thanks, Etaoin, for the link to the directions. At any rate everything's back in and it does appear to be quicker across the board. Opera especially feels snappier and I don't appear to have any problems with links not working. Sadly the email client still only supports one account. Or should I say it supports multiple accounts, it still mixes everything together in the inbox. I should say I use the 770 primarily as an organizer with the PIM apps, Sdict, Xjournal, Gnumeric, a status bar applet and I have almost all the games for my son. I have Grsync as well but I can't seem to figure out how to get it to do what I want.
Peter

[Mac]

Before Opera crashed every now and then when opening or closing window. Now it crashes a lot more. I couldn't even get Opera to save changed image setting untill I figured out that I have to restart Opera, not exit with crash!


I mostly visit the same sites on my 770 and they never crashed the browser, but now a lot of them crash the device completely, it just reboots... It's a bit absurd that maemo.org's application overview crashes the brower+OS completely don't you think?

Anyone tried to reflash to an older firmware? I don't want to have a paper weight untill Nokia decides to release another update....

[=DC=]

I noticed a lot of people are having issues with the browser crashing a lot more in the updated binary. I must be one of the lucky few that missed that problem as I haven't had the browser crash yet (knocks on wood).

As for flashing back to previous binaries, it shouldn't be a problem. I've done it before. I don't see why it wouldn't work from this version as well.

I guess it's worth upgrading if you need better Bluetooth support, slightly faster web browsing, or just have to have the latest version of software for the 770. Other than those improvements, I've seen no significant reason to upgrade to this version.

[maxilogan]

For those of you (N770 and schmolch, I guess, plus others) who are experiencing links blocked in Opera, there's no need to restart it, just press the back button to return to previous page, then stop the loading, press forward button.

Links will be working again :) not so good as a trick, but better than restarting opera.

Anyway, a sort of step back, unfortunately. No one of the wanted / needed improvements (flash, opera, email app, etc.) plus some more instability (guess what: the release notes were talking of improved stability!)... Not worth the reflash and the work that you'll need to reinstall all the stuff

[N770-Freak]

For those of you (N770 and schmolch, I guess, plus others) who are experiencing links blocked in Opera, there's no need to restart it, just press the back button to return to previous page, then stop the loading, press forward button.

I do it the same way! but doesn't work if it occurs on the first page ;(

[penguinbait]

I see no reason to upgrade when I am completely stable right now. Especially with all the problems people seem to be complaining about. I love my Nokia 770, but I am sick of being a BETA tester because they refuse to QA this stuff. It's not just the 770 though, I also have a Nokia 6682, while the phone is great, it reboots occaisonally and sometimes its when it rings. Call me cooky, but thats a serious bug, and there is no update, I have the latest software version and they will not be updating it. So I am stuck with a $300 phone that reboots sometimes when people call it.

NOKIA - GET IT TOGETHER!!

[maxilogan]

I do it the same way! but doesn't work if it occurs on the first page ;(

of course... :rolleyes:

Omar

[maxilogan]

I see no reason to upgrade when I am completely stable right now. Especially with all the problems people seem to be complaining about. I love my Nokia 770, but I am sick of being a BETA tester because they refuse to QA this stuff.

You're absolutely right. I hoped something were fixed so I upgraded but, if it weren't for the lot of work to be done again to install my apps back, I'd reinstall the original 2006 OS.. :(

[Arjun]

I see no reason to upgrade when I am completely stable right now. Especially with all the problems people seem to be complaining about. I love my Nokia 770, but I am sick of being a BETA tester because they refuse to QA this stuff. It's not just the 770 though, I also have a Nokia 6682, while the phone is great, it reboots occaisonally and sometimes its when it rings. Call me cooky, but thats a serious bug, and there is no update, I have the latest software version and they will not be updating it. So I am stuck with a $300 phone that reboots sometimes when people call it.

NOKIA - GET IT TOGETHER!!


Which is the version of Software that you have on your 6682 ? If you flashed it with the latest Firmware, how did you do it and where did you get the Firmware. ? I searched for the latest Firmware all over but could not find it. Thanks

[paolo]

I updated this morning my 770 and the new OS seem really stable and Nokia made a really good job!
Yes this toke me at least 2 hours, flash the new OS, add all the repository, install all SW, search and install manually whats are not inside the repository, but i'm happy now!

[penguinbait]

Which is the version of Software that you have on your 6682 ? If you flashed it with the latest Firmware, how did you do it and where did you get the Firmware. ? I searched for the latest Firmware all over but could not find it. Thanks


I just went to nokiausa.com/6682 and clicked on "Phone Software Update" There is now the latestest firmware available at Nokia website for 6682.

This is the version I have already! :-(

[mwiktowy]

Btw. does anyone else have to regularly restart opera because links stop working?

