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Hello fellow XDAers!
I have ported a WinMobile game to Silverlight and I am really desperate for some beta testers – having been immersed in the project now for over 500 hours it's getting hard to see the wood for the trees.
If you're keen, the URL is www.squarepeggame.com
As an (attempt at an) incentive, I will reward useful beta testers with free copies of the game when it's released. Currently, things I would really like to know are:
- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
- Are you able to create an account, and is your level position saved when you re-start?
- The Level Designer (this'll be the first time anybody has used it, go easy on me) what do you think?
- Comments on useability and interface.
- General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)
- Anyone have access to an Intel-based Mac? Does it run on that?
There are separate forums on the game site to post any questions/bugs, I am of course happy to reply here in this thread too, providing it doesn't get too cluttered.
Thank you in advance!
Carlos
PS: I'll soon be on the look out for paid level designers as well, if this is something that interests you, just sign up in-game as a developer (see the website for more info)
PPS: You might need Silverlight 2, but it only takes 30secs to download & install the plugin
- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
Yes
- Are you able to create an account,
haven't tried (was not required
and is your level position saved when you re-start?
When I clicked the x i restarted, but when I clicked the x again the screen stayed white, nothing happened
- Comments on useability and interface.
I though the pregame pointers (in training mode) disapeared a bit too quickly
- General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)
see my 2nd comment
Mr_Gee said:
- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
Yes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there
Thanks very much for this, I'm nearly ready to release it - anybody else fancy giving it a go? http://www.squarepeggame.com
What would be very helpful would be if somebody wanted to use the level designer to make their own level for the game - doesn't have to be anything complex - and let me know how you get on?
C
I will try right now
hmm seems like ppc has a new level to achieve ... will try
quite heavy on my memory eats up a lot of ram; was nice to play it and as been said was able to play without using my email address
Frickin' level 7....AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! Now you have done it. I'll be at this for hours.http://forum.xda-developers.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
Runs well on Firefox 3 with Silverlight 2 for me. It allowed me to create an account and login. Haven't tested saving yet. Will do in a moment. Likewise with the level designer. The only thing that could do with altering is that on my 1920 x 1200 monitor (24 inch) the game is as far to the left of the browser as it will go. Would be better in the middle.
Yes, it did save my level when I went back. Just had the signup email. Might be worth obscuring some of the password in it . And volume controls for SFX and music would be good rather than just on or off. Level 9 of the tutorial has a spelling error, Giong instead of Going.
- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
It runs, I am using my bro's core2duo laptop with firefox 3.0.5
- Are you able to create an account, and is your level position saved when you re-start?
Yes, I used red_hanks also and it says I am logged in with that name. Still waiting for the game to start for 15minutes now, it says "please wait" with a square spinning around. It is not my internet connection because I have a high-speed broadband. Silverlight was installed also and system is up to date with Windows Update.
- The Level Designer (this'll be the first time anybody has used it, go easy on me) what do you think?
Looks clean, like in nurserys... (just the first page where it says START, INSTRUCTIONS...)
- Comments on useability and interface.
None at the moment
- General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)
It is not loading???
Oh it's loading now...Playing it...nice game...hit thr back arrow button and it went back to the first page...playing again...hit the x button and nothin happens..hit it again and everything just went white...
Hmmm... the level editor crashes Firefox for me as soon as I click in the email box. Also happens in IEtab and Internet Explorer 7. My machine is Vista Ultimate with a Core 2 Duo E6600 with 2gb RAM. I've also had it go to a blank screen in the menus but I see this is a listed bug on your forum.
character said:
eats up a lot of ram.. was nice to play it and as been said was able to play without using my email address
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll look into any ways of further minimising RAM usage, although could be a browser thing too. Lots of sounds and pics to cache too, but will definitely investigate.
ahuskins said:
Frickin' level 7....AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! Now you have done it. I'll be at this for hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Level 7, really??! The one on the tutorial is really easy, so maybe you're talking about the actual "first hundred" playlist? Hope you cracked it! Let me know if you can't get there and want me to developer-enable your account so that you can try out the level designer.
Prof. Yaffle said:
The only thing that could do with altering is that on my 1920 x 1200 monitor (24 inch) the game is as far to the left of the browser as it will go. Would be better in the middle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is an interesting comment - I will try to get it to centre in the browser rather than left-aligning. It's funny as I had just assumed that people would move or resize the window rather than maximising it! But I want it to be as helpful as possible to the user so you're right, it should align to the middle of large browser windows.
Prof. Yaffle said:
Yes, it did save my level when I went back. Just had the signup email. Might be worth obscuring some of the password in it . And volume controls for SFX and music would be good rather than just on or off. Level 9 of the tutorial has a spelling error, Giong instead of Going.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These are all excellent suggestions, thank you - and typo now fixed. (the joy of all the levels coming from a SQL server is that this was a relatively trivial thing to do - if you've ever tried deploying and staging an Azure server site you'll know how long it can take...)
The volume controls might not make it into the beta release but will definitely be added later.
red_hanks said:
Hit the x button and nothin happens..hit it again and everything just went white...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this, red_hanks. Can't replicate the error but could easily have been the webserver being down. Calls to WCF services from Silverlight are a little tricky and I think I need more error handling for when they don't work. I don't think you have tested the level designer by the way, just the game, in answer to your comment.
Thanks everyone! As I said before, if anyone fancies trying to design their own level using the level designer and wants to let me know the name, etc, I'd be interested to (1) play your level and (2) hear how you got on with the level designer!
There's forums over at www.squarepeggame.com too if you need help, tutorials still being made but some are there.
Carlos
Any idea what could cause the level editor to crash in IE7 and Firefox? I've tried Run As Administrator as well but still the same. As soon as I click any of the boxes (including the tickbox) it crashes.
