Messages

61

Astro Slide - General Discussion / Re: Help me choose between the Pro1 and the Astro please !

« on: October 01, 2022, 05:35:22 pm »

If discounted pre-order Astros are still available, grab one of those. Besides tweaks to fix issues, if any, discovered in the first pre-order production run, there should be no real differences between the pre-order Astros and the second production run, except that they cost more and are made later.

When Planet crowdfunds a new device, they've always offered a steep discount at first, to get people to start funding the project. Then, the closer they get to some sort of serial production, the lower the discount gets. Eventually the devices becomes available in their web store, at the regular price for that device. Basically, they offer lower prices to people willing to wait longer.

Legally speaking, as crowdfunding is investing in a project, rather than purchasing a product, crowdfunders also accepts some risk of getting nothing, should the project, for any reason, fail. That risk tends to be bigger in the beginning, when there are more unknowns. While Planet has always had major delays, they have, thus far, always delivered in the end.

Regarding the LineageOS and Ubuntu Touch OS sites, as far as I know, the F(x)Tec phones were specifically designed, in collaboration with XDA Developers, "to run LineageOS out of the box, and you can also get a version running Ubuntu Touch OS".

The Planet phones are primarily made to run Android, with Linux in mind, as a community effort, once the devices has shipped. While the Astro is finally shipping now, it's a slow trickle, hampered by various lockdowns, so many backers, including me and, probably, the Linux community, hasn't received their own Astros yet. That's why the entire Astro forum only has 35 topics in total at the moment. The Linux effort should start to pick up speed once more backers gets their devices and, by all means, don't be shy to be the first to post in the Astro Linux subforum, if you have general questions about what might and might not work in a foreseeable future.

As it is an enthusiast aftermarket effort, with some support from Planet, Linux on Astro will probably take a while to mature. If your main desire is to run particular Linux programs, you might have success with Android apps such as UserLAnd, Debian noroot or Andronix, to run a Linux environment on top of Android. You can find them on Google Play.

[Edited to fix some paragraph breaks]

62

Astro Slide - Hardware / Re: Astro Slide Stylus

« on: September 16, 2022, 04:38:57 pm »

While still waiting for my Astro, FWIW, I'm using an Adonit Dash 3 with my Cosmo. That's an active capacitive pen, essentially emulating a finger, but able to have a finer tip (2-3mm) thanks to the active electronics making the signal stronger. Compared to an active digitizer pen (think S-pen), it's pretty crappy, but works without any special digitizer hardware in the phone.

The Astro stylus should be pretty much the same thing. I backed it anyway. One could argue that using the particular model Planet tests with, might, within the limits of the concept, make it work as well as possible, but - honestly - I was mostly curious and had the money to spend. Once I get it, I will likely compare it to my Dash and post my findings on this forum.

63

Astro Slide - General Discussion / Re: Estimation of Astro shipment based on Cosmo Campaign

« on: August 08, 2022, 02:28:46 pm »

I really would have preferred if they had made a "Scandinavian" model (also for the previous two phones), rather than splitting it up in Swe/Fin and Nor/Dan...

If allowing ourselves to go a tad OT while we keep waiting; yes, since laptop makers has managed to create a common "Scandinavian" keyboard, I think it should work, and simplify somewhat, for Planet too. Actually, when I look at the Nor/Den layout, more of its symbols seems located about where I'd expect them to be, than on my Fin/Swe, and the Nor/Den has a ~ too, which I must use Sym to type. While I have gotten used to direct access to Ö, I'd gladly adopt to a "Scandinavian" layout, based on a minimally modified Nor/Dan, perhaps like this:

Obviously, the key to the right of L would need to be properly marked with both Ö/Ø and Ä/Æ. I didn't bother and I think the sketch works anyway. The original image belongs to Planet Computers and was, for illustrative purposes, slightly modified, without seeking their permission, so it should probably not be spread wide and far, okay? If they could somehow trade the two least used symbols (¤ and ° maybe?) for ð and þ (in reasonable locations), we would have a truly Scandinavian layout. Yes, I know I can long-press D or T but as ð and þ are fairly common in Icelandic, I figure that disrupts the typing flow quite noticeably, which reasonably works against the idea of having a physical keyboard in the first place.