Yes ... most definitely. Everything else seems to be fine (I can use the menu, start other apps, low memory and CPU indicators) but I can't get Opera to follow a link until I restart it. Odd. Is there a bugzilla on this yet?

[Karel Jansens]

I see no reason to upgrade when I am completely stable right now. Especially with all the problems people seem to be complaining about. I love my Nokia 770, but I am sick of being a BETA tester because they refuse to QA this stuff.
In fairness to Nokia: that's what Open Source Software is (among other things obviously) about: Release early, release often. If you use OSS, you're a beta-tester. To put it crudely: Live it or leave it.

I'm not saying you shouldn't criticize the quality of the software (in fact, the more critics the better!), but it's no use complaining about the process. If you really can't live with the way OSS is developed and released, then maybe Windows is more your thing.

[benny1967]

In fairness to Nokia: that's what Open Source Software is (among other things obviously) about: Release early, release often. If you use OSS, you're a beta-tester. To put it crudely: Live it or leave it.

I'm not saying you shouldn't criticize the quality of the software (in fact, the more critics the better!), but it's no use complaining about the process. If you really can't live with the way OSS is developed and released, then maybe Windows is more your thing.

Yes and no. The problem is that there's still closed source components and things that are not open for the community to change. Nokia is still trying to reach the FOSS-bank with one foot safe on the proprietary side of the river... and I'm afraid that won't work.

You're right that we should accept that short release cycles also mean less testing at Nokia and more bugs for the end user. Thats how it works. If you dont like it, always stay at least one version behind.

BUT: The reason why it works this way (in other FOSS-projects) is that developers expect users to file bugs, submit patches and improve the overall quality of the software. This is the reason for "Release early, release often". Now: How should the community fix a bug in a closed source browser? That won't work.

So I think that while the typical Windows-type consumer should probably learn not to install fresh versions immediately, Nokia on the other hand must begin to realize that they can't go on with this strange mixture of open/closed source. If they do, I would strongly support either a completely community driven fork of maemo or adapting some other distribution to the 770 hardware.

(Pity the current Mameo software, while having its bugs, is much too good for people to feel the urge of starting the whole thing from scratch :) )

[mrp]

I just try to think positively this time. We all remember the Big Parade announcement of IT2006 and the intermediate update version of IT2005 before. No major improvements we given to us before a totally renewed (exaggerating) firmware. NAVICORE was announced to be working in IT2006, but better with it´s successor and would be available this year. Simply asked: are you ready to go back to IT2005? Was it ready before IT2006?

[Rocketman]

After a day of playing with the new updated 2006 release (and spending several hours reinstalling applications and whatnot), I have to say I am glad I upgraded, but only very mildy. To me, this update added very little in the way of new features/functionality. Roughly half of the "bullet points" in the release notes stated in a very non-specific way:

-improved this
-improved that

As an end user, after digging quite a bit, I haven't really noticed much in the way of new functionality. Is this update kinda the electronic equivalent of slapping a "new and improved" sticker on a cereal box? While I have noticed some general improvements in device stability (ie, my 770 doesn't spontaneously reboot every time I sneeze), that really isn't enough for me to encourage brand loyalty and make me want to run out and buy the 870 when it arrives. While I recognize that crashes/bugs do sneak into a project of this scope, are our expectations really so low that we are pleased when our device doesn't spontaneously implode once an hour? I have still not seen any evidence that the functional deficiencies of the 770 are going to be addressed. Namely:

-Lack of support for bluetooth keyboards (most importantly) and other bluetooth profiles
-Current email client is utterly useless. It is an INTERNET TABLET for peat's sake. It should do email and do it well. The poor UI and workflow of this application makes it next to useless for my needs
-Total lack of support for Java and ancient version of Flash.
-Lack of granular control of power management rules out the 770 for many of my desired uses. At the very least, I would like the ability to turn on/off power management at will.

I have lots more pet peaves with the 770, but those are the big ones. Until I see those points addressed, I have no interest in purchasing a future Nokia IT.

[Karel Jansens]

Yes and no. The problem is that there's still closed source components and things that are not open for the community to change. Nokia is still trying to reach the FOSS-bank with one foot safe on the proprietary side of the river... and I'm afraid that won't work.

You're right that we should accept that short release cycles also mean less testing at Nokia and more bugs for the end user. Thats how it works. If you dont like it, always stay at least one version behind.

BUT: The reason why it works this way (in other FOSS-projects) is that developers expect users to file bugs, submit patches and improve the overall quality of the software. This is the reason for "Release early, release often". Now: How should the community fix a bug in a closed source browser? That won't work.

So I think that while the typical Windows-type consumer should probably learn not to install fresh versions immediately, Nokia on the other hand must begin to realize that they can't go on with this strange mixture of open/closed source. If they do, I would strongly support either a completely community driven fork of maemo or adapting some other distribution to the 770 hardware.

