I will explain my case:

I have a pc.

Operating System : Windows 7
Internet : Connected
Speed: 4 MBPS
Connected to Internet Using : LAN Port
IP: Static ( Constant )
Nokia PC Suite: Installed (Updated)
Nokia OVI Suite: Installed (Updated)
Nokia Software Updater: Installed (Updated)
PC Bluetooth Device: Yes. Working.
PC WIFI Device: Yes. Never tried.
Direct Cable from Network Provider without any modem.I just need to plugin the cable to back of my cpu to connect. No dialups. No login windows.

I think im pretty clear about my pc and its connections.

I have N900. Purchased yesterday.

Got all usb cables to connect to pc.
Succesfully connected it to pc in pc suite mode and been able to transfer files from pc to phone and viceversa.

I planned to install few applications in N900. I found there are .install and .deb files.

I also came to know that .deb are pretty dependent and time taking. So i decided to go for .install files.

I googled and found some downloads from trusted develpers.The extension of the files is .install

I have saved them to my PC first. Then Created a sub folder in Data folder of N900 mobile.

I opened the transferred .install files in the mobile phone using file manager. It opened the file in application manager.

Then it is asking me to connect to internet using a connection.

Its hard in india to connect to internet via telephone service providers. As they charge very heavy amount of money.

I want to know the following things:

1. Does the .install files which i have transferred can't be directly installed ? Aren't they complete applications ? If not, are they just acting as downloader shorcuts of the specified application?

If they can be installed directly Please someone post a step by step guide on how to install .install files directly without connecting to internet.

2.Can i share (connect) the internet in my PC to the Nokia n900. I know that this is a linux based phone. Please note that my pc has a windows operating system.

If i can still share my internet connection to my phone can anyone give a step by step guide on how to do it.

Thanks for reading this lengthy thread. Any help is greatly appreciated.

To be honnest, I have not read the whole post.
But I guess you will find answers at http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_USB_networking#Windows

You need a "Wireless Router" to connect the n900 via wifi. Its a seperate box where you plug the LAN cable in. You need to buy one and install it like its written in the manual. If you have W-LAN set up, you can connect your PC and your phone wireless to the Internet. In n900 seetting go: Internet connections, connections, new and follow the assistent to connect to you wifi.

To install apps you just need the file manager or this forum. On the file manager of the n900 click "download" and browse trough the categories. Or you can browse with n900's browser in the "downloads" section of this forum and push the green button of the applications to download them. Of course you need first set up the internet connection.

So its a must to have internet in the mobile to install applications right ?

Since u mentioned that ur PC has a Wifi Device, we can create an Ad-hoc connection between ur PC and the N900.. This will enable your n900 to connect to the internet using ur PC as a "bridge".. But ur PC has to be on for the n900 to be able to connect..

Here is a short guide to setup ad-hoc connections..

1) On windows 7 PC, open the network and sharing center form control panel.
2) Click on manage wireless connection on the left pane
3) Click on the "add" button on the top pane
4) Select "create an ad-hoc connection" and click next
5) a) Enter a Network Name.. eg: My WiFi
b) Select security type as WEP
c) Enter a 10 digit alphanumeric security key. eg: "0987654321"Write this key down on a piece of paper or remember it..
6) In the next screen, choose share my internet connection.

If all goes well, the PC should have connected to the new WiFi and enabled internet sharing..

Now on the N900..

1) Click on the clock on the status bar
2) Select the internet connection
3) select the network name u just created
4) A new window should open asking for the WEP key.. Enter the Key (the one i asked you to write down on paper)
5) In a few minutes the n900 should connect to the WiFi and internet accessible from the device.

Hope this guide helps.. feel free to ask if any doubts..

And just curious.. Which service provider in india has a 4Mbps connection??

i setup my N900 sharing my XP internet connection via the USB cable. take a look at this http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=39738 if you're interested.

No. To install application, find a .deb file for it.
http://maemo.org/packages/

Make sure that you choose correct operating system (Fremantle) and correct architecture (armel or ix86 or something like that).

After downloading .deb to N900, disconnect N900 from PC, find .deb in File Manager, click it, Application Manager will try to install it. If it doesn't say "successfully installed", go to Menu->Log. Here you can see one or both of the reasons:
1. "Failed: ..." Some additional package is needed, download it, too.
2. "user/FOO" is needed. This package has to be installed in command line (X Terminal).

Command line: you have to be very careful here.
1. Install rootsh (there will be no problems, I suppose);
2. Open X Terminal;
3. Type "sudo gainroot" (without quotes) and hit Enter;
4. From now on you have authority to break system down by incorrect commands; don't forget it, and don't type random commands, and don't allow a cat to use the keyboard;
5. Type "dpkg -i PATHTOTHEFILE" (without quotes) and hit Enter;
6. If the path is correct, it will say either ".......Setting up THEPACKAGE", and it means success, or ".....Error were encountered while processing THEPACKAGE", and it means that either you need more packages to be installed (it mentions which) or that the deb is incorrect;
7. If the path is incorrect, it will say something like "... not found"
8. As soon as you have finished installing what you wanted, or made sure it's impossible to install it, type "exit" (without quotes) and hit Enter (thus you exit dangerous role of root), type "exit" (without quotes) and hit Enter (thus you close Terminal window completely).

Some useful hints: in browser you can see full path correctly. Like, folder Documents in file manager is "/home/user/MyDocs/.documents" in X Terminal and "file:///home/user/MyDocs/.documents" in browser.

If you want to know more about command xyz, type xyz --help. Like: "dpkg --help".
If you want to see more commands, hit "Tab" button twice.
Don't hesitate to ask questions and to search the Wiki
http://wiki.maemo.org

P.S. I don't have Internet on mobile, as I haven't learned to make a home "Ad hoc" link between PC and mobile. So the only connection with it is USB cable.
P.P.S. I'm going to try algorithm of rnb89, but I will need to log in as Administrator for it, so not immediately. I hope the algorithm is all the same on Windows XP.
P.P.P.S. I managed to make ad-hoc connection, but Internet sharing couldn't be turned on, because it would change IP address of PC to 198.68.0.1 or something like that, and this in turn would separate me from LAN and, most likely, Internet (and I'm a server on this LAN, sharing many useful files, so I cannot afford to destroy LAN just due to Microsoft's whim of changing my IP; so I will use USB cable).

That's exactly it: they are download shortcuts that tell the application manager where to find the package.

I think the ad-hoc wifi mentioned above would be the simplest solution (although I'd prefer WPA over WEP encryption, as WEP is easily broken).

Thanks for all the replies.

@rnb89: A local service provider. Beam Telecom.


And.. i tried what you have told exactly about configuring Wifi and i was successfull to connect my n900 to my pc wifi.

When im trying to open any webpage it shows page not found. I can open the same page in PC. I even tried to pen maemo.org in phone but i cant.

Please help me out of this.