Database Users

Questions about the Official HTC Magic Android 1.6 ROM

I just flashed the 1.6 ROM from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=565929
And have listed the first part of this post in that thread, but I was interested in getting some answers to the second part of this post (I thought it might be relevant to re-post the first part here, just for reference).
My issues with this ROM (I have a rooted MT3G):
- Can't seem to get Touch Input (HTC_IME) working, and just waiting on someone to post a link to a working apk & files (with instructions). The versions I have will install, but causes a force close. TouchPal (an old favorite from my Windows Mobild days) installs and works fine, but isn't that much better than the stock keyboard (although for the 20-key qwerty keyboard, it's better than the stock in that way).
- I get a force close when I go to edit a contact
- I get a force close when trying to use the PhoneBook app (as a contacts alternative)
- Not sure if this is related to this ROM, but I get a force close with Snap Photo Pro when trying to take a photo. It wasn't really usable on Hero ROM's so I hadn't played with it much, so not sure about this one. The non-pro version is fine (and really is sufficient for my needs).
- Installed apps do not show up in AppManager (even if installed with AppManager). They also don't show up in aTrackDog. But they do appear in GPhoneManager and Advanced Task Manager.
- Get the "Problems loading widget" for the calendar widget, but I never use that so no worries for me. Power Control does not seem to give me any issues.
Also, for those that are having trouble using Wireless Tether For Root Users, I got aNetShare working fine - well, at least it runs, doesn't give any errors, but I can't seem to get internet access with my PC yet. I don't recall what ROM I had pulled it from now.
Overall, I think this is a nice and speedy ROM and would use it, but still prefer some of the "core" things found in Hero ROM's, which include:
- The photo/gallery browser. I'm not sure how to block directories of images in the ROM like I do with the ".nomedia" fix used with the Hero photo viewer). Interestingly, the ".nomedia" fix seems to work fine with the Music Player. If there's a good photo viewer in the market (or a "simple" way to block directories), I'd appreciate someone pointing it out.
- I like the contacts program in Hero ROM's, specifically the ability to sync with Facebook.
- Would be nice to take pictures in portrait mode, but not a major thing (I mean, I can take them, but then they'll get rotated wrong when viewing photos).
- The look and feel of the Hero Calendar is nicer, and I haven't really checked any of the available calendars from the market, so not sure if there's a decent alternative to the stock one.
- Multi touch. Not something I use often due to general lag, but would be nice to use on a zippy stock ROM. I mean device-wide, not just for the browser (like for images).
Everything else that is "nicer" in a Hero ROM, I can find alternatives for (like using Handcent for SMS, or Lock 2.0 for a "slide to unlock" thing, etc). I don't need Rosie (and can always get a home alternative if I wanted more than 3 screens) or TouchFlo - unless, of course, that's what the above apps are tied to.
And finally, what might be nice is a list of core apps that can be removed without affecting the system.

Browser not resizing some pages correctly

Hey folks ... first post, and I did try to search for this but came up with nothing.
Wondering if there's a fix or workaround for this. Some pages, when I load them, are not resized correctly for the browser. I would post a link, but ... you can google search for "best of the web today" and the first match is a page that does this wrong-resize behavior.
While it's loading, it is sized correctly. But once it completes loading, it resizes and it's too wide, so I have to scroll horizontally to read it.
This is just one example, but there are many pages that do this.
If I stop the page load before it's 100%, then it stays sized correctly for the browser (well, the block indents still run off the right side, but this seems to be true for every single thing that has block indents). So something that happens when it completes the loading is the problem. FWIW stopping it at like 95% doesn't seem to affect the content.
Any of you seen this, or know how to get around it? It's becoming quite annoying.

have you tried an alternate browser?

no ... is there an alternate browser that 1. doesn't embed ads and 2. supports flash?

tried it in skyfire, same problem.

flash isn't supported with android except the new 2.2 froyo build. even then, most official froyo builds haven't been released. there is a froyo build for the aria built from cyanogen mod source, but flash hasn't been figured out yet.
a lot of people like dolphin browser. opera mini is pretty popular as well.

@mattbollenbach, I think the OP may have meant "FlashLITE support", one of the nicer HTC features, if you ask me. I don't know if there are other browsers that support HTC's FlashLITE, but it shouldn't take too much to test that out.
Personally, the only thing that annoys me about the browser is when I load it, google is my homepage and it never displays correctly... haha, always way to big for the screen. Obviously, this is nothing more than the tiniest of gripes.

PDF reading

How comfartable is reading of PDF documents on Galaxy Tab?

Quite good, if you get Adobe PDF reader app. I have a bunch of articles from various research journals on my Tab and they're quite comfortable to read. You get nice and smooth pinch to zoom as well as the double-tap zoom-to-fit that you know from the browser. Only small problem I found was that it doesn't recognize that the text can be in several columns. Landscape orientation is a work-around for that, as a normal A4 page zoomed to fit width-wise onto a landscape screen is just the right size to read 10 or 11 point text comfortably.

Ezpdf reader is great on the tab. It even has flip pages animations. I read magazines with it all the time
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

Thanks for the tip...