(Pity the current Mameo software, while having its bugs, is much too good for people to feel the urge of starting the whole thing from scratch :) )
Yay! on the forking thingie. Open770 now! :D

And yes: I over-simplified. But Opera is out of Nokia's hands. That's why I don't get the complaints about Opera directed to Nokia. What Nokia should do, is actively support the development of the 770 port of Minimo. Heck, for all I know, they're already doing that.

[penguinbait]

In fairness to Nokia: that's what Open Source Software is (among other things obviously) about: Release early, release often. If you use OSS, you're a beta-tester. To put it crudely: Live it or leave it.

I'm not saying you shouldn't criticize the quality of the software (in fact, the more critics the better!), but it's no use complaining about the process. If you really can't live with the way OSS is developed and released, then maybe Windows is more your thing.


Well, I guess because I am a unix administrator I have learned that opensource does not mean buggy. They are selling a product and saying its stable, it should be.

[=DC=]

I think it's time to look back and remember what we had before the 770. A lot of people had Palm PDAs, Pocket PCs, Sony Clies, Handsprings, etc. None of those devices were bad at what they were meant for, but you couldn't really expect an OS update to add new features and it was substantially more difficult to program/port apps for these devices. Then we get a huge boost of technology, at an amazingly low price, punched into what we know as the 770. So far, it has the best balance of hardware features for the price. It's powered by one of the most flexible OS platforms than any mobile device before it. Now we have it, and of course we want just as much squeezed from it in relatively the same amount of time as the jump from PDA to 770.

We have to remember that this is still a very new concept than what we came from and there is a lot of work to be done to grow it to the maturity that is needed to appeal to a larger part of the market. The best part about this deal is that anyone can develop new and unique applications for the platform, and it is more liken to programing for a normal computer than other mobile devices.

We all have our issues with the device and especially the software, but I think these and other issues we run into on the way will be solved quickly when we collectively work towards building the software the way we want it.

[lbattraw]

I think it's time to look back and remember what we had before the 770. A lot of people had Palm PDAs, Pocket PCs, Sony Clies, Handsprings, etc. None of those devices were bad at what they were meant for, but you couldn't really expect an OS update to add new features and it was substantially more difficult to program/port apps for these devices. Then we get a huge boost of technology, at an amazingly low price, punched into what we know as the 770. So far, it has the best balance of hardware features for the price.
(snip)


Absolutely. It's easy to lost sight of the improvements over existing devices. Nokia has really done a pretty good job with the 770, glitches and feature requests aside. I'm personally just happy that they're releasing regular updates; I recall hearing some grumbling about how IT2006 hadn't been updated for some time and here we are-- a new update. I'm not sure why other people are having issues with the browser and so forth as it seems quite solid to me. Perhaps these are some of the people who tried restoring backups? Just a guess, as this might re-introduce instability in the form of old, corrupted data files.

I would hope that I'm not the only one who appreciates all the hard work that has gone into supporting the 770. I've seen the (near complete lack of) support on other PDA-like devices I've purchased, and let me tell you: there is nothing like having the device maker guiding and pushing development. Without it you end up with splinters of effort, duplicated projects, fading interest, and eventual abandonment due to the lack of a community. Nokia may still keep certain things proprietary but they make up for it in the way they've helped to open up and drive the overall process with Sardine, the maemo repository pages, and the Garage space for hosting projects.

Larry

[keitai]

To me, this update added very little in the way of new features/functionality. Roughly half of the "bullet points" in the release notes stated in a very non-specific way:

-improved this
-improved that

While I have noticed some general improvements in device stability (ie, my 770 doesn't spontaneously reboot every time I sneeze)
That's the whole point of minor releases: critical bugfixes.

-Lack of support for bluetooth keyboards (most importantly) and other bluetooth profiles
-Current email client is utterly useless. It is an INTERNET TABLET for peat's sake. It should do email and do it well. The poor UI and workflow of this application makes it next to useless for my needs
-Total lack of support for Java and ancient version of Flash.
-Lack of granular control of power management rules out the 770 for many of my desired uses. At the very least, I would like the ability to turn on/off power management at will.

These are all new features. If you buy a phone without java support, do you expect some firmware update to bring it in? Where did this expectation come from?

The email app clearly sucks hairy goat balls, but that's not something that can be fixed in a bugfix release.

The "opensource/poweruser" aspect is more strange. There is nothing stopping anyone from porting any of the dozen email free apps, java virtual machines, minimoz or webkit, and so on. In fact, it is encouraged. Yet people prefer to wait for manufacturer to spoonfeed them with new releases of their propiertary code?

Lets take a more specific point, you complain about lack of bluetooth keyboard support, yet someone already ported such an app for 770 - Why would it preferrable that it would be shipped as part of firmware update?