Prof. Yaffle said:
Any idea what could cause the level editor to crash in IE7 and Firefox? I've tried Run As Administrator as well but still the same. As soon as I click any of the boxes (including the tickbox) it crashes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm okay it would certainly be good to get this solved!
When it crashes, does it just white-screen or is there an error message? Can you try (in Firefox), after it's crashed, going to Tools -> Error Console and seeing if there were any error messages?
C
PS: I'm assuming you're running Silverlight v2 and not some earlier beta or something. Perhaps you could try uninstalling and re-installing Silverlight for me as well, making sure of course that all browsers are closed during installation.
Great, but a few issues
It runs along fine with very few issues on my Sony Laptop (Model VGN-CR240E with Windows Vista/7 partitions, 2 gb RAM, 2 gigahertz Centrino Duo, and a 1280x800 LCD screen. I have not actually tried it on Vista, only on Windows 7 and it works wonderfully except when you enter a level and hit the "X" button in the top corner, which crashes IE8 Beta It doesn't crash under those circumstances on FireFox (Windows 7) though. However, these issues could also be attributed to the fact it is a beta OS running a beta Browser. The game seems more stable on FireFox. I will try it on Vista later, and see if that makes a difference using IE7. As for the UI, it's fine but if you added a way to go back to the main menu after you choose the green "Start" button, that would make it even better. Accounts work fine as far as I've used them. And I have not noticed any RAM issues with the game, according to Process Explorer. The game is amazing overall, and you'll have yourself a real winner when this is done. Good luck with the game
Dave
Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
It works fine on my HP laptop. I'm running Windows 7 Beta Build 7000 and using IE 8 Beta 2
Are you able to create an account, and is your level position saved when you re-start?
Yes. I created an account and the level position was saved
The Level Designer (this'll be the first time anybody has used it, go easy on me) what do you think?
I haven't been able to login to it.
Comments on useability and interface.
Nice UI. It's simple and intuitive
General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)
Problem logging into the level designer. It says I need to complete the tutorial though I've finished it.
How did it run on an Intel iMac?
Once I get to my newspaper class 2 days from now, I'll update my post.
Since I couldn't login to the dev portal, I'm just saying: I'm a Silverlight developer and I would be interested in designing levels/improving the code of the game.
Hello,
The game runs well on my Mac Book Pro with Firefox.
I was able to create an account with no issues.
UI is simple. Makes the games easy to learn.
Crashed to a white screen on level 9 of the tutorial after several moves. Was able to restart from the beginning. This was prior to creating a login. After creating a login and then finishing level 8 of the tutorial I got a pleas wait icon. It then crashed to a white screen after about 30 seconds.
Do you want us to post in the squarepeg forum instead of here?
carlosp_uk said:
Hmm okay it would certainly be good to get this solved!
When it crashes, does it just white-screen or is there an error message? Can you try (in Firefox), after it's crashed, going to Tools -> Error Console and seeing if there were any error messages?
C
PS: I'm assuming you're running Silverlight v2 and not some earlier beta or something. Perhaps you could try uninstalling and re-installing Silverlight for me as well, making sure of course that all browsers are closed during installation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When it crashes it actually kills Firefox and I get the Mozilla Crash Reporter asking if I wish to report details of what I was doing. I've tried several times looking in the Error Console and there's nothing other than a couple of dead RSS feeds. If I clear it still nothing at all related. I have V2 of Silverlight installed but have just tried rebooting, removing it, rebooting again, re-installing it and still the same.
Had to d/l silverlight- plays just fine
Created account and didnt have to log in as it remembered me and where I was
Nice game, looks good and is easy to use, though the levels get tough
No bugs that I have found
Using this on my HP 17" laptop running Windows XP
Thanks for this
Everything works perfectly using Silverlight 2 on an (intel) Macbook. The levels are tough, most definitely.
DaveTheTytnIIGuy said:
On Windows 7 and it works wonderfully except when you enter a level and hit the "X" button in the top corner, which crashes IE8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Dave, and also for your kind comments / feeback on the game - all noted. I have not been able to reproduce this bug (IE8 beta 1 or 2?) so I'm going to put it down as a win7/ie8 quirk for now, unless I get multiple reports. How did you get on with Vista?
ND4SPD said:
Problem logging into the level designer. It says I need to complete the tutorial though I've finished it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks this worries me as if the game is not correctly developer-enabling accounts at all times we're in trouble. Did anything happen when you completed the tutorial? Any sort of message at all? I cannot reproduce the error as when I complete the tutorial on my machine a message box appears telling me "Congratulations!..." and my account is upgraded to developer status.
ND4SPD said:
Since I couldn't login to the dev portal, I'm just saying: I'm a Silverlight developer and I would be interested in designing levels/improving the code of the game.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, that sounds very interesting, if we can't get this problem sorted quickly let me know and I can manually developer-enable your account so you can have a crack at the level designer. In the next phase of the launch, we (ie me) will be paying out cash for levels as well.
blazingwolf said:
Crashed to a white screen on level 9 of the tutorial after several moves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this - this sounds like an error in code rather than comms. Can you remember what moves you made in the level? If you're able to reproduce this error and then (in firefox) go to Tools -> Error Console, hopefully there will be an error message that could help me to fix this bug. The other error you mention is a known comms exception that I'll be looking at.
Prof. Yaffle said:
When it crashes it actually kills Firefox
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously? Whoa! And this happens when you click anything in the login screen of the level designer, right? (I'm assuming you got the logo and login textboxes appearing with no issues) Does the Mozilla crash reporter give you any additional info that you could send me about the crash?
Thanks so much for re-installing, by the way, sorry this didn't help. This doesn't sound like it's something that's going to be easy to diagnose, in fact I already have a headache just thinking about it. Possibly a silverlight bug, a browser bug, or both. Do you have javascript enabled in Firefox, by the way? And have you tried logging in with Internet Explorer, does that work?
blazingwolf said:
Do you want us to post in the squarepeg forum instead of here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know people, as we're now discussing multiple issues, and I don't want to abuse the charity of xda-developers for hosting this discussion, it might actually be better to gradually move things to the squarepeg forums. (http://forums.squarepeggame.com) I'll disable email account activation for a few days to make it quicker for you to set up accounts.