64

Astro Slide - General Discussion / Re: Estimation of Astro shipment based on Cosmo Campaign

« on: August 06, 2022, 07:46:08 am »

65

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

« on: August 04, 2022, 01:47:14 pm »

considering how little it has been used it is certainly very disappointing!

While the number of charge cycles matters a lot, a Li-ion battery keeps aging somewhat, even when not used. From what I have read, if kept nearly full for a long time (weeks), it degrades faster, which is why it is recommended to charge a phone to about 50% before putting it into storage. Having a Li-ion battery go completely empty is apparently even worse. Phones will typically shut off a bit before that, but if then left like that for long, that remaining charge will leak away and that can damage the battery severely. Temperature and the quality of the individual battery also matters. What I'm trying to say is that it can be quite hard to know why a certain battery ages quicker than it should.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no way to directly to directly measure the charge level of a Li-ion battery (its voltage only gives a hint). By trying to guess how the battery ages and somehow measuring the energy flowing in and out, a phone can indirectly track the approximate charge level, but small errors adds up over time. Only when the phone gets fully charged, or runs until it shuts off will the charge controller get any authoritative information on the actual state of the battery.

If your device stops charging at weird values and suddenly has begun losing charge even when connected to a charger, I would suspect your immediate problem is that the charge controller inside the device has lost track, and has locked itself into a kind of "safe mode" where it drains the battery until the device shuts down, to make sure it doesn't accidentally overcharge the battery. While I haven't experienced it with my Gemini, it has happened to at least one other device I have.

I would try keeping the Gemini on until it shuts down and then, much like nitrem suggested, connecting it to a PC/laptop USB (or other a non-fast charger) over night and see if anything useful happens. If the battery is very low, seemingly nothing might happen for a while, when connecting the charger. Some of my old Nokia phones could need half an hour or so to even light up the charging LED, if the battery was very low to begin with.

I have read various suggestions about (trying to) charge a phone to 100% and run it until it shuts off a few times to "re-calibrate" the charge controller. For me, running it until it shuts off once and then leave it on the charger for a few more hours, when it says it is full, has been sufficient, provided the battery wasn't actually dead for real, but given the sudden onset of your problems, I think your main problem lies elsewhere

66

Gemini PDA - Hardware / Re: Take off screen protector?

« on: July 23, 2022, 10:58:28 am »

it seems that all keys are slightly depressed after the magnet snap-closes the lid.

Four years into this thread, I'd like to go a little OT and add that yes, the keys are, by design, depressed when the lid snaps shut, to make the closed device a little thinner. Looking straight from the side, we can see that the key caps are slightly raised above the rim of the keyboard.
 

My calipers says 1.3mm, so I'd guess Planet, being British, aimed for 0.05". As the lid has almost no raised edge, it will, when closing, press down the keys about that much.

On a further tangent (which might be a pun in Swedish, where "tangent", beyond its English meaning, also means "a keyboard key"), as the Escape key can wake up or reboot a Planet device, this design requires some finesse. If I slowly close the lid (of my Cosmo - I didn't bother to power up my Gemini) while looking at the screen, it turns off when the front gap is about 7/8", probably just before the screen begins pressing the topmost keys. To wake it back up, I need to lift the front of the lid about 1½". This hysteresis should stop the device from oscillating between sleeping and awake (which I think could crash Android, the launcher and/or the baseband, neither of which was likely designed to handle such stress).

More on topic, I think the main purpose of the film is to keep the screen clean and a bit more protected during manufacturing, testing and shipping. On my Gemini I left it on until, after some months, it came loose in a corner. By that time, it was full of keyboard-shaped finger grease imprints and little scratches I couldn't wipe away. After removing it, the screen looked like new and, while still attracting finger grease, was easier to clean and less prone to keyboard marks. As it is both harder and smoother, my fingertips clings a tad more to the glass than the somewhat silky plastic, which, on the other hand, feels slightly more slippery to my fingernails or my capacitive pen (an Adonit Dash 3).

On my Cosmo, over two years in, the film is still there. Just like my on Gemini, it has tiny specks of authentic factory dust™ trapped behind id, and the film a bit worn now, but hasn't, so far, begun peeling and I haven't been sufficiently bothered, to remove it.

[Edit 220808:] Solved a StupidUser class error, preventing the attachment from showing properly inline. Sorry Varti for the PM rant. It was just me screwing up the attachthumb tag...

67

Gemini PDA - Android / Re: This device is no longer supported by the app. Contact the developer.