* too hard to install? - why not ask the application installing made easier?
* current applet is not good enough? - have you contacted the author of applet about your issues?

I'm just trying to analyze the market case of producing hackable devices, if one does not have the resources of Nokia.

[benny1967]

To me, this update added very little in the way of new features/functionality. Roughly half of the "bullet points" in the release notes stated in a very non-specific way:

-improved this
-improved that

As an end user, after digging quite a bit, I haven't really noticed much in the way of new functionality.
What did you expect? It's a maintenance release, not IT2007.

While I recognize that crashes/bugs do sneak into a project of this scope, are our expectations really so low that we are pleased when our device doesn't spontaneously implode once an hour?
Maybe you should be more specific. I don't have crashes except with opera on certain websites, and they are reproduceable. Overall, considering how often I use the thing, it's more stable than my WinXP at the office where I have to reboot twice a day.

I have still not seen any evidence that the functional deficiencies of the 770 are going to be addressed. Namely:

-Lack of support for bluetooth keyboards (most importantly) and other bluetooth profiles
-Current email client is utterly useless. It is an INTERNET TABLET for peat's sake. It should do email and do it well. The poor UI and workflow of this application makes it next to useless for my needs
-Total lack of support for Java and ancient version of Flash.
-Lack of granular control of power management rules out the 770 for many of my desired uses. At the very least, I would like the ability to turn on/off power management at will.

I have lots more pet peaves with the 770, but those are the big ones.
This is really strange - why would it be a functional deficiency not to have a third input method in addition to the virtual keyboard and handwriting recognition? Even more important: From what I know, there is support for BT-keyboards for those who actually want to carry such a thing around. Thats the point of a open platform: Install the applications you need, don't expect Nokia to package them into the OS-releases.
Also you should be realistic enough to accept that things like "granular control of power management" are probably not considered important features by the vast majority of users.

[LukeWorm]

I upgraded to this new OS version, restored from backup and reinstalled applications. As last app I installed CPU/Mem/Screenshot applet (https://maemo.org/maemowiki/ApplicationCatalog2006#head-b93ee683e4bf178b44e994bc938243f50688f0af) .
After the final reboot (there were a couple in between, just to make sure) everything loaded as expected, but when attempting to connect to my WLAN, the machine "gasped" and rebooted. Tried again, same result. Since above mentioned app was the last one installed, I uninstalled it and rebooted. Now everything works OK. Weird.

[davidebrady]

the browser experience is better, still not perfect but...

one thing I have noticed is that the bbc streams from pages such as

Culture Show (http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/programmes/?id=culture_show)

now open in the video player, higher quality on these pages than the standard bbs streams (770 still can't playback the higher res news streams though)

[Peter The Plumber]

Originally Posted by benny1967
So I think that while the typical Windows-type consumer should probably learn not to install fresh versions immediately, Nokia on the other hand must begin to realize that they can't go on with this strange mixture of open/closed source.

Oh jeez, I thought I was getting away from that but apparently not :-). I just this last year switched to SUSE from MS. In any case I am going back to the original 2006 release after several days on the new release. I am having issues with the GPE calender event times being changed by themselves. I'm fortunate in that I have access to a second 770; which was to be updated to the updated IT2006 today; when I discovered the calender behavior. The calender running on original IT2006 on the second device does not behave like this.


fanoush
Senior Member

Kernel is different, initfs seems to be a bit different too. I'd suggest to not to use any hack from my page. For kernel update we may need to wait for kernel sources. Last time it took few days.


Hopefully the celender behavior is because of this as well and hopefully can be remedied quickly. In the meantime I have no major *****es against either the OS or the software provided at Maemo. Don't get me wrong, I would *love* to see much more functionality from the programs I use. However; as stated numerous times elsewhere; to have the number of apps we have available in this short amount of time is amazing! Impressed me anyway.
Peter

[aflegg]

What did you expect? It's a maintenance release, not IT2007.

Exactly. TBH, I'm just glad they've released any update to IT 2006. We had a slew of updates to IT 2005 in the weeks following its release, but nothing for IT 2006 for 13 weeks.

We also don't know officially if IT 2007 is planned for release on the 770, I've asked Nokia for a roadmap post-IT 2006, but nothing yet.

I don't have crashes except with opera on certain websites, and they are reproduceable.

Reproducible crashes in Opera on certain sites, you've created Bugzilla (http://bugs.maemo.org/) entries for them, I hope?

Cheers,

Andrew

[benny1967]

Exactly. TBH, I'm just glad they've released any update to IT 2006. We had a slew of updates to IT 2005 in the weeks following its release, but nothing for IT 2006 for 13 weeks.
First I had a similiar impression, but when you think of it: With other projects you often wait much longer for a maintenance release... I think 13 weeks are still a relatively short interval.

Reproducible crashes in Opera on certain sites, you've created Bugzilla (http://bugs.maemo.org/) entries for them, I hope?