Of course if people would prefer to post here, that's understandable, I'll still gladly answer posts in this thread.
On a general note, thanks for all the testing so far (eg stanglifemike) - and I'm really pleased that the general impression of the game itself seems to be a good one... ...oh, and @elazullizard - thanks for the feedback... are the levels really that tough? Are you talking about "The First Hundred" or the tutorial?.. ..if it's the tutorial I'm now worried that I've made it too hard!
Carlos
Hi,
I got a few spare androids' and i'm considering giving them to my kids (11 and 12) to play around with it and enjoy the android experience. however I don't want them being able to put 3rd party applications. how do i go about removing the option of "unknown sources" and maybe wifi from the settings.apk.
I'm not new to java and xml but sort of new to android development, I've tried several ways to remove it from the apk only (ark, ddx, baksmali, apksign) I did it in so many ways that i can't remember them all. I've also tried to decode the apk with apktool, ddx, baksmali, and creating a new project from existing source in eclipse, and I couldn't figure out what parts I have to modify to get it working (i kept on getting errors in eclipse so i wasn't even able to compile and test it in DDMS-eclipse).
Also i would like to know if maybe it is necessary to port the whole kernel source into eclipse?
I've searched all over the internet for a information for this specific thing and I couldn't find anything.
Btw, I'm using nix lucid.
Thanks In advance.
any help would be appreciated!
how about flash the supere rom without the google apps? that way they wont be able to access the market..
lagu805 said:
how about flash the supere rom without the google apps? that way they wont be able to access the market..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, the problem is not the market, i can pull it out from the phone with adb in a second w/o superE, but they can still install stuff on it with a sd card, and I would hate to not put in a file browser on the phone.
I think it would be a good idea to make a rom that's made for kids, for playing games and stuff without me worrying about it.
I'm sure that they will try to figure out a way to get around the "no market on the phone" and I should not underestimate a kid (even a 12 year old). I've seen him getting around lots of technological obstacle's.
I think that the world could use a kid's version of android, you know, get them hooked when they're young. The last thing i would like to hear from my kids is talking about iPhone or Windows. We're all linux in our house
Interesting. I too gave Magics to my 11 & 12 yr olds, one without a data plan and the other without a SIM at all. I think the right way might be multiuser like we already do on the desktops. Sudo would be a nice touch but I'd be happy to login as admin to install or whatnot.
Multiuser is something I'd like to see anyway with most or some settings on a per user basis. Or at least just for security, normal login can't do critical tasks that might cause issues. I think we'll hear about this again once we hear about some seriously dangerous apps/scams/viri on the phones.
In the meantime your best bet is education and rules about what can and can't be done. Then once per week or so you take the phone and check things out, update as needed, etc. So far my kids have little interest in breaking the rules and are happy browsing the market for fun things.
I think the only way to achieve this is to download the AOSP, edit the sources to remove the options and then compile your own ROM.
3rdcoast said:
Interesting. I too gave Magics to my 11 & 12 yr olds, one without a data plan and the other without a SIM at all. I think the right way might be multiuser like we already do on the desktops. Sudo would be a nice touch but I'd be happy to login as admin to install or whatnot.
Multiuser is something I'd like to see anyway with most or some settings on a per user basis. Or at least just for security, normal login can't do critical tasks that might cause issues. I think we'll hear about this again once we hear about some seriously dangerous apps/scams/viri on the phones.
In the meantime your best bet is education and rules about what can and can't be done. Then once per week or so you take the phone and check things out, update as needed, etc. So far my kids have little interest in breaking the rules and are happy browsing the market for fun things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, it is just a nix and SUDO should be possible, but setting this up is a quite a project and I don't think this is a one day project.
As for educating, I think they know right from wrong and I don't think that they will willingly break the rules, the market however is full of apps that are not meant for young kids..... what do you think they're going to do when they bump in to one of those apps? .
Actually what i wanted to do is to give them a phone with a line and no data plan so they can play games or watch movies, If the kids want to use the internet, there are more than enough boxes at home they can use. This phone is strictly for voice text and games.
What I want to accomplish in general, is having a child safe phone, and have the other parents here who want their kids to have to have an android, enjoy it. My way of giving back to the community.
But to have a phone that will be suitable for the purpose (not just for my kids) the data has to be completely disabled, and wifi is going to be the issue. putting on an encryption on wifi is a joke, ever heard of aircrack? I'm sure there are lots of determined horny 15 year olds that will get around that. (am i paranoid?)
Case_ said:
I think the only way to achieve this is to download the AOSP, edit the sources to remove the options and then compile your own ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what i want to do. The question is how do I do it?
Again, I'm not a complete noob, I just never played around with android as an OS. so if I can have the first push here here what I'm supposed to do to start this I would really appreciate it.
As I've said in my first post, I tried a few things and i couldn't get it right. what part of this don't i get??
