[Tinkerphones] Tinkerphones OHSW 2016

[Lukas Maerdian]

Hi folks!

Looking at the Doodle [1], the best choice for this year's "Tinkerphones
Open Hard- and Software Workshop" (OHSW) [2] seems to be 9.12. -
11.12.2016. So we fixed that date for the workshop.

There will be a pre-meeting/get-together on Friday evening, 9.12. -
19:00, where everybody can get to know the other participants. The main
event will take place on 10.12. & 11.12.2016 in Munich.

Further information about the concrete location and the agenda are to be
announced soon!

Please register yourself [1] if you'd like to join OHSW'16 - it's free!
And submit your proposals if you'd like to present a specific topic.

Best regards,
  Lukas

[1] http://doodle.com/poll/nspi5fhr3gwef425
[2] http://www.ohsw.de



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Re: [Tinkerphones] Tinkerphones...

[H. Nikolaus Schaller]

> Am 20.07.2016 um 00:02 schrieb Andrew Schenck :
> 
> On 7/8/2016 8:28, H. Nikolaus Schaller wrote:
>> 
>>> Am 08.07.2016 um 09:53 schrieb Radek Polak :
>>> 
>>> On Thursday 07 of July 2016 20:54:59 Adrien Dorsaz wrote:
>>> > Currently I'm using a Samsung Galaxy SIII. I would like to use my GTA04
>>> > as
>>> > before, but it has again an issue with the USB port.
>>> > 
>>> > This time, when I plug the cable of the OpenMoko charger, nothing
>>> > happens.
>>> > Before my USB port was moving and my local electronic shop was able to
>>> > solder it again. Unfortunately, this time the USB port doesn't move, so
>>> > I'm not
>>> > sure if it is an issue on hardware or software.
>>>  
>>> I bought magnetic reduction for my N900's micro usb port. Works perfectly, 
>>> no worries about breaking USB anymore.
>>>  
>>> http://www.wsken.net/productsinfo.asp?id=30
>>>  
>> 
>> Cool!
>> 
>> We would need such a thing with Mini-USB for the GTA04...
> I bought one of the micro USB ones because it seems neat, but I've searched 
> around and there doesn't seem to be any mini USB version anywhere.
> 
> -Andrew

I have also found only micro USB. And there was a standard-USB socket "JabNab" 
10 years ago (I even own one - was a marketing gift).

But I think about designing one ourselves and offer in our shop. Will not be as 
elaborated and tiny, but it appears to be doable.
The basic idea is to make a small PCB, solder the front part of an opened 
Mini-USB plug to it. This can be plugged into the GTA04 side and should stand 
out max. 2-3. mm.
A second PCB with a full mini/micro USB socket and pogo pins can be attached to 
a standard cable. Both can be put in contact.
The main area for experimentation is how to find and attach small but strong 
enough magnets to this assembly.

So this will be amongst the next tinkering projects :)

BR,
Nikolaus

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Re: [Tinkerphones] Tinkerphones...

[David Boddie]

On Thu Jul 14 10:13:50 CEST 2016, Dr. Michael Lauer wrote:

> ACK. If it weren’t for the pathetic speed back at the time, a lot of people
> found the idea of the Python-written Openmoko framework in v1 appealing.

That sort of thing certainly has possibilities:

"In 2007 a former colleage, John Ryland, created a prototype phone user
interface environment based on Python and Qt. Unfortunately, his managers
weren't interested in it and it was not developed further. In 2008, Nokia
bought Trolltech and Qtopia, the product that complemented initiatives like
this, was cancelled." - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVOiZJuR24k

I started playing around with Python on various devices since the Greenphone
in late 2006. More recently, I've messed around with GUIs written in Python
and Qt on devices like the Kobo Mini eReader. The plain old framebuffer
version of Qt is fine for this.

> Editing directly on the device, with the effects immediately
> in place while the OS is running had its merits.
> 
> It would be cool to do something like this again, now that almost 10 years
> have passed and the (mobile) hardware is so much faster.

