Unlocked FM-Transmitter frequency 76.0Mhz->107.9Mhz (Limitation Fixed)

[maxximuscool]

Hey guys,
Found this modified configuration fiile for the FM transmitter from
http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD

This custom FMTXD wll make the FM Transmitter range change freely.

The Configuration file is already modified by Jacekowski to 76.1Mhz->107.9Mhz

Place the file into /usr/sbin/ then your FMtransmitter will change from 88.1 to 76.1 as its lowest.


After replaced the original file with this custom version then the FM-transmitter will stopped working. Dont worry this is perfectly normal. Reboot will not fix it.

Now go to App manager and download FMTX-Fake application and you'll have your FM-transmitter back up and running and even better the bonus is it change your FM-transmitter to 76.0 to 107.9Mhz.

The tuning frequency is from 0 to 9.


Hope this help many other people as well :)
Thank

WARNING: Use this at your own risks :) It might be illegal to use the FM frequencies any lower than your country allowed. I'm not paying responsibility to any unlawful fine that you may get from your country authority, This is not my responsibility nor the developer responsibility. This is an open device, so do what ever you'd like as long you don't abusing your power. Like the spiderman said: Great power comes with great responsibility

Your FM - Transmitter power is now automatically boost to 120 power. This result of not need FM-Boost and While charging you will not lose any sound quality like the standard configuration. Actually you'll get better sound quality with charging :) tested that and worked great

Step by step guide:
===========================
Before starting:
Assuming you've got none of these installed:

*FM-Boost
*Simple FMTX widget
*FMTX-Faker
*And FM-Transmitter is turned off
. Then proceed the following :)

1. SSH client and Server and set a password
2. Download WinSCP (http://winscp.net/eng/download.php) and install it to your WIndows PC

3. Connect to WIFI network (home network)

4. Download "fmtxd" file and unzip it on your computer.

5. connect your computer to your N900 via WinSCP (your N900 has to be connected to WIFI).

6. Once connected, browse through in "root", look for a folder called "usr" and in the folder "usr" there are many other folders. So look for the folder called "sbin". In there you'll find fmtxd file. Copy it to your computer as a backup incase you want to go back to factory Radio frequency.

7. copy the modified version of fmtxd and replace the file inside /usr/sbin

8. Go to your FM-transmitter and check if your range has been change. Enable it and you'll get "Unable to use FM transmitter". Because of the standard app doesn't know the frequency range in the modified fmtxd . Don't panic it will be fixed later.

9. If you see the "Unable to use FM...blah" then quickly Open up Xterminal and type:
sudo gainroot
chmod +x /usr/sbin/fmtxd "this will register the new fmtxd to the FM transmitter Kernel"
killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d "this will restart the FM transmitter daemon"


10. Now go to Application Manager and enable Extra-Devel, look for an application called FM-Faker, install it (read the description if you like) then your FM Transmitter will back up online again. With the frequency variations from 0 - 9, where as originally 1,3,5,7,9

FM Transmitter LIMITATION REMOVAL stage
First you'll need to download the dependencies:
Python2.5 (came with some applications in extra), rootsh


Download my little zip file called "FMTX-MaxxiLimit"
Extract it and copy the whole thing to the root of your N900.

Merge it with the folder "usr"

So it should be like this.

*** Please install Control Panel ProfileX from extra-devel, this custome profile app is required for the FMTX-MaxxLimit to work.


usr/lib/hildon-desktop/FMTX-MaxxiLimit.py
usr/share/applications/hildon-status-menu/FMTX-MaxxiLimit.desktop
usr/share/icons/hicolor/18x18/hildon/FreeRegionFMTX.png

Xterminal:
root
killall hildon-status-menu

You should see Southern Stars at the status menu.


That's it.
Enjoy
***Reboot will not change the setting back to "2".

I've decided not to packaging it up since I couldn't and failed many times on packaging this. So for now just manually install it.

For whome who has problem with the python package. You can download the shellScript version instead. Downoad it from post 2 and place it in the correct directory and reboot, Done***

Done.
Enjoy!
[/SIZE]

[/COLOR]
If you want screenshot then go to page 3.

Sucessful unlocked FM Transmitter video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbcgcfemOks
======================

[maxximuscool]

Here are the screenshots. Of a fully working FMTX unlocked status-menu.

UPDATE: fixed the Shell script bugs. Sorry didn't have the chance to tested it earlier. but now is tested and confirmed working on my device.

Two way to get this done. One is the fancy icon display and one is the silent mode.

With Python Package:
Once you see the Icon in the picture then you are all good to go. Reboot will not reset your region back to 2. Some people having problem with phython script on their system so if this doesn't work for you then try the bottom option.




If you can't get Python Package to work then use this.

This is shell script. This package contain 1 file but two functions. One is to swap the swappiness to 50 to reduce the load time and to make the device more responsive. second one is the Region4swap which will swap the region of your FMTX every start up to 4.

download it and paste it into your root and merge it with the folder in the root and it will do its magic.

otherwise just copy the file and place it in:

/etc/event.d/
reboot

Reboot and then type this to confirm the changes and to make sure it has been sucessfully applied.

cat /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/region

you now should see value of 4

cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

you should now see swappiness value is 50

(in this script, Swappiness will help decrease applications loading and closing time and make it more responsive and rumour that it also increase the battery life on the same usage. Swappiness can be set as low as 10 but the lower it get the more RAM the system use, so 50 is an ideal level, original is 100, to find out more about swappiness please use google)

these are a sign of successfully applied. Now every reboot you'll not need to do anything else.

So enjoy!

[maxximuscool]

Jacekowski has recently updated the FMTXD to suit PR1.3.

Changes to this version:

* Region is unlocked inside the FMTXD
* Power Strength set to 120 (as previous version)
* No need FM-Faker to get it to work :)
* Charging/plug in headphone while FM-transmitting will not interfaring
* Hassle free installation


Installation may required a bit of work from the first post if encountered problems when replaced the file with the original one :)

Do not use this package if you have already got your FMTXD hack work from the previous version. I tested it and ran into problems after removed my working FMTXD hacked. Problem will be fixed if you re-installed FMTX-Faker

[ossipena]

do you know why the transmitter has been capped by software?

...lets just say that don't get caught using frequencies outside stock ones.... (it might not be illegal in your country but messing with radio frequencies isn't usually tolerated at all)

[maxximuscool]

do you know why the transmitter has been capped by software?

...lets just say that don't get caught using frequencies outside stock ones.... (it might not be illegal in your country but messing with radio frequencies isn't usually tolerated at all)

I know but it's hard to get this FM-transmitter to get a clear clean frequency. So this is may be illegal but it's something that we can do at our own liability. This is a tweak only and it is going to help many people happy rather than upset.

I don't really care about the law but here in NZ the frequency range is from 85.50 -> 108.0Mhz.

I'm still using the legal range though :D since my radio won't go any lower than 85.50Mhz, but my friend radio is from Japan and it only got from 76Mhz - 89.5Mhz. Anything from 88.1Mhz is not clear since there are too many radio stations around.

So if you want to do this then it is at your own risks.

[TiagoTiago]

Could someone post a tutorial on what exactly need to be changed in that file and what each of the involved lines do (and also what that faker prog does) please? I don't wanna just replace a system file with a version someone is distributing on the net without knowing what it is going on

[maxximuscool]

Could someone post a tutorial on what exactly need to be changed in that file and what each of the involved lines do (and also what that faker prog does) please? I don't wanna just replace a system file with a version someone is distributing on the net without knowing thst is going on

There is no harm to your device. The N900 is an opensource device. You can modify anything you would like.

First off if you have SSH installed then you will find this process much easier to achieve. fmtxd is just the same file as the original file, the only things different is removal of restriction of frequencies range.

Originally is 88.1Mhz to 107.9Mhz.
Modified fmtxd frequency is: 76.1Mhz to 107.9Mhz

FM-Faker is an app to enable FM-transmitter on a device that got it disabled by default. Some country has a law against usage of FM-Transmitter. So it is illegal to have FM-trasmitter on any mobile device. FM-Fake enable the disable FM-Transmitter and make it usable like the device that got it enable by default.


Requirement:
1. SSH client and Server and set a password
2. Download WinSCP (http://winscp.net/eng/download.php) and install it to your WIndows PC

3. Connect to WIFI network (home network)

4. Download "fmtxd" file and unzip it on your computer.

5. connect your computer to your N900 via WinSCP (your N900 has to be connected to WIFI).

6. Once connected, browse through in "root", look for a folder called "usr" and in the folder "usr" there are many other folders. So look for the folder called "sbin". In there you'll find fmtxd file. Copy it to your computer as a backup incase you want to go back to factory Radio frequency.

7. copy the modified version of fmtxd and replace the file inside /usr/sbin

8. Go to your FM-transmitter and check if your range has been change. Enable it and you'll get "Unable to use FM transmitter". Because of the standard app doesn't know the frequency range in the modified fmtxd . Don't panic it will be fixed later.

9. If you see the "Unable to use FM...blah" then quickly Open up Xterminal and type:
sudo gainroot
killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d "this will restart the FM transmitter daemon"


10. Now go to Application Manager and enable Extra-Devel, look for an application called FM-Faker, install it (read the description if you like) then your FM Transmitter will back up online again. With the frequency variations from 0 - 9, where as originally 1,3,5,7,9

Now you should see like the screenshots above in post 1.

[YoDude]

Ah... yet another example of the many contributions made by qwerty12 to this community. :)

I have been using jacekowski's modified FMTX binary (http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD) since Faheem turned us on to it last month (http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=771531&postcount=44)

Here are some hopefully helpful hints that may lead to a more positive outcome:

1. Make sure FMTX is not enabled on your N900 before proceeding.

2. Remove and uninstall FM Boost, FMTX widget, and any third party application that calls to or modifies the stock FMTX.
You wont need them anyway as the modified binary outputs at max power and ignores events like plugging in the charger that previously reduced power.

3. Before placing the modified FMTXD file in usr/sbin, rename the one found there to preserve it in case you encounter a problem. Remember this new name and you can switch back using a rooted command line if all turns to crap. :)

4. If you do not need to use a frequency outside the ones provided by Nokia then install qwerty12's modified .so file using the DEB or source found >>HERE<< (http://www.freemoe.org/users/qwerty12/fmtx2/) and all should work.

[quipper8]

just curious, what are y'all using frequencies below 88 for in the US?

I guess if you have your own radio equipment or something, but I am sure no auto radios or consumer stuff has those frequencies

[quipper8]

ok, I just looked at this chart

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.pdf

and it says in the US 76-88 is for TV channels 5-6, so if you enable this can you pick up TV audio in that range?

EDIT:oh sorry, I realized this is about FM TRANSMITTING. whoops

[webhamster]

Does this change the receiving frequencies as well?

[johnel]

Please be careful when using the FM transmitter on "unlocked" frequencies it may inadvertantly interfere with other electrical equipment.

[YoDude]

Please be careful when using the FM transmitter on "unlocked" frequencies it may inadvertantly interfere with other electrical equipment.

There is usually no need to go outside the frequencies as power level with the new FMTX binary is set @ 120 and most new receivers do not tune below 88.

An older receiver can go to 87.5 and that is why there was a demand for this feature. However, as was posted this frequency and below are reserved for digital TV that you can't use on the N900 anyway. If a station in your area uses this frequency you will encounter a whole lot of low level frequency interference if you try to use it.

Your best bet is to use the links provided in >> this << (http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=657769&postcount=28) post to find a vacant frequency in your area.

If you must go below 88, use the buffer FM frequency of 87.9 or as a last resort the buffer DTV frequency of 87.7.

[maxximuscool]

Digital TV required a very strong signal and who would watch digital TV while driving lol? My MP3 player can do as low as 87.5 and so it is very useful for me to use it at that frequency range. I got to say the sound so clear I can really hear the music lyrics is all about.

Low and short signal range from the FM-Transmitter will not do any harm to the Digital TV and there are not many people using the N900 anyway so lets face it, it won't hurt any body :)

[m0da]

...I just can NOT get the new fmtxd to install properly.

I've tried the instructions and fmtxd in the first post, and I've tried YoDude's instructions and fmtxd with no luck.

Everytime I switch my original fmtxd with the new fmtxd, when I hit FM Transmitter in Settings or Media Player, it says "Unable to use FM Transmitter." I've also tried patching it with fmtx-faker-tool with no luck (after restarting before and after patching).

I installed qwerty12's .deb through x-term (with the new fmtxd in place), but it still comes back with "Unable to use FM Transmitter." Then I used the fmtx-faker-tool patch, rebooted. Same problem, still...

Not sure how to make this work.

I want YoDude's fmtxd with the additional frequencies and level set to 120. Any suggestions?

[maxximuscool]

...I just can NOT get the new fmtxd to install properly.

I've tried the instructions and fmtxd in the first post, and I've tried YoDude's instructions and fmtxd with no luck.

Everytime I switch my original fmtxd with the new fmtxd, when I hit FM Transmitter in Settings or Media Player, it says "Unable to use FM Transmitter." I've also tried patching it with fmtx-faker-tool with no luck (after restarting before and after patching).

I installed qwerty12's .deb through x-term (with the new fmtxd in place), but it still comes back with "Unable to use FM Transmitter." Then I used the fmtx-faker-tool patch, rebooted. Same problem, still...

Not sure how to make this work.

I want YoDude's fmtxd with the additional frequencies and level set to 120. Any suggestions?

You've done something wrong. Too many overwrite was done and it might confused the hell out of the FM Transmitter kernel.

Here is a solution for you: Try this first.
Uninstall FM - Faker
sudo gainroot
reboot

open Xterminal:
sudo gainroot
killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d


keep trying:

killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d

Then go to FM Transmitter and enable a frequency, click save. And quickly go to Xterminal and run the command again.