Thanks a lot.
well your not even going in the right direction..
do you have an IDE with compiler and the android SDK all set up? then you can check on dferrera post on how to compile android from source... its listed in this forum.. please search
if your not a programmer or have no idea what classes - functions etc are then this might now be an option for you that is something you can be instructed on
you are going to need to learn to compile android from source and modify it, this is a very big task mate - be prepared, and no one can answer all the questions for u
alan090 said:
well your not even going in the right direction..
do you have an IDE with compiler and the android SDK all set up? then you can check on dferrera post on how to compile android from source... its listed in this forum.. please search
if your not a programmer or have no idea what classes - functions etc are then this might now be an option for you that is something you can be instructed on
you are going to need to learn to compile android from source and modify it, this is a very big task mate - be prepared, and no one can answer all the questions for u
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, but i can't seem to get java5 working on 10.04 (the 10.04 repos have only java6 but i did add the old repos and ran in to some issues), I had it working on 9.04 though. anyone made it run on 10.04? or should I downgrade (or run it in VB) to 9.04/.10?
k50aker said:
Thanks for the reply, but i can't seem to get java5 working on 10.04 (the 10.04 repos have only java6 but i did add the old repos and ran in to some issues), I had it working on 9.04 though. anyone made it run on 10.04? or should I downgrade (or run it in VB) to 9.04/.10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Add these 2 lines to the end of /etc/apt/sources.list file
Code:
deb http://pl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty multiverse
deb http://pl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty universe
then do:
Code:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sun-java5-jdk
@k50aker
Hiding Wifi and other things should be quite easy task, but... how do you want to protect against system reinstallation? They could download any ROM from internet and install it in just 10 minutes. Backuping is easy too, so they could have 2 systems installed and switch between them when their dad comes home.
Android phones aren't desktops. You can't have root and don't give it to other users of a device.
Mod. edit: not dev related, moved to general
I wouldn't want to hide WiFI, the device is useless without connectivity, much cheaper toys out there for that if I wanted stand alone.
My two children each have a Magic and this is my experience, none of the worries that many parents seem to fear. They are well behaved and so far no problems and they are ready for 2.1 since 1.5 is just too confining even for them. Education goes a long way.
The best choice I made was to not put a SIM in one of the phones. WiFI is ideal since she is nearly always in a zone. This has gotten her used to IM instead of texting. Same effect but costs nothing. A SIP app works almost as well as SIM voice. Someday I'll do a data only SIM so she has total coverage, she'll understand that heavy data is to be done over WiFI and cell data is for VoIP and for times when it is really needed and can't wait.
However it would be nice if there was a limited setting requiring admin password for certain functions. But really, there hasn't been any problems but my kids might be grateful enough to not abuse the rights I give them. Best advice besides education if they are very young is to not SIM until after they get into the alternatives and not be addicted to texting. The older one has learned to watch her usage patterns and has to pay if she goes over budget.
Switch33 said:
Add these 2 lines to the end of /etc/apt/sources.list file
Code:
deb http://pl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty multiverse
deb http://pl.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty universe
then do:
Code:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install sun-java5-jdk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
those ropes are for jaunty not for lucid, and I have tried that before anyway and this is what i get:
Code:
desktop:~$ sudo apt-get install sun-java5-jdk
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
sun-java5-jdk is already the newest version.
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
libwv2-4
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 11 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0B of additional disk space will be used.
Setting up sun-java5-doc (1.5.0-19-0ubuntu0.9.04) ...
This package is an installer package, it does not actually contain the
J2SDK documentation. You will need to go download one of the
archives:
jdk-1_5_0-doc.zip jdk-1_5_0-doc-ja.zip
(choose the non-update version if this is the first installation).
Please visit
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.html
now and download. The file should be owned by root.root and be copied
to /tmp.
[Press RETURN to try again, 'no' + RETURN to abort] no
Abort installation of J2SDK documentation
dpkg: error processing sun-java5-doc (--configure):
subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
sun-java5-doc
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
Brut.all said:
@k50aker
Hiding Wifi and other things should be quite easy task, but... how do you want to protect against system reinstallation? They could download any ROM from internet and install it in just 10 minutes. Backuping is easy too, so they could have 2 systems installed and switch between them when their dad comes home.
Android phones aren't desktops. You can't have root and don't give it to other users of a device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right, but one of the later steps I thought about would be a custom boot and custom or no recovery. But I will figure that out later in the project.
But i will probably change my direction on this (wifi etc.) based on what you guys say.
Let me start off by saying I am not a developer. And Im not too familiar with Linux either. Just goes to show that this isnt too difficult
To get ubuntu on the Atrix please go here first:
[MOD] Full Linux (Debian) inside WebTop! v0.2.6 [2011/07/07] [14.15 GMT+2:00] - xda-developers
Follow the steps. Must have CMW installed, rooted etc.
I was unsuccessful with webtop2sd. You might have good results with it, but for me it didnt.
Once you flash this cmw file, reboot you phone and enter into webtop (if you need the HDMI hack, you will find that on XDA). You will now see 3 new icons. Leafpad, Lxterminal, and a penguin. Click on the penguin, and you it will say found image. Click ok.
If your unfamiluar with linux, this will look french to you. Once it launches (the first time after reboot will take some time, be patient). Hit enter, enter again and scroll down to Shells, then hit enter on Bash. Now this is where the fun begins.
Enter synaptic. If that doesnt work you might need to install it. apt-get install synaptic. After thats opened search for gnome-panel, right click and select "mark for installation". Hit apply and go for a coffee. This will take a long time, and make sure your on wifi. This is a huge download.
Here is a list of working applications so far :
Epiphany web browser
Epiphany IM
Evolution Mail
Iceweasle
AbiWord
GNU image manipulation
All of the games
Im working on getting usb-to-ethernet dongle working.I can see it, just cant get access to it.
Almost all of the pre-installed applications with gnome work. EXCEPT sound. This is driving me nuts. I am unable to find a sound driver (gstreamer) that works. If anyone here figures it out let me know. And if anyone out there have programs that work let me know. I can always add it to the list. Im very green to Linux, and just playing around at this point. Im no developer, and most of your questions can be answered on XDA forums.