« on: June 30, 2022, 11:38:12 am »

TL;DR: Likely a certification issue. I have no solution. Hopefully AZERTY Astros arrives soon.

I also think it's a certification issue. I certainly think it was, when I had similar issues with the somewhat similar app BankID, which is used in Sweden, for identification and payments (sometimes as the only way). It too supports Android 6 and newer, if the device has Google Play Services or Huawei Mobile Services, and a usable rear camera (one of few things I find the Gemini add-on camera useful for, is QR codes and similar).

The original Gemini Android firmware wasn't Google certified at launch. My unit showed the S/N 01234567890ABCDEF, which clearly wasn't true. BankID would install but didn't work. A later Gemini Android firmware was Google certified, showed the true serial number and BankID worked. Then came Android 8.1.1 for the Gemini. It no longer showed its certification status, but as the S/N again said 0123... I'm quite sure it wasn't, and BankID stopped working, just briefly showing its logo before exiting to the home screen with no message or anything.

When I, out of curiosity, read the itsme FAQ, it said "to guarantee your security, itsme doesn't work on jailbroken or rooted devices", so it (and likely BankID too) tries to see if the device is stock. My Gemini always was, but without Google (or Huawei) certification, that test likely fails.

So yes, I think it's a Google certification thing. Whether Planet screwed up, were screwed over or Google raised some bar out of their reach, I don't know. By choice or not, they don't seem to work much on older devices. Even the Cosmo patch level is January 2021. After updating BankID on my Gemini yesterday, it did start, but as I didn't update its certificate, I don't know if it would work.

The BankID FAQ suggested making sure the Android System WebView app is up to date. If itsme also uses a WebView, there could be some overlap, but likely you'll have to wait for the Astro, lest you can go back to Android 7, which probably isn't reasonable. Update #67 from last tuesday (UTC+2) at least said production had begun on Astros with French keyboards. Since I know of no particular Astro version for Belgium, I guess you're waiting for such a device, so I hope you won't have to wait that much longer.

68

Astro Slide - General Discussion / Re: Estimation of Astro shipment based on Cosmo Campaign

« on: June 28, 2022, 12:43:40 pm »

Since this is a shipment estimation thread, and shipments now seems to slowly be ramping up, this might be a good time to compare reality to makosharks original estimations in the first post:

Backers from Japan, USA: Cosmo-11/15/19 >> Astro-01/09/22
On the way to Europe(Germany, UK): Cosmo-11/22/19 >> Astro-01/16/22
3500 out of 4000 Produced, 80% of Backers received Cosmo-12/09/19 >> Astro-02/02/22

So far, this seems to be known:
Japan: 2/ 6/22 (Update #53)
UK:     6/~2/22 (Update #66)
USA:   6/24/22 (Above post)

Update #67 (6/21/22) expected the first German QWERTZ and US-keyboard/EU-plug Astro devices to have reached the warehouse last week and begin shipping this week. It also said production had started on Swedish/Finnish and French keyboard Astro variants, but apparently scheduling the next quality check visit by the Planet team to the assembly factory, won't happen until the whole batch is done, which given the restrictions over there, seems reasonable, though it likely means actual shipment of these devices won't happen just yet. My Swe/Fin Astro, with a <2000 Contribution ID remains unlocked as of writing this.

69

Cosmo Communicator - Android / Re: Keeping Background Apps Alive

« on: June 21, 2022, 07:14:37 am »

Hi and welcome to OESF (and the somewhat wonky environment of the Cosmo).

While this, on it's own, likely isn't the answer you're looking for, I don't have that particular problem with my Cosmo, which suggests it should be avoidable on your device too.

I rarely reboot, lest I have to (my keyboard has a tendency to stop working a few times per month) so uptime well over a week isn't unusual for me. If what you describe was a general Cosmo or Android problem, I should reasonably have run into it too.

I have left DuraSpeed on, and switched on the toggles for the apps I need to keep running in the background. For me, that's things like Skype, Spotify, an app showing the date in the status bar (why Android can't do that is beyond me). I have also left the "Intelligent power saving standby" and the battery manager on, mostly since they haven't caused me noticeable issues thus far. According to developer options my average RAM usage hovers around 40%. My Cosmo runs Android only and isn't rooted.