Re-install FM-Faker

[RolePlayGame]

Not lworking here. Country-related issues in modified file?

[m0da]

You've done something wrong. Too many overwrite was done and it might confused the hell out of the FM Transmitter kernel.

Here is a solution for you: Try this first.
Uninstall FM - Faker
sudo gainroot
reboot

open Xterminal:
sudo gainroot
killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d


keep trying:

killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d

Then go to FM Transmitter and enable a frequency, click save. And quickly go to Xterminal and run the command again.


Re-install FM-Faker

Thanks for the suggestion.

To be sure I'm doing what you want:
when should I put the modified fmtxd in place?

[maxximuscool]

Not lworking here. Country-related issues in modified file?

Not really, it should work for anyone. This one is set to free regional.
I'm using Global firmware by the way and the standard FM transmitter is the same.

Try enable your FM Transmitter and make it get a lock onto one channel.

Then install FM-faker from Repository Extra-Devel. Make sure your FM Faker is the latest. I have FMBoost installed, and FMTX widget. So try those too, installed them and do it again from the start.

This is why the back up file of the fmtxd will come in handy if things go wrong!

If it keep saying "Unable to use ...blah" then it's either you've installed FM-Faker before this process.

[appnss]

Is there any way to do the same for the FM Receiver and tune outband frequencies? Is the chip at least capable of a wider range of frequencies?

[maxximuscool]

Is there any way to do the same for the FM Receiver and tune outband frequencies? Is the chip at least capable of a wider range of frequencies?

I think the FM Receiver can only handle 87.5Mhz to 108Mhz, or may be it can go lower but the maximum is 108Mhz.

You can read about it from Google.

[maxximuscool]

I'll make a video of my working FM Transmitter later :)

[maxximuscool]

Thanks for the suggestion.

To be sure I'm doing what you want:
when should I put the modified fmtxd in place?

What firmware are you using?
Have you installed FMBoost?
Have you installed FMTX widget?

Installed FMBoost and Widget first. It might help you later :) though you'll not needing it when it is done. This is just to eliminate the uncertainty.

WinSCP browsing for root->usr->sbin
If you installed your FM-faker and still doesn't work then replace the FM-faker configure file with mine. Uploaded here!

[m0da]

Wow, what a sweet guide. I'll see what happens. Hopefully your fmtx-faker files will help, as I've tried pretty much every config.

edit: still no luck with your preemp and after patching. One thing I notice though... the owner/permissions of my new fmtxd differ from the old one, also, under "type" the new one is "unknown" while the old one is "program".
what chmod or chown command should I use to set it to the proper way?

edit2: So that was the problem. I set each file to allow being executed as a program. Now, the fmtxd is fine :)

thanks a whole bunch for your time in helping :)

[sachin007]

What firmware are you using?
Have you installed FMBoost?
Have you installed FMTX widget?

Installed FMBoost and Widget first. It might help you later :) though you'll not needing it when it is done. This is just to eliminate the uncertainty.

WinSCP browsing for root->usr->sbin
If you installed your FM-faker and still doesn't work then replace the FM-faker configure file with mine. Uploaded here!

I need some help. I tried to follow all your suggestions but it still says unable to start fm transmitter. Does anyone have a back up of the original fmtxd file?

THanks

[sachin007]

when i try killall fmtxd, It says No process killed
then i typed fmtxd -d - It says Permission denied.

Help

[musculus]

That was my backup

[sachin007]

That was my backup

Thank you. But still doesnt fix it.

Any other advise? I hate to reflash.

Thanks

[sachin007]

Wow, what a sweet guide. I'll see what happens. Hopefully your fmtx-faker files will help, as I've tried pretty much every config.

edit: still no luck with your preemp and after patching. One thing I notice though... the owner/permissions of my new fmtxd differ from the old one, also, under "type" the new one is "unknown" while the old one is "program".
what chmod or chown command should I use to set it to the proper way?

edit2: So that was the problem. I set each file to allow being executed as a program. Now, the fmtxd is fine :)

thanks a whole bunch for your time in helping :)

Hey Moda,

I think i have the same problem. How did you make it work

Thanks

[flexxxv]

Think you need to do a
chmod +x fmtxd
:D

edit:
Yeah that worked for me :D
here more detailed:
1. root #you need to have gainroot installed
2. chmod +x /usr/sbin/fmtxd
3. fmtxd -d
4x close xterm

[joshv06]

Is there anyway this could be put in Titan's Enhanced Kernel?

Thanks

[flexxxv]

@joshv06
This is not a kernel modification so I cant see a reason to put this in the enhanced kernel. but maybe I#m wrong

Btw: there is no need to use ssh:
just get the file via wget; unzip, mv old fmtxd to some safe place,mv new fmtxd, mark as executable

[sachin007]

Think you need to do a
chmod +x fmtxd
:D

edit:
Yeah that worked for me :D
here more detailed:
1. root #you need to have gainroot installed
2. chmod +x /usr/sbin/fmtxd
3. fmtxd -d
4x close xterm

Ok got back the original fmtxd file to work. Thank you so much.

[flexxxv]

Ok got back the original fmtxd file to work. Thank you so much.
I think this should also work for the new one! At least it does for me.

edit:
Someone here with assembler knowledge to patch out the headphone thing? :D I mean to make it possible to enable the fm transmitter with headphones connected. This would be another file then fmtxd (at least i think)

[sachin007]

I think this should also work for the new one! At least it does for me.

edit:
Someone here with assembler knowledge to patch out the headphone thing? :D

Yeah just tried it .. worked great.

For the sake of others:

1. Uninstall fmboost, simple fmtransmitter widet.. etc
2. Download and transfer to N900, the fmtxd file from the zip file attached to the first post.
3. x-term > sudo gainroot
4. cd /home/user/MyDocs/
5. mv fmtxd /usr/sbin/
6. cd /usr/sbin/
7. chmod +x fmtxd
8. fmtxd -d
9. close xterm
10. Open app manger and install fm faker.
10. Open fm transmitter from settings and confirm.

Please let me know if there are any errors.

Thanks

[flexxxv]

Or even without the pc (you need wget and unzip to be installed):

wget http://talk.maemo.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=13047&d=1282103930 # or use tinyurl.com/fmtxd
unzip "attachment.php?attachmentid=13047"
rm "attachment.php?attachmentid=13047"
root
mv /usr/sbin/fmtxd /usr/sbin/fmtxd_old #make a backup
mv /homer/user/fmtxd /usr/sbin/fmtxd
chmod +x /usr/sbin/fmtxd
killall fmxtd
fmxt -d
apt-get install fmtx-fake

[ossipena]

ok, I just looked at this chart

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.pdf

and it says in the US 76-88 is for TV channels 5-6, so if you enable this can you pick up TV audio in that range?


whatever you do, do not ever never get caught from sending stuff to reserved frequencies! don't know how big the damages are but I suppose $10k isn't enough especially if you go to court...

[ossipena]

Low and short signal range from the FM-Transmitter will not do any harm to the Digital TV and there are not many people using the N900 anyway so lets face it, it won't hurt any body :)

are you willing to PM your personal details so I can report you to FCC?

if not, your logic fails.

[joshv06]

are you willing to PM your personal details so I can report you to FCC?

if not, your logic fails.

Come on now, why would you want to report him to the FCC? Even speaking sarcastically. Just cause there's a law, you want to be there to prove him wrong?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NDPT0Ph5rA

[ossipena]

Come on now, why would you want to report him to the FCC? Even speaking sarcastically. Just cause there's a law, you want to be there to prove him wrong?


I don't want to report him to FCC, I wan't to see how long he is willing to stand behind his words.

Radio frequencies are very strictly monitored and regulated. With more powerful transmitters the rx unit can be mirrored within 100m diameter circle or similar and interfering reserved frequencies might get you in jail as WCS......

so please study a bit before you play with things you don't know. It is ok for me that you tweak those but I want to warn you because there can be drastic consiquences doing it.

[Harick]

http://i48.tinypic.com/2642kn5.jpg

although the fmtx on my n900 just reachs 5m radius at the most, and even the saddest station can cap my signal :(

but yeah, you're right, i won't mess with the law

btw, in my country there are A LOT of illegal radio stations (so i feel kind of safe xD) and because of that, there is not a free frequency, someones has 2 or 3 stations at the same time, very annoying..

[Laughing Man]

are you willing to PM your personal details so I can report you to FCC?

if not, your logic fails.

I don't think he lives in the USA. Australia if I remember correctly therefore the Federal Communications Commission (FCC for the non-Americans) is irrelevant.

Besides the FCC should be trying to stop Google and Verizon from ruining the Internet. >.>

[TiagoTiago]

Not really, it should work for anyone. This one is set to free regional.
I'm using Global firmware by the way and the standard FM transmitter is the same.

...
How do i know if my firmware is global? If it isn't is there a way to change it without erasing my data, installed pograms and settings? Is installing the power kernel enough to make the firmware global?

[Laughing Man]

As far as I'm aware no. You have to flash the device to the Global firmware.

[DaSilva]

Is there a simple application in the repositories to enable the FM transmitter with a simple shortcut click instead of going to the settings menu if you want to use it with another player than the default Media Player?

[Harick]

yes there is

http://maemo.org/downloads/product/Maemo5/simple-fmtx-widget/

or this one

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=43395

[YoDude]

http://i48.tinypic.com/2642kn5.jpg

although the fmtx on my n900 just reachs 5m radius at the most, and even the saddest station can cap my signal :(

but yeah, you're right, i won't mess with the law

btw, in my country there are A LOT of illegal radio stations (so i feel kind of safe xD) and because of that, there is not a free frequency, someones has 2 or 3 stations at the same time, very annoying..

The point of my suggestion was not because of transmission interference... I could give a rats buttock whatever anyone does with it. (and BTW, theoretically you could broadcast to freakin' Mars if the dang Martians had the right receiver set-up.)

My suggestion to use 87.7 and 87.9 instead of 87.5 was to avoid receiving interference if you happen to live in or travel through an area that broadcasts channel 6 DTV.

I do, and from trying 87,5 months ago by configuring a driver (http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Hardware_FM_Radio_Transmitter) I can tell you that the background "drone" caused by the very powerful DTV transmitter in my area was quite annoying.

After y'all figure this out and use the links I provided in my previous post to find vacant channels in your area to use, you may find that doing so is quite satisfactory now that you are pumping out to the max.

It has always been my opinion that the next step would be once we are at max power without the need for another program or script, is to develop a status bar applet that has 4 or 5 configurable presets that when pushed, enable FMTX at the frequency configured.

Before querty12 went postal, he was working on push button status bar apps. :)

[carlit0x]

very nice! thank you! you make my life so swwweeeet (8)

[TiagoTiago]

As far as I'm aware no. You have to flash the device to the Global firmware.


where can i read more about differences between regional firmwares as the global one? And how can i check which one i got?

[Laughing Man]

If you haven't flashed it yourself you probably have whatever version that's sold to you. E.g. if you bought it in the USA, you have US Region.

Don't know where you can read about the differences in region, but I know some of the differences are in whether FM Transmitter was enabled (that's the reason fm_faker) exists. Because it was disabled in certain regions.

[maxximuscool]

where can i read more about differences between regional firmwares as the global one? And how can i check which one i got?

I don't think you'd need to reflash to use this. I think this will work with the power Kernel as well. I see no reason for it not to work. This is basically just the FM-Transmitter config file.

Just follow the tutorial here and you'll be fine.


But use it at your own risk :D

[maxximuscool]

are you willing to PM your personal details so I can report you to FCC?

if not, your logic fails.

FYI, know the law of each country before you flaming me :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-power_broadcasting

Take a read on that. The part say NEW ZEALAND! I'm using the bandwidth that my country allowed is perfectly legal to broadcasting with a low power transmitter.

There is no FCC in New Zealand and it is license free to use low power FM broadcasting frequency :)

I hope you happy now :D FCC can't do shiit to me since i'm not living in the USA :)
From wikipedia:

In New Zealand residents are allowed to broadcast licence free at 0.5 watts EIRP in the FM guardbands from 87.5 to 88.4 and from 106.7 to 107.7 MHz under a General User Radio License (GURL) issued by Radio Spectrum Management. Prior to June 2010, the lower band was located beween 88.1 and 88.8. Broadcasters on these frequencies are required to cease operations if they interfere with other, licensed broadcasters and have no protection from interference from other licensed or unlicensed broadcasters. There exists a 25 km rule: You may operate two transmitters anywhere (close together), but a third transmitter must be at least 25 km away from at least one of the first two transmitters.

There are efforts on self-regulation of the broadcasters themselves.

N900 Radio transmitter won't even reach 0.5watts EIRP. So this is not going to effect the radio stations or DTV anyway. I used 87.5Mhz anyway which is perfectly legal for me to use it :)

My radio can go down to 87.50Mhz so it's legal because the car radio is made for New Zealand.

[TiagoTiago]

I have the FM transmitter enabled, i'm concerned about other limitations that might be in place though

[maxximuscool]

I have the FM transmitter enabled, i'm concerned about other limitations that might be in place though

There should not be any limitation with this. It should be the same as global firmware :)

I only use global because it is the firmware to get the first update from Nokia lol. So enjoy the freedom :D

[maxximuscool]

I just PM'd ossipena my address so he can get contact with the FCC in the USA.

Althought i'm from New Zealand :(

[Crogge]

The transmitter of the N900 is too weak to disturb any public signal, so you don't have to worry that you will get caught. You may could disturb you direct neighbour a bit in the "Worst case" but even that is quite impossible, so no need to worry.

