Messages

256

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Big announcement tomorrow!

« on: June 25, 2018, 03:39:58 pm »

This link's page is new recently: http://support.planetcom.co.uk/partitionTool.html

They said somewhere that that was in preparation for some announcement this week, so I don't believe that it is all.

So maybe something like a partnership of some kind with Jolla/Sailfish? That could probably be interesting...

257

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Stupid red bar

« on: June 23, 2018, 09:03:45 pm »

My device has acquired a stupid L shaped thing that covers the Notification area at the top & the Playstation buttons on the right. It's red in colour I can't make it go away

What have I pressed & how do I get rid of the fracking thin?
.

That is probably the "notification" that you have entered into "battery-saving-mode", and I believe it is an Android thing, and unfortunately it doesn't seem to be any way of configuring it either. (But I would call the colour "orange", and not "red", so maybe it was something else...?)

On the battery settings you can select `battery saving mode: never` and it will never enter into this mode, hence no orange color. Of course your battery will die more rapidly.
I switched it off, but now have it automatically on from 15% onwards. Saves the day for me.

When I said it was no way of configuring it, I meant that you can't set the colour to something else (or turn the colour off) when in battery saving-mode, which I think would have been nice. I would also have liked to be able to set it to 10% (and not just 5%, which is to late IMO, and 15%, which I think is to early).

258

Gemini PDA - Android / Textmaker - hw arrows

« on: June 23, 2018, 10:58:48 am »

Another glitch is in a single-spaced doc, the up and down arrows skip a line. I wonder what's going on.

Jake

It's not a bug, it's a feature! It doubles as a text-editor and a game (try to get to the right line and letter with the arrow-keys...)!!

No, I don't think that, and it seems strange (as do the "original" problem mentioned in this thread). I was thinking of trying out the TextMaker apps, but kind of NEED the cursor-placement to work with arrow keys (which is one of the most important "features" of a hardware-keyboard IMO...). Which version are you using? There are a few possibilities it seems...

259

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Stupid red bar

« on: June 23, 2018, 10:46:54 am »

My device has acquired a stupid L shaped thing that covers the Notification area at the top & the Playstation buttons on the right. It's red in colour I can't make it go away

What have I pressed & how do I get rid of the fracking thin?
.

That is probably the "notification" that you have entered into "battery-saving-mode", and I believe it is an Android thing, and unfortunately it doesn't seem to be any way of configuring it either. (But I would call the colour "orange", and not "red", so maybe it was something else...?)

260

Gemini PDA - Android / Cover LED flashing purple since OTA update? What does it mean?

« on: June 21, 2018, 08:24:34 pm »

I installed the recent OTA update on my X27 Gemini and now an LED at the left end of the cover is continuously flashing purple (well, red and blue)

I have no idea what it means or how to stop it.

Connecting/removing charger lights other LEDs. Receiving notifications (like an email for example) makes a red LED light flash on the right hand side.

If I leave my gemini alone for some time, the flashing stops and the LED remains on constantly. I open the gemini and it starts flashing again?!

Has anyone any definitive list of what these flashing lights mean?

Just to add, although its a 4G X27 model, I do not have a sim installed at the moment

It does seem like the update has set some use of the LED's for notifications, but I have seen no documentation of what they are set for, and certainly not any way of configuring them. (The logical choice should be with the LEDISON-app, but it has only possibility for notifications for contacts for now, as far as I can see...)

I have not started to move things to the Gemini yet, so I only have noticed that when I use it as a hotspot for another device it apparently flashes some colours when that has activity...

261

Gemini PDA - Android / Keyboard symbols

« on: June 21, 2018, 08:09:51 pm »

I could only enable it by switching on Google speech to text. This brings however no solution to my problem...
See attached screenshot.

It gets grayed-out when its the only keyboard selected (in other words; you actually HAVE to choose at least ONE keyboard  ).

And just to get it out of the way: You have set the keyboard-app to the same language as your physical keyboard? (I assume you have, but am wondering since your Gemini is set to Dutch, and if I understand the screenshots correctly you have selected an English keyboard in the app?)

