Sony Android Phone Not working 100% with Ubuntu

Those of you who care to read what I write would note that I have no liking for Microsoft or Apple products. I have been using FOSS specially Linux OS as my laptop/desktp OS since year 2000 and also as the OS for my smartphone (as Android incarnation) since 2010.
Currently I use Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) as desktop OS and Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) as smartphone OS. The hardware for the same is Dell XPS 13 and Sony Xperia Z1 Compact. Occasionally I do use Fedora (on Sony Vaio S laptop) as my 2nd laptop and Amazon Kindle HD running Amazon's derivative of Android (called Silk) as tablet. But truly that is rare. My laptop and my smartphone are my primary devices..
But why am I telling you all this?
Well there is a precise reason for that. If you noticed all of the above OS (be it laptop/smartphone/tablet) are based on the GNU/Linux Kernel. Right?
So you would expect they would get along well together, Right? Wrong..

[Microsoft and Apple sauce fans: desist from saying "switch to us". No wont, you are not Free. I may be a bit uncomfortable but I'm Free..So dont even start..]
Anyway I digress..

It so happened that I recently switched to my new Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (from my previous HTC Evo LTE). The reason for the switch was upgrade to a new, powerful, goodlooking, waterproof, feature packed phone. To make the best of the phone's 20.7 megapixel camera, I got it loaded with a SD card to store all my pics. And then I gleefully went on clicking pics.
After a while, I wanted to transfer my picture files to my Ubuntu 14.04 laptop. Just like I used to do with my old (HTC) phone simply by connecting with a USB cable. But this is where my horrors start.
To my surprise, Sony Xperia detects the USB connection and immediately prompts you to install an file transfer software (called ominously 'PC companion') that works only with (hold your breath) Microsoft Windows or Apple (s)Mackintosh. What?? Why?? Arent you Android Sony Xperia OS? And if so arent you a derivative of Linux OS? So isnt it logical for you to work seamlessly with any Linux OS (in this case Ubuntu) using an open standard USB? Well apparently not. The developers and designers at Sony didnt have the foresight and vision to think beyond Windows and sMacintosh eventhough they are themselves based on a Linux OS. What a shame.
After a bit of twiddling, I do see a link under 'Settings > Storage' that prompts me to transfer files from 'Internal storage'(here, builtin phone storage) to 'External storage' (here the SD card). And I accept this option thinking that its only fair--I can transfer the files and then plug the SD card to my laptop directly (ie without the phone via USB). But another goof up on the software designers. They very conveniently forgot to mention that the 'Transfer' is actually a 'move' not a 'copy' (ie after transfering the files it will wipe out the original files. Who designed this? Can they at least warn the End user before doing such a one way transfer? Poor thinking Sony!!
Anyhow, I transfer the files and try to connect the SD card directly onto my laptop but as if all the prior misery was not enough, now the SD card is not recognized by Ubuntu OS because the SD card was formatted by the Phone OS (in this case unbelievably a Linux derivative called Android) in a format which is understood only by Windows and NOT by Linux. Why? This never was a problem with the previous Android phone (from HTC).

So what to do now?
I had to jump through these hoops to finally be able to transfer the files:

0- Put the SD card from my Sony to my older HTC phone (while my Sony phone sat useless like a plastic POS)
1- Transfer ALL files (including pics, songs, etc) from SD card in the HTC phone to the Laptop
2- After Transfer Format the SD card (while its in the HTC phone) so that the format is now recognizable to Linux (Remember, Sony formatted in a way only to be understood by Windows - the evil proprietary "extFAT" while HTC formats it into a universal Linux readable "vFAT" format)
3- After Format, put the SD card back into my Sony phone
4- Connect the Sony phone back to the laptop
5- Copy back the files from the laptop to the SD card that I did NOT want to transfer originally(like songs etc)

So as you see it was 6 step hassle. Why?
Because some genius in Sony decided that it was a wonderful idea to totally ignore Linux compatibility eventhough the phone OS in use (Android) is itself a Linux derivative and as such should talk the same language and be seamless..But no.. Great Sony!! (puns intended)

Sony here's the lesson for you. You are great hardware maker. No doubt. I have long been your fan. So have millions of others like me. But you are losing the smartphone battle to Samsung and iOS. Arent you? Do you want to keep losing market or do you want to win back again? If you want to win back then...Dont be stupid and restrictive. Dont be anti end user comfort. Only those companies who give utmost importance to End-user convenience succeed and are actually succeeding as we speak. Dont you see? If a savvy end-user like myself had to go through so many hoops to get something as simple as file transfer from phone to laptop then think of Grandma or Aunt Tilly. You have already scared them and lost their business. Come on Sony give us a better deal and DONT ignore Linux. Period.

My First Year with Dell Ubuntu Linux XPS 13 Laptop

Today I wanted to share my experience of my recently completed 12 months with Dell Linux Laptop.

If you are wondering what is a Dell Linux Laptop then go here on Dell's website. I hope Dell doesnt change the URL anytime soon. But let me begin by saying that on a scale of 1-10 about my overall satisfaction with this laptop I would give it a high 9.5 or 10/10.