Agreed. I think it would be good to have a decent, stable, open platform for
this rather than chasing after the latest and greatest hardware available.
It's good that the GTA04, Pyra and Neo900 are available or in the works.

David
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Re: [Tinkerphones] Tinkerphones...

[Dr. Michael Lauer]

> Sure, Android provides a load of APIs but it looks like they were sort of
> broken or incomplete at the start, and each new revision tries to fix them
> while probably also being broken or incomplete. It's obscene that you need a
> GPU to run a mobile OS, and that you are expected to use a huge toolchain/SDK
> to develop for it. Forget about rebuilding the OS from scratch!

ACK. If it weren’t for the pathetic speed back at the time, a lot of people
found the idea of the Python-written Openmoko framework in v1 appealing.

Editing directly on the device, with the effects immediately
in place while the OS is running had its merits.

It would be cool to do something like this again, now that almost 10 years
have passed and the (mobile) hardware is so much faster.

Cheers,

:M:


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Re: [Tinkerphones] Tinkerphones...

[H. Nikolaus Schaller]

> Am 08.07.2016 um 09:53 schrieb Radek Polak :
> 
> On Thursday 07 of July 2016 20:54:59 Adrien Dorsaz wrote:
> > Currently I'm using a Samsung Galaxy SIII. I would like to use my GTA04
> > as
> > before, but it has again an issue with the USB port.
> > 
> > This time, when I plug the cable of the OpenMoko charger, nothing
> > happens.
> > Before my USB port was moving and my local electronic shop was able to
> > solder it again. Unfortunately, this time the USB port doesn't move, so
> > I'm not
> > sure if it is an issue on hardware or software.
>  
> I bought magnetic reduction for my N900's micro usb port. Works perfectly, no 
> worries about breaking USB anymore.
>  
> http://www.wsken.net/productsinfo.asp?id=30 
> 
>  

Cool!

We would need such a thing with Mini-USB for the GTA04...

BR,
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Re: [Tinkerphones] Tinkerphones...

[Radek Polak]

On Thursday 07 of July 2016 20:54:59 Adrien Dorsaz wrote:
> Currently I'm using a Samsung Galaxy SIII. I would like to use my GTA04
> as
> before, but it has again an issue with the USB port.
> 
> This time, when I plug the cable of the OpenMoko charger, nothing
> happens.
> Before my USB port was moving and my local electronic shop was able to
> solder it again. Unfortunately, this time the USB port doesn't move, so
> I'm not
> sure if it is an issue on hardware or software.

I bought magnetic reduction for my N900's micro usb port. Works perfectly, 
no worries about breaking USB anymore.

http://www.wsken.net/productsinfo.asp?id=30

I am wondering why those shitty USB connectors still exist while there is so 
nice solution (magnetic connector). The answer is probably to make 
manufacturers happy: more broken connectors => more sold phones.


> I dream about the GTA04A5 (which had a fix for the USB port) runing
> QtMoko and a more recent web browser :)

It looks that QtWebkit is not very good. Maybe Qt5 version is better. IIRC 
jolla has browser based on gecko and qt - it works quite nice.

> The icing on the cake will be to have a screen more readable at sun
> light.

I would trade color LCD display for e-ink. Maybe someone with yota phone 
could comment if e-ink is enough for dayily use (reading SMS, calls, 
browsing and maps).

BR

Radek
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Re: [Tinkerphones] Tinkerphones...

[Andrew Schenck]

On 7/7/2016 11:54, Adrien Dorsaz wrote:

Hi,

Le jeu 7 jui 2016 à 8:25, H. Nikolaus Schaller  a 
écrit :
I for example have to admit that I use an iPhone. A very old one 
because it is mechanically compatible to the car kit of my car...


Currently I'm using a Samsung Galaxy SIII. I would like to use my GTA04 as
before, but it has again an issue with the USB port.

This time, when I plug the cable of the OpenMoko charger, nothing happens.
Before my USB port was moving and my local electronic shop was able to
solder it again. Unfortunately, this time the USB port doesn't move, 
so I'm not

sure if it is an issue on hardware or software.