I wonder if there may exist also a hack to RECEIVE frequencies outside of the normal range?

[maxximuscool]

The transmitter of the N900 is too weak to disturb any public signal, so you don't have to worry that you will get caught. You may could disturb you direct neighbour a bit in the "Worst case" but even that is quite impossible, so no need to worry.

I wonder if there may exist also a hack to RECEIVE frequencies outside of the normal range?

Yeah I know but just to prove that my claim is valid, I actually PM'd him my address lol so the FCC can find me, here is not like USA, we don't have a law to protect ourselves with guns. We can't buy gun and it's illegal to own a gun (gun). To own a Air rifle gun you have to be 18years old and no criminal record, hunter can own a gun but not the real gun.

See the law here is different :)

I have absolutely no Idea how to make the Reciever to recognising any lower frequency. I suppose It may be possible to get as low as 76Mhz but it may need a few hack :)

[ossipena]

I just PM'd ossipena my address so he can get contact with the FCC in the USA.

Althought i'm from New Zealand :(

so your argument was invalid in the first place.... you are giving really bad advice to people who don't live in a country that has such legislations....

[ossipena]

The transmitter of the N900 is too weak to disturb any public signal, so you don't have to worry that you will get caught. You may could disturb you direct neighbour a bit in the "Worst case" but even that is quite impossible, so no need to worry.

I wonder if there may exist also a hack to RECEIVE frequencies outside of the normal range?

is this legal advice? will you refund someone if your advices don't apply? does this apply worldwide?

[ossipena]

I don't think he lives in the USA. Australia if I remember correctly therefore the Federal Communications Commission (FCC for the non-Americans) is irrelevant.

Besides the FCC should be trying to stop Google and Verizon from ruining the Internet. >.>

the talks were originally that lower frequencies overlap in the USA with tv......

[les_garten]

I don't want to report him to FCC, I wan't to see how long he is willing to stand behind his words.

Radio frequencies are very strictly monitored and regulated. With more powerful transmitters the rx unit can be mirrored within 100m diameter circle or similar and interfering reserved frequencies might get you in jail as WCS......

so please study a bit before you play with things you don't know. It is ok for me that you tweak those but I want to warn you because there can be drastic consiquences doing it.

Has anybody called you a DICK today?

Can I be the first?

[TiagoTiago]

perhaps there are better virtual keyboards, better localization options etc

But are you really sure there aren't any other limitations like the default transmission power and frequency range?

[Veix]

Can anyone test if plugging n900 to car charger while playing through FM transmitter, reduces power and quality ?
I can see sligh mention of it in first post...

Also does having a phonecall reduce FM transmitter power when resuming...

[maxximuscool]

Can anyone test if plugging n900 to car charger while playing through FM transmitter, reduces power and quality ?
I can see sligh mention of it in first post...

Also does having a phonecall reduce FM transmitter power when resuming...

Yes the charger will not reduce the quality like the original FMTXD, this one boost up the power to 120 constantly when FM Transmitter is enable.

One important thing is FM Transmitter still not working with phone call. If you get a call it will be silent out the signal. But after you hang up it will be back to normal. I've tested it last night in my car.

Plug in the charger will only improve the quality. :)

[funkmunk]

Sorry if this is out of context of this topic but I would like to know how to get the three applets below the Simple Brighntness applet.

I know the middle one is a bluetooth on/off switch. The one next to it on the right is the Wifi switch. But what is the one on the left? What does it do?

How do I put these three in my status area?

Thanks...

P.S. : The pic is from the first post of this thread so can the thread owner show me the steps involved?

[maxximuscool]

so your argument was invalid in the first place.... you are giving really bad advice to people who don't live in a country that has such legislations....

Well I did and I also have a Warning!! sticker at the end of the post :) So my argument is perfectly valid.

If you obeying the law of the FCC then you should not be using FM-Transmitter at all. This is people rights, if they want to do anything to their device in their home without hurting anyone nor interfairing with any one then it is purely up to them to make their justify and decision. FM-Transmitter wasn't even legal in some European countries, but yet!!! FM-Faker is available for that reason, I don't see you reporting to FCC for FM-Faker. Nor reporting it to the authority in those European countries.

Again, this is absolutely the user choice! If you don't want to do it then it's you choice. N900 is a geeks device and hackering it is what it does best :) this is why people bought the N900 at the first place OPENSOURCE DEVICE!!

[maxximuscool]

Sorry if this is out of context of this topic but I would like to know how to get the three applets below the Simple Brighntness applet.

I know the middle one is a bluetooth on/off switch. The one next to it on the right is the Wifi switch. But what is the one on the left? What does it do?

How do I put these three in my status area?

Thanks...

P.S. : The pic is from the first post of this thread so can the thread owner show me the steps involved?


That is called Advanced Interface Switcher, in the app manager type "Advanced" and then it will show up. :D

[Veix]

Does the FM transmitter handle RDS output also ? Since pr1.2 its showing "NOKIA" only... can it be modified to so it would show artis/song name again :) as in pr1.1 ? :)

PS. I have set my own shoutcast radio for listening in a car, with different bitrates 56kAAC for EDGE, 96k MP3 for 3G and 192k MP3 for Wifi :)

Shoutcast + N900 + Unlimited Dataplan + FM Transmitter = Best car audio entertainment :)

PPS. No need to change my GTO's original stereo Win!

[maxximuscool]

Does the FM transmitter handle RDS output also ? Since pr1.2 its showing "NOKIA" only... can it be modified to so it would show artis/song name again :) as in pr1.1 ? :)

PS. I have set my own shoutcast radio for listening in a car, with different bitrates 56kAAC for EDGE, 96k MP3 for 3G and 192k MP3 for Wifi :)

Shoutcast + N900 + Unlimited Dataplan + FM Transmitter = Best car audio entertainment :)

PPS. No need to change my GTO's original stereo Win!

Haven't tried that sorry, you can test it out and let me know :) I'm uploading a video of my working Unlocked FM transmitter now. May later I'll make a video on how to hack it :)

[CormacB]

I followed the instructions in the first post and I still get the error message the second time I do anything with the FM transmitter. Is it working properly for everyone else?

[maxximuscool]

I followed the instructions in the first post and I still get the error message the second time I do anything with the FM transmitter. Is it working properly for everyone else?

okay try this.
Open up Xterminal as root.

sudo gainroot

Type this first line in after you get the error message as soon as you see it, switch back to Xterminal and type:

chmod +x /usr/sbin/fmtxd
killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d


Then closed down your media player and go to Setting->FM Transmitter -> enable -> Done.

If you still get the error then re-run the:
killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d

Open up media player and play a music and go back to Setting -> FM Transmitter and enable it -> Done.

Now you should be able to enable it. Reboot may help as well :)

I got the error at first but after it enabled it got stucked at enable, then I run the killall command and restart FMTXD daemon and voila works! You have to have FM-Faker install at the last thing when you got the error run those commands and then install FM-Faker after that.

Once in a while you'll get the error message, just kill it and rerun the fmtxd and it should be fine :)

[maxximuscool]

If in doubt, you struggled to get this working please revert back to the original fmtxd file :)

Reboot and it should be back to standard. But I can never go back to stock frequency after this :D I love the freedom!

[teh]

I've just installed this on my UK N900, and first off, it works without FM faker as far as I am aware (certainly didn't tell me I couldn't switch on at 87.5) and in the UK we use 87.5 FM for radio here and not TV :)

Digital TV in the UK is up in the 400 - 600 mhz range if I recall rightly, and DAB 200 mhz range.

[CormacB]

Hmm, seems to be working a bit better now, but I still am getting the error more frequently than I would like. Oh well.

[olighak]

So this error message appears every time I try to turn off the fm transmitter. Any ideas on how to make it shut down properly?

[jacekowski]

i really recommend reading comment here http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD#comment-16 about lower frequencies

[ossipena]

Has anybody called you a DICK today?

Can I be the first?

what was this for? I am dick for warning you before doing something that might be illegal in ones country?

[joshv06]

what was this for? I am dick for warning you before doing something that might be illegal in ones country?

What's it to you? Why are you so very concerned, you're not here to "warn" anyone, you just want to be a dick. Maxximuscool already gave his disclaimer, and his great work made the front page of Maemo via thehandheldblog.com.

So take a minute and think, are you really here to warn people? You claimed you wanted to send Maxximus's info to the FCC.. and failed cause he's in another country.

[ossipena]

Well I did and I also have a Warning!! sticker at the end of the post :) So my argument is perfectly valid.

If you obeying the law of the FCC then you should not be using FM-Transmitter at all. This is people rights, if they want to do anything to their device in their home without hurting anyone nor interfairing with any one then it is purely up to them to make their justify and decision. FM-Transmitter wasn't even legal in some European countries, but yet!!! FM-Faker is available for that reason, I don't see you reporting to FCC for FM-Faker. Nor reporting it to the authority in those European countries.

Again, this is absolutely the user choice! If you don't want to do it then it's you choice. N900 is a geeks device and hackering it is what it does best :) this is why people bought the N900 at the first place OPENSOURCE DEVICE!!

totally agree. the warning should be a lot more visible though. I myself have worked with some radio frequencies for a year (in army) and couldn't believe how strict the local law is for example tx:ing couple seconds to reserved frequencies.... come on it is less than 10km radius and still probably you get caught and go to court etc.

no one of you seem to realize how hard radio frequencies are protected.

as I said: I don't care what you do with your devices, but please don't ever never get caught for interfering reserved frequencies

now I can say to myself that you have been warned and stop arguing with your stupid rhetorics which doesn't apply in front of the judge anyway (but still you are engouraging fellow community members to proceed with it)

[ossipena]

What's it to you? Why are you so very concerned, you're not here to "warn" anyone, you just want to be a dick. Maxximuscool already gave his disclaimer, and his great work made the front page of Maemo via thehandheldblog.com.

So take a minute and think, are you really here to warn people? You claimed you wanted to send Maxximus's info to the FCC.. and failed cause he's in another country.

damn you guys are stupid. read to which comment I replied about FCC reporting.

(hint: there maxximuscool made a new statement that messing with frequencies won't do you any harm)

so which one we should believe? initial warning or later comment that says there will be no problems?

the problem here is that some people give engouraging advice but won't stand behind their words if they are wrong. that is why I am here writing warnings.

(and as I said, some laws about reserved frequencies can be really unrealistic for your eyes)

[jasonisdavid]

So this error message appears every time I try to turn off the fm transmitter. Any ideas on how to make it shut down properly?

Once running, and you try and close it a message pops up stating it cannot access the transmitter.

Open x-terminal and gain root ("sudo gainroot"), then type the following.

killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d

After this click on the status bar at the top, the fm tranmitter short cut will still be open, click on this. Without changing any settings click save. It will close and the FM icon will disappear.

Now each time you run it, it will work as supposed to.


Hope this helps

[les_garten]

damn you guys are stupid. read to which comment I replied about FCC reporting.

(hint: there maxximuscool made a new statement that messing with frequencies won't do you any harm)

so which one we should believe? initial warning or later comment that says there will be no problems?

the problem here is that some people give engouraging advice but won't stand behind their words if they are wrong. that is why I am here writing warnings.

(and as I said, some laws about reserved frequencies can be really unrealistic for your eyes)

I'm having a HELL of a Good time!!

Last night I cranked up my Pirate N900 Radio Station and drove around the Neighborhood for 4 hours transmitting Elvis singing "Suspicious Minds" at 76.1 mHz.

Then I came home and tore the labels off all my Mattresses.

After that I was so hopped up, I started running through the house with Scissors!

Today, I'm considering getting really edgy and using the Lord's

name in Vain.

Looks like you're gonna be busy, you have a lot to do.

You need to:

1) Call the FCC and report all the Roque Pirate N900 Radio Stations that are causing more trouble than Sunspots.

2) Call the Mattress Police and tell them being on Probation has not cured me.

3) Notify my Mother that I am thumbing my nose at her.

4) Call Rome to arrange my Excommunication.

Ohh, and Tomorrows another day, get ready...

Douche-Nozzle!

[maxximuscool]

Here is a video of fully working unlocked or should I say (HACKED) FM Transmitter :).
It's purely legal at where I am. So I'm uploaded it to Youtube to show that it is working :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbcgcfemOks

[les_garten]

Here is a video of fully working unlocked or should I say (HACKED) FM Transmitter :).
It's purely legal at where I am. So I'm uploaded it to Youtube to show that it is working :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJOzGi38Wek

Thanx! I followed directions on this thread and everything worked perfectly.

For the last 12 hours I have been blasting across as much of the Pirate Spectrum as I can.

Cause that's how I Roll!

[YoDude]

What's it to you? Why are you so very concerned, you're not here to "warn" anyone, you just want to be a dick. Maxximuscool already gave his disclaimer, and his great work made the front page of Maemo via thehandheldblog.com...


Not to be King Richard here (the first Royal Dick), but the person you should be thanking for the "work" posted right before you.

But that's ok, thehandhelblog.com also quoted my advice and references qwerty12's work that has been available on this forum for a month now without credit too. :rolleyes:

[torsen]

Been trying to get this working for a an hour or so but it kept coming up with the "Unable to use FM transmitter" message.

I finally got it working by reinstalling the 'Simple FMTX desktop widget', and using this I can now toggle the FM transmitter on and off again with the new wavelength settings. However if I use the FM menu from the media player app or settings it still give the error message. But with the widget it works fine, which suits me as I always use this.

Having these extra freqencies available are really useful to me as I drive 200 miles plus a day and use my FM transmitter a lot and I am constantly having to change frequencies on the move as I cross into different areas, this should help a lot. Thank you.

[m0da]

Been trying to get this working for a an hour or so but it kept coming up with the "Unable to use FM transmitter" message.

