Messages

16

Gemini PDA - Hardware / Hairline crack in display case

« on: December 31, 2018, 10:02:48 am »

I too have dropped mine for more than I would like, often onto the pavement (or sidewalk if you are so inclined). It has some decent scratches but remains completely operational.  I'm sure it's not bullet proof but I've had far more fragile devices

Last week I tried to close my Gemini (gently, just like you) and it would not close.
The keys need to "sink" into the case before it closes. And they did not sink.

So the machine was somewhat half closed, with the lid partially tilted.
Somehow that solved itself.

I'm guessing you had some detritus fouling up the hinge

17

Gemini PDA - Linux / /vendor/bin/mtkmal

« on: November 16, 2018, 12:19:16 pm »

I found this running on my newly minted install of android/Debian. A google search does not find anything useful or hopeful besides a bunch of links to Russian language websites. Should I be concerned ?

No, I wouldn't worry. My guess it will be for handling one of the many closed source, proprietary features e.g. telecom/modem. So don't be any more concerned that you would be using any other proprietary software

18

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Big announcement on 5th November

« on: November 06, 2018, 10:07:52 am »

another MediaTek chipset is painful. It seems like it's "more because why not", which just increases the costs.

If the new SoC from Mediatek is more friendly to Linux then it will be worthwhile. I suspect that the situation won't change though.

In theory it will be, just because it is newer and will need to satisfy Google's project treble requirements and have a minimum 4.4 kernel (which we have been promised for the gemini but i'm still not holding my breath). One possible positive to sticking with mediatek is PC will have some leverage when it comes to getting updates for our x25/27 chipsets. Perhaps mediatek will be more inclined to keep PC sweet?

19

Gemini PDA - Hardware / Drive Letter

« on: November 03, 2018, 11:30:48 am »

Hello,

thank you for your answer.
I would like to add that devices with earlier Android versions (like 4.2 and 4.4) did appear like an external usb-drive, thus with an assigned drive letter.
Is this an Android issue or one with the Windows drivers?

Kind regards

I'm pretty sure it's because android uses MTP rather than emulating a mass storage device like it used to

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Transfer_Protocol

Someone please correct me

20

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / kernel flaw

« on: September 29, 2018, 05:12:08 am »

https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/76631/...ernel-flaw.html

FYI peeps, we are all currently unpatched.

21

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Random Turn-off when battery is less than 50%

« on: September 29, 2018, 05:08:02 am »

I continue to have this issue and have a few more observations

>it can happen at any battery level (happened a couple of times while I was in the high 90s)
>it seems to happen after doing an action e.g. clicking a link or opening an app. could this be related to a touchscreen event as it has always happened after touching the screen? I suspect not but i don't want to rule it out. my money is on a power management issue and not switching states gracefully

this will be a tough one to debug. any suggestions anyone?

22

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Handy tip

« on: September 24, 2018, 08:02:25 am »

You can increase the font size in the settings

Text isn't everything, though.  Doesn't it also make icons smaller, buttons and other widgets harder to aim for, and everything generally harder to see?

(Remember that not all Gemini users are young…)

I've set the dpi to around 600 and it's been ok. the accuracy of the touchscreen is pretty good so i've not found any problems aiming for things. Sure, i've probably halfed the years of good eye sight I have left but it's better to burn brighter etc etc

23

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Random Turn-off when battery is less than 50%

« on: September 21, 2018, 02:18:27 pm »

Hi guys,

I am using mi Gemini as my daily driver. I use Android, because it seems to be only full featured OS so far.
Recently I noticed strange behavior.

My Gemini is sometimes randomly turning off. It happens when battery is about 38%. But it happened about 30% too. But never when batter was full.
If device is in idle mode, it is OK. But when I am doing something - browsing in Firefox for example, or in the middle of call with someone - Gemini screen just turns black. Then I must turn it on by long pressing "On" button. It boots up Android. And if I do same thing (run Firefox) right after boot, it mostly crashes to black screen again. If I wait for few minutes after boot it is in most cases OK (for some time), sometimes I must charge battery and then it is OK.

Anyone with same issues? Or any thougts? From mine point of view it seems to be some problem with battery or with Gemini itself. Because it happens only on energy-intensive activities (which I suppose having phone call or running big app like Firefox is).

I too have encountered the same thing, although I have never noted the battery level other than knowing it has not been empty. It hasn't happened enough to be annoying, but certainly more than once.

24

Gemini PDA - Hardware / rubber strip

« on: September 14, 2018, 09:30:29 am »

Thanks for the warning, y'all.

I received a track & trace e-mail that my case and hub are on their way. No news whatsoever about the HDMI-cable and the extra charger...
The tracking number does not work and the case hasn't arrived yet.

Well, that's actually good news. I will pre-stretch it before I stick the Gemini in.

The case arrived this morning. Very snug indeed.

Otherwise, I am not particularly impressed. These kinds of cases were 'given away' in the past, as a part of the standard PDA package, in the good old days of Palm and Blackberry (for example).
It really is just a sleeve and sleeves just like this can be directly bought from China for $ 2, which includes postage. More than 40 pounds are a bit excessive...

For those wo haven't yet purchased it: you may want to have a look at cheaper alternatives anyway.

You can't buy a *leather* pouch for $2.  I'm not saying that it's worth it, but it goes some way to explain the price. I doubt that PC will offer it again for the next version gemini - animal skin is somewhat out of fashion and lots of people have complained about the price.