I have the same setup, and you can add openoffice.org and geany packages to the "functional" list. I use openoffice's writer every day and have found no missing functions. Geany is working, but does not build and compile, so it's basically a color-coded text editor (still useful for note-taking my language classes). I did NOT use synaptic to get these. I simply used the bash script (in the same manner you described for your synaptic install) to apt-get install openoffice.org and geany respectively. Nice thread,
-omni
Where you able to get sound working??
g2tegg said:
Where you able to get sound working??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My sound through the Webtop is functional, yes. I'm not sure if you were talking about gnome-specific apps (I wouldn't know, because I'm not using gnome panel), but anything through mobile view or iceweasel (not including flash) plays stereo through the Webtop. I didn't do anything special to get it working, it always just has. I hope you figure out your problem.
-omni
With epiphany did you encounter a problem where it uses xulrunner-1.9.2 instead of xulrunner-1.9 and fails to start the gecko engine? The epiphany version that is available through synaptic after fixing apt-get dependencies and sources uses xul1.9 once and works right then uses xul1.9.2 every time after that and fails. Epiphany lists both xul versions as deps so i, unsuccessfully, tried to lock xul1.9 and install a fake xul1.9.2. Any help would be awesome.
I did manage to make Webtop2SD work after I created a 4 GB partition on my ExtSD through Webtop2sd partitioning tool.
Here's what I got working (installed through Synaptic):
XFCE4 (full suite)
OpenOffice
GIMP
EPDFViewer
Fillezilla FTP client
VLC Media Player (marginal results)
Ristretto Image viewer
ABE's Amazing Adventure (game with full working sound)
I was hoping to have some sort of ScummVM, MAME and SNES emulator to run, but unfortunately they don't even after a successfull install.
Cheers!
Rayan
Sent from my Atrix using Tapatalk
@ g2tegg
I know it's a bit late for commenting lol. And probably my post may be off-topic. But was your issue the <no sound coming from HDTV via HDMI> one?
I also had this issue in webtop going on for like 3 months (like flashing and reflashing webtop to no end), until I stumbled upon this Motorola forum:
h**p://supportforums.motorola.com/message/330591#330591
(had to mod link because I didn't reach the minimum amounts of posts to allow links -_-)
Basically, if you switch display resolution to anything other than 1280x720, sound will not redirect to HDTV. And as for me, after switching to 1280x720, I had to reboot my Atrix in order to finally have sound . No need to find for drivers.
My sound would work within the Webtop apps from Motorola. But if I wanted to use a Linux MP3 player, watch a video etc there would be no sound. Kept getting a gstreamer error.
Hi g2tegg,
I have Atrix with iBlur ROM. I installed the WebTopMOD zip file using CWM and have the folder with linux image in sdcard-ext. But when I reboot the phone and plg it in Atrix Lapdock I don't see the icons like: penguin etc.
Could you please help.
Got it working !!
katlimaal said:
Hi g2tegg,
I have Atrix with iBlur ROM. I installed the WebTopMOD zip file using CWM and have the folder with linux image in sdcard-ext. But when I reboot the phone and plg it in Atrix Lapdock I don't see the icons like: penguin etc.
Could you please help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to reflash the webtop and then the mod again. There is a thread in the developers area I believe called webtop mod v1 or something like that. When I get the chance I will try to dig it up. Driving in a snowstorm at the moment slightly hinders my searchability haha. Good ol Ontario I tell ya
quick question: are these persistent? can I make a desktop icon for these or do I have to apt-get them everytime?
seems counter intuitive to not be able to "hard" install the applications
V DidDy 210 said:
quick question: are these persistent? can I make a desktop icon for these or do I have to apt-get them everytime?
seems counter intuitive to not be able to "hard" install the applications
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You dont have to apt-get everytime. The installed applications are on either the phones hard drive or the SD card. Only thing you will have to do is start the gnome panel every session, which is easy enough.
g2tegg said:
You dont have to apt-get everytime. The installed applications are on either the phones hard drive or the SD card. Only thing you will have to do is start the gnome panel every session, which is easy enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah after tinkering with them for enough time I figured that out!
only question is how do I figure out where they are located on my phone? I can't find a DEBIAN folder anywhere on my device (sd or sd-ext) my webtopmod folder is on my internal storage btw
thanks for the response!
If you use webtopmod's debian chroot (the white shell) they'll be in the linuxdisk file, as it's actualy a filesystem in itself. You won't be able to 'directly' access them. I recommend switching to webtop2SD. I didnt' want to, but everything is native that way and most things run better anyways, I installed xfce4 and got rid of that stupid awn dock at the bottom and put in a little bar. Now it feels like linux!
My apps so far:
OpenOffice 3
XChat
rdesktop (doesn't work, keymap doesn't work)
gimp (not used yet)
Any other useful ones people know of? I don't need an email client... the phone's gmail app is sufficient enough, and if I need more support I'll just use gmail. Kind of wish I could get an updated firefox, or a tun/tap module so i could use hamachi.
Mgamerz said:
If you use webtopmod's debian chroot (the white shell) they'll be in the linuxdisk file, as it's actualy a filesystem in itself. You won't be able to 'directly' access them. I recommend switching to webtop2SD. I didnt' want to, but everything is native that way and most things run better anyways, I installed xfce4 and got rid of that stupid awn dock at the bottom and put in a little bar. Now it feels like linux!
My apps so far:
OpenOffice 3
XChat
rdesktop (doesn't work, keymap doesn't work)
gimp (not used yet)
Any other useful ones people know of? I don't need an email client... the phone's gmail app is sufficient enough, and if I need more support I'll just use gmail. Kind of wish I could get an updated firefox, or a tun/tap module so i could use hamachi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed chromium, and it's running smoother than firefox ever did. Haven't really had a reason to install anything else, but i think i'm gonna get fxce4 because the current dock at the bottom annoys me
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium
^yeah after using it exclusively for the past day or so it's quite capable but I can also see the limitations of debian through chroot. I'd ideally like to get rid of the webtop all together and just have kde or gnome (i'm not picky, xcfe4 would work for me too)
but I'm assuming if I do webtop2sd I can have ubuntu with gnome installed no problem?