:eek: No!!

Well, filing bugs is not one of my strengths; sometimes I drag myself to a projects' bugzilla and try to describe what happened. In this particular case, though: No way. Opera is a proprietary, commercial, closed-source product and I feel no obligation whatsoever to invest a second of my time. I don't work for them, they don't pay me.

[aflegg]

Yeah, but what about us other users? It's also in your interest, if it causes something you've paid for to not work correctly, surely you want them to fix it so what you paid for does it appropriately?

Hell, if Bugzilla's too much of a pain (and it is, hence my work on taskt (http://www.taskt.com/)) let me know the URLs and if they cause repeatedly crashes on my 770, I'll report them.

Cheers,

Andrew

[MikeL]

:eek: No!!

Well, filing bugs is not one of my strengths; sometimes I drag myself to a projects' bugzilla and try to describe what happened. In this particular case, though: No way. Opera is a proprietary, commercial, closed-source product and I feel no obligation whatsoever to invest a second of my time. I don't work for them, they don't pay me.I don't care if its open source or proprietary and/or I have to pay for the software or not. As a customer of any product I would like to be able to feedback issues to the originator of a given item in a community manner and be informed of the fixes that address them or not.

Bugzilla, is there to register base Nokia 770 issues, but its not the most user friendly tool where feedback on fixed items in each release i.e. latest OS2006 is not as clear/easy to find as it could be etc. (perhaps someone can enlighten me?)

However at the end of the day if we don't record the bugs they will never be fixed. Thanks Aflegg for taking the trouble to offer to input the particular Opera bug (I am not having this problem so far, post a URL thats causing the problem in Opera and I will give it a try too?)

Nice plug about your taskt Aflegg, how could we best use this with the Nokia 770 user community and say the latest OS2006 onwards.... ;)

[dwoolley]

Has anyone else experienced finger scrolling in FBReader not working with this os upgrade?

[klohmann]

Too bad. That makes it much harder on the rest of us. If I can find and identify a pattern to the crashes, I will most certainly report. I am looking out for the good of all of those with 770s, not for the good of a closed source vendor. The important part for me is that we have the most functional product for those who invested in one. One man's opinion only.

[aflegg]

Nice plug about your taskt Aflegg, how could we best use this with the Nokia 770 user community and say the latest OS2006 onwards.... ;)

Well, some of the planned features which make it particularly appealing for 770 users:


RSS feeds
Web Service interface so a local client can be written
Easy to use, quick to enter and view


And, of course, Opera on the 770 will be one of the tested browsers :-)

Cheers,

Andrew

[HarryN]

I know it seems like small potatos to the experienced hackers on the site, but for just "user people" like me, the support of 2 gig cards is a significant upgrade. It also means that the people at Nokia appear to be listening to the experienced user community and incorporating their ideas - pretty good in my book.

It looks like the upgrade is not yet "officially released" from my perspective, as the version offered on the US Nokia site is still the June 2006 release. I will wait just a bit longer and see if how long it takes to have it posted there.

[cAPSLOCK]

Before this update I would have dropped and reconnected my WIFI connection at least once while typing this message.

Now I stay connected. Yay.

This was my #1 problem. It is now fixed.

cAPS

[Patnet]

Just as I was getting used to the bugs in the previous e-mail client, bizarre boxes appearing and failed scroll bars we now have gone back to utterly crazy time stamps a la 2005 ver clock problems. This time though the e-mail time has absolutely no bearing on anything, at least before you could set the thing to Helsinki time and it kind of worked. Anyone figured out what the Date field in the e-mail client might be based on?

[Rocketman]

I too have noticed some rather odd time related bugs in the new firmware. After having setting and verifying the correct time immediately after installing the new firmware, I came back the next day and the time was off by something on the order of 4 hours! I am running a good deal of third party software (as frankly, the 770 isn't very useful to me by default), but none of this software ever caused any issues on the older version of the 2006 fw.

[ikarizdat]

Before this update I would have dropped and reconnected my WIFI connection at least once while typing this message.

Now I stay connected. Yay.

This was my #1 problem. It is now fixed.
Same here. This is enough for me to be satisfied with this new release.

I didn't notice any crash on websites that didn't happen before.

In Opera, streaming media now open directly in the video or audio player, without asking whether to open or download them. I had a lot of bugs in the old release, with the browser often hanging at this stage. Seems to be fixed. Maybe this was wifi related.

(-) In Xterm, some keys (Backspace...) don't behave as expected anymore. I don't know if this is a known issue. Edit: Fixed (http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3433), thanks to ascherjim.
(-) In Opera, the address bar had disappear until I opened a new window.

[ascherjim]

Osso x-term has been updated to correct that malfunction, and now works fine (at least for me).

[frethop]

Has anyone tried the handwriting recognition? Is it truly that much better?