I finally got it working by reinstalling the 'Simple FMTX desktop widget', and using this I can now toggle the FM transmitter on and off again with the new wavelength settings. However if I use the FM menu from the media player app or settings it still give the error message. But with the widget it works fine, which suits me as I always use this.

Having these extra freqencies available are really useful to me as I drive 200 miles plus a day and use my FM transmitter a lot and I am constantly having to change frequencies on the move as I cross into different areas, this should help a lot. Thank you.

have you installed fmtx faker? may help
on first run, it will "patch" your fmtxd.

you can unpatch and patch via x-term commands
fmtx-faker-tool patch
fmtx-faker-tool unpatch

[romanianusa]

I didn't uninstall Simple FMTXD Widget and it still work? I forgot about it. Also when you type killall fmtxd...it says no process killed or something....is that fine?

[ed00]

Seems to be working. But the only problem is that doesn't want to turn off and giving that message Unable to use FM transmitter and its happening only when using bellow frequency 87.5 Mhz (in my case). The only way i can turn it off is by FMTX widget. Which is ok for me as long as it works and power_level still at 120 without fmBooster.

[m0da]

Seems to be working. But the only problem is that doesn't want to turn off and giving that message Unable to use FM transmitter and its happening only when using bellow frequency 87.5 Mhz (in my case). The only way i can turn it off is by FMTX widget. Which is ok for me as long as it works and power_level still at 120 without fmBooster.

Actually, that happens to me too.
I had to bring back the broadcast frequency to above 87.5 to turn it off.

[YoDude]

I didn't uninstall Simple FMTXD Widget and it still work? I forgot about it. Also when you type killall fmtxd...it says no process killed or something....is that fine?

If it works you're Okey doke. :)

The advice to uninstall first was given to ensure nothing was calling up fmtxd (http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=777310&postcount=64). Killall does the same thing but is sometimes harder to explain to those unfamiliar with the command line. Besides these other apps and widgets won't be needed anyway if every thing works as planned and you have also installed qwerty12's status bar clone (http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=771531&postcount=44).

And before someone jumps in to say that those unfamiliar with the CLI shouldn't be doing this well, I believe that maxximuscool did a fine job in bringing this to everyones attention and spending the time explaining and demonstrating the procedure in this thread.
Unfortunately, sometimes that's not always the case. In any event the advice was given to help reduce potential failures by those attracted to this wonderful feature. :)

With everything working well you should be able to listen to a podcast, net radio station, or whatever playlist you have on the N900 through your vehicles stereo on your way home from a long day of work at Spacely Sprockets (http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ipXGeOzW-jtbAM:http://images.bcdb.com/gallery/d/792-2/Spacely_Space_Sprockets_Inc.jpg&t=1). When you get home and park you can push a button on your N900 and continue listening using the device itself as you walk into your humble abode.

As Rosy the maid (http://www.jeffbots.com/rosie4.jpg) gets the mail for you she can turn on the home stereo tuned to the same station. After greeting your boy Elroy (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y8m29ZLX5ag/STD630GDULI/AAAAAAAAB1g/M-EhJvJVmUo/s400/JETSONS+COLOR+4.jpg), daughter Judy (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y8m29ZLX5ag/STD64sZKNqI/AAAAAAAAB1o/zK5BsbWafxQ/s400/JETSONS+COLOR+3.jpg), and Jane (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y8m29ZLX5ag/STD647g90QI/AAAAAAAAB1w/gw7coI-SekI/s400/JETSONS+COLOR+2.jpg) your wife you can push the same button on the N900, plug it into the charger, and continue listening through the home system while you read the dang mail... and all without missing a beat.

What a life, eh?

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/35698/715776-geogre_large.jpg

I don't know of any other device that can do this so easily using any type of connection.

[geneven]

damn you guys are stupid. read to which comment I replied about FCC reporting.

(hint: there maxximuscool made a new statement that messing with frequencies won't do you any harm)

so which one we should believe? initial warning or later comment that says there will be no problems?

the problem here is that some people give engouraging advice but won't stand behind their words if they are wrong. that is why I am here writing warnings.

(and as I said, some laws about reserved frequencies can be really unrealistic for your eyes)

I'm one of the stupid people too, so could you enlighten me about something? Why are you such an expert on the serious consequences of violating US law? How long did you spend in the US? Or have you studied US law where you are?

[ed00]

I found this thread http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=43395 by Qwerty12. This guy is genius :D Basically you dont even need FMTX widged and FM-transmitter always visibly on the status menu. All you need is just overwrite original fmtx_status_menu_item.so with qwerty's
Dont forget to backup original file in case some goes wrong ..... ;)

[Crogge]

Oh seriously some members here really should enable some more of their brain cells, you take the whole topic way too serious.

The N900 has a FM transmitter with a few nW and even "tuned" it wouldn't be able to disturb ANY signal out there. You may can disturb your TV if you hold it near your TV antenna but except that its not able to take any influence on the public signals.

So I guess most of you are simply joking or the public transmitters in the US are really that weak, they may should use German products instead ;)

If we would talk about tuned "real" transmitter hers with several Watts of strength I could get your point, but a mobile phone with 0,0000...W is a joke compared to the public transmitters. That is also one of the reasons why nobody would be able to trace you, the signals is simply too weak!

P.S: Don't forget to mod also the receiver ;)

[les_garten]

Oh seriously some members here really should enable some more of their brain cells, you take the whole topic way too serious.

The N900 has a FM transmitter with a few nW and even "tuned" it wouldn't be able to disturb ANY signal out there. You may can disturb your TV if you hold it near your TV antenna but except that its not able to take any influence on the public signals.

So I guess most of you are simply joking or the public transmitters in the US are really that weak, they may should use German products instead ;)

If we would talk about tuned "real" transmitter hers with several Watts of strength I could get your point, but a mobile phone with 0,0000...W is a joke compared to the public transmitters. That is also one of the reasons why nobody would be able to trace you, the signals is simply too weak!

P.S: Don't forget to mod also the receiver ;)

I immediately mod'd mine with a 100w Linear Amplifier. Took it out of my 1977 Trans Am left over from my Smoky and the Bandit days.

[Swirnoff]

You sons of *****ES!
Got me all excited for nothin! My car's radio (California) doesn't go below 87Mh! But THANKS so much!

[les_garten]

Just getting into the 87's helps a lot!

[Crogge]

You sons of *****ES!
Got me all excited for nothin! My car's radio (California) doesn't go below 87Mh! But THANKS so much!

All modern radio's have a option to change the region to "Asia", then its possible to receive frequencies below 87,5 MHz.

[ceroberts75]

can someone please come up with a way to make this transmit phone calls at the same time?

that would be great...because if you have a bluetooth...or headset...its a no go...

[maxximuscool]

can someone please come up with a way to make this transmit phone calls at the same time?

that would be great...because if you have a bluetooth...or headset...its a no go...

It can be possible but why would you want a phone call going through your FM lol. Don't you know that other people may spying on you while you're talking to your girl friend during the mid night phone sex in the car afterwork?

I believe someone will come up with a hack but I would just bluetooth and then FM it :)

[jacekowski]

The N900 has a FM transmitter with a few nW and even "tuned" it wouldn't be able to disturb ANY signal out there.
...
That is also one of the reasons why nobody would be able to trace you, the signals is simply too weak!



You don't even imagine how much interference you can get from one small 50nW transmitter in place where signal is weak - you can interfere with radios in ~100m radius with a bit of luck.

Triangulating signal from transmitter like that is quite easy - there are ready systems for this purpose located around bigger cities, and can locate signals instantly (and such systems has existed for 70 years - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Cage) so it's illegal and easy to locate

[maxximuscool]

FM transmitting + Bluetooth headset is working together nicely, when you recieving a call it will switch back to bluetooth headset and once you've ended the call then it will redirect back to FM Transmitter.

This is a GO GO not NO GO! Safety comes first my friend.

[maxximuscool]

You don't even imagine how much interference you can get from one small 50nW transmitter in place where signal is weak - you can interfere with radios in ~100m radius with a bit of luck.

Triangulating signal from transmitter like that is quite easy - there are ready systems for this purpose located around bigger cities, and can locate signals instantly (and such systems has existed for 70 years - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Cage) so it's illegal and easy to locate


Thank you for bringiing it up :) so we all know the consequences if anyone abusing the power in their hand.

[ceroberts75]

Yeah just tried it .. worked great.

For the sake of others:

1. Uninstall fmboost, simple fmtransmitter widet.. etc
2. Download and transfer to N900, the fmtxd file from the zip file attached to the first post.
3. x-term > sudo gainroot
4. cd /home/user/MyDocs/
5. mv fmtxd /usr/sbin/
6. cd /usr/sbin/
7. chmod +x fmtxd
8. fmtxd -d
9. close xterm
10. Open app manger and install fm faker.
10. Open fm transmitter from settings and confirm.

Please let me know if there are any errors.

Thanks

thanks for this. much easier. i have changed some of it and works like a charm now!


Step by step guide:
===========================
Before starting:
Assuming you've got none of these installed:

*FM-Boost
*Simple-FMTX-widget
*FM-Faker
*And FM-Transmitter is turned off
*Extras-Devel Repository is enabled. Then proceed the following

1. Download and transfer to N900, the fmtxd file from the zip file attached to the first post.
2. Uninstall fm-boost, simpleifmtx-widet.. etc,

open xterm
sudo gainroot
apt-get remove fm-boost simple-fmtx-widget


4. go to MyDocs folder where you saved the fmtxd file,

cd /home/user/MyDocs/

5. Move the file to replace the current one,

mv fmtxd /usr/sbin/

6. Go to where the file has been moved, and use the following commands:

cd /usr/sbin/
chmod +x fmtxd
fmtxd -d

7. Now reinstall the fm-faker and simple-fmtx-widget

apt-get install fm-faker simple-fmtx-widget

8. Leave xterm open

9. Go to your FM-transmitter and check if your range has been change. Enable it and then try to disable it. You'll get "Unable

to use FM transmitter". Because of the standard app doesn't know the frequency range in the modified fmtxd . Don't panic it will

be fixed later. Just check to be sure you can see the new frequencies.

9. Go back to Xterm and type the following:

chmod +x /usr/sbin/fmtxd
killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d (this will restart the FM transmitter daemon)

10. If the transmitter still does not shut down, then go back to xterm and type:

reboot


11. After reboot, your fmtx widget should work fine and so should the settings in the settings menu.

[ceroberts75]

It can be possible but why would you want a phone call going through your FM lol. Don't you know that other people may spying on you while you're talking to your girl friend during the mid night phone sex in the car afterwork?

I believe someone will come up with a hack but I would just bluetooth and then FM it :)

lol...i work from home and just find my bride! ;)


i would rather not be bothered and have it go straight through to control the volume and not have multiple units going.


i used a motorola t505 for a long time which would allow me to use my car speakers for my calls. it worked great. just not sure why this was blocked. would still like the hack to be done if anyone is willing to break it.

[maxximuscool]

lol...i work from home and just find my bride! ;)


i would rather not be bothered and have it go straight through to control the volume and not have multiple units going.


i used a motorola t505 for a long time which would allow me to use my car speakers for my calls. it worked great. just not sure why this was blocked. would still like the hack to be done if anyone is willing to break it.

I believe because of the feed back received from the speakers would interfaring with the converstation and echoing. You can hear them but they will hear themselves talking while talking and listening. Very confusing isn't it!

[teh]

Thought I would just say for definite...

My FM transmitter using that new file WORKS WITHOUT FMTX-FAKER.

Just put it on 87.5mhz and turned it on without a problem, and listened to it on the radio

[maxximuscool]

Thought I would just say for definite...

My FM transmitter using that new file WORKS WITHOUT FMTX-FAKER.

Just put it on 87.5mhz and turned it on without a problem, and listened to it on the radio

Yeah some people got it to work without FM-faker, not sure why but if you get the "Unable to use FM transmitter" then you need FM-faker :D to trigger the FM Transmitter to work again. More like a shock to revive a dying patient.

[ossipena]

I'm one of the stupid people too, so could you enlighten me about something? Why are you such an expert on the serious consequences of violating US law? How long did you spend in the US? Or have you studied US law where you are?

I am not expert on US law. I presume that their laws are a bit stricter because of what FCC requires from every radio tx unit manufacturer before it can be sold in USA...

of course rules and regulations might be less tight but if you have to serve time in jail if you order orchids abroad and sell them.....

[ossipena]

Oh seriously some members here really should enable some more of their brain cells, you take the whole topic way too serious.

The N900 has a FM transmitter with a few nW and even "tuned" it wouldn't be able to disturb ANY signal out there. You may can disturb your TV if you hold it near your TV antenna but except that its not able to take any influence on the public signals.


will you cover every aspect(legal fees, fines, ...) if someone using this gets caught and gets fined for example?

if not, why are you engouraging people to do something you don't seem to know a lot then?

can we just stop engouraging and say that everyone does it with their own riks. You probably won't get caught anyway but one probably doesn't win in the lottery too....

[jacekowski]

Those thing only used in a few listed cities on the Wikipedia though. And Big cities won't use it, because big cities would have endless amount of Wireless frequencies broadcasting none stopped.

And I see your point here though it is not about disturbing the other frequencies in the area you living in. The frequency you are broadcasting in your ard will only limited by the amount of amplifier you've got. If the car is sealed then there is less signal leaking out which will be too weak to reach more than 1-2m when the car is closed. Even in the car the frequency from the N900 FM transmitter can barely reached out to the 0.5m stereo. I had to do a few modification to my car stereo to receive a good signal :)


But it is great that you bring it up :) so we all know the consequences if anyone abusing the power in their hand.