I went through the process of putting all of my gnuSTEP icons on the webtop and it's very much like my current gnuSTEP machine (supremely capable btw when using a debian core) I haven't run into any real problems using the chroot method, save for not being able to put shortcuts on the AWN bar and the occasional, but when I get my lapdock in the mail and start exclusively using this when I'm out and about I'll look into doing webtop2sd. I need to get a bigger sd card too, I have a 16 but I'd rather have a 32 external only for webtop and the 10 or so internal for android I don't listen to music on my android (I own a zune) so 10 should be plenty to just have apps and android
---------- Post added at 02:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:20 AM ----------
Alcapone263 said:
I installed chromium, and it's running smoother than firefox ever did. Haven't really had a reason to install anything else, but i think i'm gonna get fxce4 because the current dock at the bottom annoys me
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you use the jaunty hack to get chromium working?
I successfully installed chromium but every page loads for a second and then crashes. I didn't really look into the chromium hack (I don't think I use jaunty for anything and synaptic/apt-get can get all the repositories I need) but it seemed intensive especially to get flash.
I've found that while firefox has FANTASTIC flash support (like, really good and speedy, no chops) I just end up using konqueror for regular internet tasks. I can't seem to get it to install flash (I don't know how to install .deb packages) but it's speedy for other things and makes an excellent file manager
If you could get chromium without 2.3.5 i'd get it... but 2.3.5 offers what appear to be no benefits at all, correct?
Just kinda scared to have to rebuild from a bricked phone.
Trolling from my ATRIX 4G's XDA premium app, still on the gold medal winner of worst customer satisfaction for the second year in a row! Congrats!
I upgraded to 2.3.5 it has the new firefox, it runs fine from what I've seen
I'm trying to install synaptic by "apt-get install synaptic", but it shows several "Failed to fetch http://ftp.debian.org/debian/......" messages.
How can I fix this?
I am thinking of getting a Nexus 4 (or a Nexus 5 if such a thing appears in the not too distant future) as my first smartphone, with the eventual possibility of running Ubuntu for Android if and when it becomes available. However, for now the only capability I need the phone for is to be able to open up a Linux style command line terminal on the phone where I can ssh into a couple of other Linux based devices I have, via wifi, so I can run some "C" executables that I have written on these other devices. These other devices are running SSH servers. Is this doable? Do I need a special app or a special ROM, etc.
I assume you mean to run the C executable on the remote machine... not the phone itself?
If yes, then: YES, you can do that. And there are many ways to do it.
At the most basic, the only app that you would need is a Terminal Emulator app (several terminal apps are available for free... some are better than others). From that, you can do what you want. Any of the good ones will work just like any other Terminal on a PC.
But there are other apps that will make it easier because typing out commands, on a phone, isn't the funnest thing ever. Copy-pasting commands is an obvious way to make it easier...
But there are even easier ways than that...
ConnectBot (ssh-agent-patch) app would allow you to ssh into a remote host with a single tap (even using public-private key authentication if you want). Then you can run your ./command (or copy-paste it).
You can even VNC into a remote host and control it graphically (assuming a VNC server is running on the host machine).
You can even go the other way too... you can run an ssh server on the phone and access it from your PC.
Like all ssh capabilities, all of this can be done over the internet too, you aren't limited to WiFi LAN.
Also, on all of my file explorers (on all of my computers AND my Phones) I've made shortcuts for easy file sharing too (all using pub/private key authentication for security). Not only does that make file transfers super easy no matter what machine I have my hands on at the moment, but it also makes my desktop PC at home my own personal cloud server to my phone. Who needs dropbox?
Basically anything you can do with ssh on a computer, it can be done on an Android phone.
ps... if you re-compiled your C executables for the Android system... you could even run them natively on the phone.
iowabeakster said:
I assume you mean to run the C executable on the remote machine... not the phone itself?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
Fantastic, thanks for the detailed answer. I wanted to know right away before I wasted my time, but now am googling around for all the details. I have a raspberry pi running Debian that I need to communicate with and it is headless (No monitor, keyboard, etc., just a wifi dongle) so this would be perfect. I also have desktop computers that run a bunch of OS's (Centos, Scientific Linux, Fedora, Ubuntu, etc) that I might want to connect to.
From what I understand, all of that can be done without modifying the phone (rooting, etc.), correct?
However, down the road I may want to try and root it anyway, because the bigger set of Linux commands offered by Busybox would nice. I have been putting off getting a smartphone because of the cost, but the Nexus 4 with something like straight talk is the same monthly price as my 400 minutes of just talk with Verizon, so it is time. The coverage and uptime with Verizon is really good, but the costs are just not keeping up with the times.
From what I understand, all of that can be done without modifying the phone (rooting, etc.), correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good question.
I don't know with absolute certainty what functions would require root (I always root right away... so I don't ever think about it... like you said... additional functions... and I forget about it).
Basic, ssh-client functions should not require root. Running the ssh-server on the phone, that I mentioned, certainly does require root though. I know that my Terminal Emulator and File explorer apps have root access, but root is not needed just for the ssh-client functions (I am pretty sure).
Rooting on the nexus 4 is pretty easy. Rooting does require the installation of a custom recovery (at least temporarily). That is something that sounds like it would take someone like a you only a few minutes to do (not counting the time you would likely spend reading about it before hand... and installing the android sdk on a PC). Certainly, no other mods other than rooting would be needed.
iowabeakster said:
good question.
I don't know with absolute certainty what functions would require root (I always root right away... so I don't ever think about it... like you said... additional functions... and I forget about it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, I will probably just root the phone after using the phone for a while; I have zero experience with smartphones, plus I want to make sure that the phone works properly. The important thing is that it will do exactly what I need it for.
Last question. I see there are several guides for rooting and unlocking the bootloader.....Any recommendation of which one to use? I see that the one written by Jubakuba "Ultimate Nexus Root Guide" has pointers to urls that are broken (Therefore many critical steps are missing), and apparently it has been that way for quite a while.
