Messages

1

Gemini PDA - Hardware / Re: Gemini won’t charge

« on: March 16, 2023, 02:23:56 pm »

Also had the problem, not charged my Gemini a few months and now it wouldn't accept any charge. Plugged-in the charger, the red light came up, a few seconds later it vibrated, what seems to make the battery brake again, light goes off and a few seconds later the same again and so on.

Regardless which charger or USB-Port for hours, no chance.

My last try was to use 2 chargers, one on each USB-C-port of the Gemini. And what happened? No vibration, the Gemini charged, after a few minutes I removed the right charger, the Gemini charged as usual from the left side and it booted again! So if anyone also has that problem, you could try that too.

Nevertheless, it is sad to know that one day my Gemini and Cosmo won't boot again because there will be no replacement battery to buy

2

Gemini PDA - Android / Usability: Save vertical screen space?

« on: February 07, 2019, 02:02:36 am »

If you have time and a bit of programming knowledge (html/xml/scripting is enough, just to have a sense of understanding), you can install APK-Editor and try editing the resource-files of the app you want to change. (You have to do it after every update of this app - or don't update the app anymore. I changed the height of some rows in a GPS-Logger-App.)

3

Gemini PDA - Android / Skype

« on: August 13, 2018, 03:17:25 pm »

The cursor keys / arrow keys in the Skype App in a chat doesn't work as supposed - instead of editing the text, the keys jump to other fields/buttons. How crazy is that??

Workaround is to install "Skype Lite", feels older and better for a power user, despite the "lite" ..

(unbelievable, how much Microsoft can still destroy in Skype. Every time you thought, it really couldn't get worse, they found a way ..)

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Gemini PDA - Android / How likely is Android 8 really?

« on: August 13, 2018, 02:30:05 pm »

The Huawei

- runs Android 8
- was ordered in February and received in February
- is EUR 350 cheaper and came with its accessories (I am STILL waiting on the ones for the Gemini)

- has no built-in keyboard I think? So a completely unfair comparison.

Some months before I pre-ordered the Gemini, I pre-ordered the Red Hydrogen (shipping is now said to be in October). More than twice as expensive and of course completely different to the Gemini, but if we want another unfair comparision, the Gemini is a bargain then ;-)

Every update I did on my iPhone made thinks worse, I stopped updating a long time ago and regretted every time I installed one. So I think I will absolutely have no problems with not having a newer version of Android on my Gemini.

5

Gemini PDA - Hardware / A side-by-side comparison with other Qwerty devices

« on: August 08, 2018, 02:36:21 pm »

Here are some of my palmtop-/pocket-devices, I hadn't the chance to keep all of them, I needed to sell them regulary to buy a new one:

[img]http://extra.inmontanis.info/d/47711-3/DSC02127.jpg\" border=\"0\" class=\"linked-image\" /]

IBM PC110 (only available in and ordered from Japan in the mid 90s, running a japanese PIM-software, Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. Used it some time as my main PC with an external monitor + keyboard. Could even be used as a phone, when connected to the line! I really couldn't sell this one, because it was so special and ahead of its time I had to keep it. Still running.)

Sony Vaio U-50 (only available in and ordered from Japan in the early 2000s, running Windows XP, had a foldable USB-keyboard, after that I knew that I prefer built-in keyboards. Still running and used last year to edit the config of a small action cam on the run, but even with a SSD it's slow.)

Sharp PC-E500 (my first Pocket Computer (but not exactly this one), bought it around 1989/90. Made some BASIC-Programmes, had printers and (micro) tape drive connected to it, run even a BBS on it.)

Psion Siena (my last Psion, before I had the Series 3 and Series 3a. Hasn't survived the past 15-20 years, doesn't turn on.)

Planet Gemini (my first pocket device with a keyboard since the Nokia Communicator in the late 1990s ..)

PS: The IBM PC110 had the worst keyboard.

