Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

Hi folks,
I bought my N900 when it was released in London a while back. Its been awesome all this time and I just got back from a holiday to Rome and Perugia. On the way back it fell out of luggage and the screen has been dented.

The display and touch screen now only works in the top right corner. I cannot seem to press or select anything else. It shows a corrupted display for 60% of the screen. If I use TV out I can see the display fine. So Im pretty happy the data is safe, only the screen was damaged.

I have spent the evening reading articles on this site to help me access the file system and retrieve my photos and contacts and calendar but cannot work out how. Please help. Ill explain things I have tried.
Note: As a long term owner of the N900 I am aware of its Linux heritage but have not coded or gone "in depth" with the xterm at all. I mainly used the application manager and used the phone just shy of any hardcore scripting or hacking so please bare with me :)

I have tried plugging the phone into my PC using the USB cable supplied but because I cannot use the touch screen I cannot select Mass Storage or PC Suite. I read on this site that if the phone is turned off then it is read as a normal USB drive. I tried this but Vista began to install drivers and then failed. I then read this is only in Linux so I downloaded the latest version of Ubuntu and then booted from a CD running it and again tried the N900 both on and off. This time Ubuntu noticed the N900 as two differernt drives but complained every time I tried to open one of them. It gave an error like they were not folders to open(?).

I then found this article http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=64906&page=3 and tried using it to back stuff up. The MyDocs partially worked! I now have some databases of contacts on my microSD card. However Im not sure how I can add them to Ovi or integrate them somewhere usefull. Anyhow, it did not copy my photos over to the MicroSD card. I then found this article http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=48756 which showed how to copy music over. I tried replacing the folder named Music for DCIM (It was a guess, Im not sure if the N900 stores them there) and it through up a load of errors in Xterm complaining it could not copy the images to the media/mmc as it was a read only file system. But I have just ran the backup script fine a few mins back.

I really really wish there was a keyboard shortcut I could use to select the Mass Storage Mode button or PC Suite Button when it pops up. Is there a way I can enable either in xterm? Can I plug in my N900 to the PC via USB and somehow run xterm to establish the connection?

I would really appreciate all your help in rescuing my photos and details. I saw mention on this site of a way I could remote into the phone like a VNC viewer, it was something like openssh / x11vnc but Im not exactly sure what they do.
Apologies if the spelling is off. Its late and Ive been trying to fix this all night :P

Many thanks,

Joda

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

Ah Ha! I have had one tiny bit of success so far. I reformated the MicroSD card and tried copying the DCIM folder across to it again in xterm using the TV-Out to read the screen. This time it worked and filled up the 1gig MicroSD card. Im going to buy a larger sd card and hopefully be able to copy remaining pics (Theres a couple of gigs of vids and pics taken).

Can anyone advise on the syntax I would need to use to specify files to copy incase there are more than I can fit? How would I write in xterm: Only copy files with the year "2011" in the filename over to the MicroSD Card? That way I could break down the large copying of files a little.

Otherwise, does anyone know how I can enable either the mass storage mode or PC Suite mode without touching the screen. Either with Xterm or through a convoluted method of remote viewing :)

Many thanks,

Joda

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

I'm not sure I've fully understood exactly what content or data you're trying to get off the internal memory, or how much connectivity you've got right now.

Assuming that the phone connects itself to your home WiFi, is on your network, and you can access xterm, then you can:

1) install the openssh-server and shell into the phone from a Linux terminal or a Windows SSH client (try looking for "putty").

2) install x11vnc and start it manually with x11vnc -many & - this will let you VNC into the phone using a normal VNC client

3) if you want to just copy data off a filesystem, look at using rsync

4) if you need more specific support on how/where to find certain data, post back (I may not be the best person to answer though)

5) don't rule out the option of just getting the screen replaced or doing it yourself, N900s are all over eBay and there are plenty of phone repair services who can do it (but of course, the more you can backup first, the better)

(If you don't have WiFi I'm certain that it will be possible to set up USB networking at console, but, it is not something I have done. Either way I'd go the network route over the SD card route.)

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

If you install BackupMenuyou can activate USB mass storage mode using it.
Restart the device once it's installed.
During the load up a couple of errors will show up about some now unnecessary files so press enter twice.
Once BackupMenu is up just press w and you should be able to access the drives on your pc.

Edit: Restart the device with the keyboard open.
While you're in BackupMenu you can make a full rootfs and optfs backup which you could then restore in another unit should you get one. These backups can be found in the MyDocs/systemBackups directory.