25

Gemini PDA - Linux / Flatpak on Debian @ Gemini

« on: August 21, 2018, 11:02:12 am »

Flatpak 1.0 released, aims to simplify installation of Linux apps
see the install instructions :
https://flatpak.org/setup/
for Debian :
https://flatpak.org/setup/Debian/
which worked on Debian @ Gemini :

Code: [Select]

$ sudo apt install flatpak
$ sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
From the Flathub :
https://flathub.org/
many softwares don't install on arm 64 bits, with error message "No such branch ...aarch64".
Like Dropbox, Skype, Spotify, Atom, PyCharm, SublimeText, VisualStudio Code, etc.

List of flatpak softwares with arm64 support :
- Arduino IDE (1.8.5), with some large menu/dialog fonts;
- Telegram Desktop : works very well;
- UberWriter : Markdown editor, but it is too much slow and even blocks cursor mouse movement;
- etc.

Let's comment which flatpak softwares install on Debian @ Gemini and work well.

The arduino IDE can be a pain to get running on some ARM boards so this flatpak solution is a real winner, thanks for sharing!

26

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / 4G Gemini as main device ?

« on: August 21, 2018, 03:54:29 am »

Morning all

Does anyone here use their 4G Gemini as their main device ? if so what issues have you found with it ?

And if not, why have you chosen not to ?

Thank you

Stephen

I use it as my main device. No real issues in this regard, although sometimes I wish I had the camera module for taking convenient snaps.

27

Gemini PDA - Linux / Microcontrollers (Arduino, MicroPython, etc) via USB serial ?

« on: August 21, 2018, 03:48:39 am »

I'd to like to use Debian on Gemini to do microcontrollers development using USB cable (USB serial interface) to run Arduino IDE, MicroPython (via screen, rshell, etc). They use USB serial communication.

After installing the modular Linux kernel and extra module for the Gemini PDA with USB serial drivers, optimizatons, etc, from :
PL2303 serial adapter drivers?
http://www.mygnu.de/index.php/2018/07/impr...the-gemini-pda/
my microcontrollers (ESP8266, BC Micro:bit, Arduino Nano, etc) are recognized as /dev/ttyACM0 or /dev/ttyUSB0, but "screen" doesn't work (closes connection after starting) and Arduino IDE doesn't show any serial port.

Any hints ?

PS : this posts was deleted by error, then I posted it again.

Does your user have permission to use serial? On Arch Linux I have to add myself to the uucp group, but on Debian I think it is the dialout[\b] group. Maybe a Debian person can confirm?

Anyway the command would be something like

Code: [Select]

usermod -a -G dialout [i]yourusername[/i]

28

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

« on: August 14, 2018, 06:53:25 pm »

I'd like to appeal to people to calm down please.

Calm is a good plan.

Back to the topic at hand. I would say Planet are trying to get Android 8 working and they announced on Indiegogo (no less) that they would be releasing a 4.4 kernel. 4.4 is the minimum kernel support needed for Android 8 and newer, so if they successfully port the kernel to a newer version happy days. That seems like hard work to me, but Planet Computers seem willing to put the effort in.

29

Gemini PDA - Linux / How to run Linux userland under Android

« on: August 12, 2018, 02:50:06 am »

The advantages I see from using an in Android partition (only the one Android partion as when received) over having a separate partion are:

   1. You should still be able to use OTA updates.
   2. Maximum flexibility with storage. When setting up a separate partition you have to take a punt at how much you want for each. With the Android solution you can just use all your 64Gb as it suits you at the time between Linux and Android.

Yeah, unless you want to dualboot (or multiboot) there is little advantage to using a separate partition for linux. Although OTA's should still work so long as you have left enough space for Android!

30

Gemini PDA - Android / [GUIDE] How to remove ALL spyware from Gemini! (Google, MTK)

« on: August 10, 2018, 03:47:21 am »

Secondly your first steps include rooting and allowing untrusted sources. These are 2 steps which are considered by pretty much every security expert to leave you more vulnerable to real spyware and attack from extremely harmful parties.

Seconded. Rooting your device has potential serious security implications. If you understand the risks, and can mitigate them by sensible practice then fine. But I wouldn't recommend it to people who don't consider themselves tech savvy, and certainly not for the sole purpose of making your device 'secure'. Yes it may allow you to remove some of the more fundamental bundled software (or 'malware' depending on your POV), but you are far more vulnerable to malware in the wild. If you are unlucky enough to install an infected app or navigate to a malicious webpage, you have effectively given criminals root access to your phone. Game over man.

https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/04/20/...y-apps-malware/
https://www.wired.com/story/google-play-store-malware/
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/android-antivi...news-26648.html
Also, good luck having a firewall on Android without root.

These articles do not suggest you should allow untrusted sources. I took away the following - 1) be careful which apps you use to manage your cryptowallet (obvious) 2) don't install apps with names like "Earn Real Money Gift Cards" and "Bubble Shooter Wild Life," 3) only install what you need and trust. Which, incidentally, is why I would rather trust an app from Google than some company/developer I have never heard of.

Final edit: please consider changing the name of this thread to 'Guide  to removing Google and MTK "spyware".. And I know this has been done to death now but really the MTK stuff isn't spyware. It is not secure because other apps can sniff the logs it creates (although it doesn't, as the logging behaviour is switched off by default)

Now can we finally get to the main issue - how do we remove all the backdoors from the firmware blobs?! Oh wait, we can't