HOWTO: Ruby on Rails on your Nokia N800

I got a few emails asking me how I did it. So why not do a HOWTO on the site right? It's pretty simple but I have yet to see a howto on this at least one that goes from start to end.

NOTE: THIS IS INSTRUCTIONS FOR OS 2007 AND NOT 2008. For 2008 visit this site

I thought I do it even at the risk of repeating someone else instructions. I know I will have these here for myself and anyone else that might need to know how to do it.

First make sure you have the latest firmware for your Nokia N800. Now I did this on a N800 I have never touched a N770 but I am sure if you have the hacked 2007 OS then this howto will apply for that as well. So you will need the latest IT OS 2007.

Before you start please note that install Ruby on Rails can be a long process even though I make it seem fast here it can seem at times like it has locked up your N800 ... just let it do it's thing and you will end up with a portable RoR developing machine :) . Remember give it time!

If you haven't done so you might want to add some virtual memory to your N800. How you do this is by going to your control panel and click on memory. Once the dialog comes up click on the virtual tab. Now add as much virtual memory as you can. Please remember to place the memory card near the battery this is what the N800 uses for it's virtual memory.

You will need to enable "Red Pill" mode ... what does this mean? Basically it unlocks the Repository's you have under Application Manager so you can install OpenSSH(or SSH).

So to enable Red Pill mode do this:

1. Open Application Manager
2. Click on the Application Menu(upper left hand corner)
3. Click on Tools and then click on Application catalog
4. Click on the New button
5. In the Web Address delete http:// and type in matrix
6. Click on Cancel
7. This will bring up a prompt with Red Pill or Blue Pill, click on Red Pill.
8. You can now click on the Close button for the catalog and you will be able to see a larger list of applications to install.
9. Optional ... If you do not see more applications listed then you might have to refresh the catalog which is listed under the tools menu.

What do you need installed? Not much just a few things. X Terminal (osso-xterm) and SSH.

1. Click on Browse installable applications
2. Click on the All button
3. Look for osso-xterm and ssh click on each one and click on install. You will have to do it for each package.
4. Close Application Manager

You should now have Xterminal and SSH installed :) .

Last steps ;) I promise.

Open your Browser on your N800 and type this in http://pierre.droids-corp.org/maemo/ (or this one from your computer) from there install the ruby_1.8.5, rubygems_0.9.2, and sqlite3-ruby_1.2.1 packages. Now you should have Ruby and Rubygems installed.

Open up X terminal type this in ssh root@localhost it will ask for a password type in rootme. Your now root on your N800. I suggest you run an update on your Rubygems so type this in:

    gem update --system
  

This will run thru a process of updating your rubygem. If you encounter a error just run the command again it should follow thru after that. Now to install Rails :) . Type this:

    gem install rails --include-dependencies
  

This will install rails and any other needed files that are required by rails. Again if you encounter an error just type the command in again.

That's it you have Ruby and Rails install now.

I have a few things installed that you might want to install yourself to help you work with your Rails app. Minimo which is a ported version of Mozilla for portable devices and I have leafpad installed. The built in browser has it's limitations and using Minimo will get you closer to using a more featured pack browser that will handle Advanced JavaScript such as AJAX and advanced CSS.

It can be hard to type code on the N800 but you can use a bluetooth keyboard for that :) it works very well.

I hope I didn't leave anything out if I did let me know ... I am really good at missing the small stuff :P, Good luck!