You obviously have no idea what are you talking about.
System i linked there is old and not used any more ( but article describes nicely how it is working) , now all bigger cities have similar systems just for purpose of tracking illegal transmitters ( usually high powered ones, but can easily track very low power as well ) )

And being able to receive useful signal from 0.5m doesn't mean you will create interferences 0.5m from you - especially in metal car that can bounce waves, you can interfere with signal a lot further

[torsen]

have you installed fmtx faker? may help
on first run, it will "patch" your fmtxd.

I did and it didn't help.

Seems to be working. But the only problem is that doesn't want to turn off and giving that message Unable to use FM transmitter and its happening only when using bellow frequency 87.5 Mhz (in my case). The only way i can turn it off is by FMTX widget. Which is ok for me as long as it works and power_level still at 120 without fmBooster.

Yes same for me, but I am now happy using the widget to toggle it on and off and power level seems fine.

[Veix]

FM transmitting + Bluetooth headset is working together nicely, when you recieving a call it will switch back to bluetooth headset and once you've ended the call then it will redirect back to FM Transmitter.

This is a GO GO not NO GO! Safety comes first my friend.

Which BT headset are you using? When i paired some SonyEricsson headset, the music was also transferred to bt headset all the time.

[ceroberts75]

i am using a nokia bh-903 and the included wired one.

[S0urcerr0r]

awesome thread!

[mangal_sk8erboy]

hey i cant seem to find the fm faker application!
i had it installed already but i thot it would work after i reinstall it.
i ended up not finding it in the application manager!
help please!
it says
cannot launch daemon, file not found or permission invalid.

help!!
edit : found it :)!
sorry, i kinda flipped when my fm transmitter didnt work :$
sorry !

[cardiff-blues]

is it possible to have say: 3 desktop icons that trigger 3 different predefined frequencies?

My thinking is that if suddenly whilst driving the current frequency becomes umusable then we could quickly change to a different frequency easily without having to go into settings to do so.

[ceroberts75]

is it possible to have say: 3 desktop icons that trigger 3 different predefined frequencies?

My thinking is that if suddenly whilst driving the current frequency becomes umusable then we could quickly change to a different frequency easily without having to go into settings to do so.

would certainly seem plausable if someone could write the command to copy/paste into queenbee and just change the part with the station settings.

[meer_alyy14]

You've done something wrong. Too many overwrite was done and it might confused the hell out of the FM Transmitter kernel.

Here is a solution for you: Try this first.
Uninstall FM - Faker
sudo gainroot
reboot

open Xterminal:
sudo gainroot
killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d


keep trying:

killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d

Then go to FM Transmitter and enable a frequency, click save. And quickly go to Xterminal and run the command again.


Re-install FM-Faker

Arrrrrggghhhhhh.....by mistake i deleted the usr/sbin folder.....what should i do now......helpppp plssssss.......

[YoDude]

Arrrrrggghhhhhh.....by mistake i deleted the usr/sbin folder.....what should i do now......helpppp plssssss.......

Game Over! :eek:

I believe a reflash would be the least complicated...

...but thanks for reminding me to back-up my own dang device. :)

[maxximuscool]

Arrrrrggghhhhhh.....by mistake i deleted the usr/sbin folder.....what should i do now......helpppp plssssss.......

Hmm... This is silly! I could send you my /usr/sbin folder but not sure if it will do much :)

I doubt but I'll package it now.

[fatalsaint]

Hmm... This is silly! I could send you my /usr/sbin folder but not sure if it will do much :)

I doubt but I'll package it now.

Yours may be different than his because of installed packages and what-not..

It's better in this case just to reflash.

[maxximuscool]

Yours may be different than his because of installed packages and what-not..

It's better in this case just to reflash.

yeah but worth to give it a try though :) what if it works then it saved him from reflashing. Mine hardly got anything installed lol

[maxximuscool]

Here you my sbin folder.
Put it into /usr/
http://www.filefactory.com/file/b306bgd/n/sbin.zip

[meer_alyy14]

Here you my sbin folder.
Put it into /usr/
http://www.filefactory.com/file/b306bgd/n/sbin.zip

thanks alooot for u r tym....can u plzzzz e mail me this file...dunno y it is not downloading.....plzzz u r hard work will be appreciated.....

[meer_alyy14]

Here you my sbin folder.
Put it into /usr/
http://www.filefactory.com/file/b306bgd/n/sbin.zip

my e-mail address meer_cool13@hotmail.com

[Andrew_b]

Thanks Maxximuscool for bringing this to our attention. Downloaded the unzipped fmtxd file straight to my N900 from Jacekowski's website (http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD) then renamed the old file and copied and pasted the updated one into the relevant directory using the excellent new FileBox (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=60159) file manager with root access from CepiPerez. No need to mess around with downloading to a PC, unzipping and transferring that way.

No stations transmitting around here anywhere near 87.5Mhz, so no more fiddling about changing frequencies every few miles on longer trips. Looks like I can finally put that ancient 3.5mm to cassette adaptor to rest in my other car now too, so less wires dangling around on the dashboard.

You've made me very happy indeed with this mod!

[Aranel]

It looks like working OK, showing up 76.0 and starts correctly. But It doesn't stop transmitting? :) It shows the "Unable to use.." error message when I try to deactive it. But It deactivates if I do it with FMTX Widget. Weird. Do you have an idea why?

[ceevee]

It looks like working OK, showing up 76.0 and starts correctly. But It doesn't stop transmitting? :) It shows the "Unable to use.." error message when I try to deactive it. But It deactivates if I do it with FMTX Widget. Weird. Do you have an idea why?Exact same thing happens to me. "Unable to use..." only pops up when disabling FM Transmitter through the menu.

Using the widget to disable the FM Transmitter shows no error though.

[munkiii]

What can i use to edit this file?

I've tried a text/html editor and a hex editor, neither work.

I want to change it to 108.0 max freq.

My radio goes to 108.0 max, with nothing on 108.0, but using 107.9 i can hear a faint signal of some radio station (before i turn on my FMTX).

[N900@900MHz]

Exact same thing happens to me. "Unable to use..." only pops up when disabling FM Transmitter through the menu.

Using the widget to disable the FM Transmitter shows no error though.

Same here, freq below 87.5MHz unable to switch off transmitter. But if you change freq. anything above 87.5Mhz, everything is working fine.
In my region, there is nothing below 87.5 MHz, Tuners here can't lower than 87.5Mhz. Isit possible to edit the FMTXD file, so that the lowest freq. is 87.5 Mhz???

[munkiii]

Same here, freq below 87.5MHz unable to switch off transmitter. But if you change freq. anything above 87.5Mhz, everything is working fine.
In my region, there is nothing below 87.5 MHz, Tuners here can't lower than 87.5Mhz. Isit possible to edit the FMTXD file, so that the lowest freq. is 87.5 Mhz???
Just checked this.

Same happening to me.

[munkiii]

Is anybody working on fixing this ?

Or even just changing the minimum frequency to 87.5 ?

(or my suggestion of raising the maximum from 107.9 to 108.0 ?)

[maxximuscool]

Is anybody working on fixing this ?

Or even just changing the minimum frequency to 87.5 ?

(or my suggestion of raising the maximum from 107.9 to 108.0 ?)

The hardware is limited to 108.0 but we can only use up to 107.9 when hacking the Hex value.

It is uncleared on how to achieve 108.0 on the dot. Because if you can set to 108.X then you can set up to 108.9. Which is not logically understandable by the chip.

Minimum frequency is 76.0, you can use anything above 76.0Mhz as your minimum. For example I'm using 87.5Mhz as my everyday usage. This hack is has mixed result. I personally just tried reset my device to default setting and my FM Transmitter complaning again. I'm working on a solution to make it more reliable

[maxximuscool]

Lol! I've stuffed up! I accidentally deleted my /usr/bin folder instead of /usr/sbin folder. Now reflashing my N900, dued to cannot start up after reboot. lol.

I'm going to test this out once more. Last time I manage to get my FMTXD to work with all frequencies. But just now I only got it to work at 87.5Minimum.

[maxximuscool]

I can't achieve the same result I did before I reset my device.. But I found a simple working around method to get to as low as 76.0Mhz.

Simply switch the FM transmitter to 76.0Mhz from the start and then if you want to disable the FM transmitter then change the frequency to 87.5-> 109.9Mhz then disable FM transmitter.

If you want to go back to 78Mhz then just do it and if you want to disable it, simply switch the frequency to 87.5+ again then it will allowing you to disable the FM transmitter.

I'll keep trying to find a perminant way to solve this. It may be restricted to the firmware I'm using.

76.0Mhz -> To turn off, switch to any frequency higher than 87.5mhz

To enable anything below 87.5Mhz simply enable it from the start.

[maxximuscool]

Good News guy, I finally hacked my FM transmitter to work with all frequencies even below 87.5Mhz is able to switch able freely. There is only one variable that needed to be changed inside the system configuration.

Now the FM transmitter can be disable or enable, change down and change up freely without having to see "Unable to use FM transmitter" message when you changing from 87.5Mhz to below 87.4Mhz.

Solution hacked is very simple. :D
How did I not think of that, took me all night tried to reduce the minimum frequency to hack the system file. But no luck. I had to read through the Developer documentation of the hardware and software to find out how the damn thing works.

Now That I found the way to do it, I'm going to share with you all. ENJOY THE FREEDOM!

Here is the file, simply follow the folder structure and replace the file inside the zip file with the system file. Then you're all set.

[maxximuscool]

Which BT headset are you using? When i paired some SonyEricsson headset, the music was also transferred to bt headset all the time.

Nokia official Headset.

[les_garten]

Good News guy, I finally hacked my FM transmitter to work with all frequencies even below 87.5Mhz is able to switch able freely. There is only one variable that needed to be changed inside the system configuration.

Now the FM transmitter can be disable or enable, change down and change up freely without having to see "Unable to use FM transmitter" message when you changing from 87.5Mhz to below 87.4Mhz.

Solution hacked is very simple. :D
How did I not think of that, took me all night tried to reduce the minimum frequency to hack the system file. But no luck. I had to read through the Developer documentation of the hardware and software to find out how the damn thing works.

Now That I found the way to do it, I'm going to share with you all. ENJOY THE FREEDOM!

Here is the file, simply follow the folder structure and replace the file inside the zip file with the system file. Then you're all set.

For some reason, even as root, I can't delete this file.

I used rm -f

Did you have this problem?

[maxximuscool]

For some reason, even as root, I can't delete this file.

I used rm -f

Did you have this problem?

You can't delete it, you can do so by go to the directory through WinSCP and replace it with the one I upload.

Then it will work :)

Otherwise just Edit the file and change the region to 4.

I want to make it easier for people to do so I upload the file instead. But if you are confident with manually editing the file then you can :)
Make sure your FM-Transmitter is off and there process is not running.

Do it by Commandline.
From Xterminal:

root
killall fmtxd
killall fmtxd "just to double check"
cd /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063

if you have leaf pad then do this:

leafpad region

replace the number in the file from 2 to 4.

Save and exit.

Enjoy!

[les_garten]

You can't delete it, you can do so by go to the directory through WinSCP and replace it with the one I upload.

Then it will work :)

Otherwise just Edit the file and change the region to 4.

I want to make it easier for people to do so I upload the file instead. But if you are confident with manually editing the file then you can :)
Make sure your FM-Transmitter is off and there process is not running.

Do it by Commandline.
From Xterminal:

root
killall fmtxd
killall fmtxd "just to double check"
cd /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063

if you have leaf pad then do this:

leafpad region

replace the number in the file from 2 to 4.

Save and exit.

Enjoy!

I'll try to edit.

I tried to transfer it with an over write and access was denied. So I tried to delete and access denied. I'll just edit it then with vi.

That worked!

[YoDude]

Good News guy, I finally hacked my FM transmitter to work with all frequencies even below 87.5Mhz is able to switch able freely. There is only one variable that needed to be changed inside the system configuration.

Now the FM transmitter can be disable or enable, change down and change up freely without having to see "Unable to use FM transmitter" message when you changing from 87.5Mhz to below 87.4Mhz.

Solution hacked is very simple. :D
How did I not think of that, took me all night tried to reduce the minimum frequency to hack the system file. But no luck. I had to read through the Developer documentation of the hardware and software to find out how the damn thing works.

Now That I found the way to do it, I'm going to share with you all. ENJOY THE FREEDOM!

Here is the file, simply follow the folder structure and replace the file inside the zip file with the system file. Then you're all set.

Good for you for staying with this thread.

Yup, them dang documentation files come in handy don't they? :)

I don't go below the standard frequencies because of the limitations of my home FM receivers. I have a large piece of art hanging on a central wall of my house. Behind it I built a simple 2 wire dipole antenna that all three of my household receivers share.

With the N900 rockin' at 120 the upstairs, downstairs, and patio stereo's can pick up the N900's signal no matter where I'm at in the house. However, I usually leave it plugged into the charger downstairs right next to the antenna.

I now have a use for my N800 (upstairs) and N810 (patio) as N900 clients. :)

Did I say "What a life"?

Oh, I almost forgot: :p

If I understand you correctly, there should be no need for FM Faker unless you are using a firmware that doesn't support FMTX. Is this correct?

[maxximuscool]

Good for you for staying with this thread.

Yup, them dang documentation files come in handy don't they? :)

I don't go below the standard frequencies because of the limitations of my home FM receivers. I have a large piece of art hanging on a central wall of my house. Behind it I built a simple 2 wire dipole antenna that all three of my household receivers share.

With the N900 rockin' at 120 the upstairs, downstairs, and patio stereo's can pick up the N900's signal no matter where I'm at in the house. However, I usually leave it plugged into the charger downstairs right next to the antenna.

