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Which Two for a Mobile Phone?

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Which Two for a Mobile Phone?
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Planet Gemini Cosmo Communicator0 Votes - [0%]
Planet Gemini Astro4 Votes - [100%]
4 Votes [100%]

Jake Page Icon Posted 2021-01-02 4:46 PM
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The only active bb forum I've found so far is the crackberry. Tho I haven't yet poked around in xda. Given bb's famed security, I wonder about the difficulty of hacking the boot loader to install a ROM. Have you found anything?

One thing I much admire in the bb apps is the ability to set up custom character maps accessed thru the Sym key. That, and a programmable Control key. The Priv pkb is certainly not the Cosmo's, but it is backlit and I'm coming to the embarrassed awakening that I didn't do nearly as much work on my Gem/Cosmo as I thought I would.

I tricked it out, even built an apk to remap the kb without rooting (made a standalone quote/double quote key), but whenever I should've been doing work outside the house, I was surfing instead; that was just so much easier than me actually producing something

So such a discovery gives me pause about reinvesting in an expensive slider/clamshell phone simply b/c it has an alluring pkb. Even if I could find one that was close to reliable.

Jake
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HPC:Fan Page Icon Posted 2021-01-02 6:05 PM
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Hey Jake, it's been a while since I last researched but I was under the impression that the BlackBerry KeyOne and older Android BB's were able to be unlocked. I'd have to google to be positive though. Yeah, the BB keyboard is a wonderful little thing. I love the way I can launch apps by long pressing on any of the keys. Makes it very useful when you're in a hurry and absolutely need to send off a new email. The Priv was what I was planning on upgrading from when I had the BB Passport. But I held on to it a little longer than expected and skipped directly to the K1.

Just did a quick Google search, looks like there's not much in way of KeyOne ROM's. I guess I was mistaken.
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Jake Page Icon Posted 2021-01-03 3:35 PM
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I had forgotten about those long-press shortcuts! What a treat to find that I had already set them all up. Thank you for jogging my memory.

Re: ROMS--I'll look over at xda. On the other hand, I don't really know what I'm missing in my current setup. Battery life is tough, however. Priv never had good battery management to begin with, and my battery is now five years old.

I may try to replace it, but it looks as if it's easy to damage things during the removal. Or at least it will be easy for me.

Jake
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ntware Page Icon Posted 2021-01-03 9:50 PM
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Jake - 2021-01-02 10:45 AM

@ntware--well done! That must've taken a lot of work. So at the end, would it be correct to assume that rooting the Gem and using a Linux flavor on top of Android trumps an actual Linux install?

Long ago, I had multiple-boot on my Gem (including the ill-fated Sailfish) and found the Linux's lack of finger-friendliness to be a show-stopper. Using a passive, inaccurate pointer seemed silly, no disrespect intended toward the indefatigable Adam Boardman.

Is a chrooted Linux still anti-finger?

Jake


A rooted Android allows you to basically install any Linux package on top of Android. In fact, Android runs on the Linux kernel already, and the only limitation for doing that on traditional Android phones is the lack of access to the root user. These Chinese processors (Rockchip, Mediatek, etc) were built to run Android, not Linux distros. Hence, the manufacturers only offer support (drivers) for Android. That’s why running vanilla Linux on them is a pain. After fiddling around for too long on the Gemian (Gemini Debian distro) side, I decided to change my strategy and moved to Android. In fact, what I did on the Android side was quite simple. I use Linux Deploy to install a Linux distro on an SD card - it must be an SD card, otherwise your filesystem will be limited to 4GB. Then I configured it to open a VNC server, and use RealVNC viewer to “connect” to this virtual desktop from Android. Everything works very well. Touchscreen controls the mouse as a trackpad, so no issues in there. You can also use external Bluetooth or USB mouse and keyboard. HDMI also works. The only catch is the fn key on the keyboard that doesn’t work over VNC. To fix that I memorized the most common Unicode char codes and insert them with the ctrl+shift+u combination
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Jake Page Icon Posted 2021-01-04 6:44 PM
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ntware--thank you for such a detailed approach. I so admire your efforts.

I'm hoping to negotiate a repair from Planet on my Cosmo, but my Gemini molders somewhere and this could be covid project as the US seems far, far away from a decent level of vaccination. On the who-gets-the-shot-list, I come before domestic abusers but after above-ground pool salesmen.

Jake
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ntware Page Icon Posted 2021-01-06 7:58 PM
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Just to document a little bit more on the process, here is a post on OESF where I explain how to access Gemian from Android using chroot: https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?topic=35841.0

This is a convoluted method, and in the end I ended up finding it better to just install a clean Ubuntu Mate on an SD Card. The initial procedure is the same, the only difference is that you don't have to have Gemian on dual boot, just a single partition with rooted Android 7 is enough (make sure to use Android 7, as Android 8 is extremely buggy on Gemini).

