Linux and the N95?

[alfonso]

Hi everyone,

I'm almost decided to buy this great phone. Normally I don't care much if a phone gets along with my computer as long as I can exchange files easily between them, which I am certain won't be a problem.

But in this case the N95 is much more than just a phone, so the ability to exchange more than just plain files might come handy.

Has anybody here successfully connected Linux with an N95? I suspect this might be more related to the Symbian OS than specifically to the N95, though, but anything will be appreciated.

Yes, I have access to windows boxes (virtualised and real ones as well), but my day to day usage is on Linux.

Thanks!

[raulg]

I guess if you just connect the N95 as a USB device to your Linux it might work. I don't know about any Nokia Suites on Linux, but I never looked for one. My linux days are over and I only stick to Windows now.
When u connect the N95 (or any other N/E series phone) it will give you the choice to connect in different modes (compatible to Nokia suites, media player mode, usb mode ..) As USB my Windows only sees a regular <Removable Drive> with an assigned drive letter. So if you can read something like that in Linux you are at least able to see the content of the N95 microSD card (copy/edit/delete images, videos, mp3 .. etc). And that way you can drop your apps (if you'll get any) on the microSD and install them later using the File Manager within the N95 (comes preinstalled).

[mal]

Yes it works fine with Linux, as the phone can now emulate a USB mass storage device, however this only presents the memory card's contents, not the phone memory. To get stuff on the phone memory, I simply put it on the card via USB, then move it to the phone memory via the phone's file manager.
The phone's USB interface is very slow however (USB 1.1), so I usually use a card reader.

The Nokia PC Suite mode is unusable because there is no compatible software for Linux.

[blowback]

I use mine with KDE bluetooth without any problems.

[alfonso]

Thanks for your replies. I had thought the memory access would work as described by mal, which is normal, I suppose.

Still waiting on mine, anyway, so might be a while before I can test what I can do, but thanks!

[NShark]

Originally Posted by blowback

I use mine with KDE bluetooth without any problems.

can you sync address book ?

[Homer]

Depends what you want to do.

Ubuntu sees the N95 (in PC Suite mode) as a 3G modem. In fact my Xandros did when I first used it on my eeePC (now running Ubuntu).

Exchanging files is best done via bluetooth because you can see both the memory card and phone memory.

[gwalborn]

I'm an Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon user. The N95 works fine w/ Unbuntu. As I mentioned elsewhere, you can see the phone as a storage device thru USB or Bluetooth. In addition, it will sync w/ Evolution (the Linux equivalent of Outlook). It has a couple of little quirks, but it works reasonably well. You need to install a couple extra packages and set up some configuration files, but it's fairly straight forward. Look here HOWTO: Sync Evolution with Nokia N95 via Bluetooth on Ubuntu Gutsy - Ubuntu Forums for detailed information.

Gary Walborn