In other words, I've done nothing in particular, and I don't have this issue. By itself, that might be less than useful to you. However, if more users chimes in with their settings and experiences, perhaps we can, together, find some kind of pattern to this. So, is anybody else experiencing this or not, and what are your settings?

70

Astro Slide - General Discussion / Some kicks from update sixty six... and earlier.

« on: June 10, 2022, 08:18:45 am »

This is just a bit of "update forensics", while waiting, because, well... I'm a geek, I suppose?

In update #59 there's a top shot an open outer shipping box, in which ten Astro Slide boxes are visible. Below that, is a picture of a stack of such outer boxes, where each of them has a sticker with ten lines of three bar codes each. Would each barcode corresponded to an individual Astro, an outer box would contain thirty Astro units. With very slim packaging, that might have been possible. However, as shown in update #43, the individual Astro boxes seems to be the same size as those for the Cosmo and Gemini, so we can conclude that the outer boxes contains a single layer of individual Astro boxes, which means ten units per outer box.

<Nerd>
One unit per line of barcodes makes sense, as if we look closely, the rightmost barcode on each line seems to be a tad longer than the other two, suggesting it represents something else the first two. I'm guessing the two first on each line are the IMEI numbers for the dual mobile modem, and the third is either the MEID (Mobile Equipment Identifier) or the serial number of the individual Astro unit. As a MEID barcode is over 40% longer than that of a IMEI (as measured on my Cosmo box), while the serial number barcodes of the Gemini and Cosmo only were about 15% longer, I'd say the third code on each line one is likely the serial number.
</Nerd>

Anyhow, the picture in update #66 shows 20 boxes and thus depicts 200 units, out of several thousands to be made, so while progress is being made, there's still some way to go.

Update #65 mentions "Japanese, US, UK and German Astro Slide devices" being quality checked. AFAIK, no update has suggested that any other versions, perhaps beyond test samples, has been manufactured thus far. It mentions that "Further shipments of Astro perks to Japan are taking place" and that "We have also shipped the first UK Astro perks to some very early first day backers, who are not on the EE network."

Update #66 says they are testing a firmware to be factory flashed onto Astro units for the UK EE network. This seems to, at the moment, hold UK shipments back a bit. The update ends with "we hope to see first posts from US backers with their Astros by the end of next week". Thus, apparently, no US devices has actually been shipped yet. I have also seen no mention of any German Astro Slide devices shipping. So it seems that Japanese devices are shipping in some quantity, shipping of UK devices has technically begun, in very small numbers, while some US and German devices has been made, though none of those has actually shipped yet.

I doubt much will happen with any other variety until most or all of the Japanese, US, UK and German has shipped, so all of us who are waiting for some other keyboard layout, can probably snooze for yet a few weeks.

71

Cosmo Communicator - General Discussion / Re: Camera

« on: May 12, 2022, 11:15:23 am »

@Onkel Otto: As one of the two who replied to your post, I don't think either of us felt you were complaining. You shared some knowledge. I tried to add some details for clarification and shuntcap corrected a detail I got wrong, just as a forum is supposed to work, if you ask me. Thank you for being a contributing member.

72

Astro Slide - General Discussion / Re: Astro reviews thread

« on: May 12, 2022, 11:06:18 am »

Seems to be a rather balanced review, acknowledging that this is a niche device, for those who type enough on the go to be too limited by a regular smartphone and little enough to not carry a small laptop. That might be oversimplifying a tad. I'm still using SMS and MMS. Even if I could find a way to do that on a laptop or Chromebook, I would still need to also carry a phone anyway. Their idea that a phone with an external Bluetooth keyboard could "achieve much the same experience" suggests to me that they haven't actually tried that. I have. Several times. It went badly.

Small BT keyboards are often just not good keyboards, more intended for the odd search term and such on a media PC. Trying to prop up a phone and such a keyboard on a café table, often gives useless ergonomics and you can't use that keyboard on the go, lest you can physically attach it to the phone by means of a case, which would give you something clumsier than a Planet phone, most likely with worse ergonomics.

A large BT keyboard is nice to type on, but you'd still need a special case so you can prop the phone up to see the screen and now I'd need a backpack for the keyboard, which I must then get out, turn on and get to pair, if I have a flat surface to put it on, that is. Carrying one sub-pound device on which I can thumb type on the go and get near-laptop-typing when I can put it down, is the sweet spot for me.