6

Gemini PDA - Android / Which app you use on Gemini? Email, Calendar, File manager

« on: August 01, 2018, 05:36:28 pm »

(still testing, because I switched from iPhone, most apps are new for me ..)

Launcher: Apex (with Holee Style and icons in 6 rows and 10 columns) (v3.3.3, I read too much too bad things in the playstore reviews for the new v4)

Web: Firefox (see my other topic)

Mail: don't really like any yet, but I don't need it that much anyway. Maybe I'd prefer a Linux-Thunderbird-Port with full-featured menu bar like Thunderbird within AndroPorts (or AndrOpenOffice), however I don't like the fact that you cannot touch in Androports and only use the touchscreen just as a track pad. In the meantime I'm trying hard to like k-9. At least it has a "vintage" (though not customizable) table-view with from/subject/date.

Calendar: after Apple "destroyed" the calendar for me on the iPhone some years ago, I stopped using private calendars, I don't have that much appointments anyway. At work I use Outlook (2010). So maybe if Planet fixes some of the problems with Agenda, I'll be using a private calender again, we'll see. I really liked the Agenda on my Series 3 & 3a, but during school I had more use for a calendar.

File manager: tried various (dual-pane is a must), at the moment I mostly use Ghost Commander, but also mc within Termux. On my Win7 desktop PCs I just use Windows Explorer, on my Win8/XP-Notebooks I prefer the good old "Salamander". I think there is still a lack of keyboard-friendly and desktop-feature-rich Android-Apps, not only in this category. That's why I try using mc in termux, but to be honest, I never really liked those ugly file commanders in DOS, I grew up with Directory Opus on Amiga, even started to program a version in OPL on my Series 3a in the mid 90s - but never finished.(**)

Spreadsheet: undecided yet, have still to play more with AndrOpen Office and MS Excel. If both fail, I'll still have Office 97 via Win98 emulated as a backup option.

Music: not needed (I have my old iPod Nanos for music and I won't change that, I hope my old itunes-version on my iMac with OSX 10.6.8 will serve me the rest of my life, because everything gone worse nowadays and there is no sign of hope on the horizont that anything will ever be as good as before. But don't call me a dinosaur yet, because then how would you call me in 20 years? ;) )

Calculator: I cannot look at that ugly flat stock Android Calculator, so I installed "HiPER Calc".

Text-Editor: undecided yet, playing around with Jota+ and Quickedit. (I think no editor on Android is as good as for example Notepad++ on Windows. Fast file edits are good enough in file managers, but in a stand-alone App I want at least to have tabs, for example.)

**) BTW, I think I sold my Series 3a for the Nokia Communicator in 1996, so that was my first mobile phone and my first smart phone. On the one hand I was really sad that I couldn't write Basic/OPL - programs anymore, but the online-part was more important. What only if Psion had released a Series 3 successor with mobile phone in 1996 instead of Nokia! I even connected the Communicator to my Windows 95 running IBM PC 110 Palmtop ( if anyone remembers this device, I wrote that comprehensive english FAQ between 1996-98. Ah that fun in those good old days. I must admit that this switch to Gemini and Android is a bit of a revival of those old times for me, but instead of hindered by technology and hardware, hindered by software and security restrictions nowadays).

7

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Reflections on State of Gemini OS'es & General

« on: July 30, 2018, 06:40:21 am »

Curious about Win98 and Amiga OS 3......

Amiga is just for fun and a "cool it works" (yet), still fiddling with the correct settings to boot my old hardfile ..

Win98 is mainly for Office 97 (yet), as I wanted to use my Skiing - MS Access Database. So instead of adding entries later at home or finding another way of syncing data (or using another database which runs on Android), I can add the daily entries (date, ski resort, time start/stop, price of the ski pass) and view all statistics directly on the gemini while skiing (100+ days per year).