I now have a use for my N800 (upstairs) and N810 (patio) as N900 clients. :)

Did I say "What a life"?

Oh, I almost forgot: :p

If I understand you correctly, there should be no need for FM Faker unless you are using a firmware that doesn't support FMTX. Is this correct?

Correct but at the same time it also incorrect :D

You don't need FMTX Faker to make it work. But you will need it to make it work from 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 tuning frequencies.

Without FMTX Faker you'll only have 1,3,5,7,9 as the tuner frequencies. So if you don't want to do the 88.0Mhz, 88.2, 88.4, 88.6, 88.8 then you shouldn't need it.

The FMTX Faker is here to help unlocking the missing tuning frequencies :)

I had to sacrificed my already working Unlocked FMTX just for the research in hacking this damn thing, also have to reflashed my device as well. I spent countless hours testing this to make sure things work nicely for the community to use :)

Now I can reassured that this hacked is 100% effective.

[ceroberts75]

arghhh...*banging head*


i flashed my device, did all the same things and i still cannot use this.


it worked before the flash, but this time i am stuck on 88.6 freq....and no matter what i do, it will always give me a cannot use error.

[maxximuscool]

arghhh...*banging head*


i flashed my device, did all the same things and i still cannot use this.


it worked before the flash, but this time i am stuck on 88.6 freq....and no matter what i do, it will always give me a cannot use error.

Lol don't worry, don't panic.
Things will be just fine.

1. Uninstalled everything related to FMTX
2. if you get the "Unable to use fm transmitter"

Xterminal: root

killall fmtxd
killall fmtxd

Now you should be able to disable the FM Transmitter.
Disable it and then enable it at 76.0

Go to Xterminal:
killall fmtxd

Go to App manager -> FMTX FAker

Xterminal: reboot

Enable FM Transmitter at 87.5, then change it to 88.5 -> 107.9Mhz
This just to make sure you can go UP! now change back from 107.9Mhz ->all the way down to 87.5Mhz
If you change change it to 87.5 then you're doing fine.

Now change from 87.5 to 87.4Mhz, you'll get the error "unable to use FM Transmitter", Change it back to 87.6 and if you can then this meant you are ready for the next step Limitation removal.

[maxximuscool]

LIMITATION REMOVAL:
Disable your FM transmitter and then in Xterminal as root:

Install Leafpad "I would prefer leafpad over vi because of the ease of use"

Xterminal:
root
cd /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063
leafpad region


------------------This is what it should look like in the "region" file.
2



------------------Change it to
4



-------------------Save
Xterminal:
reboot

[m0da]

worked like a charm. totally free now, thank you!

[ceroberts75]

Lol don't worry, don't panic.
Things will be just fine.

1. Uninstalled everything related to FMTX
2. if you get the "Unable to use fm transmitter"

Xterminal: root

killall fmtxd
killall fmtxd

Now you should be able to disable the FM Transmitter.
Disable it and then enable it at 76.0

Go to Xterminal:
killall fmtxd

Go to App manager -> FMTX FAker

Xterminal: reboot

Enable FM Transmitter at 87.5, then change it to 88.5 -> 107.9Mhz
This just to make sure you can go UP! now change back from 107.9Mhz ->all the way down to 87.5Mhz
If you change change it to 87.5 then you're doing fine.

Now change from 87.5 to 87.4Mhz, you'll get the error "unable to use FM Transmitter", Change it back to 87.6 and if you can then this meant you are ready for the next step Limitation removal.

the only thing i have installed is:

fmtx-faker
simple-fmtx-widget

last time i installed, before the reflash, i had 1,2,3,4,5,6,... now, i only have the 1,3,5,7,9, and it is locked to 88.6.


i have removed all fmtx stuff and reinstalled from the begining 3 times now...same result. i just did what the guy above said about changing the 2 to a 4. just finished rebooting.


errr..."not able to us......."

:/

[m0da]

the only thing i have installed is:

fmtx-faker
simple-fmtx-widget

last time i installed, before the reflash, i had 1,2,3,4,5,6,... now, i only have the 1,3,5,7,9, and it is locked to 88.6.


i have removed all fmtx stuff and reinstalled from the begining 3 times now...same result. i just did what the guy above said about changing the 2 to a 4. just finished rebooting.


errr..."not able to us......."

:/

you may've downloaded the wrong fmtxd. try using one from a dif post. wish i could upload mine, but can't exactly atm.

[maxximuscool]

I'm thinking of wrapping it up as a package.deb, first I have to learn how to do that. Once I've done that I'll announce it :)

This will help solve people's problem.

[maxximuscool]

the only thing i have installed is:

fmtx-faker
simple-fmtx-widget

last time i installed, before the reflash, i had 1,2,3,4,5,6,... now, i only have the 1,3,5,7,9, and it is locked to 88.6.


i have removed all fmtx stuff and reinstalled from the begining 3 times now...same result. i just did what the guy above said about changing the 2 to a 4. just finished rebooting.


errr..."not able to us.......

:/

I got that at the start too. But This is how I fixed it.

Uninstall FMTX-Faker
Uninstall FM Widget

reboot

Download the FMTXD from my first post and delete the old on in the /usr/sbin/

Paste the fmtxd in there now, reboot

Now when you click on it, you'll get "Unable to use fm transmitter"

Xterminal:
root
chmod +x /usr/sbin/fmtxd
reboot

Enable FM-Transmitter
Xterminal:
root
killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d

killall ftmxd

install FMTX Faker

Xterminal:
fmtxd -d
reboot

Once you're restarted you'll see 0....9

[ceroberts75]

worked!

great.


should i be able to reinstall the widget or the rds notifier? or will those create an issue?

[rajil.s]

Is the region firmware dependent because i changed the region from 2 to 4 but still i get the unable to use FM when i try disabling the transmitter at a lower frequency. The firmware i use is UK region.

[maxximuscool]

Is the region firmware dependent because i changed the region from 2 to 4 but still i get the unable to use FM when i try disabling the transmitter at a lower frequency. The firmware i use is UK region.

You have to follow the step carefully. Region isn't the problem. Region 2 will only have 87500Hz frequency as minimum. But region 4 will enable the use of all available frequencies.

I'm using global firmware but it shouldn't be the problem.

@ceroberts
yes once it worked then installing anything you like :)
Freedom that is.

[N900@900MHz]

Thanks to MAXXIMUSCOOL it works!

region changed from 2 to 4 thru leafpad and xterm.
works verywell.

[TiagoTiago]

if you changed the region before the steps described in #151 (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=799654#post799654) you might need to do it again afterwards

[ceevee]

I changed it from 2 to 4, but after reboot it goes back to 2. I reopen region before reboot to make sure I really changed the number.

Any ideas?

[les_garten]

I changed it from 2 to 4, but after reboot it goes back to 2. I reopen region before reboot to make sure I really changed the number.

Any ideas?

Mine changes to 2 as well on reboot

does it "need" to be 4?

If so, looks like a fcrontab job is in order.

[TiagoTiago]

crap, indeed it gets reset :(

[TiagoTiago]

i tried making it read only but that didn't help, but somehow it now works even with region 2 (can't turn off while the frequency is out of the standard range though)

[Harick]

i had the same issue trying to edit the file, just replaced it with maximus's, with cp command as root, mv didnt work.

[les_garten]

Fcron solves the problem with a fcrontab entry

Here's mine:

Nokia-N900:~# fcrontab -l
20:02:31 listing root's fcrontab
!nolog(true)

# Update Locate DB
0 3 * * * /usr/bin/updatedb

# Bluetooth off
0 22 * * * /usr/bin/phone-control --btoff

# Bluetooth ON
30 10 * * * /usr/bin/phone-control --bton

# Cell Off Nightly
0 0 * * * /usr/bin/phone-control --celloff

# Cell On Dailey
0 8 * * * /usr/bin/phone-control --cellon

# Set Region from 2 to 4
@ 120 echo 4 > /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/region

Thought I would just include the whole crontab for FUN.

This sets it every 120 min. You could do just one at start, or every 30 min for that matter. It isn't much of a draw on energy or resources.

[N900@900MHz]

region works very well,until reboot. It changes back to 2. Any idea how to solve this??

[maxximuscool]

region works very well,until reboot. It changes back to 2. Any idea how to solve this??

Shouldn't change back to 2 though. Hmm.. I see I got that too. I'll got to do more tethering and hope to find a perminant solution for you guys.

[jacekowski]

well, region 4 problem was fixed long time ago (http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD#comment-16) and i'm quite amazed how people managed to get it to work without changing module/region ( which is impossible )

[les_garten]

well, region 4 problem was fixed long time ago (http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD#comment-16) and i'm quite amazed how people managed to get it to work without changing module/region ( which is impossible )

So "4" comes from the FMTXD binary?

I'm not clear on this?

I have a crontab setup for it, that won't work?

[YoDude]

well, region 4 problem was fixed long time ago (http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD#comment-16) and i'm quite amazed how people managed to get it to work without changing module/region ( which is impossible )

As I thought...

BTW; do you happen to know the offset where "Pilot" can be disabled?

[maxximuscool]

well, region 4 problem was fixed long time ago (http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD#comment-16) and i'm quite amazed how people managed to get it to work without changing module/region ( which is impossible )

Can you suggest a better way to do a perminant hack on this?
This will surely helping people in Asian countries like Japan, and India. I know for sure that Japan using 76Mhz to 90Mhz. I found some things in the configuration files after spent a few hours looking through the core of this.

The regional setting will always changed back to default value "2" when restarted.
So I'm thinking of writting a simple applet script to do do a perminant solution but I'm short in knowledge of making shell batch script.
Also If someone could link me to the resource or share me the source code of the cpu applet then please let me know.

Maxxi

[les_garten]

Can you suggest a better way to do a perminant hack on this?
This will surely helping people in Asian countries like Japan, and India. I know for sure that Japan using 76Mhz to 90Mhz. I found some things in the configuration files after spent a few hours looking through the core of this.

The regional setting will always changed back to default value "2" when restarted.
So I'm thinking of writting a simple applet script to do do a perminant solution but I'm short in knowledge of making shell batch script.
Also If someone could link me to the resource or share me the source code of the cpu applet then please let me know.

Maxxi

Is there something wrong with how I did it above?

[maxximuscool]

Is there something wrong with how I did it above?

Can you explain more to this Fcon?
Just PM and we can do this over the email instead. Much easier to communicate than spamming the thread :)

I'm interested in getting this FM to be perminantly regional free for everyone.
Since this an opensource then It deserves to be open and anyone can make changes to the device setting.

[maxximuscool]

well, region 4 problem was fixed long time ago (http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD#comment-16) and i'm quite amazed how people managed to get it to work without changing module/region ( which is impossible )

yes, I'm planing to use your fixed for the last resort. I want to make this hack as noobies friendly as much as possible. By replacing some of the Kernel modules may result in consequences. But for now I have a really good Idea to work around this issue without replacing the fmtx-si4713.ko inside the system directory.

If something gone wrong in there, there will be no turning back therefore best way to avoid replacing any system files as much as possible. An alternative is there for us to do it but I need some help with tutorial on how to create a simple app plugin.

maxxi

[TiagoTiago]

so i just download the one from http://maemo.jacekowski.org/binary/fmtx-si4713.ko instead of the one from the first post?

[les_garten]

Fcron is an implementation of crontab.

It runs "things" on a schedule.

It is most likely in devel repos.

You would need some things to do this, most have it already.

1) Rootsh
2) devel repos enables
3) I would recommend Nano as a text editor installed.
4) Install fcron
5) google fcrontab for info on how to use
6) edit /etc/fcron.conf to change the editor line to be vi or nano when fcrontab -e is evoked, nano would be the easiest. Leafpad may work.
7) Use this line in fcrontab to set the region every 60 min:

# Set Region from 2 to 4
@ 60 echo 4 > /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/region

There is also a fcrontab option to do it at first boot, but I don't remember it. I'm sure somebody will know it.

[maxximuscool]

Fcron is an implementation of crontab.

It runs "things" on a schedule.

It is most likely in devel repos.

You would need some things to do this, most have it already.

1) Rootsh
2) devel repos enables
3) I would recommend Nano as a text editor installed.
4) Install fcron
5) google fcrontab for info on how to use
6) edit /etc/fcron.conf to change the editor line to be vi or nano when fcrontab -e is evoked, nano would be the easiest. Leafpad may work.
7) Use this line in fcrontab to set the region every 60 min:

# Set Region from 2 to 4
@ 60 echo 4 > /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/region

There is also a fcrontab option to do it at first boot, but I don't remember it. I'm sure somebody will know it.

I've developed a small applet plugin to accomidate this issue already. It will be available for people to install very soon. Once installed, you don't need to change the region again. It will be done automatically at startup.

Also, I'm not going to add fmtxd into the script yet, so the first hack has to be done before installing this.

[hawaii]

Why on EARTH would you need a cronjob to do this?

Change it on boot using an /etc/event.d/ script and be done with it. There's no reason you need to constantly echo the value in.

/etc/event.d/region-swap
start on started hildon-desktop
stop on starting shutdown
console none
service

script

echo 4 > /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/region

end script

And that's it. If you want it controlled by a cronjob, and only run at boot, simply use @reboot.

[les_garten]

Why on EARTH would you need a cronjob to do this?

Change it on boot using an /etc/event.d/ script and be done with it. There's no reason you need to constantly echo the value in.

/etc/event.d/region-swap
start on started hildon-desktop
stop on starting shutdown
console none
service

script

echo 4 > /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/region

end script

And that's it. If you want it controlled by a cronjob, and only run at boot, simply use @reboot.

