My ZTE Open Phone Finally Came Back!

Sometime ago, I managed to upgrade my Firefox OS on the ZTE Open to version 1.2.  However, this upgrade broke many things, like the GPS and other features.

No matter how much I tried to downgrade, the phone would never respond.

That changed today, though.

I tried a crazy approach and deleted a folder in the root folder.  Then, I put the 1.10B06 zip there and rebooted the phone.

While the phone was rebooting, I pressed the power and the volume up buttons together to enter recovery mode.  Once there, I selected the zip file without much hope because I had tried that a zillion times with no success.

But the phone acted differently and showed me a bar with the words "updating."

In less than 2 minutes, it showed "finished" and I rebooted the phone to a fully operational 1.1 downgrade.

The ConnectA2 app to use WhatsApp also works now.

Who would have said that a desperate move would save the phone?  But you know the saying:  Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% desperation! :P

On August and Broken Electronics

Some days ago, Nixie Pixel shared this image on Google+.  Unfortunately for her, August started with her cellphone, laptop, and desktop computer breaking.

One follower replied to her that he has seen that something always breaks in August and, therefore, he has learned to save money ahead of time, destined to the fixing expenses.

I was amused by the post until yesterday... The screen of my ZaReason Strata displayed a blue vertical stripe that eventually extended from the top to the bottom into a full line.

Blue line...

 
This happened because I was moving the laptop while carrying some books and I almost dropped it.  Not to let it slide to the floor, I exerted additional pressure on the lid against my leg and, surely, I damaged the screen.

The good thing is that there is a place nearby where I can take my laptop to have the screen replaced.  I trust the technician, too.

It turns out that I am the first client that brings him a Linux laptop.

He fixed the Strata fast and, as I tested the KDE effects on PCLinuxOS, he was impressed by the beauty of Linux. He also praised the solid construction of the Strata. He said that other clients have cracked the screen of their laptops with less than what I did to mine.

That confirms my decision.  I will keep buying from ZaReason. :) 

Pisi Linux 1.2 is available!

This confirms Megatotoro's finding:  Pisi Linux is alive! 

At last in DistroWatch!

The kitty shows the famous smile of Korean actor-singer Bi (Rain)

And so I Won...!

I woke up early today with all the intention of tackling my morning jog, but I lacked the energy.

What to do?

I could go back to sleep or... play LIMBO.

Somehow, I knew I was very close to finishing it.  I mean, with all those gravitational spins, how much crazier could that creepy game become?

As an additional motivation, I reminded myself that I had not won any game on Linux.

So I opened Steam and played.

It took me less than one hour to finish LIMBO.

LIMBO:  The end sequence

Just like T.S. Eliot's Magi would have said, the ending was... satisfactory! ;-)

Interestingly, I experienced certain emotion (joy, a sense of achievement/completion?) from winning this game, something that resembles what one feels after finishing a jog.

I sort of understand gamers better now.

Seen on Yahoo: Mageia a Great Desktop Distro

I saw this tonight.  It's an article that talks about good Linux desktops.

Two things caught my eye:

1.  The sheer admission that desktop Linux is on the rise.  This is something I have suspected for quite a long time, but sites like StatCounter and Netmarketshare have been denying it with their questionable numbers and that biased tech-journalists keep hiding/misinforming.

2.  When I read the article, I was surprised not to see the usual distros there: Ubuntu, Mint...

And then there's mentioning of Mageia!

Fun on Google: Ultraman minigame

Google is today paying homage to Eiji Tsuburaya, a producer that created a world of fantasy that many children remember: the Ultraman series.

The mini-game: make a Ultraman movie!

Of course, Godzilla also exists thanks to him.

Mageia 5: I See no Change... and That's Good!

It's been like a week after Mageia 5 was released.  I installed the full DVD version to two desktops and two laptops to see what it offered.

Normally, I test a new distro more cautiously; first, I run a VM, then, I run a live version on the actual system where I wish to install before I decide to wipe out the root partition and say hi to the new OS.

But somehow I felt lazy this time.  No, it was not laziness.  As Megatotoro said, I was feeling bored because all my Linux systems have been working flawlessly for such a long time that I have been tinkering with my Firefox OS phones instead.

I wanted to upgrade and I sort of wanted something to break...So I tried multiple installation scenarios to maximize the chances of things going bad:

1.  My old desktop.  Upgrade from M4 to M5 via upgrading applet.  Not only did it work, but it also corrected a minor problem I had with iBus for Japanese input!

2.  My wife's laptop.  DVD install.  During the process, the touchpad froze.  I plugged in a usb mouse and went on expecting trouble once the system had been installed.  Nope, the touchpad worked and Grub 2 also played nice with Ubuntu...

3.  My ZaReason laptop.  Again, applet upgrade, with the additional complication of having a multiboot configuration (OpenMandriva Lx, Mageia 4, PCLinuxOS, Pisi Linux, PicarOS, Elive beta, and Mageia 5 RC).  Nothing bad happened.  The applet even distinguished the two Mageia systems and asked me which one I wanted to upgrade!

4.  My daughter's desktop.  This is a dual-boot, multisession machine. DVD install.  Nothing happened here during the upgrade.

After a week, and without considering aesthetic improvements, I have seen nothing different... it feels just like the system those machines had before.  Of course, that's not to belittle the great work of Mageia developers, but to say that when a user experiences no disruption after an upgrade, that is very good news.

