Asus Eee 1000 using Ubuntu 9 Jaunty with INQ1 Phone as a Bluetooth Modem

This article follows on from my earlier blog post on how to install Eeebuntu (Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid) on an Asus Eee 1000 and use it with an INQ1 phone as a bluetooth modem.

I have reinstalled with Eeebuntu 3.0.1 NBR (Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty) and it's a big improvement. It now comes with EeePC Tray working right out of the box and you can skip most of the setup I gave previously. There are a couple of tricky points and the procedure for getting an INQ1 phone to work as a bluetooth modem is slightly different (and easier) and I outline these below.

Install Eeebuntu

First, install Eeebuntu 3.0.1 NBR onto a USB stick and then onto your Eee 1000 using the same approach as described in my earlier blog post. Run Administration / Update Manager and make sure you have the latest updates installed.

I found the latest acpi utilities were showing up as grey on the Update Manager (it ends up with an interim version that doesn't handle the screen mode switching properly from the EeeControl tray icon). There was also some debris from the install. To fix this do:
$ sudo -s
# apt-get autoremove
# apt-get install eeepc-acpi-utilities

Install Dropbox

The Dropbox package available under Administration / Synaptic does not work with Eeebuntu 3.0.1. When I tried that I got an error:

The program 'dropbox' received an X Window System error.
This probably reflects a bug in the program.
The error was 'BadIDChoice (invalid resource ID chosen for this connection)'.
(Details: serial 722 error_code 14 request_code 53 minor_code 0)

There is a fix described here.
To make it work I downloaded nautilus-dropbox_0.6.1_i386_ubuntu_9.04.deb and http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/17/dropbox-lnx.x86-0.6.510.tar.gz then installed the patched version manually with:

$ sudo dpkg -i nautilus-dropbox_0.6.1_i386_ubuntu_9.04.deb
$ cd; rm -fr .dropbox-dist
$ tar xfz dropbox-lnx.x86-0.6.510.tar.gz
$ .dropbox-dist/dropbox --sync
(enter login details)

On a restart, Dropbox was integrated and working with Eeebuntu nautilus.

Install Blueman

To install Blueman you need to add their repository. Start a terminal session and type:
$ gpg --keyserver=wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net --recv-keys 6B15AB91951DC1E2
$ gpg --export --armor 6B15AB91951DC1E2 | sudo apt-key add -

Then go to Administration / Software Sources, click the Third Party Software tab and click "Add...". Where it says "APT line:" type in on one line:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/blueman/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

Click 'Add Source', click Close, click Reload. Close the window.
Run Administration / Update Manager and apply updates and restart.
Run Administration / Synaptic Package Manager and search for and install "blueman".

Note - if you follow the instructions I gave in my previous blog for Ubuntu 8.10, you will get an older version of Blueman that gives a Python error complaining it cannot find 'Constants.py'. In that case, do an 'apt-get remove blueman' then follow the instructions above.

On the main menu select Preferences / Bluetooth Manager. If it prompts you to start Bluetooth, say Yes. Now do a Search and bond and trust with your INQ1. As mentioned in the previous blog, if you cannot see your phone check you have turned on bluetooth networking on the INQ1 phone:

menu Settings / Bluetooth = Switch - on ; Visibility - show your phone

menu Settings / Advanced / Connectivity / Modem Connect - via Bluetooth

In Blueman you should see your phone's name below the button bar. Click on it, then click the Setup button at the top. Choose Dialup Networking (DUN) and click Forward. It will prompt you to add a profile type. dropbox-lnx.x86-0.6.510.tar.gzSelect "3 (Handsets)". It should then connect to your phone and report a working connection. Try running menu Internet / Firefox and browsing to a website to test it.

If I find any more issues, I will add them to this blog.