But what I THINK might be the problem, is the same as I encountered when setting up mine in Norwegian. I went through all the steps of the keyboard-configuration several times, and it refused to give the special Norwegian characters (and thus the Norwegian keyboard setting). I still had the notification about changing/setting the keyboard, and after hitting it for the umpteen time, it apparently "took" and I got my Norwegian keyboard. (I do believe I restarted my Gemini after that, but I MAY have forgotten, because after some time it restarted on its own, and I lost it again. I went through the steps several times again before it took, and then i KNOW i restarted it immediately after successfully entering the Norwegian keyboard, and it has stayed with it now even after firmware-update and several restart/crashes...) The notification disappeared after I got the keyboard set correctly.

But there is certainly some "magic" involved in getting the keyboard selection to "stick"  

262

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Do you turn the display off before shutting the case?

« on: June 19, 2018, 10:40:08 am »

Pretty much sums it up in the title. Do you normally switch off (FN+Esc) before closing the case, or do you just close it. I was wondering if any keys could be pressed before the proximity sensor (or whatever is used to detect the case is shut) triggers. I personally always FN+Esc before shutting. When the keys are compressed by the magnets, do they even travel far enough to act like a keypress?

I just close it, but have had it restart on one occasion when it had an "endless" row of characters on the sim-unlock when I opened it again... So don't know what caused that! (The sensor isn't turned on until it is booted up??). I've had restarts without this issue as well... (I've had more restarts without it than with...)

263

Gemini PDA - Hardware / GPS

« on: June 18, 2018, 10:27:47 pm »

Does the Gemini have actual GPS, or just some pseudo location system? I can't find any settings pertaining to GPS . My voice assistant says it doesn't,

The Indigogo website says it has AGPS. Which is real GPS with additional support from cellular data.

Thoughts?

Edit. It seems that it does, but to turn it off, you have to select location mode, then select battery saving. No wonder my voice assistant is confused.

The GPS settings are located under "Personal" and then under "Location" (my Gemini is in Norwegian, so I might have the actual wording wrong). So there should be no reason to resort to battery saving to turn it off. And it definitely has GPS, I've used it with Here-maps for navigation on a few occasions already (it fits almost perfectly in a compartment in the dashboard of my car...).

264

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Time between Locked and Shipped, Generally?

« on: June 15, 2018, 08:55:30 am »

For those who have their devices, do you remember the gap between locked and shipped, more or less?

I'd post this question in Indiegogo's PC Backers section, but it's so depressing there--I realize certain folks have waited a long time for their machines, but you can still be a grown-up about it and not throw tantrums that continue post after post.

Jake

I do believe mine was more or less one week, but I do seem to remember people almost getting the shipping notification the same day as they were locked...

I do agree with you about the comments on Indiegogo, but it is also kind of entertaining to see everything some people are able to rant on about...

265

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / First impressions

« on: June 07, 2018, 10:01:47 am »

Tried that, it literally only drops them as far as the edge of the current home screen, it won't let me drag them to new ones.

Ok, drag it just off the end of the last homescreen. A new one will pop up. I will see if I can get a screen cast showing how to do it.

Nope. It's as if the homescreen is locked somehow. I can drag it right to the edge of the screen so far that half the icon is off the side, but it does nothing, just snaps back the moment I get past the edge.

I struggled for ages with this too until I hit upon it by accident. The secret is not to drag the icon to the edge of the screen. Instead, drag it to between the first screen and the permanent vertical bar that shows the telephone icon - in the vertical area which I've marked with a yellow X in the attached screenshot. Then it moved the icon to the second screen, for me. Does that work for you?

Thanks, was having the same problem...

(I actually "solved" it by force rotating with the Planet icon in the app bar, so I believe it's an issue with the phone being landscape-oriented... But that could be tiresome to do all the time.)

266

Gemini PDA - Hardware / Fast charging support

« on: June 04, 2018, 07:48:48 am »

I've not found any mention of it here, but...

If I plug my Gemini in whilst it is powered OFF, it will charge with every usb-C charger I have (off the top of my head):

• Apple 29W USB-C
• LG Nexus 5X USB-C charger
• TeckNet 27W USB-C + Dual USB-A

If I leave it plugged in and power on, it still charges.