Mageia 5  is looking solid and consistent with the user experience that was established with Mageia 1.  In this world, where developers keep changing things and expect users to adapt, I, for one, appreciate the consistency.

Game On!

Although I am not much of a gamer, I enjoy good games when I get some free time to play them.

I wanted to try World of Goo and This War of Mine.  Luckily, The Humble Bundle offered The World of Goo and other interesting titles (ZenBound, Limbo, and Braid again), so I bought the bundle and decided to play them on Steam.

Steam, for its part, had This War of Mine at discount price.

I could not resist and bought it, too.

So, I resumed my playing of To the Moon, Nihilumbra, Braid, and started This War of Mine (to add to the assortment of painful games).

A screenshot from To the Moon

As an emotional relief, I also played Limbo... CREEPY!

Limbo... a platform game with an oppressive atmosphere

Of course, keeping all this joy for myself is just not right.  I had to share the happiness and thus sent the games to Megatotoro.

I have to admit that the gaming experience on Linux has become a lot more enjoyable thanks to Steam.  I might even get a Steam machine later.

I will try to play on Desura one of these days, too.

Good-bye, Mandriva!

It is official: Mandriva S.A. is being liquidated (in French).
After a long struggle, Mandriva S.A. comes to an end on June 2, 2015 and, with its demise, the venerable Linux distro that made me migrate from Windows also disappears.

Mandriva is dead!  Long live Mandriva!

I think that it is sad that the Mandriva star twinkles no more in the OS universe, but it is good that other distros can continue with its legacy: Mageia, OpenMandriva Lx and, up to a certain extent, PCLinuxOS.

This is the way of life.  Nothing stays forever... What a weird coincidence that I am dressed all in black today.

Many things have changed since I first used Mandriva.  Some of those changes were for the better, some others were not.

Now let's see what else the future brings. 

Happy Belated Anniversary, LinuxMigrante!

Oh, no, I missed the fifth anniversary of Megatotoro's blog, La Esquina de Un Migrante a Linux!

This blog was created on May 21, 2010.  Because of the author's commitment to sharing his knowledge about Linux, I have learned many useful tricks.

Thanks to this blog, among other things, my daughter enjoys a computer with PicarOS, my wife played games like Passage, and I learned how to configure GRUB for multiboot.


Megatotoro writes about fun and crazy stuff, as having a Buddhist cow in your computer, or about bold experiments with Linux in stressing situations.  One thing is sure: the writer in the corner of migration to Linux has never been afraid to toe the line when trying the new resources that FLOSS offers.

May you continue posting for many years to come, Megatotoro! 

A New Firefox OS phone

I wrote before how Firefox OS reconciled me with mobile phones.

My experience with the ZTE Open was so good after I upgraded the OS to 1.1 that I decided I wanted to get version 1.2.

Instead of getting enough information, I grabbed outdated instructions to install an old 1.2 image... back then, it was a pre-release version of Firefox OS 1.2

The process was smooth and I got a new interface:

I was very excited  when I saw that some of the regular features of a smartphone has were at last operational with this upgrade, such as microphone recording, contact storing, etc.

The clock was redesigned with more functionality: it has the alarms, a practical timer and a useful stopwatch all in one.

This new version also allowed me to create functional music playlists... but with the new system, my problems with the ZTE Open phone began.


I know that it was actually my fault for installing a pre-release image. So, I could not receive updates and certain apps stopped working.  One was ConnectA2, the WhatsApp equivalent.  There were other apps that could allow me to access the WhatsApp network, like Loqui IM or OpenWapp, so I did not worry much.

But  Run, Bike, Hike, HereMaps, and all apps that needed GPS were misbehaving.  The reason: GPS was simply not working!

This GPS problem was a show-stopper.  I tried to revert to Firefox OS 1.1, but the process did not work.  I tried everything to no avail; I was stuck with this version of 1.2.

That's when I decided to buy the Alcatel One Touch Fire C, the only phone they sell in my country with Firefox OS.  I was a bit reluctant at first since the carrier that offers the phone is Movistar, a Telefonica-owned company.

Last Monday, I bought the phone anyway.  I must say that I am very pleased by its performance and very cheap price.  One can swap the SIM card to use the phone with another carrier here, too.

Home Screen of Alcatel OneTouch Fire C (with my Nihilumbra Wallpaper)

These are the specs of this affordable smartphone:

• CPU: Dual Core 1.2 GHz CPU
• Camera: 2 MP Rear
• Battery: 1300mAh
• Display: 3.5” HVGA, TFT 262K color display, Capacitive Screen with gesture.
• Resolution: 320x480 pixels
• Internal memory: 4GB ROM + 512MB RAM
• External memory: MicroSD Card: up to 32GB
• Size: 112.2 x 62 x 11.95mm
• Weight: Approx.100g

They are not bad for a basic smartphone.  The Gaia interface is pretty and responsive and I installed the apps I need from the MarketPlace.  In so doing, I noticed that ConnectA2 was not working, but it was not a big deal: I could access my WhatsApp contacts through Loqui IM.

Three app screens

Although this phone does not have a compass, I liked that Firefox OS 1.3 offers more customization options: you can now select your favorite song as the ringer, you have more control over the updates, contacts, and calls, and the battery does not run out of juice as fast as it does in other phones.

My main complaint is the color: I would have preferred it in Mozilla Orange... but this phone satisfies the strange requirements of a mobile phone hater like me ;-)