I think that's an hardware issue, because I've tried several software 
(QtMoko,

Replicant and the Debian-LXDE, none works).

Although I've lost a bit my motivation, because the USB port has an issue
every 6 months and I know I won't be able to spend more time and money
to fix these recurrent issues (I'm not particulary skilled with my 
hands and

I've never worked with electronics).
I have this exact same problem since about two weeks after I bought my 
used GTA04 from Orest Tarasiuk on this list.  I have a Freerunner that I 
bought previously that I use as a battery charger and I cycle through 
three batteries: one in the device, one charged spare in my pocket, and 
the final one charging at home.  It's tedious and I have to set the time 
every time I change batteries, but I'm able to use the GTA04 to make 
calls and send and receive texts (though not MMS), and very occasionally 
to browse the Internet with Aurora browser on QtMoko v57.  Eventually I 
might try to lean on a more capable solderer friend to reattach the UBS 
port, and then epoxy the whole thing in place to prevent the solder 
joints from breaking again.


So I still dream of a device that is modern enough and can be owned 
and operated as long as I like and get software updates for a very 
long time. It is also supported well enough so that I can even try to 
repair something.
I've already prepaid the full 1140€ for a Neo900 device, so when 
(hopefully not if) that project finishes I plan on switching to that as 
my everyday device.  At this stage, judging from #neo900 on freenode, 
I'm a bit worried that there won't be any OS ready when the hardware is 
finalized.  Joerg has repeated many times that the project is about 
creating hardware which maintains compatibility with the N900 hardware, 
and someone else will have to make software that works.  If I can scrape 
together some more available funds I'd like to also preorder a GTA05, 
but I haven't been able to do that yet.


I'm particularly happy with the GTA04 / Tinkerphone community because
the kernel development is sill active (long time after GTA04 production !)
and that a hacking weekend was organized to take back QtMoko active.
Community and communication is very important.  Neo900 hasn't put out a 
(micro)blog post in a long time, and they were talking about needing a 
communication officer in IRC yesterday.  Having some sort of constant 
stream of minor updates keeps people engaged.


And, I would like to see a uniform user interface across all portable 
devices, desktop devices and even web access.
But not only user interface but API and SDKs. Why shall I write 
software for mobile, the same app for desktop and provice web pages 
for mobile plus desktop? Four different pieces of code! All 
incompatible in different languages, toolkits and libraries, but 
doing all the same for the users - just in different screen dimensions.


Yes and that was almost possible with the Firefox OS project which 
tried to create

applications using standard web technologies. Unfortunately, the project
was relying on the 3D graphics capacity and I didn't find easily a way to
run the closed firmware with recent kernels (though, I don't know kernel
and graphic firmware interaction in general).

It is a dream and I haven't found that it is fulfilled anywhere. 
Therefore I am continuously tinkering with GTA04, Letux kernels, 
Pyra-Handheld, QtMoko, QuantumSTEP and all the other activities. What 
are your motivations and dreams and thoughts?
My motivation is owning my own device (as opposed to renting it from an 
giant corporation that can choose to deny it to you at a whim) which 
respects my freedom.


-Andrew


I dream about the GTA04A5 (which had a fix for the USB port) runing
QtMoko and a more recent web browser :)

The icing on the cake will be to have a screen more readable at sun light.

Unfortunately, I know the price is far too expensive for my budget
and I don't think my wife will be ok to buy the newer model :)

My motivation is exactly what you described in the announce of the 
Tinkerphones
community: I'd like to take time to tink my phone, especially with 
free (as in

free speech) software and I'd like to experiment some little application
developement on such device.

Best regards,
Adrien

Re: [Tinkerphones] Tinkerphones...

[Adrien Dorsaz]

Hi,

Le jeu 7 jui 2016 à 8:25, H. Nikolaus Schaller  a 
écrit :

I for example have to admit that I use an iPhone. A very
old one because it is mechanically compatible to the car kit
of my car...


Currently I'm using a Samsung Galaxy SIII. I would like to use my GTA04 
as

before, but it has again an issue with the USB port.

