Vista

I realise that this is a very specific scenario but having spent ages fiddling with wpa_supplicant files and getting nowhere, I feel I ought to share the solution that has, finally, worked for me.

The Scenario

I have a Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro phone* (Android v2.1-update1) and a Samsung Galaxy Tab P1010 (Android v2.2.1).  As the tablet is wifi only, I wish to make use of my phone’s 3G data connection occasionally, when there’s no wireless network for me to connect to.

The Problem

Versions of Android older than 2.2 (Froyo) don’t include the option to broadcast a wifi hotspot and even the latest version of Android doesn’t support ad-hoc networking (http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=82).

A Solution

Try this at your own risk.  Both devices need to be rooted and should be backed up before you begin.

1. On the X10 Mini Pro, install Barnacle Wifi Tether
2. In the settings for Barnacle:
   1. Specify a name for the network you wish to create (SSID), eg. freedom
   2. Enable the “Skip wpa_supplicant” option
3. On the Galaxy Tab, install ZT-180 Adhoc Switcher
4. In the settings for ZT-180:
   1. Specify the name of the SSID that you’ve just set-up on Barnacle, eg. freedom
5. From the Actions menu in ZT-180, select “Switch to Ad-hoc mode”
6. Grant superuser privileges to ZT-180 when asked.
7. On the X10 Mini Pro, open up Barnacle and press “Start”
8. Grant superuser privileges to Barnacle when asked.

After a short wait, the Wi-Fi Information panel in ZT-180 should update to show that the Galaxy Tab has connected to the network being broadcast by the X10 Mini Pro.

To switch back to a normal, infrastructure network:

1. On the Galaxy Tab, open up ZT-180 and, from the Actions menu, select “Switch to Infrastructure mode”
2. On the X10 Mini Pro, open up Barnacle and press “Stop”.

I came across this solution in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=14979870.  If it doesn’t work for/isn’t applicable to you, if you haven’t tried them already, these links might help:

• http://szym.net/2010/12/adhoc-wifi-in-android/
• http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=754961
• http://www.olsr.org/?q=olsr_on_android

^* Fantastic size and form but zero battery life and slower than a sloth

These days when I listen to music it’s usually streamed from Last.fm via XBMC, either my own loved tracks or those tagged “ambient“, however sometimes I want to listen to my offline music collection and for that I use Amarok.  Given how much hassle it is to get working and that they’ve removed the features I found most useful*, increasingly I wonder why I bother but for the moment I do and this is an aide-mémoire to help the process go much smoother the next time I have to install it.

1. Check that libxine1-ffmpeg is installed
2. Check that phonon-backend-xine is installed
3. Check that phonon-backend-gstreamer isn’t installed
4. Configure phonon (Amarok > Settings > Configure Amaraok > Playback > Configure Phonon) so that the uppermost option for each “Device Preference” category actually works.  Use the test button to check each option if you’re not sure.

That should get the audio working.  Now to figure out why it doesn’t seem to be scrobbling…

* They have promised to put them back in but it doesn’t look as though it’s going to be any time soon.

After upgrading Ubuntu to Karmic Koala I experienced a few problems getting Eclipse to work properly – mostly buttons that clicked but triggered nothing. Thankfully, Chris Chrisostomu had already published a blog post on the matter, including instructions for a potential fix that certainly seems to have sorted it out for me:
http://mou.me.uk/2009/10/31/fixing-eclipse-in-ubuntu-9-10-karmic-koala/

My thanks go to Chris for writing it up so clearly.