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Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Gemini PDA Gen 2 Features Request

« on: July 28, 2018, 02:03:13 pm »

^ Yes, yes, F-Keys would be very usefull, I forgot. I never never ever used CAPS on a keyboard, so it would be nice if Caps could be reprogrammed as "change the number keys to F-keys") - but it should work in all emulators as well, and that could be a problem then..

Do you not find the Gemini keyboard pretty much all the way at the upper limit of size for thumb typing?

it shouldn't be bigger, indeed, but normally I don't use thumb-typing on the Gemini, especially if I want to write more.. but nonetheless it's 1000x better than thumb-typing "omn atht ipohne on-scteen- keybprd" ;-) (well, ok, it was not that bad, on my previous mentioned typing test I had 150 strokes/min on the iPhone 5S thumb-typing with an accuracy of 89,82% (incl. corrections) and 214/min on the Gemini but with 99,07% accuracy (incl. corrections))

However I don't have any problems with my thumb on FN or ALT and my index finger on the (left) shift, and the shift key is on both sides anyway, so no need for sticky keys (for me) ..

9

Gemini PDA - Android / Firefox

« on: July 28, 2018, 01:48:31 pm »

For a desktop-like Internet browsing-experience I installed Firefox, as it's one of the few (or the only) internet browsers on Android which has add-ons.

- Many keyboard-shortcuts you know from the desktop version of Firefox also work on Android.
- you can install ad-blocker, you can install gesture-addons ...

Besides that and according to some postings on the web, Firefox switches to a tablet-UI (real on-screen tabs, more buttons) with a system-DPI-setting of at least 480 (Settings / Developer Settings). I like that setting on the Gemini, a bit small sometimes, but other apps also make much more use of the screen.

- To have the text on the websites a bit bigger again, I changed in about:config
layout.css.devPixelsPerPx   -> to 2.4

- To make the scrolling/swiping better, I used the following settings:
apz.fling_curve_function_x1  -> to 0.01
apz.fling_curve_function_x2  -> to 0.0
apz.fling_curve_function_y1  -> to 0.25
apz.fling_curve_function_y2  -> to 0.98

This is how Firefox looks on my Gemini:
[img]http://extra.inmontanis.info/d/47683-4/DSC02232.jpg\" border=\"0\" class=\"linked-image\" /]

(However I miss a real scrollbar on Android and especially on Firefox. The current one is so small and short (on large sites) and you cannot drag it. There's an add-on but it's not that good, because you have to activate it every time and sometimes it's not working.)

If anyone has more hacks or tips or good add-ons for Firefox on the Gemini, let us know.

10

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Reflections on State of Gemini OS'es & General

« on: July 28, 2018, 12:58:58 pm »

When Planet gave us the new tripple-boot-flash-possibility, I installed Android (rooted), Linux and Sailfish.

I booted Linux and Sailfish only once yet, because until now I can do everything what I need with Android .. and with some hacks it's quite good.

I've gone through the Sailfish-Intro but it's too much swiping there and too annoying (too fast, too slow, too short, too long, yeah, good bye). The Gemini has such a big screen, there would be no reason to swipe anything but the screen content (pressing a menu button is so much quicker than swiping from an unknown side inside the screen to reveal a hidden menu). Besides that I hate, hate, hate flat UIs and Sailfish looked even worse than this current Android. (Comparing to an old Kitkat-Tablet, wow, how good lucking Android was once, now everything's dull boring flat like every other "modern" OS. I hated flat UIs 25-30 years ago and will always hate that.)

Linux was always a kind of "backup" for me when I ordered my Gemini, just in case I won't like Android. (Because I was used to iPhone/iOS after .. some WinCE palmtop, after Nokia Communicator, after Psion Series 3a, ... and whenever I had an Android Phone/Tablet in my hand, I never wanted to switch to Android. But as Apple is also more and more annoying ...)

So far I'm fine with Android on my Gemini. And various emulators (Win98 and Amiga OS 3 run quite good on the Gemini).

