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HowTo: Install Ovi Store apps from the command line on the N900
Jan 14th
Disclaimer: If you are not comfortable with the command line, do not try this.
If you have installed an app from the Ovi Store web portal, you would have noticed that the process is not fast. Clicking the Download link opens the Application-Manager which takes anywhere from 30-40 seconds to prepare the system before actually starting the download. For those who don’t like to wait, the apt-get command is a great alternative to speed up things and also allow installing multiple apps (at least the ones that are free) in one go.
Prerequisites
There are two things required before starting the download. Setting up the Ovi Repo and creating an Archive folder. You need to do this only once.
Ovi Repo
If you have never used the Ovi Store, you would need to have the repo installed first. Downloading an app from the store automatically adds the repo the first time but you need an Ovi account. So if you want the apps but don’t like signing in, you can add the repo manually:
Name: Ovi
Web: https://downloads.maemo.nokia.com/fremantle/ovi/
Dist: ./
Archive Folder:
In order to save space on the root partition, create a download directory for the downloaded packages. Instructions here
Installation
For installation, all you need is the application’s package name. The apt-cache command can be used to find it. The following command will search and list all packages with the word ‘offscr’ in it:
# apt-cache search offscr
This will display the 31 nifty apps by Offscr currently available. This also searches descriptions.
Next, install the desired package using apt-get (as root of course):
# apt-get -o dir::cache=/home/user/MyDocs/apt-archive-cache install offscr-discs offscr-backgammon offscr-watch
This will start the installation process for all 3 apps which will take about the same time it takes for one install from the website. Enjoy!
Popularity: 14%
HowTo: Launch a terminal app from a shortcut on Nokia N900
Dec 6th
On the N900, it is possible to run a terminal program like ‘top’ directly from the Desktop/Shortcut. The following example creates a shortcut to launch the system monitior program ‘top’.
1. Use a text-editor like vi or Leafpad to create a file with the following text:
[Desktop Entry] Encoding=UTF-8 Version=0.1 Type=Application Terminal=true Name=topx Exec=/usr/bin/osso-xterm top Icon= X-Window-Icon= X-HildonDesk-ShowInToolbar=true X-Osso-Type=application/x-executable
2. Save the file as topx.desktop.
3. As root, copy the file to the ‘/usr/share/applications/hildon/’ directory. This will create an ugly blue application icon in the Application list called ‘topx’.
Launching ‘topx’ will execute ‘top’ directly in xterm. You may now put a shortcut on the desktop for quick access. The not-so-great part of this desktop-shortcut is that it displays the default icon.
Popularity: 32%
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