-F

[Peter The Plumber]

I too have noticed some rather odd time related bugs in the new firmware. After having setting and verifying the correct time immediately after installing the new firmware, I came back the next day and the time was off by something on the order of 4 hours! I am running a good deal of third party software (as frankly, the 770 isn't very useful to me by default), but none of this software ever caused any issues on the older version of the 2006 fw.

I noticed that too, although I was starting to doubt myself. Set all my calender events forward 5 hours, couldn't figure it out at first!


frethop Has anyone tried the handwriting recognition? Is it truly that much better?

Yes, handwriting recognition is *much* better. I hope to be able to go back to the latest version soon because of that as well as the stability. Which is also much improved.

Peter

[christianhauck]

you just can't have perfectly QA'ed stability at the cutting edge. Resources are ALWAYS limited (no matter what the price of the product is: 25.-, 250, 2500.-, that's only a factor of 100)), and then it's the question if you (or Nokia, or whoever) invests in improving quality from 99.9 to 99.99 %, or rather extends by adding something new.
And when you buy a 770, you can't expect it to be as robust as a 1950 analog telephone. But you can expect it to be more versatile.
Btw: I did not upgrade. I looked at the features, and decided I would not need them.

[MikeL]

Btw: I did not upgrade. I looked at the features, and decided I would not need them.And this for me is one of the issues, the clarification/notes surrounding what has been fixed is poor. (Although certainly better than no information :) )

My particular interest is in AV playback locally/remotely by either built in or third party software and Opera browser, RSS feed capability etc.

Why do we as users need to individually test the built in Audio/Video players etc, when time allows to understand what improvements have actually been made as an example...

[Texrat]

MikeL, christianhauck said it perfectly.

[chill633]

I bit the bullet last night and installed the .39-14 firmware. I had backed everything up first, except my /etc/apt/sources file (damn it!). I was running the version just prior to this.

The first thing I notices is that EVERYTHING is faster. Connecting to my home wifi net (G-only, WPA-SPK) used to take 5-6 seconds, now it takes 3-4. Start up time of all the built-in applications was cut in about half for me. The unit just feels snappier.

For example, in the prior version, if I went to the Control Panel and chose Memory, I'd sit and watch while it counted up everything in use. It would probably take 3-4 seconds to get a full tally. Now it is just BOOM, right there. No watching the progress bar.

Yes, it recognized my 2 Gb Kingston right off the bat. It remembered my pairing with my BT keyboard, after I reinstalled the BT app.

I didn't have a lot of crashes before -- maybe one every couple of days, not counting Opera taking a nose dive. Opera seems faster in both startup and rendering pages. The Application Wiki on maemo.org used to be intolerable on my N770, hitting the CPU hard and just being very slow to load and react. Now it is 10x better and usable without having to chant "serenity now!".

There are still a few bugs in the system, though. Opera has crashed for me a couple times when telling it to remember a password for a site. It DID remember it, but tanked none-the-less.

And there is a new development -- when sending Opera to full screen view, it hesitates for a second or two in sort of a half-state, where the screen isn't properly rendered where the toolbars were. My best analogy would probably be an automobile that used to smoothly shift gears now has a noticeable hitch when doing it. It does it, but you get a "WTF was that?" thought each time.

It used to be when I clicked the power button and chose "shut down", it shut down fully. Starting it back up would mean a full boot and take 20-30 seconds. Now, a "shut down" seems to be more of a deep sleep that only take 3-4 seconds to come out of. It restarts X, which was my intent, but it is so much faster. Before, I had to keep telling myself "It's a handheld, you don't really shut it down, you just pop the cover on and let it sleep. That long start-up time may be embarrassing, but you never really start it, do you?" Well, no more rationalizing for me!

Finally, I took the opportunity to install and configure Privoxy, tweaking it to start when the unit boots. OH MY GOD! The Internet is back to a way I can use it! I was so used to Adblock on Firefox that I had forgotten what an ad-laden cesspool the Internet had degenerated into. Privoxy, even without downloading custom rulesets, brings all the ad-free goodness back, unclutters my screen and speeds up page load times. If you use the N770 to browse the web, do yourself a favor and install Privoxy.

I didn't expect major changes in this update. I don't think we'll see things like Java, Flash >6 or native Ogg-Vorbis support until the next major update.

For me, this was a very nice update -- a must have. Thank you, Nokia.

[Hedgecore]

Chill: Awesome review, nice to see you balanced the good with the bad (purely negative reviews leave me suspect, as do purely positive ones). I'll definately throw Privoxy on though I haven't upgraded yet. Given all the hacks I've put on (and the fact I can't remember half of them), I want to ensure the general release to nokia.com is the same as the maemo.org release.

[bac522]

I second that good review, sounds like it's worth the upgrade although I'm surprised at some of the changes in terms of speeds, almost qualifies as major upgrade.

