Resurrect your N9

As of 2015 and later, the N9 is an orphan in the world of mobile phones. No other MeeGo-based phones have been released to the public, and much of the corporate support offered has now been gone. Firmware and flashers are no longer available from Nokia, the Ovi Store has withdrawn all N9/N950 apps, and the MeeGo.com forums are no more.

The good news is that the N9 lives on, with the support of members of the Maemo community. Whether you've just acquired an N9, or are dusting off an old device, this page will help you get up to speed.

Firmware
You may wish to consider whether to re-flash your phone's firmware. Even if you are already on the latest firmware (40.2012.21-3), you may need to re-flash if you are interested in the following:


 * Open-Mode Kernel disables Nokia's Aegis security system. This is easier to install on a freshly re-flashed device.


 * UbiBoot allows you to boot alternative kernels or operating systems. Requires the use of the Open-Mode kernel.


 * Changing Firmware Variant, e.g. in order to gain localised applications. There are limitations to which firmware variants you can change to/from. See Flashing N9 for further details.

Regardless of your reason for flashing your device, you MUST read the Flashing N9 page thoroughly in order to understand the risks, and how to flash your device successfully.

See also: Firmware flashing discussion thread

Nokia Store and Repositories
A mirror of Nokia's software repositories is hosted on OpenRepos.net. This contains copies of the free system software and apps for the N9, including most (if not all) of the free apps that were available on the Nokia Store (which no longer works). Another mirror, thecust.net contains the developer packages required for enabling Developer mode.

To use these repositories, you must disable Nokia's repositories, and replace them. Installing the N9 RepoMirror package will do this for you.


 * On your phone, open Settings/Applications/Installations, and enable the option 'Allow installations from Non-Store sources'.
 * From your PC, navigate to https://openrepos.net/content/ancelad/n9-repomirror.
 * Download the .deb file onto your PC and transfer it to your N9 through Bluetooth.
 * On your N9, in the notification view, touch the transferred file, it should run the installation of n9-repomirror.

Some users have reported problems with the latest version (0.7.2). Using an older version (0.6.0) seems to help in this instance.

See also: N9 RepoMirror discussion thread

Warehouse
Warehouse was a package browser for OpenRepos. It allowed you to browse, select and install packages directly from your device, in a similar way to the Nokia Store app worked. As Warehouse uses an expired certificate (since the 29th of September 2021), it does not work anymore today. The workaround is to download the .DEB files on your PC from openrepos.net and to transfer them through bluetooth onto your n9.

Files Managers
My preferred files managers are myExporer (https://openrepos.net/content/itsenov/myexplorer), filecase (https://openrepos.net/content/cepiperez/filecase) and filesplus (https://openrepos.net/content/zaidk9/filesplus). Download them, transfer them by Bluetooth, install them by touching them in the notification pane of your n9 once the transfer is done. If installation fails, see Apps section (below) that explains how to install manually (with Terminal and command line "sudo aegis-dpkg ..." ).

Developer Mode
Enabling Developer Mode requires the installation of additional developer packages. As the original Nokia repositories are no longer available, you must install RepoMirror first.

To enable Developer Mode:


 * Connect your N9 to your wifi
 * Open Settings/Security/Developer mode, and enable the option 'Developer mode'.
 * After downloading the base packages, your phone will restart. You will find some extra apps such as Terminal are now installed.
 * You can now enable further options, including logging, power analysis and IPv6 from Settings/Security/Developer mode.

Performances
Pre-requisites : developer mode must be activated.


 * Install N9 QTweakAll :
 * From your PC, navigate to here
 * Download the .deb file onto your PC and transfer it to your N9 through Bluetooth.
 * On your N9, in the notification view, touch the transferred file, it should run the installation of n9-qtweakall.


 * Run N9 QTweakAll, press  key twice (for passing the PDF part) and follow this steps:
 * Letter EE : install FasterN9 (option 3 ) then select the unstable version 1.1.7 (option 2)
 * Letter KK : change the priority of smartsearch (option 7) then select Change (option 1). This will decrease the priority of smartsearch from 100 to 10 and therefore prevent the known issues of smartsearch (CPU work load).

