Just got myself a new phone. This is the first phone that I have bought myself, and not a scrounged second hand unit. Best bit about it so far is that I can access the files on it from withing Linux. I just plugged it in and I could see a new PHONE icon on the Ubuntu desktop. Now all I need is to work out if it is possible to convert to and from the 3gp video format.
Stuphi
Web stuff of Philip Stubbs
I have tought to get rid of Xp and get Ubuntu at my laptop. Is network connection working out of box too with K800i? Have tried with Live CD but no luck yet to get connected… It´s biggest issue why I haven´t really installed Ubuntu yet.
I have not tried the network connection. When I plug the phone in, the phone askes if I want ‘phone’ mode or ‘file transfer’ mode. I have only tried file transfer. Later, I will try in phone mode and see what Ubuntu does.
BTW, you are the first person to write a comment on my blog. Thank you.
Thanks, that would be great! Alltho, it´s going to be on my laptop so this network thing is really important. It would be nicer to get know new system if I could get basic stuff work first. You got good looking blog… 🙂
Nothing happened. I had a quick look on Google but I see anything that helps. Sorry.
Hi again… I manage to solve that network thing and tought it would be a good idea to post it here `cos this was the first place I found when I was looking at Google. First you have download and install Network Manager. If you have USB network on in your phone it’s working out of box. 🙂
Now I have to manage how to get my contacts and calendar syncronized…
Hi. I found this site on Google, and bookmarked it right away. I’m also running Ubuntu Dapper Drake, and would really like to have my contacts and calendar syncronized with the K800i. Since I don’t have bluetooth, and my IrDa is dead..I’m stuck with the USB-cable. Have anyone got it to work that way?
Looks like you got yourself a small following. I’m thinking of buying this phone too, but I also want to know whether it works on Linux before I shell out around £200 for it.
Have you had any luck getting any of the more advanced sync features working? I feel I should point you to this site: http://stefans.datenbruch.de/k750i/
Looks like your phone’s predecessor is pretty Linux-friendly once you get to know it. Does the k800i keep that legacy going?
Cheers 🙂
I have only tried using the device as a mass storage device. That works very well. Ring-tones etc can be copied to and from the phone. I believe that you can use it as a modem, but I have not tried this myself. I have not seen anywhere any evidence that the contacts can be synced.
At the moment I still have a duel boot system so I backup the phone contacts in XP.
If you get the more advanced sync features working in Linux, and then post them here, you’ll be the only site on the internet to have done so for this new phone. (Trust me, I’ve Googled extensively!)
Go on, you know you want to!
I have just managed to import all my contacts from Kontact on Mandriva 2005LE into the k800i using the file transfer mode.
You need to:
Export all contacts to single VCard 2.1 file in linux
Backup your contacts to Memory Card using your phone
Switch to File Transfer mode
Replace the vcf file in the System/pim folder on the memory card with the exported one
Restore contacts from MC using the phone.
Still working on the Calendar
guys i was able to synchronize my k800i with ubuntu using the gnokii package .. it throws a segementation fault sometimes though .. but worth a try ..
Thanks for that. I will give it a try. If it works I will add a new post describing my success.
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I can do the calendar synch, but only one way at moment.
My main calendar lives in Kontact, and you can export in vCalendar format. Then just send the file to the phone through bluetooth and hey-presto the phone’s calendar imports it.
Haven’t yet worked out how to do it the other way. Neither can I fathom what format is used for the web synchronisation function. Would love to be able to do that.
James
See https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-my/2007-January/000088.html hope it helps someone out there?
Regards!
The web synchronization uses SyncML. I had a k750i, which is being replaced with a k800i. To get contacts from my computer to the k750i I tried a few things but ended up using SyncML. I did a vcard export from my contacts program (emacs BBDB), and then uploaded them to a free SyncML server, http://www.mobical.net (there are other free ones). The mobical site sends a SMS containing settings to the phone, after which you can do the web synchronization. SyncML seems pretty cool (I also set it up with my wife’s Nokia), apparently Evolution can do SyncML, I don’t know about Kontact.
Hi.. i had been using Sony K800i for the past one year and found OK..no major issues. However when i want to backup my contacts into my PC through the sony supplied syn manager it syns only the sim card contacts and leaves out all memory card contacts. Anybody knows how to take the backup of my phone contacts from my phone memory card plz? Thnx appreciate u can email me at pagr@yahoo.com
cheers!
Andy
I know that I am a little late to the party, but I am thinking of getting this K800i phone on eBay. 😀 My other option is a W810i, which as you will see with a Google search, seems to be fairly well-supported under GNU/Linux. The thing is that the K800i has slightly better camera features, and a flight mode (no more turning the whole phone off on the plane!). The W810i is slightly smaller, and is probably slightly more reliable, as well as having a lower SAR (if you are concerned with radiation).
The flight mode is really attractive to me, I don’t see why all recent phones don’t have it. but most important to me is to be able to easily copy SMS/text messages off of the phone using USB, so, I must ask:
Does anyone with a K800i or W810i know if it’s possible to copy text messages off of the phone via USB? Mr Stubbs, I am hoping that you will know the answer to this. 🙂 Thank you for posting your results on the phone in the first place, you have created a treasure trove of information!
@Black Cougar: thanks a million. I was trying to import Windows 7 contacts to my K800i. The Sony Ericsson PC Suite seems not support Thunderbird directly, and my PC does not have Outlook. Therefore, the way to copy the .VCF contact file to System\PIM folder and restore it from the phone works really well. I just did the following steps:
1. Use Thunderbird 3.0.
2. Install Windows Contact Loader extension and import all Windows contacts to Thunderbird.
3. Install MoreFunctionsForAddressBook extension: http://nic-nac-project.de/~kaosmos/morefunctionsforAB-TB3-0.5.8.4.1.xpi
Then export Thunderbird contacts to VCF format. Note that VCF format does not support photos.
4. Go to Sony Ericsson K800i. Go to Contacts -> Options -> Advanced -> Backup to MS.
5. Plug K800i to PC via USB and select File Transfer Mode. Go to the memory stick’s folder: system\PIM
Inside PIM folder there will be a PB_Backup.vcf file. Replace this file with the file you created earlier using Thunderbird. Remember to keep the filename PB_Backup.vcf as is.
6. Unplug K800i and go back to normal mode. Go to Contacts -> Options -> Advanced -> Restore from MS. You can choose to retain or delete existing contacts in the phone and proceed to the restoration.
The Windows contacts are now in the K800i!