Also, if you're installing Linux on the SD card, you'll have to use a different partition location on Linux Deploy configuration. Instead of using the Gemian partition (/dev/block/mmcblk0p29) you will have to use the SD card partition. On my device, the SD card is at /dev/block/mmcblk1p1. I don't remember if I had to pre-format the SD card as ext4. I believe Linux Deploy does that automatically for you. If not, just use your favorite partitioning tool to format your SD card before installing.

Steps 5 through 10 are not needed if you're using the SD card either. All you have to do after configuring Linux Deploy is tapping on three dots -> Install, and then three dots -> Configure. That's it. Once everything finishes you can start your container and connect to it through VNC Viewer app.

Here are some nice pictures of my Gemini running Ubuntu Mate in HiDPI mode. Mate is my favorite desktop for the Gemini as it has good support for HiDPI screens and is very user friendly. It works very well, just like how Gemian should be.



Check the HiDPI configuration on Mate Tweak





Edited by ntware 2021-01-06 8:03 PM




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Attachments WhatsApp Image 2021-01-06 at 2.36.23 PM.jpeg (225KB - 33 downloads)
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ArchiMark Page Icon Posted 2021-01-06 8:52 PM
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Jake - 2021-01-01 1:35 PM

@jorel101, I'll give that a whirl, but as you can see:

https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?topic=36383.msg297148#msg297148

this is a serious issue.

Having gone through two Planet phones, there's always some significant drawback like this. Even the Gemini's keyboard would bounce the screen when you typed. Very annoying, poorly designed hinge. And PC pulls the plug very quickly on their devices, always moving on to the next, so updates for actually-released phones are either months late or don't arrive at all.

And yeah, the Linux support is aspirational only. Poor Adam Boardman--he was the only guy in the world that was trying to get Gem Linux working. ArchiMark says Cosmo Linux is better, but neither Linuxes are finger-friendly and the second screen of the Cosmo (which acts as a Linux mouse) is just dreadful and hugely buggy in any OS.

jorel101's on the right track, go for the Astro--it can't be worse than its predecessors, though it may indeed try to be, since yet again, it's beta.

[snip....]

Jake



Sorry to hear you had such experiences, Jake.

I had positive experience with Gemini and now with my Cosmo.

Installed the latest linux update about a month ago and works great. Able to use the cover display as trackpad and the rocker button as left and right mouse buttons. Big improvement along with other updates to the OS build.

The few times I've had questions about the devices, I received email responses promptly.

Hope Planet will take care of your Cosmo.

Mark

PS. I backed the Astro....couldn't resist.....design reminds me of my ol' HTC Shift that I had fun with way back when.....
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Jake Page Icon Posted 2021-01-07 8:18 PM
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Hi, Mark, thanks for your concern and for the good news about your Linux.

@ntware--many thanks for the pix. VERY cool. Given the small titlebars, etc, I assume you're using a mouse or a pointer to get around. If it's a pointer, could you tell me the brand and its level of accuracy?

Great stuff; too bad I've forgotten how to root the Gem,
Jake
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ntware Page Icon Posted 2021-01-08 3:18 PM
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I'm not using any pointer device, although as I said USB/Bluetooth mice are supported. With VNC Viewer, the screen becomes a giant touchpad. All you have to do is just touch the screen as you would touch a mouse touchpad, and then the mouse pointer moves with your gestures. Tap and hold to drag items, and two-figers tap for a right click.

Rooting the Gemini is quite simple. Just follow this guide from PC: https://support.planetcom.co.uk/index.php/Linux_Flashing_Guide
This guide is actually to install Linux side-by-side with Android. When you reach the point of creating the partition map, instead of selecting both Android and Linux, you can just select Android. For Android, there are two options: pure Android and rooted Android. If you pick the rooted Android, once you download the file and flash it to your Gemini, your Android will be rooted. Quite easy!

By the way, I strongly recommend you pick the Android 7 image instead of Android 8. My last experience with Android 8 on the Gemini was horrible. I don't think PC has updated the Android 8 image since, so the bugs probably remain there. Android 7, although a bit outdated, runs very smoothly on the device.

edit: this is the actual link for the Android 7 partition tool: https://support.planetcom.co.uk/partitionTool7.html

edit2: don't forget to follow the last step on the guide for rooted android.

Edited by ntware 2021-01-08 3:18 PM
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Jake Page Icon Posted 2021-01-08 3:28 PM
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Thank you so much for holding my hand through all this. Heck, I'm going to do it, your pro-arguments are just too compelling.

Re: Android 7. That's fine with me. The Priv never got past Marshmellow.

Again, thank you for the assistance and the great links, not to mention pics.

Jake
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