If I disconnect the charger and re-connect whilst powered on, however, it doesn't see the charger again. I must power off first.

So, if it works when powered off, surely its a firmware update to make this work more reliably?

It can't be a valid hardware limitation: "You must turn the device off to charge"?

Just to be clear, if I use the USB-A to USB-C cable and a USB-A charger, the device will charge normally without the need to power off. Its only with a USB-C to USB-C cable and a standard USB-C charger that this cumbersome step is required?!

Maybe it's the same with the hub connected? Could someone with the Gemini and hub try? Then it might be possible to charge the Gemini while using the hub with a software update??

267

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / The eSIM feature is exclusive to the x27 variant of the Gemini and it's a design/compatibility choice.

« on: May 25, 2018, 04:14:32 pm »

Do we have a written source from Planet Computers confirming 100% this really means the x25 Geminis would not be able to support eSIM? From where does "The eSIM feature is exclusive to the x27 variant of the Gemini and it's a design/compatibility choice. -E" quote come (and who is "E")?

I find this a bit odd, since eSIM support, as I recall it, was advertised during the crowdfundig phase, long before the x27 upgrade was announced, and eSIM is still in the official specification. Their footnote about "working hard to achieve the above technical specifications" reasonably means they have work left to do, presumably on the software side, but with the prototyping phase ended, and the spec. still there, it does reasonably no longer leave any room for not delivering as specified.  

I have read the "Firmware" section of the Planet Computers support site, which confirms x25 and x27 4G Geminis do have different firmwares (which seems a tad strange, as the chips are supposedly identical, except for minor differences in a few peak clock rates). While it does say the x25 and x27 can be told apart by the presence or absence of a "SIM cards" menu, I don't see anything saying that means no eSIM for x25.

Do we have hard data on that anywhere?

I seem to recall them saying something like "We haven't been able to implement eSim on the first units (don't think there was any mention of X25, think it was before they were aware of that) YET, and chose to ship them now rather than wait until we got it solved". So the "the X25 CAN'T get eSim" is only mentioned in passing later. And if it is true it should be a reason for Planet to get new units from the manufacturer (and not just an apology...), and thus getting replacement units to the backers as well, at least in my opinion (not that it would carry to much weight, as it is only my opinion...).

268

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Why buy the Gemini?

« on: March 16, 2018, 11:17:53 am »

It's not normal to type on a screen.

I'd print that sentence on a t-shirt and I'd wear that t-shirt everyday!

Varti

Agreed! (Well sort of anyway, I certainly wouldn't wear it every day...)

And to amend to my original post on the topic: It has standard mini-jack headphone socket, 2 USB-C ports, and seems to be driven by people who are trying to adhere to standards, and are trying to build the device as open as possible... Which IMHO is the RIGHT way to go, and not the "you don't need access to this or that"/"be content with what you get"-attitude you get from some (most??) other phone companies these days...  

269

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Battery Removal

« on: March 16, 2018, 07:12:44 am »

Has anyone worked out how to remove the battery?  My Gemini had an unfortunate encounter with some cider (entirely my fault) and the keyboard is behaving a bit erratically.  I'm currently leaving it to dry out in the hope that it'll recover itself but if not I was going to take the battery out and give it a thorough clean.

And do I win the prize for first person to do something monumentally stupid to their Gemini?

Rosie

Only the best is good enough for the Gemini; it should have gotten some wine or Champagne... (Added benefit; less sugar, and less damage for the circuits and keyboard...)

Hope your Gemini will be fine though!!

270

Gemini PDA - General Discussion / Why buy the Gemini?

« on: March 16, 2018, 07:04:25 am »

First off I would like to say that I agree with most of the other posts, but one thing is not mentioned yet: It has a user-replaceable battery! The option of changing battery is WAY faster than recharging when you need more power quickly... (That could also help with the "problem" of not getting to charge the Gemini when using the USB-hub, spare battery and external battery-charger. To have that at hand where you use the hub, with external screen, keyboard/mouse and so on, should not be that "difficult".)

I started with a Psion 5mx until the screen-cable broke, since then I have used most of the Nokia "Communicators", and am still using the E7 as my main e-mail-device (and an somewhat older E52 as my main phone...  )