taking fire

There is a scarcity of information available on the web that is specific to the Sony Ericsson P900. For a new veteran owner like me this can be frustrating. So inspired by the excellent P900/Linux page by Alfonso Martone, I’ve decided to make an effort and publish this page, a collection of the tips I’ve picked up so far.

This page is dedicated to the P900 only. Some of the info will be useful for you blue-tinted P800 owners, but no guarantees folks. If you can help out with the unanswered questions or have any corrections/comments please let me know.

I’ve thrown in some pics from my contacts to relieve the crushing monochrome. Hopefully they won’t mind : )

What’s here:

• news & updates
• setting up
• general tips
• what they don’t tell you
• my selections
• essential apps
• app guides
• unanswered questions
• bugs
• links

news & updates

• 31st August 2004 – moved to a Movable Type article. Still lots of hits coming in from Google on this topic. Motivation to update properly! Coming soon hopefully.
• 3rd February 2004 – added informative link to the unanswered memory question; added flash memory tip; added the first very handy handwriting tips.
• 5th January 2004 – added GPRS timeout to general tips; updated my flip-closed shortcuts; first few bugs added.
• 10th December 2003 – added my selections (some notes on shortcuts, themes and SMan).
• 7th December 2003 – first version. Still some sections to finish off. Note Sony’s Update Service is now live!

setting up

• firmware: get the latest bugfixes for the P900 itself from the SEUS update site. The patch client is around 12Mb.
• moving contacts: use IR to suck your contacts from your old phone. The IR port is just next to the power switch. Note that Orange provide an application ‘ContactWiz’ that makes this automatic.
• installing apps: you’ll soon be installing lots of apps. During the install process you’ll get the choice to install to either C: or D:. This has nothing to do with the C: hard disk on your PC, but instead refers to the drives in your phone. As a rule, always install apps to your memory stick (the D: drive). See disk structure for details.

general tips

• flight mode: is a valuable battery-saving feature. Your phone is disconnected from the network: a red ‘X’ is displayed over your signal strength icon. This is useful when you’re running low or if you’re planning a long Monkey Island session.
• flight mode prompt: whenever you want to switch the phone on or off, you are interrupted with flight mode options. I find this annoying. To disable it, enter Control Panel -> Flight Mode and uncheck the prompt box. [updated] When you do want to use flight mode, tap the signal strength icon as a shortcut to this screen and hit the ‘Flight Mode Now’ button.
• power timeout: in Control Panel -> Display, extend the power save timeout to 3 or 4 minutes. While you’re at it, select ‘Power save: Clock’ to display the time rather than a blank screen.
• chaff trimming: there’s a fair amount of low-quality content taking up valuable space on your internal drive. For starters, try blowing away:
• the Demo app (very poor)
• videos
• most of the pictures (a few are decent backdrops)
• the bleepy IMY-format ringtones (if you can play MP3s, why bother)
• screensavers, we hates them forever
• official manual: get the Sony Ericsson manual from the support site to complement the one supplied by your network.
• disk usage: to get basic usage stats on your phone’s disks, use the default File Manager. Select Internal/External from the top-right and hit File -> Properties.
• selecting files: in File Manager, clicking the file name itself will open the file. If you just want to select it (to move, rename, etc.) click on the icon/checkbox to the left.
• GPRS timeout: Control Panel -> Internet accounts -> Other tab -> GPRS timeout. Options are 5 minutes, 1 hour, … never. This way you can have a genuine ‘always-on’ connection (set to ‘never’). I imagine an always-on connection shortens battery life somewhat. Note that my Preferred Mode dropdown in this tab does not save settings (it’s stuck on ‘GSM only’).
• power & data loss: note that the P900 uses Flash memory. Unlike a Palm then, for example, if you suffer complete power loss you will not lose data.

what they don’t tell you

disk structure

There are four disks:

• A: internal ROM. Data for internal applications is stored here, along with default sounds and themes.
• Z: internal ROM. This seems to contain the executable code and libraries.
• C: internal RAM (16Mb). A mixture of system and user apps.
• D: your memory stick. Purely user apps and data.