11

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Gemini PDA Gen 2 Features Request

« on: July 28, 2018, 12:29:53 pm »

- I don't need a second screen on the outside
- I don't need a trackpoint (or trackpad) when I have a touch screen
- I never needed a fingerprint reader (yet)
- I wouldn't want the 2nd Gemini to be bigger (smaller would be OK)
- I don't have problems with normal typing and none with thumb-typing on the gemini (a first online typing test I've done a few days after I received my Gemini: 214 strokes/min with 2 thumbs, 298/min "normal" 6-8 fingers; 530-590 with a "MX-Blue"-keyboard on the PC for reference; no it's not that one you'll see on my pictures)
- I don't need a bezel-free screen (however, the current round corners are a bit annoying here and there)

but

- I wouldn't say no to a backlit keyboard, especially for the FN-symbol-keys
- I wouldn't say no to an adjustable screen position
- a better integrated rear camera of decent snapshot quality and a flash-light would be also usefull

12

Gemini PDA - German / Deutsche Übersetzung

« on: July 27, 2018, 02:15:23 pm »

wundert sich ausser mir jemand über manche "eigenwillige" Übersetzung in der deutschen Version? Nur als Beispiel: Wenn es in der Statusleiste Meldungen gibt, steht als Option darunter "ALLESAUFHEBEN" (also "alles aufheben"), was wohl "alle löschen" heissen soll und auch genau das macht.

Ausserdem sind viele Texte ohne Wortzwischenräume zusammen geschrieben, wobei ich allerdings nicht weiss, ob das eine Eigenheit der deutschen Version ist, oder bei anderen Sprachversionen auch der Fall.

Ja, mehrmals aufgefallen. Hab mal spaßeshalber mein Android auf Englisch umgestellt -> da scheint das Problem nicht zu sein.

13

Gemini PDA - Android / Psion Series 3a/Siena Emulator

« on: July 27, 2018, 01:04:17 pm »

Now, if there were a 5/5mx emulator…!

There is one for "Win32", so I think it should run under Win95 or Win98 on the Gemini (using a PC-Emulator like iBochs) ..
https://psion.info/GJ5/emulator32.html

14

Gemini PDA - Android / Psion Series 3a/Siena Emulator

« on: July 27, 2018, 11:29:08 am »

One of the first things I wanted to do when I received my Gemini, was to run the Psion Series 3a - Emulator to open a few old files and programs .. last used maybe 15-20 years ago ..

Those early Psion emulators run on a plain MS-DOS, so on Android you can use various Dos-Boxes with a pre-installed MS-compatible DOS. You don't have to install DOS, you don't have to use a virtual hard-disk  - just copy the Emulator and your old Psion files below the Download-directory for example and map the C-Drive to that...

If you have no Psion-Emulator from the golden age, it seems you can find them here, hopefully including the readme-file with the instructions:
https://psion.info/GJ5/emulator16.html

I tried various Dos-Boxes on the Gemini, I think "Magic DosBox Free" is quite good, because you can define On-Screen-Buttons/Keys with Images. As you may know, you need the F-Keys for the Psion-emulators (for the Menu-Key and the Diamond-Key and the soft buttons) ..

So here's a screenshot how such a S3a/Siena-Emulator with a large VGA-screen can look on the Gemini:
[img]http://extra.inmontanis.info/d/47679-4/DSC02258.jpg\" border=\"0\" class=\"linked-image\" /]

Here are the pictures of the keys I used for Magic-DosBox (My Siena hasn't survived the last 15-20 years in the shelf, btw.):

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

15

Gemini PDA - Android / Write access to external SD-Card

« on: July 27, 2018, 10:34:32 am »

This is one topic:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1458021

this was the other file (WRITE_MEDIA_STORAGE is needed here it seems) /data/system/packages.xml :
http://winterland.no-ip.org/blog/enable-wr...rd-for-android/

as said, don't know yet what is right and what is really working where and when. Not really used to Andorid ..