I started looking for what I thought the best guide... but I gotta do some stuff... I will be back in a couple hours (hopefully with a good suggestion).
I will piece together a guide tomorrow morning from all the various "how-to" guides out there for you. So many of them are geared towards Windows users, and they start babbling about installing and removing drivers and stuff that you won't bother with in Linux. But I need sleep, right now. It'll just be some copying and pasting from a few of them out there. It shouldn't take long.
iowabeakster said:
I started looking for what I thought the best guide... but I gotta do some stuff... I will be back in a couple hours (hopefully with a good suggestion).
I will piece together a guide tomorrow morning from all the various "how-to" guides out there for you. So many of them are geared towards Windows users, and they start babbling about installing and removing drivers and stuff that you won't bother with in Linux. But I need sleep, right now. It'll just be some copying and pasting from a few of them out there. It shouldn't take long.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not necessary to go through all of that; I thought there was maybe one document that a lot of people were using. It is really up to me to start reading up on the subject.
Just bit the bullet and placed an order for the Nexus 4 before it is out of stock again.
Found some simple instructions for unlocking and rooting the Nexus 4:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/nexus-4-rooting-roms-hacks/224861-guide-nexus-4-unlock-root.html
Also found better descriptions of what the various terms floating around mean and what each piece of software does, however it is on the Galaxy S III section of this forum, so obviously I am not going to follow any of the procedures listed:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1927113
Here's my favorite instructional...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37823933#post37823933
iowabeakster said:
Since googling around to find a good "How to" for Android noobs, I kind of felt like I could maybe help a few other folks out there too So, I went ahead and made my own "How to".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice.
I just ran across this, and thought about you... looks like a nice new SSH client. I've never used it. But Jerry at Android Central is a pretty serious Linux nerd, so I do put some stock in his recommendations. Just thought I'd throw it out there for you to see.
http://www.androidcentral.com/apps-week-juicessh-7x7-audible-android-and-more
iowabeakster said:
I just ran across this, and thought about you... looks like a nice new SSH client. I've never used it. But Jerry at Android Central is a pretty serious Linux nerd, so I do put some stock in his recommendations. Just thought I'd throw it out there for you to see.
http://www.androidcentral.com/apps-week-juicessh-7x7-audible-android-and-more
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I had the phone for a couple of weeks and I think I turned it on twice. I really didn't get addicted and start to install apps until I used the GPS feature for a long trip I took yesterday. First time using a GPS....Yeah, just a little behind the times.
So, without rooting, today I installed the following apps which gives me everything I need:
ConnectBot. Works great and allows me to ssh to my Linux boxes.
Terminal Emulator. For basic command access.
FreebVNC. Has a secure tunnel feature built in, so you don't have to go through the whole two step process of setting up a tunnel and then running VNC through the tunnel. Also, it has a zoom feature, access to special keys and mouse emulation.
Wifi Analyzer. Gives you access points, signal strength, etc. There was another app that I added to that app to easily connect to the access points.
Fing. Network Info like mac addresses, etc.
Still will root eventually and install Busybox. However, now that I can access my raspberry pi remotely, my priority is to finish writing my software programs and building electronics for a project that uses that little ARM computer.
pjc123 said:
I am thinking of getting a Nexus 4 (or a Nexus 5 if such a thing appears in the not too distant future) as my first smartphone, with the eventual possibility of running Ubuntu for Android if and when it becomes available. However, for now the only capability I need the phone for is to be able to open up a Linux style command line terminal on the phone where I can ssh into a couple of other Linux based devices I have, via wifi, so I can run some "C" executables that I have written on these other devices. These other devices are running SSH servers. Is this doable? Do I need a special app or a special ROM, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For a ssh client, try ConnectBot. I have been using this since the G1 came out for work (Sys Admin) and home.
For a better keyboard, check out Hacker's Keyboard.
SpookyTunes said:
For a ssh client, try ConnectBot. I have been using this since the G1 came out for work (Sys Admin) and home.
For a better keyboard, check out Hacker's Keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As mentioned above, I already installed ConnectBot and it has nice features. However, I am interested in the keyboard (keys in the right place, Crtrl/Tab/Esc keys, etc.), so I will be installing that next.
Yep, ConnectBot is the old standard (if there is such a thing in Android world). I use it.
I've pretty much always used Jack Palevich's Terminal Emulator app. Very small and lightweight. It's always done everything I've ever needed to do. But there are many Terminal apps to choose from. I usually stop trying apps, when I find one that meets my needs, and stick with it until it doesn't... I started using that Terminal my first week with my first Android, after trying a couple of others. I've never used anything since.
Hacker's keyboard is an awesome suggestion! Thanks man! How have I survived without this!
For VNC purposes (which I rarely use) I use androidVNC. I've never tried anything else since I use it so rarely. It seems to do everything I can imagine it should. Mostly I use it to mess with my wife's head with some "ghost in the shell" pranks when she is using her laptop. She will scream from the living room, "WTF!!!! My computer just told me it's going to eat my brains tonight!"
And I'm just innocently sitting there reading emails on my phone "That is strange, honey."
iowabeakster said:
For VNC purposes I use androidVNC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually looked at androidVNC first due to the amount of reviews and positive ones, but I liked the extra features of FreebVNC even though it violates my following policy. I have found, just like shopping at Amazon, that in general the quantity and quality of reviews quickly narrows the search dramatically from the huge database of products/apps. The only side effect of this is to weed out excellent apps that are new and could be excellent, but just like major operating system updates, with anything new I let them weed out the bugs first.
iowabeakster said:
I've never tried anything else since I use it so rarely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree with you that I don't ever see myself using the VNC client on the smartphone again other than just as a novelty. What does intrigue me is putting a VNC server on the smartphone. I wonder if there would be a way to use an external computer's mouse and keyboard to control the gui portion of the smartphone while displaying it on the computer's large screen, the problem being that the smartphone is touch based; that is something that I could see using.
iowabeakster said:
I use it to mess with my wife's head with some "ghost in the shell" pranks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me and a friend used to do similar pranks at work, messing each others displays, keyboards, etc. I think the best non-computer prank that someone did to me while I was on vacation was to line one of my desk drawers with plastic and fill it full of goldfish. The best prank that some colleagues did, was to inflate a weather balloon in our departmental director's office and turn the nozzle away from the door so he couldn't get in.