I can tell you that the pre-installed thinkoffice is just great, from my point of view better than the adobe reader.With big file size adobe have more problems to handle the memory.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk

[Q] Nook update 1.4...tap to zoom??

The prior versions of the Color Nook software did not let you read in portrait mode, only landscape, so I"m glad to see that the new update (1.4) finally lets readers use either mode. I'm wondering if they've finally included tap-to-zoom capability for pictures?
The Nook Tablet does let you double-tap to zoom in on images, so I'm hoping (as a writer) that the stock Color Nook 1.4 update includes the zooming capability, but I haven't seen that spelled out anywhere. If someone who is using the 1.4 update could check that, I'd appreciate knowing. (Just to reiterate, I'm not talking about pinch-to-zoom in the browser or when viewing regular images or PDF files...I'm talking about when you're reading an ePub book in the built-in Nook reader app, can you double-tap a picture in the book and have it pop out so you can then zoom in and out to examine it.)
I know the FBreader app on the market allows zooming pictures in ePub's, but I just want to know if a typical non-rooted user with the 1.4 update can now zoom them as well.
Thanks,
JT

[Q] Is the Nook right for me?

I'm close to buying a Nook Simple Touch. These are my criteria and what I'm expecting:
I already have an iPhone. I want the Nook mostly for reading eBooks and viewing lecture slides in class.
I have owned a Palm Zire 71 before. How is the IR touch screen like? I'm not expecting the responsiveness of a capacitive touchscreen. Does it work by detecting pressure like a Palm? Does it have multi-touch? It's not really necessary as long as pan and zoom can function well. Can you annotate on it like on a Palm?
This is taken from what I posted in another forum:
How's the contrast of E-Ink Pearl? Is the background the colour of recycled paper or closer to optical white?
I feel a Nook is good value for money because I actually buy classic novels at 3.50 USD a pop and Project Gutenberg will save me money in the long run. Furthermore, my textbooks (limited to 10% of the content to comply with Australian copyright laws) have been put up online.
Also for viewing lecture slides. I print out 6 PowerPoint slides a page on my B&W laser printer and at that size, the diagrams in the slides are not clear. I only need the touch for zoom and pan. Rather than annotating on my printouts (which can be 6 pages or longer), I could save paper by viewing them on the eReader and taking notes separately on a sheet of paper.
My classmates use iPads or laptops in class. It's hard to navigate slides on a laptop by scrolling. Love the smooth navigation of the iPad but on both devices they struggle to type notes/draw using a capacitive stylus. Not to mention the temptation to browse Facebook/play games on them!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What Android apps run on it after rooting? I'm thinking Chess and simple word-processing apps. Not expecting Angry Birds, but would something like amateur Angry Birds clones (so many of these on iOS e.g. Angry Pig Daddy) work because they have very low framerates?
Can I load files from Dropbox instead of over USB?
Hardware keyboards need to be connected by USB, right? I guess USB headsets won't work because the Nook lacks an audio chip.
Can it be compared to a Palm (albeit with a greyscale eInk screen)? For reading eBooks, browsing the internet in B&W and running simple [Android] apps and simple annotation.
Would the Nook Simple Touch meet my needs?

Technically multitouch is supported with the latest update, but I have yet to see it actually work.
The touch screen is pretty responsive, but a pen won't work; you need something bigger. There's also no film over the screen, and the actual IR beams are just above the screen, so if you want you don't have to touch the actual screen.
As for contrast, the color of the screen when blank is pretty close to white, with just a very slight shade of brown.
The Nook runs Android 2.1, so most apps won't be available, but I use my Nook to take notes in class (high school) using a free office app. Angry birds is available and is pretty playable if you change the orientation and turn off the background from the main menu.
The Dropbox app is in the Market, and I think there's an app that will sync folders on your SDCard (or maybe your Nook's file system) with Dropbox.
I also have a Palm Zire (31?), and I still use it to record homework and for its calendar; haven't found a decent working calendar app yet for my Nook. Maybe I'll just make one sometime.

How do you zoom and pan? By dragging on scroll bars?
I'm more and more impressed!
I'm amazed that Angry Birds is playable! I've seen the YouTube video. Why do you need to change the orientation? To decrease the resolution? How about instead making the app run in a 320 * 480 window like a low-end Android phone?
(Can't post links yet. Search "nook simple touch stylus". It's the Blogspot blog in the first result.) Nice! I'm leaning towards using a paintbrush! Maybe I'll trim the barrel of a fat pen and stick a silicone earplug in there like what he did in the first photo.
Do you type in class on the touchscreen keyboard or using an external keyboard?
I had a B&W Palm Zire 31 as well from when my mum used it for work. Not the same as yours.

Googie2149 said:
haven't found a decent working calendar app yet for my Nook.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try Calendar Pad? Working fine for me.