Enable automatic network connection
Under the settings page you can define how the phone will connect to different networks. Go to Settings>Internet connection>Edit networks. There you can select which networks will be automatically used and which ones manually. Unfortunately this does not work any more because it requires a working connection to connectivity-test.ext.nokia.com and (you guessed it) the server is not longer running. BUT: there is an easy fix. Just open the terminal and edit the file /etc/hosts. Add one line the redefines the server to point to connectivity-test.ext.maemo.org.

213.128.137.20 connectivity-test.ext.nokia.com

NB : 213.128.137.20 points to maemo.org

Apps
Most of them are no longer installable from Warehouse because certificates are TOO old (the install process fails because of that). However here is a solution :

sudo aegis-dpkg -i /home/user/MyDocs/Downloads/myapp.deb (default password of root is rootme)
 * Pre-requisites : developer mode must be activated.
 * Download the needed .deb file from openrepos.net and transfer it to your n9, say the /Downloads folder
 * Then run Terminal and run :

Edit 1 : I recommand you to use openssh. It enable you to open an SSH connection from your PC to your N9. From this SSH connection, you can run easily any command you need. User password is modifiable through n9qtweak.

Edit 2 : For decreasing the obsolescence of Certificates, you may install aegis-certman-common-ca_1.0.8+0m9_all.deb created by Halftux. He created this with the pem files from latest maemo5 certs (cssu-devel). See here for instructions from Halftux : https://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=1562329&postcount=94 I tested this on 2 N9 without problem. In case of problem, you may find the original certificates of N9 here : https://coderus.openrepos.net/n9mirror/001/

AccuWeather
Not usable but MeeCast is a good replacement

MeeCast is a good replacement. The MeeCast widget can replace AccuWeather on the events screen, as well as the lock and standby screens. (Install the widget via MeeCast's Settings/Appearance menu.)

Calendar
Partially Working 

Almost everyone abandon CalDAV. Fortunately Mail for Exchange option works very well with simple basic outlook accounts (!). The trick is to define the domain at office365.com, server at eas.outlook.com and port at 443 (see mail section). It provides Calendar and Contacts synchronization.

I didn't find other tricks for other cal providers.

Contacts
Partially Working

Microsoft Exchange : works with a simple Outlook account, see Calendar section about synchronization with Ms Exchange.

Google: see here http://meestuff.blogspot.com/p/syncgcontacts.html


 * Warning : developer says : DO NOT USE syncgcontacts IF YOU HAVE ALREADY AN Microsoft Exchange Account.


 * Warning : i was unable to install it correctly since some python-qtmobility libraries are missing on my N9. I didnt manage to install them with "sudo apt-get -f install". I guess we have to downloads them first and then to install them with "sudo aegis-dpkg ...". You may find them here : http://mirror.thecust.net/harmattan-dev.nokia.com/pool/harmattan/free/p/python-qtmobility/

Cloud
Only Google Drive is accessible through FilePlus 

In 2021, no file manager are still able to connect to closed Clouds (SkyDrive-OneDrive, DropBox, Google Drive ) as well as to WebDav resource (NextCloud...). Basically SSL handshakes fail.

The only exception is FilePlus that can still connect to the Google Drive (and fetch the files... of course).

Drive
Working

As OVI server are down, we have to change some links & behaviors.
 * Install and run Nokia Drive Enabler.
 * open /home/user/.config/Nokia/Maps.conf and check this line is present in [General] : isSsoEnabled=False
 * open /home/user/.config/Nokia/Drive.ini and check this line is present in [Generalsettings] : ssoDone=True
 * Change the SUPL resource for GPS FIX because supl.nokia.com resource is dead :
 * First method : run N9 QTweakAll and change the GPS Fix provider to "supl.google.com"
 * Second method : edit /etc/xdg/nokia/location-settings.conf file :
 * devel-su
 * nano /etc/xdg/nokia/location-settings.conf
 * enter in Edition mode with ctrl-o
 * Edit two parameters: PrimarySuplServer and SecondarySuplServer
 * PrimarySuplServer=supl.google.com
 * SecondarySuplServer=a value among supl.vodafone.com, supl.sonymobile.com, agpss.orange.fr
 * Quit and save (ctrl-x...)

