Android

Ogg Vorbis Encoder for Windows

I not so long ago made a post about using Ogg Vorbis for Ringtones on Android, as it considerably reduces the lag between getting a phone call and the phone actually playing the ringtone.  The same goes for music on the device–it just starts playing quicker.

Anyway, just now I realised that I didn’t link to any encoders for it.  So if anyone wondered what I used to accomplish the task, they’d be stuck!

So here’s a quick update to fill in in the gaps:

If you’re wanting to just convert some files you already have into Ogg Vorbis, I’d recommend oggdropXPd.  Open the program, right-click on the “dropbox” that appears to configure it, then when it’s all done, drad and drop the files you want to convert onto the dropbox, and wait!  It works fine under Windows Vista (32-bit) and Windows 7 (64-bit).

If you’re wanting to both edit a music track into a short ringtone and convert to Ogg Vorbis, Audacity did the job for me.  It’s open-source and supports a number of file types (including MP3 if you download a separate plug-in), so hopefully it’ll work for you too.  Again, it works fine in Windows Vista (32-bit) and Windows 7 (64-bit).

The settings I used for the Ogg Vorbis files on my G1 where 128kbps CBR.  You don’t need much quality because the phone’s speaker isn’t exactly an orchestra, and I used Constant Bitrate under the assumption it would take less CPU to decode.

Use Ogg Vorbis for Lag-free Ringtones on Android

Why, do I hear you cry?

Simple really, here’s the story: when I first transferred various files to my phone for use as ringtones (one each for calls, texts, e-mails…) I used MP3s.  Thanks to the Rings Extended application in the marketplace I had no trouble in using them.

But one thing struck me as odd whenever I got a call (or text etc.); lag.  If I were to get a call right now, the phone would vibrate, the screen would turn black, and then a couple of seconds later the contact details show and my ringtone starts playing.  Not ideal.

So I decided to try something.  I set one of the standard ringtones that came with the phone as the current ringtone, and tried again.  This time the phone started vibrating and played the tone at the same time.

After that I had to figure out what format they used, since I had no idea where the files could be and what format they were.  I reasoned that Ogg Vorbis would be the format they’d use — an open-source OS with open-source ringtones.  Makes sense, right?

So I tried it: I converted those same ringtones I started out with to 128kbps CBR Vorbis files.  128kbps because I thought that a higher bitrate would lag the phone out (plus you wouldn’t hear a quality difference from the speaker anyway), and CBR because I thought it would be easier for the decoder to work with, though I have no evidence to back this up.

Voilà!  Suddenly my ringtones loaded a lot quicker, and no longer did I get vibrations with no accompanying ringtone (unless it was set to vibrate only).

I haven’t tested other settings on the Vorbis encoder (different bitrates, VBR etc.), nor have I tested other formats aside from MP3 and Ogg.

Hope this is of help to someone that actually cares about this stuff.

Changing GPRS, MMS and Access Point Settings on Android

I feel kind of silly for falling foul of this, but I guess it’s just a case of going against what you’re used to.

I was looking for a way to check on my MMS settings on Android.  On just about every other phone I’ve used it’s been a submenu of the messaging application, so that’s where I went — except I couldn’t find anything pertaining to access point settings!  I mean, if one phone does it one way, all phones do it that way, right?  Right?

Wrong.  Turns out Android hides the settings in — guess what — its Settings menus!  That’s good, because it’s centralised.  It makes sense when you think about it.  Honest.

Anyway, to find these elusive settings, just follow these instructions:

1. Go to the Home screen.
2. Press Menu.
3. Select Settings.
4. Select Wireless controls.
5. Select Mobile network settings.
6. Select Access Point Names.
7. Finally, select an access point to edit, or press Menu to create a new APN or reset to the defaults that shipped with the phone.

Have fun with changing access point settings!  Mmm.

Fix Superuser Permissions Hanging on Android

Update 2010-03-04: Added another potential solution courtesy of Blazt in the comments. Thanks!

So, you have a phone with root permissions?  Finding whenever a program requests root permissions the Superuser Permissions program hangs (usually with a black screen or even a force close) at the “SU request” screen?

Fortunately there are a couple of things you can try, which I’ll detail for you.

First, make sure USB Debugging is enabled.  To do that:

1. Press the Home button.
2. Press the Menu button.
3. Select Settings > Applications > Development.
4. Make sure that USB Debugging is checked.  If not, check it.

If that fixes your problem, you are done!  If not, then you can try clearing the Superuser Permissions data.  This is just any options you have set within the app and whether or not particular apps are always allowed or blocked — you won’t lose any of your other data, and it’s easy to allow/deny stuff again.

To clear the data:

1. Press the Home button.
2. Press the Menu button.
3. Select Settings > Applications > Manage applications.
4. Find Superuser Permissions on the list.  Tap it.
5. Tap “Clear data” and “Clear cache” if they’re enabled.

This should prevent any hangs with Superuser Permissions in the future.

This works on the HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1) with the 1.5 and 1.6 firmwares, and presumably other Android devices with the Superuser Permissions app.

Unlock Android Device Using PUK Code

If you’ve ever got your PIN code wrong too many times and got your SIM locked, you were probably as surprised as I was when Android gives you no option to unlock the phone! Fortunately there’s an answer.

To unlock your Android-based device go to the Emergency Call screen and enter in the following (replace the angled brackets with the appropriate info):

**05*«PUK Code»*«Your new pin»*«Confirm your new pin»#

So for example:

**05*12345678*9090*9090#

As a side effect this should work on any SIM-containing device at a screen where you can enter phone numbers, not just devices running the Android OS.  As of writing, Android-based devices are the HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1) and HTC Magic.

And make sure you keep your PUK code secret — anyone can override your PIN with their own using it!

Thanks to theWeir for posting that solution.