The ugly truth.
 

Just because I have to get this off my chest.

Maybe someone will learn from my experience.

<RANT>

I've been an owner of the Nokia Tablet(s) for about 2 years. First, I
had owned a N800, which worked pretty well, but I didn't have much
cause to use it. My commute to/from work was via my car, and I found
that I was using my desktop and laptops for much more of my general
computer use. I didn't have a Tablet lifestyle.

I eventually sold my N800 on Ebay, and got back about 70% of the purchase
cost (barely used, original box, etc.). I liked the unit, but I wasn't
really using it.

In January of this year, I changed jobs, and now my commute is on
the train, where I have much more reason to listen to music, podcasts,
read RSS feeds, check email, etc. I immediately purchased the N810
and I've been a proud owner of it since. That is, except for the
terrible unreliability of the unit. I've flashed the OS about 30 times
since I've owned it (I can't go more than 2 weeks without it getting
into the won't boot, Nokia screen, lockup).

Because I have time right now, I've just flashed the unit, and I'm working
to restore the latest backup right now (a 70MB restore that seems to take
a minimum of about 2 hours! "Restoring Document files 24%")

I'm not a technical luddite. I've been a Unix/Linux admin for over
20 years (remember SysVr3 and RFS? I do.). At any rate, this OS is
woefully unstable. I can't imagine the pain that someone who isn't
comforable with the command line (ssh, create tar files of all the
important files on the unit, and spend another hour getting it back to
usable condition).

What are people doing who haven't created shell scripts to restore
ssh keys, aliases, host files, etc. to get the unit back to reasonable
working condition?

Seriously, the unit locked up when my 13 year old daughter was playing
around with Numpty Physics, and she's just floored by the fact that you
can't turn it off/on and get the unit back in working order. She's been
using her own Linux laptop for over a year and she doesn't understand
why I put up with the Nokia being so unstable. I'm starting to question
it too.

Seriously, why can't I:
* Boot single user and see what's erroring out?
* Do a full level 0 backup to an external flash, and restore
everything, OS and all, to the internal filesystem?
* Get some type of diagnostic information (logs, dmesg, etc.)
that can help me isolate the problem?

Every time I have to reload, I go through the same steps to get the
unit back into working order.
Load: * Flash OS2008 v. 2.2007.51-3
* ssh server/client
* xterm
* rsync
* mplayer
* Canola
* vim
* free42 (reverse polish!)
* Restore my base files from the External Flash:
`cd /;cp -R /media/mmc1/backup/root/* .`
This process alone saved me a bunch of time,
but it's a hassle.

This whole process takes a couple of hours (I'll start it,
check on it, come back, continue.) It's a pain in the *****.

In the end, because I'm a techie, I put up with it, but I
can't help but think that it's just too much for most people. If
asked, I don't think I'd recommend it for most users. The iTouch
seems like it might be better for people who don't want to get knee
deep in the grind.
</RANT>

Re: The ugly truth.
 

2 weeks? Sounds like a hardware defect, or the user doing something wrong.

Re: The ugly truth.
 

I never flashed mine except for upgrading the OS. Everything is rock stable, maybe once per week a reboot because the battery is empty.

You seem to have a serious hardware defect. Get it replaced if still under warranty.

Re: The ugly truth.
 

I also have been running Unix off and on since I installed SCO from floppies in the early 1990's.
I've been running my N810 since just before Thanksgiving.
I've yet to have it lock up and lose anything except what I've just been working on (a note, a spreadsheet, etc.) and all my lockups were due to "pushing the envelope" slightly.
About the only times I don't use it is when I'm asleep or in an area that does not allow such things.
Since I lost my USB cable I did not flash it until recently, and that was with one of PenguinBait's deb's.

Seems like you have bad luck or hardware.

Re: The ugly truth.
 

I'm confused. I bought my N800 in January 2007, which I think is when they were first released. When did you get yours so that you have now been using tablets for almost two years? I say I've had my N800 for almost a year and a half. Maybe I'm not as early an adapter as I thought I was.

I haven't had anywhere near the number of problems you have had. And I've been using my N800 for many hours every single day since I bought it.

Re: The ugly truth.
 

Why haven't you had it replaced?

-Jonathan

Re: The ugly truth.
 

That is definitely not normal behavior... I've reflashed a total of three times, once when I got my N810 and twice while trying to set up boot from SD back when it was a manual process :P (I screwed my filesystem up the first time)

I would get a replacement for sure! You'll be much happier!

Re: The ugly truth.
 

Nau10, surely as an experienced user of computing devices you can tell the difference between a defective hardware unit and an unstable OS?

Didn't it occur to you it might just be that your particular tablet is physically broken?

I've had an N810 for about half a year now and I've NEVER been forced to reflash it, ever. Not a single time. The same goes for my N800 which uses exactly the same OS and hardware.

The behaviour you describe is very very very abnormal, and almost certainly due to the hardware being broken when you got it.

As Nokia tablets come with a 1 year guarantee, you should send your tablet back and claim your free repairs or replacement.


If hardware is broken when you get it, there's absolutely nothing you can do to fix it through diagnostics etc because it isn't a software or firmware problem.

When you buy new hardware and it fails to work properly out of the box, the correct procedure is to return the hardware to the shop or manufacturer.

The incorrect procedure is to blame everything except the defective unit.



If you buy a tin of beans at the supermarket, and you open it at home and find it's all mouldy, do you actually go ahead and try to eat it anyway?

From what you've written, the concept of occasional defects at factories is apparently alien to you, as it seems is the concept of a guarantee or warranty.

Re: The ugly truth.
 

I'm one of the biggest noise makers when it comes to the NIT's short comings. But, reflashing on a regular basis is not one of them. I only reflashed each time a new OS has come out and when I'm goofing with SD booting.

I've owned a N800 since its arrival and an N810 shortly after. I've bought 7 N800 units from CompUSA before they went out of business and sold them to friends and eBay users. The ones around me aren't flashed that often either.

Oh, also I've never touched Linux before this point.

Re: The ugly truth.
 

I've been a UNIX user for a long time as well...I'm a proud owner of an AT&T UNIX PC 7300 (A/K/A 3B1) which got me through my intro to UNIX and C programming in my first year in college. It doesn't fit in my pocket as nicely as my N800 or N810 does...heh.

Anyway as an owner of both N8x0 units, I've never had a problem with the device firmware. Sounds like you got a bad flash chip in yours.

These device are a bit of an anomaly. They're almost full-blown Linux workstations but are targeted at mobile consumers who want something a little more flexible than a Windows Media-based device or are users who have embraced Linux and opensource. Thus, they're made to be powered up, used, and seldom shut down except if they're not being used for a while or if the battery dies. So although they have the ability to do just about anything a Linux box can do, much of its technical guts is hidden from the consumer (ie. blue/red pill, no su, etc) by default.

However, I can say - as I'm sure many users here - that all the typical Linux admin stuff that can be done on any Debian/Ubuntu, RedHat/Fedora, etc distro can also be done on the IT but the unit doesn't come that way. You have to customize it yourself as many of us have done in order to make it work the way we want.