The GPS FIX should be quicker from now, at least outdoor.

PS: don't forget to calibrate the compass before driving. The GPS FIX needs an accurate compass !!!

See the Maps section for the second step : download and install the maps, POI, voices...

Facebook
Not working anymore

'''*** Facebook is deprecating XMPP support so it does not work anymore. ***'''

For memories, here was the procedure that made Facebook usable :

"The N9 app will work if you de-select 'Chat and Contacts' when adding a Facebook account. If you don't do this Facebook will continually ask you to sign in. The main advantage of using the inbuilt app is that it will add notifications to the N9 feeds page.

Alternatively the Facebook website can be browsed through a web browser, or by installing one of the third party apps available on OpenRepos.net.

Facebook chat can be used on the N9 as a Jabber account, as they both use the same XMPP protocol. In order to do so: "
 * Install extraplugins to add support for more accounts, including Jabber
 * In Accounts, add a Jabber account with the following credentials:
 * Username: your-facebook-id@chat.facebook.com
 * Password: your-facebook-password
 * Server: chat.facebook.com

Hangouts
 Working in a very limited way and furthermore you have to decrease the security level of your Google account


 * Install from openrepos the hangouts plugins.
 * Then run the account manager and add your hangout account here.
 * That's all. You can chat through the native message app but in a very limited way (only text and no auto discovery of contacts that use Hang Outs !)

Mail
Working

My basic outlook account works well with the "Mail for Exchange" account type. The trick is to define the domain at office365.com, server at eas.outlook.com and port at 443 (see mail section). It provides Calendar and Contacts synchronization as well. Gmail accounts seems unreachable since recent security "enhancements".

Others pure mail accounts seem to work well as soon as you know their SMTP and IMAP servers settings.

MAPS
Working

See the Drive section for the first (and required) step.

The second step is to download the Maps (2013), the POIS and the Voices.

Maps :

As OVI server are down, you have to download maps here : http://nokiamaps.ct8.pl/nokia_maps_v_00.02.54.223.html

But this site is almost down : it does no longer contain itself the ZIP files. However, fortunately, the WAY BACK MACHINE mechanism works well for the SECONDARY link (web.archive.org).

Installation : Unpack downloaded zip archive(s) to cities/diskcache folder.

Advice: each time you run Drive, go in Parameters and UNCHECK Online. This will enable the search of cities and addresses.

POIS :

Go here : http://nokiamaps.ct8.pl/nokia_maps_poi_00.02.54.223.html

Installation : Unpack downloaded zip archive(s) to cities/diskcache/ClientIndex/ folder.

Voices :

Go here : http://nokiamaps.ct8.pl/nokia_maps_voices_v_00.02.54.223.html

Installation : Unpack downloaded zip archive(s) to cities/diskcache/voices/ folder

Message
 Partially working

First, install Harmoji, an Emoji SMS Fix. It consists of a patcher utility and a drop-in library that fixes a bug in libsms-utils, causing incoming SMS containing Emoji characters to be silently dropped.

Recommended version is 0.6.6 and it's available here : https://code.google.com/archive/p/harmoji/downloads. Reboot after installing.

Second, install ExtraPlugins. It provides many plugins for ICQ, AOL, MSN, QIP, Yahoo, Jabber/XMPP accounts. Nowadays ICQ, AOL, MSN, QIP, Yahoo are DEAD. Only Jabber/XMPP is usable and works well. It's an open source messaging system. Anyone can install its own jabber/xmpp server. You can even phone to any jabber/xmpp contacts whatever their own server ! As almost all BIG companies abandoned this protocol (see Facebook section...), you must discover available servers by yourself... Here are few ones I found: jabber.hot-chilli.net, muc.xmpp.org, jabberix.com. See here https://www.jabberes.org/servers/ for others. I recommend you to use Pidgin of Gajim on your PC for discovering multi user chats provided by these servers.

