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If you are using the USB cable (much more complicated, I don't recommend), check http://www.gnokii.org/.

If you are using bluetooth (much more simple), take a look at http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_setup_Bluetooth.

These places should get you started. You might still need to configure something on your phone, but the real tricks are on the above addresses.

Meanwhile, has anyone got any success stories re. getting a Linux laptop on the internet with a mobile phone?

Well perhaps I've misunderstood you (or I'm being an insensitive European clod), but getting a connection to the internet through a mobile phone isn't at all difficult (on GSM networks - which is why I'm probably being an insensitive clod)

I've used a

• Nokia 6210,
• Nokia 6310i,
• Nokia 6230

• USB cable,
• Bluetooth and
• Infrared,

• a normal landline dialup (9600 bps!) and
• GPRS

Obviously this isn't limited to Nokia phones (hey, I just work here) - as long as the phone supports some kind of serial connection, you're go. No special software - wvdial does a fine job of taking care of the nitty gritty.

Gnokii does a decent job of accessing my phone features.

Yes, I can. I even do it on Linux. http://www.gnokii.org

Gnokii is a piece of software that allows you to interface with most GSM phones from Linux. I've mainly used it to send/receive SMS text messages.

The author of Gnokii was quite responsive when I contacted him for help with the Euro character support.

Why? Well, most phones I've ever tried have been poor. Poor build quality ...

I don't know which phones you've used, but I've found Nokia's industrial design to be absolutely top-notch. I've dropped one of their ubiquitous 5100 series from great heights, and the thing bounces back like a tennis ball ready for more torture. They're built like tanks--I've opened them up and marveled at the strength of the guts inside.

particularly in regard to securing the battery connection.

Tape it if it's broken. How often do you swap batteries? Lithium ion batteries last for hours and I used to carry around a charger in my pack and charge it where I found it convenient.

OK, so the 'lock keypad' function is used to get round one of those moans.

Which would you rather have? A flip-phone? Ever seen the ear part of the flip after it's been caught in a car door and bent 45-degrees backward? Phone engineers have to deal with the rigors of the environments in which their phones will be used. I'd much rather have to key in Menu Button, * than deal with a flimsy piece of plastic that could just easily break off.

... and the PC Suite [nokia.com] for it is hopelessly out of date and utterly useless.

I've never used PC Suite, but I assume anything that comes on 3.5" disks fits your description, and nor would it surprise me. My solution: Don't use it. Gnokii is an incredibly done application and served me quite well for the few months I had my 5190.

I'd sacrifice the entire lot for an industrial design that works as a basic phone without falling apart.

I think it's a tad premature to discount next-generation technology phones based on inexperiences with the myopic designs of the first generation series phones. Nokia, et. al. designed the 5190 and the 8850 to be talked on first, SMS'd with second. I would hope Nokia has overcome these interface issues with their more advanced phones as they come out.

It's totally moot to me--I won't see any of these phones for a long, long time as Nokia barely caters to the US market outside of AT&T Wireless's desires--a company I'd rather not deal with again.

I used to be an avid follower of the gnokii project, which was/is an attempt to create open source drivers for various Nokia digital phones. I even wrote a completely portable driver for the 51xx/61xx phones by using gnokii as a reference. As I remember, Nokia would never help the team out with any technical information. The company showed promise at one point, but then never delivered. For the years that the project has been going, not once has Nokia given them any help. And now they are embracing Linux with this set-top box?

This is just wrong.

-Justin

This isn't really a PDA, but I'll get to that. Did you know that it is easier to get a Nokia 6150 (GSM phone) talking to a laptop (running Linux) with an infrared port up and running than under Windows? There's one fantastically useful package under Linux called Gnokii. One config file and just run the thing.

However, the phone would not work with my Palm 'cause apparently it as no internal modem. I'm not sure how gnokii did it on the laptop, but if you're looking to get your PDA talking to your phone, make sure it has that internal modem. If you can, try it out at the phone shop before you buy your phone.

Cheers,

Costyn.

gnokii allows you to do everything the Nokia Data Suite can do -- including data calls -- in Linux or BSD.

gnokii allows you to do everything the Nokia Data Suite can do -- including data calls -- in Linux or BSD.

Gnokii might help you with use of Nokia phone as modem under Linux.

Any software modem projects underway perhaps?

Check out the Gnokii project.

They're working on drivers to Nokia phones for Linux and BSD.

/Bergie

--

There is a project with the aim of supporting Nokia phones under Linux - Gnokii.
It worked with my Nokia 5110 and a colleague's 6110, can't say anyhing about other (5130, 5190 and othes sold in the US) phones.
It doesn't support data calls yet. It will soon.

Hypocrites, yes, but I did notice that the gnokii project (which is for Linux) is hosted on a FreeBSD server?

...and I noticed that the gnokii project home page says

Is as also expected that the software will run on FreeBSD as well as on Linux.

so it's "for Linux", but not exclusively for Linux.

In fact, that page seems to indicate that it's not even exclusively for Linux and FreeBSD, as it says

The aim of the project is to develop tools and drivers for Nokia mobile phones for Linux, BSD and other Unixes/operating systems.

so, whilst "The development sources are currently targeted towards Linux systems", that doesn't mean it's a Linux-only project, it may just mean the developers currently have only Linux boxes, or haven't cleaned up non-portable code yet, or haven't written for other OSes versions of whatever OS-dependent code exists, or something such as that.

They use linux in their own cell-phone project and let the gnokii project go begging.