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

Hi folks,
Thanks for the feedback and stuff to try! Ill get on this as soon as I can.

Let me clarify exactly what Im trying to do. I want to retrieve my Photos and Videos taken and also My Contacts and Calendar. Replacing the N900 screen is the last thing I want to do after I have backed stuff up.

I would ideally like to successfully connect the phone via USB or remotely control the screen via x11vnc.

From reading your suggestions so far, it looks like I will need to enable my Wifi on the N900. This is not on by default :( Its set up and will connect fine, but is there a way I can enable it through xterm? Or... I set up a desktop button that when pressed turns on my Vodafone Internet connection. If I could run this then I would be able to connect to the net and install the backupmenu program.

Is there a way I can launch applications on the desktop by using keyboard shortcuts? I can see the desktop fine through TV-Out. Or any way I can enable my wifi connection through xterm?

Cheers for your help guys!

Joda

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

The desktop button, was it a widget or was it a standard shortcut?

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

It was a widget "ConnectNow internet connection switch v1.1" http://maemo.org/downloads/product/M...w-home-widget/ Does this help?

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

You'll have problems setting up Wifi at console because iwconfig doesn't like passphrase-based encryption; it could be done using unsecured wireless or a good old-fashioned key, but it'll be hassle.

(Edit: if it's set up and just needs to be enabled, then you might just try an "iwconfig wlan0 up", or if it's been disabled by something like WiFi switcher unloading the kernel mods, try "modprobe wl12xx" beforehand.)

BackupMenu is probably the better call assuming your phone is functional enough to use it, and it'll be easier to get your existing Vodafone connection online at console than to configure wireless.

So, from your xterm:

gconftool-2 --set --type list --list-type string /system/osso/connectivity/network_type/auto_connect[*]

will change your Internet connection type from "always ask" to "connect automatically" and, if you needed to manually put the phone into 3G mode,

run-standalone.sh dbus-send --system --type=method_call --dest=com.nokia.phone.net /com/nokia/phone/net Phone.Net.set_selected_radio_access_technology byte:0

should take care of that. Provided your Vodafone 3G connection was previously configured, that will get you 3G mode and connect automatically, then you should be able to install BackupMenu as per mrsellout's instructions.

See how far that gets you; BM offers USB networking as well as mass storage, which might make the idea of setting up WiFi redundant.

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

Oh you wonderful wonderful people! As soon as Im back from work Ill give this a shot. Thanks for your help folks!
Wifi is already configured on my phone, just needs to be enabled.

A quick check... Looks like BackupMenu will work as long as the keyboard is open?

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

Ok I've tried what was suggested but it's giving me errors such as "No value set for key" and it does not even find the file iwconfig.

I think I need to be root to do this. I do not have rootsh installed. Is there a way for me to get this to enable root and there by enable my wifi? Can I somehow download the package onto a microSD card and install it that way?

Thanks again for all your help with this.

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

The lack of root is a major obstacle. There are ways around it to do what you want (install remote desktop software ie x11vnc) using something like http://kumatux.org/index.html however, you would also need a version of x11vnc compiled for this method and I can't see it on the application list on that site.

The good news is that there is yet another way of enabling USB mass storage mode. In a similar fashion to using the Ubuntu LiveCD to load Ubuntu onto your PC, you can load what's called the Rescue Initrd onto your N900. Whilst you can probably do this from Vista, it's probably best to use the Ubuntu LiveCD again and then follow these instructions from the wiki.

When I tried this on my device the backlight didn't come on. If you shine a torch on the device you can see the list of options available. You just want to press u and those 2 drives you could see earlier on can now be accessed.

When you're finished pressing r will reboot your phone back into maemo.

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

I recall seeing a thread on shortcuts using the keypad. Anyone remember where to get that and if there's a shortcut to select Mass Storage/PC Suite for OP?

Edit: Googled N900 shortcut
http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Shortcuts_and_Gestures

Try check if any of these works...

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

Hi Joseph.skb I have tried all the keyboard shortcuts but cant believe there is not one that will allow me to select or cycle through onscreen buttons :( So I have not been able to select either Mass Storage or PC Suite buttons using the keyboard shortcuts.

