Archive for the ‘BlackBerry’ Category
getapp.sh: download OTA app to install from SD card
You know you love it – Stupid Shell Tricks 101 time again ladies and gents. Here’s a utilitarian script to download a large OTA (“Over The Air”) app/theme/whatever and all it’s COD/JAR/JAD files – such as the Mobipocket Reader – to your workstation so you can install it on your mobile device using your SD card instead; handy if the app is really large, have problems with your device data connection, or pay a lot for the data usage on your device.
Usage is simple and easy like all my crazy little scripts, just wrap your brain around the bash-fu.
bboschecker.php – check BlackBerry device OS releases
Update: code has moved to Google Code, a full fledged project and a new version is out. Visit the project page here: BBOSChecker Project Page
As most new BlackBerry owners come to find out, you can run pretty much any operating system release from any carrier on your device without too many problems. This user-friendly aspect of the devices not only allows the early adopters to use new releases, but also allows the use of “known good / stable” releases that the community recommends as well as allowing the installation of different languages that may not be released by your carrier (for instance using Chinese on a T-Mobile USA device).
A small pain in the tuckus, though, is searching for OS releases from all the carriers for your device. Here’s a little bit of code you can run on your own PHP and cURL enabled webserver.
bcharge: charge your BlackBerry under linux
‘bcharge’ is a utility that’s part of the Barry project – which aims to be a complete desktop toolset for interfacing your BlackBerry with linux. The purpose of the bcharge tool is to detect when a BB has been plugged in and then alter the current to the USB port – it will increase the default 100mA flow up to 500mA, which is what the BlackBerry is expecting. This is exactly what the Windows driver does.
jadmaker.sh: create a missing JAD from JAR (J2ME midlets)
Time once again for Stupid Shell Tricks 101. You’ve managed to download a J2ME jar file to install on your phone (typically a game), but your particular handset requires a JAD file (a text file describing the jarball itself) to be used as well for installation purposes. But, you don’t have this JAD file and need to make one.
Typically a J2ME midlet jarball has 80% of the needed JAD content already inside, it just needs extracted and given a bit more data to make the actual JAD file a usable entity. Use the below script to do this work for you; no other tools (like the JDK) are needed, just your basic BASH shell utlities.
configuring apache for mobile browsing
There are times when you either want or need to download something onto your cellphone, and the most convenient way to do it would be using a normal webserver (website) rather than digging out a data cable, bluetooth adapter, or using the IR port. Indeed, you may even be on the road and only have downloading as an option.
If you run an Apache webserver (and I’m sure others, but I only ever use Apache) it’s easy as pie — all that you need to do is add a .htaccess file with the right options into the mobile directory. For all the BlackBerry users out there, this is what is referred to as OTA, or Over-The-Air installation.
