n800 maemo updates

I got a Nokia n800 Internet tablet a few months ago and installed the Maemo os2008 software platform. I put the n800 in red pill mode to install some packages, and I just left it that way and forgot all about red/blue pill mode.

It didn't take long for me to find that updates just didn't work, but I never put the two things (red pill mode and broken updates) together. Looks like this is a well-known problem (see the bottom of the red pill mode wiki page linked above).

So if you put your n800 in red pill mode and updates don't work (mine complained that it needed to resolve libglade dependencies: it seemed to want to update to a version which was already installed), put it back in blue pill mode and try running updates. That worked for me.

WPA2 Enterprise on the Nokia N800

I got a Nokia N800 as a holiday gift, and I took it to work the other day. The N800 is an "Internet Tablet" which is a bit larger than a cell phone and much smaller than a laptop. It's a WiFi device which runs Linux, and it's a pretty neat toy. If you get one, definitely go the software available at maemo.org.

Anyway, I had a bit of trouble getting the N800 to talk to the wireless network at work, which is WPA2-Enterprise authenticating against an Active Directory domain. But a google search found a page describing how to configure a connection, and that worked right away. The following is a direct copy-and-paste of that post:

page 1: Connection type = WLAN
page 2: Network mode = Infrastructure; Security method = WPA with EAP
page 3: EAP type = PEAP
page 4: Select certificate = None; EAP method = EAP MSCHAPv2
page 5: You can enter your login information if you don't want to log in manually each time
page 6: Click "Advanced" button
Other tab: Enable "WPA2-only mode"
EAP tab: Enable "Use manual user name"; enter your "Manual user name"; Disable "Require client authentication" (I thought I had this one enabled initially, but it will now only work if disabled)

I set it not to remember my password (in case the N800 is lost or stolen).