Procedure:


 * Install ExtraPlugins, it provides a plugin for Jabber/XMP account management.
 * Add your Jabber.XMPP accounts (in Account Manager).
 * Optionally install Multi-User Chats (harmmucs).

NB: Harmoji fixes the Emoji issue on jabber/xmpp incoming messages as well. See here for all information about it : https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=86704&highlight=harmoji

Music Store
Not working anymore

Phone
Fully functional

Podcast
 Working 

Install gPodder or PodCatcher.

Edit: gPodder requires a lot of additional libraries (python-***). If you encounter errors during installation, run this command for automatic installation of missing libraries : sudo apt-get -f install

Radio (internet)
 Working 


 * Install MeeRadio.
 * Create one .m3u file per station (no space in this file name, please).
 * Copy yours .m3u files into /home/user (no space in its name).
 * Go in the List tab of MeeRadio, your should see your .m3u files here.
 * You may add some station into the "Preferred stations" tab IF the name of the .m3u file does not contain any SPACE.

Radio (FM)
 Working WITH handset 

fmrx-qt_0.2.0_armel.deb fmrxd_0.2_armel.deb fmrx-utils_0.2_armel.deb qmlradio_0.0.9_armel.deb dpkg -i /home/user/MyDocs/Downloads/fmrx* dpkg -i /home/user/MyDocs/Downloads/qmlradio_0.0.9_armel.deb sudo aegis-dpkg -i /home/user/MyDocs/Downloads/fmrx* sudo aegis-dpkg -i /home/user/MyDocs/Downloads/qmlradio_0.0.9_armel.deb
 * Download the following 4 files from openrepos into a folder on the device, say the /Downloads folder:
 * Then login as root user devel-su with password rootme, then:
 * Or

Reddit
 Not Working anymore (SSL handshake fails)

Quickddit provided most of basic functionalities and connection to your Reddit account. Unfortunately, SSL handshake fails now, so nothing works.

Search
Fully functional

I strongly recommend you to decrease the priority of the smartsearch Cron. You can do that easily with QTweak in the Files Tweaker section. It decreases the prio to 10%. This avoids some lags.

Skype
Not working anymore

Telegram
 Partially Working 

Telegram-cli still works but it's very limited and works in command line (only text msg is possible ina one to one way).

MeeTelegram is a BETA version, it works well but in a very very limited way as well.

A new alternative arrived in 2021 : meegram2. In Beta but promising. Source code is on GitHub.

Twitter
Not working anymore

The stock app does not work anymore. Until mid 2019, the Tweetian app was an alternative but it does not work anymore as well since July 2019 :-(

Just for memory, here was the procedure to go through the authentification process with tweetian :
 * install and run Opera Mobile
 * install and run Tweetian
 * once Tweetian opened a page in the stock browser, copy/paste the link into Opera Mobile, you should obtain the precious secret number for validating your connection by this way.

Web
Partially Working

With time, some of the SSL root certificates have expired. Additionally, available browsers do not support modern internet technologies.

The java midlet Opera Mini 8.0 is a partial workaround.

Opera Mini 8 works in a client/server way with an Opera "proxy" server in the middle (between you and the site, this proxy server seems to be located in Nederland). The web Pages are not running on your device but on the Opera proxy server and the HTML output is then send to your n9. I notice that sites with JavaScript are rarely usable.

You may find the Opera Mini 8 on https://openrepos.net/

Without Opera Mini, you must find some pure HTML 2.0 sites. Here are some I know : http://lite.cnn.io/en, http://www.msn.com , http://68k.news (Google news)...

Whatsapp
Not Working anymore

Wazapp uses a too old authenfication method. It fails at login.

Whatsup is banned on the Whatsapp servers side. And some say that you risk to be ban several weeks.

YouTube
 Partially Working 

The stock client and CuteTube2 can no longer play Youtube videos. Luckily, Meefox 1.0.5 still works. It lags but it works !