Verizon 3589i |
|---|
These two web pages - gammu & gnokii detail my efforts to connect my 3589i to my Linux pc.
Linux kernel 2.4.25 usb subsystem doesn't recognize the "official" Nokia DKU-5 data cable. Furthermore, executing
insmod usbserial vendor_id=0x0421 product_id=0x0800also did not result in a working connection!
Linux is quite happy using a PL2303 clone DKU-5 data cable which I purchased from www.cellphoneshop.com. [Note this cable does not work with Nokia PC Suite 5.05!]
I am most successful using gammu at this time.
It all started when my Motorola Timeport P8767 cellphone stopped charging it's battery. Oh, it had been wierd for awhile, as in
After a little research, I choose a Nokia 3589i because specs showed good battery life & free software on Nokia's web site for managing my phone numbers from my computer. Those are my most important requirements. Pictures? Ringtones? Wallpaper? Appointment list? Text messaging? Naw, I have no need!
I signed a 2 yr. contract extension with my cellphone provider, Verizon Wireless & paid them $30 for a 3589i at their store. Then I ordered a DKU-5 data cable from cellphoneshop.com since the Verizon store didn't stock that cable. You see, Verizon wants me to buy their "Get It Now" service for a monthly fee & put my phone numbers & those all-important ringtones & wallpapers on Verizon servers then download them to my phone using my airtime minutes. I don' theeenk sooo!!! Not when I have an home office full of perfectly good computers with which to manage all that stuff! Besides, a little issue called privacy?
Ok, I receive the data cable, install Nokia PC Suite 5.05 on my wife's laptop (my computers are all Linux), plug the cable into the 3589i then into the computer, and ... Nothing! Non! Nyet! Nunca! Nicht! NADA! No connectivity!
No amount of cruising web sites, googling groups, & emailing tech support even came close to diagnosing the problem. Nokia said "contact Verizon". Verizon tech support, which started out polite, eventually became kinda snotty about "15 day return policy" which in reality was a 30 day return policy. Still don't know where that discrepency came from.
Even more annoying, just try finding any contact addresses on Verizon's web site for making corporate-level complaints. I don't like their "Get It Now" or nothing philosophy & would like them to know that. But they obviously aren't interested. It's the American way, as interpreted by Verizon.
So, I exercise my return policy option & got my Motorola turned back on. I could always charge the battery using my wife's twin phone. Tedious, but doable. Oh, yeah, I checked ebay for Motorolas but decided I didn't want to buy a 4 yr. old cellphone design for those asking prices. Plus I'm again free to terminate my Verizon patronage whenever I wish. Tempting...
Only now, the Motorola was turning on the vibrator everytime I receive or make a call. Too bad my ear isn't a major erogenous zone!!!!
I decide to disassemble my Motorola. Yeah, I know ... real good idea! When the main body finally popped apart, the ribbon cable connecting it to the other half tore, disabling the phone with grand finality! On the positive side, I pinpointed the source of its battery & viberator misconduct - the aforementioned ribbon cable's connector was seriously corroded, effectively shorting various combinations of circuits. Guess Motorola doesn't think enough of their customers to provide the quality of coating the connector & cable mating surfaces with a few molecules of gold!!!
Ok, with my Motorola now history, I purchase a 3589i & "official" Nokia DKU-5 data cable from www.nokiausa.com. I received phone & cable, plugged them together then into the computer, & after an ardous wrestle with MicroQuack Outlook / Outlook Express I managed to download most - as in enough for starters - of my phone numbers to the phone.
Better than nothing. But, note that I ultimately discover that the DKU-5 I originally purchased was a "clone" DKU-5, & PC Suite recognizes it's not an "official" Nokia DKU-5, & PC Suite arbitrarily refuses to connect to it! Nothing about that on Nokia's web site! BAD Nokia!!!
Digression
Previously, I parsed my PalmOS Address Book's data file using Linux &
Perl tools into a comma separated variable (.csv) phone list file. I
would import that list into Motorola's TrueSync program, then
download it to the phone. Worked pretty good, didn't have to do it
often.
Annoyingly, Nokia PC Suite can't import the .csv directly - it's limited to "syncing" with Outlook, Lotus Notes, or Lotus Organizer. Kinda limiting...don't see anything about that on their web site, either. Oh well...it was free. Apparently Logomanager's MobiMB or Oxygen's Phone Manager might do a better job with my phone numbers, plus allegedly get around Nokia PC Suite's refusal to download ringtones & wallpaper & crap. But they cost money & they only run on Winblows. Didn't I say I want a Linux solution???
I never found any Linux tools for Motorola. The TrueSync program people, actually [I think] a Phillipe Kahn venture (remember Turbo Pascal?) - were definitely not interested in making a Linux version. Further, Motorola refused to supply even minimal hints for writing my own program. So I was quite pleased to find a couple of Nokia support programs available for Linux.
I mentioned above that I don't give a hoot about ringtones - well, I sorta lied. I found one ringtone I want, the emergency red phone ring from the Our Man Flint - or was it In Like Flint - movie. It sounds nostalgically obnoxious to me, payback to everyone else's obnoxious choice of ringtone! :-)
Anyways, I have a .wav file & need to convert it to a .midi. Doesn't seem to be a lot of software out there to do that sort of thing. I found one program progammed in the Octave language, but it's giving me errors.
While reading usenet I found some posts that led me to look again at Logomanager's MobiMB. I bought a copy for about $22 & installed it on my wife's laptop running Win98. It doesn't appear to do phonebook stuff, tho perhaps one of their other products probably does. But I could see my phone's gallery folders with it. I mucked around with it a bit & it seems to have a few anomalies but all-in-all it worked. I downloaded one ringtone with it only so I could say with authority "I don' neeeeeed no Get It Now!!!!!" :-)
I also learned some stuff about midi files - like, converting from .wav to .midi is non-trivial if you don't know much about it. I found a few more wave to midi conversion programs & I tried 2 of them. I did not end up with a .midi file that matched the sound of the .wav file. Nor do I want to invest the time to learn enough to learn a lot more about it. I found a ringtone similar to the one I wanted, not exactly what I wanted, but close enough.
|