So, I am at work and I showed off Linux on Dex to some other Developers and Engineers here.
Impressed they were, but it's time to really dig in.
Here is what I love about it on first look:
Great to have a fleshed Linux experience on my phone
Great dev tools come with the image (IntelliJ and also Visual Studio Code and more)
Has plenty of apps to get you started and it's pretty thoughtful
Looks great at 1920x1080 as well as 2560x1440 resolutions on a monitor
Switching between Dex and Ubuntu is pretty snappy
Things I didn't like:
Just a LITTLE bit laggy sometimes
Need to either use ARM compiled apps or compile them yourself
The Default 10GB partition size was too small, so I would suggest using 15GB at least, after updates/upgrades (Ubuntu OS updates that is), you'll still have about 35% free space with 15GB disk
You cannot "install" this on the SDCard, only internal memory, so keep that in mind if you have the 128GB model and tons of apps
Once installed, you cannot delete the 3GB+ zip file you downloaded, so there is that wasted space as well (ok, I have not tried REALLY hard to delete it yet, but Google Files won't delete it, nor do I know the repercussions of deleting this file too)
I'm still trying to work out how to access the files on the device (outside the Linux container), not sure if it is possible, but I have not had a lot of time with it as of now
BONUS!!
When you are not in Dex mode (normal handset mode), you can still launch Linux on Dex, but you cannot get the full desktop experience.
Click on the Terminal icon under the RUN button and you can drop into the Ubuntu Shell and still use commands (like SSH-ing to servers using your certs and stuff).
Of course, the down side, small screen. Hey, in a pinch, when I am on the road and needs to SSH into an AWS instance and run a couple commands, I won't complain!!
All in all, I think this will be great for Dev's to play with, not sure how useful it REALLY will be, but I know from a DevOps/Architect/Engineer, it's nice to have as a backup to be able to actually take care of things without having to drag out the whole laptop.
All this, with a $20 adapter.
Any other thoughts for those that have used it?
Hello friend, I have mine installed on my 128gb Sdcard.
How did you get it on your SD Card?
Thanks!
Talderon said:
How did you get it on your SD Card?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Move the file from LoD folder to the SD card and reassign the file location in the Linux on Dex app, it worked for me but moved it back to internal storage to ensure best performance .
My impression? They will poorly maintain it and I suspect it will be discontinued without any real notice. Registration was broken for well over a week before signups ended. You cannot get in contact with anyone from the team. Care doesn't even know it exists.
I am yet to find a use case that improves upon remote access to an Ubuntu 18.04 VM running on a cloud or at home, but I'm not a developer.
Perhaps if you are stuck somewhere without an Internet connection and feel like coding somewhere in the mountains or in the jungle.. But then you would need a handy monitor, keyboard, mouse and a power source..?
I think I can sum this up in one simple sentence - "Because I can..."
It's like having linux on a PS3, because it could.
Haven't had a chance to use it yet but looks promising. That doesn't mean it will be supported very well, time will tell.
Hardware wise it should work very well, and there is ALWAYS a good reason to have a handy (mostly) self-contained PC with you in case you CAN'T access the net...
Would be great to get an idea of some real life use cases..
Would be very happy to see this project pick up some community developer attention, the platform is only as good as the tools developed for it.
In the absence of an official LoD forum for developers perhaps that community should be developed here.
p33l05 said:
In the absence of an official LoD forum for developers perhaps that community should be developed here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://developer.samsung.com/forum/board/thread/list.do?boardName=SDK&searchSubId=0000000051
I got this installed on my 8GB Note 9 today. I didn't get registered for the beta, but download the app and the Ubuntu image and got it all up and running today. My only complaint so far is it won't run full screen on Dex. That may be because I'm running the Pie Beta. Not sure how it operates on Oreo Dex.
I'll play around with it more later. I basically just plugged into my monitor and opened it up today.
Well, here is a real-life use case that saved me a TON of time and effort.
I set up the Linux on Dex with many tools and configs I need to be able to do my work (Sr. DevOps Architect/Engineer) on my AWS servers. I had an instance that was having some issues and was notified via the monitoring platform and was able to get my phone out, run the Ubuntu Shell and SSH/Fix the issue without ever having to pull out the laptop and tether it while on the train headed home.
There ARE some use cases where this will come in handy, but I do agree that these are real "edge" cases too. No "normal" user will ever really find this helpful.
Mr. Orange 645 said:
I got this installed on my 8GB Note 9 today. I didn't get registered for the beta, but download the app and the Ubuntu image and got it all up and running today. My only complaint so far is it won't run full screen on Dex. That may be because I'm running the Pie Beta. Not sure how it operates on Oreo Dex.
I'll play around with it more later. I basically just plugged into my monitor and opened it up today.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Full screen on oreo.. Have you tried Dex max app?
planning to install LoD and curious if it can actually decompile and recompile apk's as a laptop would..?! mostly I'm interested in Themes for Samsung.. using few apk as templates to swap files, images and recompiling the apk, will it be able and will it properly sign it ?! and if so which way should I go?! do I need to install java, SDK, plugin I saw there ?!
any advice would be great.. thanx..
Can you use any Type c to HDMI or has to be an special cable?
darkriff said:
Can you use any Type c to HDMI or has to be an special cable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you need powersupply as well in the adapter for it to work.