It is, as we know, a tad of a shame that the Dimensity 800 is a bit dated in parts. We also know Planet did ask for a newer SoC and couldn't have it. Another pain point is just how much more expensive each unit gets when you can't make hundreds of thousands of the same model. Such is life for a tiny vendor.

I partly hope the Astro will turn out nice enough that Planet may (with minor tweaks) stick with that design for a couple of generations and really only have to develop new circuit boards (which indeed may affect antennas and such) when they get access to sufficiently better components. That, or joining forces with a bigger brand, are the only real ways I can see to get regular non-crowdfunded sales going for them.

73

Cosmo Communicator - General Discussion / Re: Camera

« on: April 08, 2022, 07:30:16 pm »

I did not know, that the GCam app requires Google Play Services.

Me neither, though as G in GCam stands for Google, I expected them to depend on their own services, for certain features. Thank you for confirming. Good to know.

When shuntcap adapted a particular build of GCam, intended for another phone with the same sensor, to make it work on the Cosmo, there was probably no intention to remove Google dependencies, but rather to make features work, which probably explains why the dependencies are still there.

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Astro Slide - General Discussion / Re: Astro reviews thread

« on: March 09, 2022, 07:59:47 am »

...you can't help some people, they just don't get it. 

Yeah, they seem to confuse function with fashion and utility with retro.

Interestingly, they do recognize that "bulky keypads" that were "either too small for their fingers" or required them "to press the same key more than once to get the correct letters", were a problem, yet does not seem to grasp that virtual keyboards has worse tactile feedback and eats screen space, while their tap zones are still either too small or requires multiple taps... thus really only making them the better choice for very special symbols and (brief use of) foreign alphabets.

They call the Astro a "laptop in my back pocket”... by quoting rap lyrics, as if their "digital trends" are less about stuff that matters across time and more about commercial culture du jour, which in the post-consumerist era we are evolving into, seems rather... vintage to me .

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Cosmo Communicator - General Discussion / Re: Keyboard stops working

« on: February 17, 2022, 08:50:22 am »

Like Gymbo, I am also on V25 (stock, single boot, never rooted) and it happens to me too, though a bit more often, a few times a month, I'd say.

As for your suspicions, I think:

(1) Partly, maybe. While it seems to mostly happen when I wake my Cosmo up (usually by taking it out of its slipcase), I think it may happen randomly, but I won't notice until I wake the Cosmo up. I have had it happen while using the Cosmo (it's especially disturbing when I need to look up or write down something during a phone call). I mostly use Jota+ and Firefox, but, if at all app related, I'd suspect some system app.

(2) Unlikely. While I do have Word installed, I hardly ever use it, and if I do, it's just to very briefly glance at some Word document. Almost all my document editing on the Cosmo is plain text.

(3) Unlikely. I keep Bluetooh off, except when tranfering files, once in a while. I have briefly used external Bluetooth keyboards with the Cosmo, mostly to see if they worked (anyone wants an old Lenovo KT-1255 keyboard?), but I have seen no link between Bluetooh and this keyboard issue.

(4) I think so. I suspect it may be the Planet keyboard driver crashing and not restarting, until I reboot.

I can, however, only back that up by my general observation that the Planet software (their own and from their "industry partner") running on our devices, seems to be of lesser quality and stability than Android in general, and as it doesn't seem to matter which apps I may run, I am suspecting a Planet system app in general and their keyboard driver in particular.

Just like you, I have neither found a way to stop it from occurring nor any other remedy than rebooting. Non-root suggestions are more than welcome. I have tried simple things like enabling and disabling the on-screen keyboard or mucking about with basic keyboard settings. I haven't tried changing the layout to something else and back since I doubt it would work and, at least a few firmwares back, a reboot tended to be easier.

Finally, during boot, my keyboard can act up a bit too, dropping characters from my long-ish password or (quite often) ignoring Enter on the first try. Rather than the driver crashing at that point, I think Android just has too much going on to really be able to cater for real-time stuff, like the user.

I base that suspicion, on the phone of my spouse, a really slow (also MediaTek-based) Nokia 1, which, during boot, clearly struggles with its on screen keyboard and (previously) even its startup chime. Both the Cosmo and the Nokia 1 are using (by modern standards) slow eMMC storage, so I guess, it might be an I/O bottleneck during boot, but that shouldn't crash the keyboard once system is up and running.