[gnuite]

It used to be when I clicked the power button and chose "shut down", it shut down fully. Starting it back up would mean a full boot and take 20-30 seconds. Now, a "shut down" seems to be more of a deep sleep that only take 3-4 seconds to come out of. It restarts X, which was my intent, but it is so much faster. Before, I had to keep telling myself "It's a handheld, you don't really shut it down, you just pop the cover on and let it sleep. That long start-up time may be embarrassing, but you never really start it, do you?" Well, no more rationalizing for me!
Actually, this behavior depends on whether or not the device is plugged in to AC power. This is the same in any of the recent versions. I'm not an expert on the subject, but the following are my observations.

If plugged in, then holding the power button for 2-3 seconds (or choosing "Switch Off!" from the power button menu) will not really shut down the device - it goes into sleep mode, as you described. This mode of operation uses a little bit of power (in fact, if the cover is off, it will actually leave the screen on, with the "Charging" animated icon), but since you're plugged in, it's not a big deal.

When the device is not plugged, it will do an actual shutdown, so that it doesn't use any power at all.

If you shutdown when plugged in (and it goes into "Charging" mode) and then you unplug the device, it will do an automatic "full" shutdown (as though you had pressed "shutdown" when the device were not plugged in), thus reducing power usage to zero. Pressing the power button in this state causes the device to do a full boot.

However, if instead of pressing the power button, you plug the device back in (or, actually, any time you plug in the device after doing a "full" shutdown), it will start the boot process for you automatically, in the background, without showing the progress bar (instead, a non-animated "charging" icon will appear while booting). When the boot completes, the animated "Charging" icon appears. And if you press the power button, you get the quick-resume.

I don't know if this means that the device has to actually be booted in order to charge the battery (seems unlikely - more likely it needs to be booted to show the animated "Charging" icon, which seems like a waste, but whatever), but it does mean that if you leave the device plugged in and shut it down every night, then every morning when you "boot it up", it will be a quick-boot (because it never actually did a "full" shutdown).

If you're one of those guys that likes to start every morning with a fresh boot (?), it's better, then, to shut it down before plugging it in for the night, since the plug-in will initiate the fresh boot, and it will be ready and re-booted for you in the morning when you pick it up (just remember to push the power button before you unplug it, otherwise it will automatically shut down).

[Luna]

don't know if this means that the device has to actually be booted in order to charge the battery (seems unlikely - more likely it needs to be booted to show the animated "Charging" icon, which seems like a waste, but whatever)


It may require the machine in an active state to charge. That would possibly explain the old issues of the battery running down while in kernel debug mode.

[chill633]

The new flash image defaults to EN-GB and GMT. If you aren't paying close attention, the clock is assumed to be GMT, which is going to be 4-5 hours different from EDT and CDT.

I'll bet this is what people are seeing with the time change.

[Peter The Plumber]

The new flash image defaults to EN-GB and GMT. If you aren't paying close attention, the clock is assumed to be GMT, which is going to be 4-5 hours different from EDT and CDT.

I'll bet this is what people are seeing with the time change.

It appears so indeed. I can't believe I missed that! I assumed setting the time on the initial splash screen after flashing would also set the clock applet contained in the menu. It does not and it appears the applet is where GPE gets its time from.

Peter

[bill322]

After using this new release for a bit, it seems that the onscreen keyboard can finally keep up with me without missed or improper characters, a great improvement.

One odd thing I noticed is that when I shut the 770 off using the power button, by morning, the 770 is back on again. When shutdown, I can tap the screen and nothing happens, as I expect. But come morning, if I tap the screen, it is instant on. When I shut it off, I expect it to stay off until I press the power button again. Is there a fix for this?

[Rocketman]

I too have experienced the "device decides to spontaneously turn itself on and drain the batteries" syndrome in this and previous firmware releases. Given that the battery must be charged inside the 770 and the lack of any 3rd party external battery charger for the 770, I have had to leave my 770 at home several times to recharge due to a discharged battery. The poor controllability and random behavior of power management in the 770 is perhaps my biggest single sticking point with the device.

[bill322]

Hmm,

The previous 2006 release for me was always well behaved in regards to power management. I use a leather case on my 770, so I don't rely on the magnetic switch for standby. Maybe there is a timer left running on the new release that times out and reboots it...

[aflegg]

If your 770 is randomly turning itself on, please report it on maemo-developers or Bugzilla (http://bugs.maemo.org) with the information here:

http://maemo.org/maemowiki/ReportingRebootIssues

Cheers,

Andrew

[grau]

hmm... I've got a weird problem since update :

I try to install MaemoPadPlus and, eventhough I already have it, it keeps asking for sqlite3.

It was perfectly working before upgrade.

Anybody experiencing the same problem ?