This time, when I plug the cable of the OpenMoko charger, nothing 
happens.

Before my USB port was moving and my local electronic shop was able to
solder it again. Unfortunately, this time the USB port doesn't move, so 
I'm not

sure if it is an issue on hardware or software.

I think that's an hardware issue, because I've tried several software 
(QtMoko,

Replicant and the Debian-LXDE, none works).

Although I've lost a bit my motivation, because the USB port has an 
issue

every 6 months and I know I won't be able to spend more time and money
to fix these recurrent issues (I'm not particulary skilled with my 
hands and

I've never worked with electronics).


So I still dream of a device that is modern enough and
can be owned and operated as long as I like and get
software updates for a very long time. It is also supported
well enough so that I can even try to repair something.


I'm particularly happy with the GTA04 / Tinkerphone community because
the kernel development is sill active (long time after GTA04 production 
!)

and that a hacking weekend was organized to take back QtMoko active.


And, I would like to see a uniform user interface across
all portable devices, desktop devices and even web
access.

But not only user interface but API and SDKs. Why shall I
write software for mobile, the same app for desktop
and provice web pages for mobile plus desktop? Four
different pieces of code! All incompatible in different
languages, toolkits and libraries, but doing all the same
for the users - just in different screen dimensions.


Yes and that was almost possible with the Firefox OS project which 
tried to create

applications using standard web technologies. Unfortunately, the project
was relying on the 3D graphics capacity and I didn't find easily a way 
to

run the closed firmware with recent kernels (though, I don't know kernel
and graphic firmware interaction in general).



It is a dream and I haven't found that it is fulfilled anywhere.
Therefore I am continuously tinkering with GTA04, Letux
kernels, Pyra-Handheld, QtMoko, QuantumSTEP and all
the other activities.

What are your motivations and dreams and thoughts?


I dream about the GTA04A5 (which had a fix for the USB port) runing
QtMoko and a more recent web browser :)

The icing on the cake will be to have a screen more readable at sun 
light.


Unfortunately, I know the price is far too expensive for my budget
and I don't think my wife will be ok to buy the newer model :)

My motivation is exactly what you described in the announce of the 
Tinkerphones
community: I'd like to take time to tink my phone, especially with free 
(as in

free speech) software and I'd like to experiment some little application
developement on such device.

Best regards,
Adrien
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[Tinkerphones] Tinkerphones...

[H. Nikolaus Schaller]

Hi all,
after we have renamed the community, let's try to get
into more discussions again as every community lives
from members.

I for example have to admit that I use an iPhone. A very
old one because it is mechanically compatible to the car kit
of my car...

Newer ones aren't and I would have to replace the car kit
cradle for additional money. And, Apple had changed
the connector so that I also would have to replace power
supply and other things as well.

So I have a reliable device that works. But it is outdated.
Most modern apps don't work because they require a
newer version of iOS. Which is not available for that old
hardware. Argh...

I am locked out because I am not willing to throw away
that old but still well working device and buy a new one.

It is not my first experience being in that situation.

Therefore I am for years running the GTA0x projects
and permanently pushing for new device hardware (it
is much more difficult than buying a new iPhone :) and
getting software projects like QtMoko back on the rails.

So I still dream of a device that is modern enough and
can be owned and operated as long as I like and get
software updates for a very long time. It is also supported
well enough so that I can even try to repair something.

And, I would like to see a uniform user interface across
all portable devices, desktop devices and even web
access.

But not only user interface but API and SDKs. Why shall I
write software for mobile, the same app for desktop
and provice web pages for mobile plus desktop? Four
different pieces of code! All incompatible in different
languages, toolkits and libraries, but doing all the same
for the users - just in different screen dimensions.

It is a dream and I haven't found that it is fulfilled anywhere.
Therefore I am continuously tinkering with GTA04, Letux
kernels, Pyra-Handheld, QtMoko, QuantumSTEP and all
the other activities.

What are your motivations and dreams and thoughts?

BR,
Nikolaus

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