Thanx! I knew someone would pipe in about the @reboot option.

n.b. tried the @reboot option and it did not work, BTW.

your startup script did BTW, thanx!

[maxximuscool]

can anyone help me packaging my little app?
I tried and got it copmpiled but didn't seems to get the files into the directory.

[maxximuscool]

I've decided to upload my little fix to the "region" changes here.

You can download it from here.

Update: Sorry found a little bug with the previous version. Now all fixed. Please download again and replace the old one with this.

[YoDude]

I've decided to upload my little fix to the "region" changes here.

You can download it from here.rsion. Now all fixed. Please download again and replace the old one with this.

I don't need and can't use lower frequencies so this is way OT...
I read in this thread that you post from NZ.

You OK dude?
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFCJLk_YA88&amp;feature=youtube_gdata

[jukey]

I was able to install your modifications. Now I can activate a frequency like 80.0 Mhz but if I try to disable the fmtx I get the "unable to use fmtx" message. If I switch back to - let's say - 90.0 Mhz I'm able to disable the transmitter again.

So in short terms:
Enabling works fine
Disabling does not work
(both in the GUI)

Best regards Uwe

[N900@900MHz]

hello,
idownloaded the 2 files
fmtxd.zip (13.4 KB, 268 views)
FMTX-MaxxiLimit (bug Fixed) .zip (4.2 KB, 8 views)
and installed them.

I don't get the stars in the status menu, i have the 3 files from fmtx-maxxilimit copied in the right directories, and followed the instuctions for terminal. Stil have region problem.
Any ideas?

[bocaJ]

I can confirm Jukey and N900@900's problems.

Jukey - as a workaround, you can go into the terminal and

root
killall fmtxd
fmtxd -d

Afterwords, things seem to work OK (i.e., you can start/stop the transmitter on region 4 frequencies). However, this is probably not the best solution if you're trying to get you're non-technically inclined friend in the passenger seat to turn on/off the FM Transmitter.

Any suggestions for getting the default power to 120 would be great!

[maxximuscool]

@bocaJ,
Power is already default to 120 with the fmtxd file.

Can you guys please download the example file on the 3rd post on page 1.

Test it out and it does not work then let me know.

[N900@900MHz]

Tutorial for some people who needs help.
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/842:D7/steps.jpg (http://img839.imageshack.us/i/steps.jpg/)


@ N900@N900Mhz,
put the file into your:

/usr/lib/hildon-desktop/example.py
/usr/share/applications/hildon-status-menu/example.desktop

Xterminal:
root
killall hildon-status-menu

This help me understanding what going on. Otherwise it's hard to debug. Unless i'm holding the device.

did this,
status menu dissapeard for a sec. or two. further nothing

[bocaJ]

@bocaJ,
Power is already default to 120 with the fmtxd file.

Can you guys please download the example file on the 3rd post on page 1.

Test it out and it does not work then let me know.

Will try the script after work. FYI though, the reason I doubted the power level is that I tuned my desk radio to a local station and set the transmitter to the same frequency. I could only hear the N900 when I literally set it on top of the antenna. Does this seem right?

[bocaJ]

Update:

I followed your tutorial for <strike>dumb people</strike> people who need help - I now have an "@" symbol in the menu, and when I click on it, I see "Example Message". Now if only I saw the southern cross :D

[les_garten]

Update:

I followed your tutorial for <strike>dumb people</strike> people who need help - I now have an "@" symbol in the menu, and when I click on it, I see "Example Message". Now if only I saw the southern cross :D

Click it twice and you see the rings around Uranus...

Does that help?

[yorg]

I love you guys :)

[sla_erick]

Is the information from the first post updated as of 09/12/10?do the attachtments are working and fixed? sorry for my bad english :p

[Arrancamos]

all this is too unclear and complicated.sry

[bocaJ]

I'm sorry, let me clarify:

I still do NOT see the southern stars, and at each reset, the region changes back to 2. I also may be having some trouble getting the power boost working, so I would like input from others (see my last post)

@Maxximuscool - thank you very much for all your work to date on this issue. I'm still hoping these bugs can be overcome, if you need me to do any more trouble shooting let me know.

[sponka]

I don't see stars either, have no idea about region, but it's working -- have clear sound which was impossible to achieve before hack.

Thanks!

[onasre]

thank you , i done it but iwill have to try it tomorrow my brother borrowed my carfor awhile :)

[D4rKlar]

Firstly many thanks to maxxi, jacekowski and querty (for the status menu applet), this is awesome! :D

Couple of things, I also am not seeing stars in the status menu although everything seems to work fine and the result of

cat /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/power_level

is 120.

Secondly, is there a reason why the Simple FMTX widget wont work with this? I'm holding off re-installing it in case there are issues,

Kind Regards,
D4rKlar

[maxximuscool]

Firstly many thanks to maxxi, jacekowski and querty (for the status menu applet), this is awesome! :D

Couple of things, I also am not seeing stars in the status menu although everything seems to work fine and the result of

cat /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/power_level

is 120.

Secondly, is there a reason why the Simple FMTX widget wont work with this? I'm holding off re-installing it in case there are issues,

Kind Regards,
D4rKlar

I don't know why your device doesn't show the stars. May be some packages dependencies are missing for python.

But I'll post a work around toward this issue tomorrow. If python won't work on your device then Shell script will :)

Yes simple FMTX widget works but you'll running into cpu hogging after 24hours of putting it on your home screen. It will lead to lagginess and freezes. The problem is not from the hack. It's how the N900 handle the hildon-desktop. It's a bug.

So unless you want to keep rebooting your device every day. I'll keep this update tomorrow.

[D4rKlar]

Thanks for your swift reply mate! :)

The widget was useful, but not necessary now with Querty12's status applet so no worries on that one, I'd rather save my battery/avoid re-boots I reckon!

RE the stars again not really an issue as all frequencies are available and I can start/stop transmission with absolutely no problem, as it all works the way I see it is if it isn't broken there's no need to fix it!

Just thought I'd let you and others know that in some cases the stars won't appear but everything will work fine ;)

Again many thanks for all your hard work,

Kind Regards,
D4rKlar

[WhiteWolf]

And you can unlock the application in order to receive FM radio from 76 MHz?

[D4rKlar]

http://i56.tinypic.com/2qlaakj.png

http://i54.tinypic.com/2n14yh4.png

I will say that the car stereo only goes down to 87.5 so for day to day use that's as low as I've tried.

Kind Regards,
D4rKlar

[WhiteWolf]

I mention this because in my area the frequencies are saturated.

We tried to communicate from one car to another and would be easier if we could use frequencies below 87 MHz.

We use multi-band receivers and spectrum width to receive.

[Marlon]

Just got round to installing, works great. Now on 87.5 which is unused and thus clear.

Thanks

[N900@900MHz]

Here are the screenshots. Of a fully working FMTX unlocked status-menu.

UPDATE:
Two way to get this done. One is the fancy icon display and one is the silent mode.

With Python Package:
Once you see the Icon in the picture then you are all good to go. Reboot will not reset your region back to 2.


If you can't get Python Package to work then use this.

This is shell script. This package came with 2 files. One is to swap the swappiness to 50 to reduce the load time and to make the device more responsive. second one is the Region4swap which will swap the region of your FMTX every start up to 4.

So enjoy!


Hello,

i used this, trying get it work, but no luck, freq. lower than 87.5MHz gives me, can't use fm transmitter. script placed inm /etc/event.d
any ideas?
When i put in xterm the line echo 4 ..... then it works. Gut when i try mamually run the script in xterm using /etc/event.d/Region4Swap i get Permission denied

Any ideas to solve this?

[TiagoTiago]

why do we need that icon in the status bar?

[N900@900MHz]

reserved for future use.

This finnaly works!
the steps i made for this going to work:

- install the modified fmtx file (follow the 1st on 1st page post how to)
- install the Customswappiness+FMTX region4swap file (see post 2 on 1st page )
- reboot device

Now freq goes from 76 to 107.9 MHz and output power of 120 (verified with healthcheck)
AND no more region issues

Thanks to Maxximuscool!

[maxximuscool]

Go to page 1 follow post 1 and 2.
All solutions been tested and confirmed working and perfectly save to proceed. If FMTX-MaxxiLimit python script doesn't work then use the Shell Script Customswappiness+FMTX region4swap.tar

instructions/trouble shooting and full tutorial is on page 1.

Enjoy!
Please keep this alive.

[maxximuscool]

why do we need that icon in the status bar?

That just something to tell you that it has been activated with region 4 FMTX. The icon has 4 stars big stars, representing regional and one fading star representing freedom.

But you have an option to choose between shell script without stars and silently worked behind the background at startup or the fancy icons python version. I use the python version though :) because it tells me that my FMTX is unlocked.

page 1 has been updated and now should cut down on confusion. getting it to work is now much more simpler and noob friendly.


Maxxi

[TiagoTiago]

How about only having that icon show when the transmitter is being used?

[lpdv74]

http://i56.tinypic.com/2qlaakj.png

http://i54.tinypic.com/2n14yh4.png

I will say that the car stereo only goes down to 87.5 so for day to day use that's as low as I've tried.

Kind Regards,
D4rKlar

What theme do you use in these screenshots?
Can you tell me where I can find it?

[D4rKlar]

What theme do you use in these screenshots?
Can you tell me where I can find it?

Completely custom mate, but it's based on Marina with a Tahoma font.

http://maemo.org/downloads/product/Maemo5/hildon-theme-marina/

Kind Regards,
D4rKlar

[lpdv74]

Completely custom mate, but it's based on Marina with a Tahoma font.

http://maemo.org/downloads/product/Maemo5/hildon-theme-marina/

Kind Regards,
D4rKlar

Thanks! And I just found the iconset for battery-level.

[D4rKlar]

Thanks! And I just found the iconset for battery-level.

Everything's posted in the mods thread but saying that I will be posting a list of Mods I've released in the screenshot thread later on today mate, as someone has asked for it so keep an eye out,

Kind Regards,
D4rKlar

[Wikiwide]

I think the FM Receiver can only handle 87.5Mhz to 108Mhz, or may be it can go lower but the maximum is 108Mhz.

You can read about it from Google.

FM Receiver can receive between 76 and 108, if region is set to 4:
http://mxr.maemo.org/fremantle/source/kernel/drivers/media/radio/radio-bcm2048.c

However, the only application which can use the receiver, FM Radio Player
http://maemo.org/packages/package_instance/view/fremantle_extras_free_armel/fmradio/2010.03.20/
has range 87.5 - 108 as written in its code in
components/fmradio/FMRadioUI.py
self.__fmscala.set_range(87500, 108000)
It can be easily changed... But then you need to compile .py into a .pyo.
I don't know how to do it. Could somebody make a special package?

EDIT STARTED

My MADDE seems to have no python2.5, and thus cannot compile the python files.
At the same time, dpkg-buildpackage doesn't work well on the device itself. It says that FMRadio needs debhelper in order to be built, and debhelper seems to require bsdutils, and bsdutils conflict with busybox.

I have tried to edit the range of frequencies AND the name of the package and then throw the source deb to the autobuilder. The package fmradio-wide can be found, but currently it contains only the changelog and the copyright, so apparently the discrepancies with the name caused absence of the program itself inside the deb. However, I haven't received email from autobuilder yet, so I cannot know exactly where and what went wrong.

EDIT ENDED

Ideally, the application would also change region to 4 when started.

[Crogge]

FM Receiver can receive between 76 and 108, if region is set to 4:
http://mxr.maemo.org/fremantle/source/kernel/drivers/media/radio/radio-bcm2048.c

However, the only application which can use the receiver, FM Radio Player
http://maemo.org/packages/package_instance/view/fremantle_extras_free_armel/fmradio/2010.03.20/
has range 87.5 - 108 as written in its code in
components/fmradio/FMRadioUI.py
self.__fmscala.set_range(87500, 108000)
It can be easily changed... But then you need to compile .py into a .pyo.
I don't know how to do it. Could somebody make a special package?
Ideally, the application would also change region to 4 when started.

That looks awesome, can't wait till someone takes care of that :)

[Wikiwide]

Quick reply...
fmradio-wide has wide range of frequencies. In order to launch it from the icon, create symbolic link:
ln -s /opt/fmradio-wide/FMRadio.py /usr/bin/FMRadio
Use version 2010.03.40, not earlier!

[~phoenix~]

cant find Python 2.5 and Control Panel ProfileX in app mgr... hlp plz^^

edit ... got it working....

any way to leave fw tranmitter in the applets menu even when its off??

[Wikiwide]

any way to leave fw tranmitter in the applets menu even when its off??
Read here:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=43395

[mehulrajput]

is it working with pr 1.3??? can any one confirm???

[maxximuscool]

is it working with pr 1.3??? can any one confirm???

yes my friend it is working with PR1.3. I'm using it right now

[mehulrajput]

yes my friend it is working with PR1.3. I'm using it right now

thanks did the same and now it running on my phone too.... had to reboot. seems fmtxd is not the process which is running some fx-enabler-daemon is now running instead but it in turn calls fmtxd not sure....

working with pr 1.3, just that reboot is required after replacement.

[Jayboy5]

Can someone help me please? I can't get my fm transmitter to work any more since pr 1.3... I went back and followed the mod at the beginning of this thread so I can have my frequency boost to 120 again.. because after the update the signal strength was back down at the stock level of 111 and no extra frequencies were available. Now that I have placed the file back in usr/sbin and still have fmtx faker installed from before, it should work right? The fm transmitter comes on but my widget goes up and down only on the odd channels like 107.7 and 107.5 and the status bar only shows even channels like 107.6 or 107.4, and when try to change the channel by the status bar it says "unable to use fm transmitter" even though it is already on... any ideas guys??

