Mozilla Localization Makes a Positive Social Impact

Mozilla brings power of the web into ordinary people's hands. Every day I spend countless hours working with volunteer communities around the world to translate Firefox web browser. Reading Sudheesh Singanamalla's blog post about his encounter with a farmer in rural India was such a touching experience.

A Localization journey - A Farmer's tale - A Delightful Experience

It was on my way back in a cramped out bus, travelling researching about language changes and variations within the state of Andhra Pradesh, that I sat next to a man, quite old.

Me : What do you use in the internet? How do you talk to your son?
Old man: I go to Rajat's Net Cafe nearby by house and then talk from there on Google (meant Google+)
Me : Do you know how to read English and understand which button to click and so on?
Old man : Oh, i don't know English, but i use it in Telugu. The shop guy Rajat has seen me since he was small, so after my son went to Delhi, he separately bought a Telugu keyboard so that i can be using the keyboard.
Me: Okay, but then how do you read the information on the computer screen? Isn't that in English?
Old man : (Laughs) Don't you know, there is this software something called Firefox, it is in Telugu.
Me : Really? Can you tell me how the software looks?
Old man : You should know more, you're an engineering student but if you ask i'll tell you, its a small thing like this earth picture but a small cat , orange in colour is holding it.
Me: (smiling crazily) You know how to use it in Telugu?
Old man : Yeah, its not hard, I know how to read Telugu and also know how to use mouse, so clicking gets me the job done.
 

Android Device Offline: Fixing ADB Connection Error

After upgrading to Android Jellybean (4.2.2) the 'adb (Android Debug Bridge)' program failed to connect my Android mobile phone. Running 'adb devices' in the terminal showed error: device offline message.

Recently Android switched to MTP (Media Transfer Protocol). Unfortunately MTP support has some issues. For now I have to resort to using 'adb' command to work with my Android mobile phone.

Digging around the Internet, I learned that Android Jellybean has a new security feature. You need to do RSA key fingerprint verification with the PC. Otherwise the Android device will be reported as offline.

How to Fix ADB Device Offline Error

Here are the steps to connect to your Android device with adb.

• Get the latest version of adb. Update using Android SDK android program: 'android update adb'
• Restart adb server with 'adb kill-server'
• Unplug and reconnect the device to a different USB port
• Repeat last two steps until you see 'Allow USB Debugging?' dialog on your android device.
• Select 'Always allow from this computer' option

Now you can talk to your Android device using the adb commands.

Install CyanogenMod 10.1 (Android Jellybean 4.2.2) on Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-I9100G)

In this post we'll install Cyanogenmod CM 10.1.x on Samsung Galaxy SII mobile phone. Please note this instructions apply to Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I1900G model only.

Disclaimer: Installing third-party firmware will void your phone warranty and if something goes wrong it could make your phone unusable. The installation process will wipe data/apps, Please backup everything.!

Before you get started consider backing up your phone data using Samsung Kies or Android apps such as Titanium Backup. Alternatively you can copy the data manually by connecting the phone to your computer with an USB cable.

Prerequisites: What do you need?

1. Install Android SDK. We'll use the nifty adb program to manage the phone and debug any problems.
2. Install phone flashing program Fastboot, Heimdall on Linux or Odin utility for MS Windows.
3. Download Clockwork Recovery: GT-I1900G_ICS_ClockworkMod-Recovery_5.5.0.4.tar
4. Download latest Cyanogenmod 10.1.x from Cynogenmod download page for i9100g device..
5. Download gapps-jb-2013301-signed.zip from goo.im.This package provides standard Google Android applications such as Google Play (A.K.A Google Market).
   
6. If you are upgrading an Android Gingerbread Phone, you'll need stock Android Ice Cream Sandwich(ICS) ROM. You can find stock Android ROM from SamMobile.

Flash Ice Cream Sandwitch (ICS) Official ROM to Samsung Galaxy S2(GT-I9100G)

You'll need your phone to running Android Ice Cream Sandwitch(ICS). The phone needs to run ICS bootloaders to upgrade to CyanogenMod 10.1.x. In this section I'll flash official Ice Cream Sandwitch(ICS) ROM onto my Gingerbread Phone.(Thank you codeworkx for pointing this out.)

You can ignore this section if you are working with ICS S2 phone.

1. Unzip the previously downloaded ICS ROM I9100GDZKL3_I9100GOLCKL3_XME ROM
2. Put the phone in download mode by holding Volume Down(-), Home button and pressing power button.
3. Connect the phone to computer using USB cable
4. Launch 0din on your computer and select PDA mode and flash the uncompressed .tar file.
5. Once complete the phone will reboot.

Root the Samsung S2 ICS Phone with ClockWorkMod Recovery Kernel

The handy ClockWorkMod tool allows you to flash the phone with different ROMs from the phone itself without the need
of computer.

1. Connect your phone to computer using a USB cable.
2. Put the device in download mode with 'adb reboot bootloader' or by holding Volume Down(-), Home button and pressing power button.
3. Uncompress the previously downloaded Clockwork Recovery file.
4. Use heimdall program to flash on the command line: 'heimdall flash --kernel zImage'
5. Reboot the mobile phone.

Install CM 10.1.x on Samsung Galaxy S2

Connect your phone to your computer and transfer the previously downloaded files Cyanogenmod 10.1.x and Gapps files to mobile phones internal memory. Restart the phone and enter recovery mode by pressing Volume Up, Home and Power buttons together. Follow the steps below to install the CM10.1.x on your phone.

1. Select wipe data/factory reset
2. Select wipe cache partition
3. Select Advanced Menu and choose wipe dalvik cache
4. Select Install zip from sdcard and choose update-cm-10.1-XXX-XXX-XXX-signed.zip file.
5. Select Install zip from sdcard and choose gapps-jb-2013301-signed.zip file. Reboot phone

That's all folks! Don't forget to share your experiences by leaving a comment here.