The view from an application is simplified: you are given the choice between saving to “Internal” (C:) or “External” (D:).

directory structure

C and D both have a “Media Files” directory. Only this directory is visible using the default applications. With a decent file manager you see the whole picture:

    D:
      Media Files     main user data
        audio
        document
        image
        other
        video
      documents       other useful app files but hidden by default
      system          libraries, etc. for user-installed apps

    C:
      documents
        ...           lots of directories for installed applications
        Media Files
          ...         dirs as above. All pics, sound, etc. can be found here
      Library         empty
      Startup         boot data
      system          internal apps

Generally speaking you are free to mess with /Media Files: create directories and organise as you like. It is not advisable to mess with /system and /Library though.

handwriting

using widgets in handwriting mode
Handwriting is enabled when the black triangle is visible on the right side of the screen. This is fine until you want to use an on-screen widget or select some text. In this case, press and hold the stylus down and motionless at one point on the screen until the triangle disappears. If you move the stylus even slightly you’ll draw a line instead : /

Now you can drag over text to select, and use copy/paste as normal. This is essential for copying numbers from one contact to another, for example.

handwriting tips
For any given letter there are several patterns you can use. Some are more reliable than others; many are not documented.

• The letter L. Have you tried writing a word ending in L, followed by a space? If you use the classic L-shape you end up with a T. The only practical way is the up-down variant, viz.:
• The letter i. Getting the dot right on this is a nightmare. Always use the down-up variant, viz.:
• Lowercase f and t. For reliable results use the closed loop form, viz.:
• Lowercase g and y. For best results use closed loops, viz.:

my selections

flip-open shortcuts

Since my flip broke (a dead 3 button) this is my setup. Contacts and Phone are indispensable in flip-open.

flip-closed shortcuts

• Edit your shortcuts using Control Panel -> Application shortcuts.
• Note that Call List can be obtained quickly in flip-closed mode by hitting Menu, then 3.

Theme

The only decent ones supplied are Red and Grass. I use Red: the backdrops are striking without being distracting. Alas the Red sounds are pretty awful; the alarm sound is the only one I’ve kept (others back to defaults).

SMan snapshot

This is the list of apps you are happy to have running all the time. I use the Flipclose flush option. This means when you close the flip, any apps not on this list are shut down, conserving battery and potentially GPRS usage.See essential apps for more about SMan.

essential apps

coming…

app guides

coming…

unanswered questions

If you can help with these please email me or comment for fame/fortune.

• Q: can you select YES in a YES/NO dialog without using the stylus? i.e. jog dial backwards is NO. Is this a glaring one-handed UI problem?
• Q: can you change the backlight-off timeout? (different from the Power save timeout)
• Q: is there an easy way to determine which drive an app is installed to?
• Q: are e32frodo snapshots a proprietary format? My .P00s don’t work : /

Solved!

• Q: how to start a new line in SMS messages in flip-closed mode?
• 1. hold * for multitap mode
• 2. tap the # key (space) four times
• Q: is the unused space on C: used as working memory?
• no. See Understanding Memory Organization

bugs

• Cannot add imported Contact address: Edit a contact that has been imported. Select Edit -> Add Field. Check the fields available. You cannot add Address information to an existing contact! Workaround 1: delete and recreate with the new information. Workaround 2: enter the information in Outlook on your PC and synchronise.
• Contact UI crash: open the flip; start Contacts; view a contact with only a phone number; move jog wheel down to scroll through fields; scroll past the phone field, bang! :

   Program closed
   Program Contacts
   Reason code E32USER_CBase
   Reason number 21

• T9 smiley crash: as reported elsewhere, try entering this string using predictive text (without quote marks): “test…..”. Total system lockup as it tries to put a smiley together.

links

• the offical firmware update site (SEUS)
• Alfonso’s Sony Ericsson P900 and Linux. The first true P900 site, featuring some lovely photos
• my-symbian.com, for all your software needs
• Peter’s Place hosts some of the most impressive P900 apps (EDoom, EMame)
• The P900 forum at esato.com is useful for general info