[Wikiwide]

Can someone help me please? I can't get my fm transmitter to work any more since pr 1.3... I went back and followed the mod at the beginning of this thread so I can have my frequency boost to 120 again.. because after the update the signal strength was back down at the stock level of 111 and no extra frequencies were available. Now that I have placed the file back in usr/sbin and still have fmtx faker installed from before, it should work right? The fm transmitter comes on but my widget goes up and down only on the odd channels like 107.7 and 107.5 and the status bar only shows even channels like 107.6 or 107.4, and when try to change the channel by the status bar it says "unable to use fm transmitter" even though it is already on... any ideas guys??

The file fmtxd, unlocked frequency, for /usr/sbin, has to be recompiled again. It's evident that some changes were made in FM transmitter and PR1.2 file isn't compatible with PR1.3.

Does anybody have a new unlocked fmtxd file for PR1.3?

[les_garten]

Maxximuscool,
I've got a few questions.

What is the point of the Southern Cross, other than national pride?
Doesn't seem to do anything?

I only have the FM Transmitter "Status area button" after I enable it from settings. When I turn it off it disappears. It did not work this way before the 1.3 update?

[D4rKlar]

Maxximuscool,
I've got a few questions.

What is the point of the Southern Cross, other than national pride?
Doesn't seem to do anything?

I only have the FM Transmitter "Status area button" after I enable it from settings. When I turn it off it disappears. It did not work this way before the 1.3 update?

It did unless you used qwerty12s FM transmitter status applet, all files are here:

http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=833377&postcount=1952

The southern cross indicates the activation of region 4 which allows the use of the lower frequencies,

Kind Regards,
D4rKlar

[freemangordon]

The file fmtxd, unlocked frequency, for /usr/sbin, has to be recompiled again. It's evident that some changes were made in FM transmitter and PR1.2 file isn't compatible with PR1.3.

Does anybody have a new unlocked fmtxd file for PR1.3?

FM transmitter power level is locked in kernel, what one need is modified kernel module. What PR 1.3 fmtx kernel module does is to expose new sysfs property 'lock'. fmtxd sets power level of 112 (at least for my region) and afterwards writes '1' to lock, which disables any further writes to power_level sysfs property until reboot. I've modified fmtx kernel module and right now using it. Good news is that tx power level no more changes when charger is connected to phone, thus making possible to set tx power only once during boot. later will post modified module plus startup script for setting power level.

[maxximuscool]

FM transmitter power level is locked in kernel, what one need is modified kernel module. What PR 1.3 fmtx kernel module does is to expose new sysfs property 'lock'. fmtxd sets power level of 112 (at least for my region) and afterwards writes '1' to lock, which disables any further writes to power_level sysfs property until reboot. I've modified fmtx kernel module and right now using it. Good news is that tx power level no more changes when charger is connected to phone, thus making possible to set tx power only once during boot. later will post modified module plus startup script for setting power level.

Umm... Just out of curiousity why would you need to modifying it again?
The fmtxd posted here is 100% compatible with PR1.3 and PR1.3 doesn't changed the FMTXD kernel module. I'm using the one I uploaded here and my FMTX is working like it used to on pR1.2. My power level is 120 constantly when FMTX is enabled. Charging does not interfaring with the power level at all. Also my scripts uploaded here are completely working like a charm also. It is the region change start up scripts. One using python and one is using shell script.
You can also add:
echo 120> path/to/power
in the custom_swappiness as well if you want. I don't see a necessary thing of recompile of repeatitive things over and over again. If you could then why not help me packaging the hack into one deb file. I failed to do that part.

[maxximuscool]

FYI: the part it says FM Tran state: disabled is because i didn't refresh it. Otherwise it should say Enabled.

[freemangordon]

which kernel are you using - titan's power one or stock one?

p.s. maybe it is my fault posting to wrong thread

[maxximuscool]

Maxximuscool,
I've got a few questions.

What is the point of the Southern Cross, other than national pride?
Doesn't seem to do anything?

I only have the FM Transmitter "Status area button" after I enable it from settings. When I turn it off it disappears. It did not work this way before the 1.3 update?

That just an icon for regional changed to 4, southern cross stars are made up by 4 bright stars and also a symbol of oceania continent. So i used it to make region 4 as the stars of the south.

The stars represntng that your FMTX region is now 4 instead of 1.

4 is global frequency range.

To make it work properly you need to install ProfileX from Extra-devel.

It will make the python i'm using runs at startup. I couldn't package the file into deb ball so i use ProfileX dependency instead.

Hope this answered your questions. Althernatively you can use the Custome_swappniness shell script. I prefered the icon in my status menu because it tells me that my region is now 4. :)

[maxximuscool]

which kernel are you using - titan's power one or stock one?

p.s. maybe it is my fault posting to wrong thread

I'm using stock kernel. I have had no issues with this at all. I knew some people also using Power Kernel with PR1.2 with this hack and it worked for them tool

PR1.3 power kernel may be still not yet compiled but i'm sure that it will work as well. This hack still allowing you to do a system update OTA as well. it does not conflicting with the OTA update. The only problem is the OTA update will replace the FMTXD back to standard one and you'll need to unlocking it again after the update. Otherwise it's perminant and only needs to do just once as long you don't reflashing your OS or update :)

But you can hack it back again just like Transition.ini

[freemangordon]

I'm using stock kernel. I have had no issues with this at all. I knew some people also using Power Kernel with PR1.2 with this hack and it worked for them tool

PR1.3 power kernel may be still not yet compiled but i'm sure that it will work as well. This hack still allowing you to do a system update OTA as well. it does not conflicting with the OTA update. The only problem is the OTA update will replace the FMTXD back to standard one and you'll need to unlocking it again after the update. Otherwise it's perminant and only needs to do just once as long you don't reflashing your OS or update :)

But you can hack it back again just like Transition.ini

Sorry, definitely posted to wrong thread.

[Wikiwide]

The fmtxd posted here is 100% compatible with PR1.3 and PR1.3 doesn't changed the FMTXD kernel module. I'm using the one I uploaded here and my FMTX is working like it used to on pR1.2.

Well...
I had a backup of original fmtxd from PR1.2, and I downloaded again unlocked fmtxd from
http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD
And there was an fmtxd of PR1.3.
Neither original fmtxd of PR1.2 nor unlocked fmtxd from
http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD
can run. When I choose frequency like 90, and click save, it says "Unable to use...".

So your words are a riddle to me.

[brad112358]

Using echo as root, I can no longer seem to set /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/power_level. It always reads back as 113. Did Nokia change the way this driver works?

[les_garten]

Using echo as root, I can no longer seem to set /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/power_level. It always reads back as 113. Did Nokia change the way this driver works?

If you upgraded to 1.3, you have to go thru the reinstall of FMTX again. Works fine after that.

[brad112358]

When you think it's working for you, can you please open a shell and execute "cat /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/power_level" please? Then plug the phone in to a charger and try it again.

Thanks!

--Brad

[les_garten]

It's 120 on and off charger

[MohammadAG]

The kernel was patched to put a lock on the file, if anything other than 0 is written to it then the file is locked till the module is reloaded.

Reverting it is easy, just get the source of PR1.2's kernel and compile the c files against the PR1.3 headers.

[les_garten]

The kernel was patched to put a lock on the file, if anything other than 0 is written to it then the file is locked till the module is reloaded.

Reverting it is easy, just get the source of PR1.2's kernel and compile the c files against the PR1.3 headers.

I'm not sure I'm following you here.

Is there a problem that mine is 120??

[maxximuscool]

The kernel was patched to put a lock on the file, if anything other than 0 is written to it then the file is locked till the module is reloaded.

Reverting it is easy, just get the source of PR1.2's kernel and compile the c files against the PR1.3 headers.

Can you do that for us Mohammad?
You're one of the top elite Ninja around here :D I can't even make a .Deb ball properly. Would be nice if you could help us packaging this.

[maxximuscool]

Well...
I had a backup of original fmtxd from PR1.2, and I downloaded again unlocked fmtxd from
http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD
And there was an fmtxd of PR1.3.
Neither original fmtxd of PR1.2 nor unlocked fmtxd from
http://jacekowski.org/Maemo/FMTXD
can run. When I choose frequency like 90, and click save, it says "Unable to use...".

So your words are a riddle to me.

Well you need to follow the steps on the first page :)
If you did not then your FMTX will not work, so you must!
Sometimes it takes a wee bit of trying to make it works once again and unlocked. So you need to follow and repeat the commandline steps.

Sorry this was not made easy for the none geeks to do. We need MohammadAG to help us make it easier :)

[Mentalist Traceur]

I'm hoping Titan gets rid of that for his Power Kernel fixes. *Sigh* I get that Nokia probably doesn't want its phones usable illegally, but f'ing a, that's just bs in my opinion. Way to 'fix' stuff. (And this is like my first time being serious in disagreement with Nokia about something they did with Maemo that I can remember in a while).

If possible, it would be great to see a patching utility, that just overrides the parts of the kernel that are responsible for this.

(In the meantime, I don't even use this yet, though I intend on getting around to installing it eventually, but it's rather annoying to see Nokia actually blocking it.)

P.S. Mohammad, I love all the help you provide on this forum and everything you do, so don't take this to be hostile against you in any way, but just so you know, when you say:

Reverting it is easy, just get the source of PR1.2's kernel and compile the c files against the PR1.3 headers.
People like me (and I actually try to look things up and figure them out on my own) don't see easy. We see:

"reverting it is easy, just get the [mythical code stored ... somewhere], and compile the [some sort of file type/category of file] [word implying opposition or comparison to, but which may have hidden programmer-only nuances] Pr1.3 [heade - what're those, how do you compile 'against' them?]."

But hey, it's STILL useful information. Just needs a lot of looking up. Nevertheless, it seems like it's only "easy" if you already know what you're doing.

[brad112358]

Mohammad,
OK. It does behave as if it is locked which is why I asked. But if a non-zero write to the power control "file" locks it, how is fmtxd reducing the power level when USB is connected? Does fmtxd open the file just once and keep seeking/rewriting the power? I guess I should strace fmtxd or look in the new kernel source and find out for myself but I figured you might already know and I'm very lazy. :-)

Feel free to point me to another thread if this has been discussed elsewhere.

--Brad

[les_garten]

Can somebody explain what you guys are talking about? I somehow missed the point here. There is some inside trader info I'm not privvy to apparently.

I thought mine was working fine. I upgraded to 1.3, reapplied all the FMTX goodies. My Freq's are unlocked, the transmitter works, and my power level says 120.

Is any of this a problem?

[MohammadAG]

http://mohammadag.xceleo.org/public/maemo/PR1.3/fmtx-si4713.ko

Nokia-N900:/sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063# echo 118 > power_level
Nokia-N900:/sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063# cat power_level
118
Nokia-N900:/sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063# echo 120 > power_level
Nokia-N900:/sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063# cat power_level
120

Place it in /lib/modules/2.6.28-omap1
root
apt-get install wget # if you don't have it.
wget http://mohammadag.xceleo.org/public/maemo/PR1.3/fmtx-si4713.ko
mv fmtx-si4713.ko /lib/modules/2.6.28-omap1/

[les_garten]

still not getting why I need this or what the issue is?

Nokia-N900:~# cat /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/power_level
120
Nokia-N900:~# echo 90 > /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/power_level
Nokia-N900:~# cat /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/power_level
90

[maxximuscool]

Thank Mohammad :)

For whome who cannot get their FMTXD to work please use the file Mohammad posted here. It will fix the lock kernel made by Nokia.
Be sure know what you're doing by following the instruction given by Mohammad.

Mine is working fine without problem without changes. But your may be required this :)

Though if you're not a newbie then you can get it to work without replacing the kernel file. :)

Mohammad, can you help me packaging this into one easy installation deb file?
I failed miserably on it last time lol. Packing FMTX, Commands, dependencies (FMTX-Fake), ProfileX (Python for status menu), regional change to 4(python script) and this kernel file.


Would be nice if you can do this big favour :)

[brad112358]

les_garten,

Are you using the stock PR1.3 kernel?

--Brad

[maxximuscool]

still not getting why I need this or what the issue is?

Nokia-N900:~# cat /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/power_level
120
Nokia-N900:~# echo 90 > /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/power_level
Nokia-N900:~# cat /sys/class/i2c-adapter/i2c-2/2-0063/power_level
90

I also have no idea what is wrong with a few people who can't get the damn thing to output maximum power :)

Mine is perfectly working with the FMTXD file :D I have been testing it continously with my PR1.3 OTA, and PR1.3 leaked and seems to be no compatiblity issues. So I guess people who had the problems are one of the beginner group :)

Do you think so? I don't even need to echo anything out, it just worked :D and my little Python script works flawlessly

[MohammadAG]

Unfortunately, we can't pack FMTXD, modifying and distributing it is illegal, so it'll only take a matter of time before the package is taken down.
(and if you're wondering, yes, I use it :P)

[maxximuscool]

Unfortunately, we can't pack FMTXD, modifying and distributing it is illegal, so it'll only take a matter of time before the package is taken down.
(and if you're wondering, yes, I use it :P)

Hahah good to see you're one the bright side Mohammad.
So can you packaging it and hosting the file instead :)
This will not be taken down but atleast we got something easier for Noobies to install. I am using it too. And never been happier with my FM Transmitter :D love the way it goes down below 88.1 MHz, and 0-9 incremental. I can now use my FM Transmitter and tune to the lowest frequency my stereo support :D

[maxximuscool]

les_garten,

Are you using the stock PR1.3 kernel?

--Brad

yes STOCK AZZ!!

Mine also!
Power Kernel also has not problem

[les_garten]

les_garten,

Are you using the stock PR1.3 kernel?

--Brad

Yep!

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