Going back to Mrsellouts suggestion... Rescue Initrd sounds ok. As I dont have an automatic wifi or net connection to download the setup files listed on the Meego wiki link, do you think I could download them on PC to a microSD card, then place that in the N900 and copy them into the folders as per the wiki guide? (long sentance :P)

Also, Magick777 suggested I run "iwconfig wlan0 up" in xterm. Even though I dont have rootsh, I tried running it like this "sudo iwconfig wlan0 up". Before, it told me it couldnt find iwconfig but running it with sudo prefixed it then asked me for a password. Ive never set any system password so is there a default? Or is it asking for my wifi password (It shouldnt be as the wifi connection is setup previously and should work fine)

I have had a small success with copying photos off the N900 to my microSD card using copy commands in xterm :)

Sorry for my lack of Linux knowlege but im learning quickly and trying to read the wikis. Does anyone think its possible to install rootsh any other way than through the N900s internet or wifi? Could I copy its files to a microSD card and install it from that?

Thanks for your continued support guys :)

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

If you switch off your phone - and plug it into your PC, the internal memory and the micro sd card will come up as removable memory media.

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

I believe that only worked with older firmware.

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

Unfortunately that no longer works with my phone as I have the latest firmware. When the phone is off and I plug it into the PC (win7) or Ubuntu it cannot open the drives.

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

I have managed to copy my pics from the MyDocs/DCIM folder to a MicroSD card which is great! Can anyone tell me the folder structure of MyDocs?

Also, how can I launch the N900 MicroB web browser from xterm? I have a deperate plan to install rootsh. If I can get the web browser up and it asks for a connection, I might be able to select one. If so, then Ill write the installation link for rootsh into the address bar. This should load the application manager shouldnt it? And hopefully Ill be able to install rootsh...

This is the theory :)

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

Hi Joda,

I came across another thread similar to yours. Try the solutions there. Ignore the outcome :P

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=53100

Hope you have some success. I guess you've flagged a problem which most take for granted when programming touch screen solutions.

Cheers,
Fred

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

I don't know how to launch the browser from the Terminal, but even if you could, when you type in the link to install rootsh, you will need the touchscreen working to tell the browser to open the file in Application Manager, and again to tell Application Manager to install the app.

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

The commandwould launch the install file from the rootsh page in the downloads section of this site if it managed to start the internet connection. This would then launch the App manager to install the program. However at this point screen touches are required to confirm the installation.

Try it anyway. If you do manage to get the internet up then you might be able to get x11vnc up and running. I managed to get it up and running without installing it by downloading from here and then using dpkg to extract the contents:
Then I browsed the extracted directories (x11vnc/usr/bin) and and ran ./x11vnc.

Unfortunately I haven't had enough time to get it working properly - while x11vnc does run, I couldn't access it from the PC. It's been a while since I tried it on the n900, when I get a chance I'll look further.

Searching google for 'how to install apps without root access' brings up some results which talk about adding paths to your profile. That might be what is stopping it from working, or I might just not be running x11vnc with the right parameters.

Of course that is all useless if you cannot get an internet connection.

BTW Just a little hint for using xterm when typing commands, filenames and directories: typing the first few letters and then pressing Ctrl and i will autocomplete the name or press twice for a list of options. eg from the MyDocs directory typing cd .doc and pressing Ctrl i will complete it to .documents.

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

Enable R&D Mode. No interaction with the N900 is required - just flasher-3.5 running on the computer and a USB cable. This will allow for the "sudo gainroot" command to work

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

Hi guys,
Just a quick note to say how fantastic everyones been with their suggestions and methods to get this working!

I was soooo close its just fecking depressing lol. I mananged to load the rootsh installation link in xterm and the wifi net connection was selected because the dent in my phones screen lay on top of the wifi choice button. By sheer chance lol. Looks like the dent is pressing down on the screen just there. Anyhow... the link directs to the installation and it loads the app manager... and thats when it falls apart. I need to tick that fecking little tick box and then press done to start the rootsh installation!

Arrgh lol :( The screen wont let me select anything along the bottom.

I tried space bar and return plus some other keys in case one might tick the box. Was hoping for a TAB key I could select the box then press space to select then TAB to the done key and press return/space.

So... Im kinda stuck with that method unless anyone has further suggestions. So close!!

Im going to try installing that remote access program as Mrsellout suggested. @Mrsellout Do you think the instructions from magick777 (On the first page) might help it connect? "install x11vnc and start it manually with x11vnc -many & - this will let you VNC into the phone using a normal VNC client"

Also...Jstokes mentioned an R&D mode. Would I be able to install stuff ok with that enabled or does it screw things up? Is it a point of no return?

Many thanks guys :)

Re: Broken Display Preventing Access to File System
 

You can take your phone into and out of R&D mode using the flasher program no problem - it's not a one-way change. It's not recommended to leave it in R&D mode forever, but in your circumstances it should get you out of a pickle. See http://wiki.maemo.org/R%26D_mode