Has anyone's Nook ever broke? I'm buying it from someone who's bringing it in to Malaysia from the US. I have to ship it to B&N and B&N will deliver it to a US address, which will forward it to me in Malaysia.
Can you boost the contrast in Android so that similar colours won't have the same shade (look 'flat') when converted to Grayscale?
Does JavaIDEdroid work on a rooted Nook? The site says it seems to run okay on Android 2.1. I just want to use this to do light editing on assignments (I study CompSci). All my Java programs are only command-line based.
ETA: I might have found a good stylus! The rubber tip of Pilot FriXion pens (that are used to erase the ink by friction).

tehriddler said:
How do you zoom and pan? By dragging on scroll bars?
I'm more and more impressed!
I'm amazed that Angry Birds is playable! I've seen the YouTube video. Why do you need to change the orientation? To decrease the resolution? How about instead making the app run in a 320 * 480 window like a low-end Android phone?
(Can't post links yet. Search "nook simple touch stylus". It's the Blogspot blog in the first result.) Nice! I'm leaning towards using a paintbrush! Maybe I'll trim the barrel of a fat pen and stick a silicone earplug in there like what he did in the first photo.
Do you type in class on the touchscreen keyboard or using an external keyboard?
I had a B&W Palm Zire 31 as well from when my mum used it for work. Not the same as yours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For zoom, I haven't had much luck with it, but the office app I use has a slider for zoom (Kingsoft Office. Terrible, but works). I use GO Keyboard to type, and after installing it to an Android emulator to get to the settings it works well.
I change the orientation so the screen refreshes more than once every two seconds, but it does make trails to be made behind the birds. When a bird jumps while waiting to be launched, it can only be described as a flaming bird.
The Zire 21 was B/W, the 31 is blue and has a color screen. (I have both for some reason)

good for epub. screen is small for detailed slides.
tehriddler said:
I'm close to buying a Nook Simple Touch. These are my criteria and what I'm expecting:
I already have an iPhone. I want the Nook mostly for reading eBooks and viewing lecture slides in class.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The nook is great for reading ebooks (epub) -- that's what it was designed for. PDF support is very disappointing (IMO). zoom is extremely limited.
This assumes you are using the default app on a stock nook. I'm still working on getting mine to run other apps.
The small screen size might be disappointing for viewing lecture slides.
---------- Post added at 08:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:05 AM ----------
tehriddler said:
Has anyone's Nook ever broke?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes.
The nook is pretty fragile. I recommend buying a good case.
The "designed for nook" case in the store looked to me like it would pop open too easily, so I got a Kindle case with a zipper (M-Edge Latitude). It's a tight fit, but it works.
Kindle 4 and Nook Simple Touch have the same H and W dimensions, but the Nook is thicker (11.9 mm vs 8.6 mm)

I just bought my Nook ST yesterday! I love it but I find the ghosting and the blinking refresh annoying and I hope the NoRefresh tweak would fix that.
How do you zoom in on images in the stock app? Can you pan/scroll instead of turning the page? IS there any way to rotate so that PDFs display in landscape mode?
Does highlighting work in PDFs? I can get the text to zoom in but am unable to select the text.
I'm holding off rooting until I get a microSD card. I also don't have a microSD card reader on me at the moment. Can you just write the disk image when the card is in the Nook? I see an external drive show up in Windows Explorer.

tehriddler said:
I just bought my Nook ST yesterday! I love it but I find the ghosting and the blinking refresh annoying and I hope the NoRefresh tweak would fix that.
How do you zoom in on images in the stock app? Can you pan/scroll instead of turning the page? IS there any way to rotate so that PDFs display in landscape mode?
Does highlighting work in PDFs? I can get the text to zoom in but am unable to select the text.
I'm holding off rooting until I get a microSD card. I also don't have a microSD card reader on me at the moment. Can you just write the disk image when the card is in the Nook? I see an external drive show up in Windows Explorer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't write the image to the mSD when it is in the Nook! This will damage your Nook! /bold text
I don't think you can zoom in the stock reader, but when you root you can get a PDF app and use that, and you can force the screen to display in landscape when you need to. Also, you cannot pan in the stock reader, only pages.
As for NoRefresh, that app is advancing by leaps and bounds, and should work well for most apps.

Okay I hear you. I just read the warning in another thread after posting this about potentially bricking the Nook when writing the disk image to the microSD inside.
Is the screen refresh annoying in third-party PDF readers? Would be a shame to lose colour depth to just black and white by using NoRefresh.

cceerrtt said:
Did you try Calendar Pad? Working fine for me.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for that recommendation. Calendar Pad is a good replacement for the stock Android Calendar program. Not having a giant SD card image is nice.
Are you aware of a way to enable/disable specific account calendars that are displayed. I can do this on other devices with the stock app, but haven't found an equivalent function in Calendar Pad.

i think NST is just right for you.
I also have iphone and ipad. but they just for game or chatting.
NST is for reading.

bobstro said:
Thanks for that recommendation. Calendar Pad is a good replacement for the stock Android Calendar program. Not having a giant SD card image is nice.
Are you aware of a way to enable/disable specific account calendars that are displayed. I can do this on other devices with the stock app, but haven't found an equivalent function in Calendar Pad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, use the stock Calendar application (with giant SDcard image) to select your calendars (menu -> More -> My Calendars). This setting has effect also for Calendar Pad.