[Drewvt]

Haven't upgraded yet...doesn't seem like it is worth it. And hey, I'm lazy. :)

The only drawback resulting from that, so far, is that I can't install Minimo.

[bill322]

If your 770 is randomly turning itself on, please report it on maemo-developers or Bugzilla (http://bugs.maemo.org) with the information here:

http://maemo.org/maemowiki/ReportingRebootIssues

Cheers, Andrew

I would be happy to do so if more than just two of us are experiencing the same exact thing. When I loaded the binary, there was no backup done, so totally clean install. No phone set up, no addon aps, no large RSMMC... about as stock as you can get. I do not even have xterm on it to gather the reboot stuff for bugzilla. And yes, the alarm clock is off too.

With all aps closed , home page (desktop) visible, not connected to charger and the stock cover removed, press the power button and shut the 770 off (leave cover off). Check the next morning if you can tap the screen the unit comes on as if the power button was never used the night before. The unit should stay off until the power button is pressed again, or until you connect the charger to it.
Does anyone else have the same thing happening?

[aflegg]

bill322: My point is that others *have* had their 770 turn on seemingly by itself.

There are two options:

1) R&D mode is enabled, which makes it turn on with just the lightest touch of the power button.
2) There's an obscure bug somewhere in the firmware causing it.

The second is a pain to track down, which is why the Maemo team would *love* the information requested on that page sent to them, so they can try and fix it.

Don't send it to me. Don't post it here. Send it to Nokia through the maemo mailing lists, including the information requested on that page and that might be enough for them to track it down.

Cheers,

Andrew

[ercanmetin]

Oh no, the mmc4 kernel does not work, the 770 goes into a reboot-loop.

I have flashed my 770 with the newest image 2 days ago, and spent like 3 hours restoring everything... I was happy to be able to use my 2GB Kingston right away... Before this image I was using 1GB Kingston...
Well I found out that the device wont start right...
It gets into REBOOT LOOPS and sometimes It starts but you never know how many reboots you have to wait until the device starts!!!

I reflashed it and restored my back up file this morning, assuming maybe it will work fine this time...
After restoring everything I turned it off and tried to start it!
BUT SAME THING ! REBOOT LOOPS!

Schmolch says mmc4 kernel does not work
but I don't know how to fix this issue... I will be so happy if somebody can explain this process step by step...
I don't want to give another 3 hours to flash it...

Thanks in advance...

[ElGatoFlojo]

Thats interesting. I've also been seeing the reboot loops as well. Mine started before this last flash update. I didn't want to update it, but oddly enough a few days after the new update came out, mine wouldn't boot any more. The initial screen comes up, but the progress bar would never start. Then it would loop. I never let it loop more than 2-3 times so I had no idea it eventually would come up. I ended up reflashing it with the new update and all was well.

Then, about a week later (yesterday) I had the same thing happen again. The e-mail client crashed, so I rebooted it. And then got into that loop state again. After 3-4 times I just flashed it again and gave up.

So I'd be curious to know as well if there's something that is causing this. I'm wondering if somehow the internal memory gets corrupted and it can't mount the filesystem any more. But then again I had no idea that if you left it looping it would eventually boot. Would have saved me some data loss since I don't back mine up every single day :-/

[Rocketman]

Yeah, I kinda wonder if some of the problems people are experiencing are due to bad flash. Does anyone know if Nokia's flash upgrade tool does a block check when attempting to write a new firmware to flash?

[Texrat]

Along these lines, I just posted a discovery in the troubleshooting forum: my home desktop flashes fine, but work laptop occasionally does not. Maybe something interfering. I recommend shutting off all unnecessary processes while flashing. Also, the linux version has only given me trouble 1 out of over 20 flashes (run on ubuntu).

[maxilogan]

Anyone experiencing loose of the device name into the email client once deleting emails? Mine worked well for the first week, then, without having changed anything particular, suddendly the message "Delete from: Server and Nokia 770 / Nokia 770 only" has changed in "Delete from: Server and (null) / (null) only"

[jurop88]

"finger usage improvements?"


I'd like to resume this, because if anybody just tried or noticed it out, it's the best way to expaline the interface progresses in this update.

Using the 770 only with fingers is no more a pain, it is a GREAT usability improvements.

Apps such as Navicore and Canola make great benefit of this, and now I am able to use my N770 while driving with no use of the stylus!

IMHO it has been a difference not enough stressed out, and it alone deserves this upgrade.

[flareup]

seconded!

only just got round to upgrading, and can't believe the difference with finger/thumb usage - EVERY aspect is now do-able with thumb touch, from connecting to wifi to browsing to file manager, opening pdfs etc.

have only just discovered this and haven't even had to get the stylus out at all for the last hour.

fantastic stuff, well worth the upgrade alone. anyone like me who wasn't bothering, I highly recommend it!