Now if you have followed my previous posts about Linux Laptops on Sony or Asus Bamboo Laptop you will notice that I'm a hardcore Linux OS person & that I cant stand Windowwws (aka Microsoft) or osxxx (aka Apple sauce ;-)). So there is a slight chance that I may be a little more critical any OS other than Linux but I believe with what other OSes do to End-User Freedom, its all well to be a little unfriendly to them...

I must say in my eyes, Dell is the only major hardware vendor who has in the last decade had the guts to take to the market with a Factory installed Linux laptop. The key word is 'major'. Other little hardware assemblers and VARs have been doing it for a while but they are not anywhere in the graph. In the hardware landscape if you are not in the top 10 you are really not there..Anyhow I digress. Dell had first come out with their first version of Dell Factory installed Linux Laptops in the form of the Inspiron 14 Ubuntu laptops back in 2007. And I remember I had immediately scooped one up eventhough it was a bit pricey at about $1500 then. Although it was not the top notch contender but hey you must recognize Dells effort and guts to do something other than what the cattle crowd of hardware players does for Microsoft. I had liked that incarnation for a while -- I still have it in my array of laptop collections and it does work still albeit slowly. But this second version of Dell XPS 13 preloaded with Ubuntu 12.04 that Dell came out with in 2012 was a kicker. Eversince I heard about it I was very eager to get one and finally in May-June of 2013 I did. Let me go a bit into its specs first...

What I wanted from my next laptop was:

1- Lightweight & less than 3lbs  (this one was advertized as 2.96 lbs & I believe .69 inches thick). So check..

2- Hi Speed at 3GHz or more (this one has Intel i7 Quad core at around 3GHz & 8 GB RAM) so good on that front.

3- Low Heat and Fan noise (It is markedly cool and silent thanks to its Carbon Fiber Base and efficient circuitry-- I can barely hear the fan even when running videos and it is in quite in contrast to my frustration with the Sony vaio running linux. So we are good on that front..

4- SSD Hard Drive (this one has 256 GB of solid state disks) No more spinning spindles and cranking disks that also add to the weight besides being failure prone after prolonged usage..So check

5- Backlit Keyboard (very important for me because I work in the dark often like early mornings/late nights and without disturbing others--also good for airplanes when they turn off lights--you can keep working)

6- HD Graphics (this one has full 1080p HD screen with Intel IvyBridge Graphics card) so movies are a thrill..

7- Long Battery life of minimum 5 hours (this one gives 6 hours with lots of programs and about 7 hours when only surfing/browsing). Again much better than the Sony Vaio experience

8- Small form factor - this is where it really does good. Due to the edge to edge screen using Gorilla Glass Dell has been able to squeeze in a 13 inch in a 11 inch form factor..How cool is that?

9- Compact Power Adapter - I have had ugly bricks for power adapters in the past. This one is sleek, tiny and small like a cigarette case and puts the apple sauce people to notice. Not to forget the cool LED light on the connector is a useful innovation especially when you are trying to grope for the DC power port when working in the dark like me..

10 - Linux OS - Last but not at all least - How can we forget this. I have sworn to never buy a windows and or apple. So this one is all set..

And as you see, the laptop holds good in each of my wants. Infact the package is so cool that I have had several people in several countries/places stop and ask me about which laptop is it? where I got it from? how much I paid  and that it really is a great looking beautiful lapto  etc, etc..One guy thought this was a tablet..But nope this is a full featured laptop that holds the punch.

Now how much did I pay for it? About USD 1550 all inclusive. Granted its not the cheapest in its segment but Do you really  want a cheap laptop and cut corners in your style statement? I dont. Plus look at it this way, its a fully loaded Ferrari of a laptop. Do you want to compare it to a Camry?

BTW, one thing I must say that the Ubuntu folks didnt do 100% on was the suspend mode. In 12.04 LTS (the default with this laptop) throws the following onscreen messages when you suspend the laptop or wake it up:

[12656.501533]PM:Device 00:07 failed to resume: error -19

[12658.420216][drm:gen6_sanitize_pm]*Error* Power management discrepancy: GEN6_RP_INTERRUPT_LIMITS expected 18000000, was 12060000

legacy_resume():pnp_bus_resume*0x0/0x70 returns -19

But suspend still works--only the above ugly cryptic errors show up. I believe it is something to do with the Power management routines that are called when suspend function is invoked in the kernel. Anyhow I chose to ignore it for a year and when in July of this year (2014), Ubuntu came up with the 14.04 LTS with bug fixes I upgraded to it promptly and now those errors are gone & I dont see them. This was the only reason I gave it 9.5/10 when 12.04 was running. But now with 14.04 LTS on and the error gone, I can give it 10/10. In other words in my first year with the laptop I have been extremely satisfied with the Dell XPS 13 runing Ubuntu. And for someone who changes laptops every 12-18 months, I think this one will hold for a long time to come who knows may be I will be surprising myself using the same laptop from 2013 in 2018 and yet not compromising on anything..who knows..

So next time you are faced with the decision to buy a laptop for yourself or loved ones, dont overlook the incredible quality, features and value of the Dell XPS 13. Put on a Tux sticker from Zazzle on the lid like I did and you will be very satisfied with your purchase, make a statement and also turn heads..

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Oh yes one more point..

I have never been a fan of Ubuntu's Unity Interface. So one of the first things I did to customize it to my taste (besides installing Chrome Browser) was to install gnome using the following command..

$ sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

You can find several tutorials to guide you through the process like this one here.