Notes on Android Phones

Some notes when using my Google Nexus 4 phone.

1. backup Android files

Install Software Data Cale https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lyy.softdatacable&hl=en. This app start a ftp server on your phone so that you can access your files with WiFi. After you start the app, it shows its IP address in the home screen, something like ftp://198.168.1.27:8888/

Next in your local machine, you can use lftp to mirror the files in your phone to your desktop machine. The following command will sync all newer files with in the root directory of your phone to the the n4 directory at your desktop

lftp ftp://198.168.1.27:8888/ -e "mirror --verbose --only-newer / n4"

2. Access Developer Options

 Go to Settings -> About Phone -> Click Build Number for seven time, the Developer option is enabled, from which you may adjust the scale of animation.

Notes on Upgrading to Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

0. In general, the upgrading process was smooth. I have been using it for two days. Since this version is LTS, I would recommend that everyone upgrade.

1. The full-fledged Unity is so unstable that is essentially unusable. By default, the Unity Plugin is not enabled. When you log in for the first time, there is just an blank desktop, no Dash, no launcher. Some one wrote about how to fix this (http://askubuntu.com/questions/17381/unity-doesnt-load-no-launcher-no-dash-appears and http://askubuntu.com/questions/121782/blank-desktop-after-updates-today-only-unity2d-works-now), however it still does not work fine with me. In particular, if you log out and then log in again, the same blank desktop appears :-(.

2. Unity 2D works fine. The new HUD (Heads Up Display) is the killer feature.

3. Gnome Shell generally works. However the most extensions, such as User Themes, are unavailable now.

4. The default setting for dual monitors in Gnome Shell has a wired behavior. You can only switch workspaces in the primary monitor while the workspace in the secondary monitor keeps the same. To make the workspace span the two monitors, run the following command:
"gsettings set org.gnome.shell.overrides workspaces-only-on-primary false"
as pointed by http://gregcor.com/2011/05/07/fix-dual-monitors-in-gnome-3-aka-my-workspaces-are-broken/

5. In Gnome Shell, the wallpaper does not show up even I have already set it from System Settings -> Appearance. This can be fixed as following:

Open gnome-tweak-tool
click on the Desktop tab
Turn on "Have manager handle the desktop"Turn on "Computer icon visible on desktop"