Droid phone

[ergodic]

I just got a new Motorola Droid (Android-based) phone. It would be very handy to use to access the ISY admin console while I'm walking around trying to configure and fix things. Very, very handy.

 

Sadly, when I try to bring up the admin page it says "Java 2+ required". I can access the basic non-admin webpage, but not the Java admin console.

 

Can anyone shed any light on this?"

[oberkc]

The "non-admin page"? Is that the first one that pops up? If this works the same as my mobile phone, you can still choose the "administrative control" option and see and control your devices. Not as pretty, but may work for your puposes.

[ergodic]

The basic web app helps a little to control things & I also have the iPhone app. But I really need to be able to access the admin console to be able to walk around, and configure / fix things, which is really what I want to use it for.

 

I guess what I don't understand is why a new Java-based phone with a Java-based operating platform and a JavaScript-enabled browser can't pull up a Javascript-based web application. Grrrrrr.

 

I've also tried a couple of the other open-source browsers on the phone and they don't work on the ISY page either.

[brad77]

The web application is Java based, not Javascript based.

 

I'm not surprised that it doesn't work without modification. Take a look at this Wikipedia article on the Dalvik virtual machine, which is the Java VM used by Android. Most notable is this:

 

It runs applications which have been converted into a compact Dalvik Executable (.dex) format suitable for systems that are constrained in terms of memory and processor speed.

It appears that "standard" Java code must be converted into .dex files before they will work on Android. I would venture to bet that other considerations need to be made as well so as to be friendly to constraints of such an environment.

[ergodic]

Thanks.

 

So much for "Java Everywhere". Apparently this all is Google's end-run around Sun's licensing for mobile (JavaME) platforms.

[oberkc]

I assume you have thought of this, but in case not...I use a laptop when working around the house and want to be able to get close to the device while making adjustments. Of course, this requires wifi, but I am guessing most of us have that already.

[ergodic]

Thanks.

 

I do have a 13" laptop I use, as well as a small Asus netbook. The phone has wifi as well. I'd just like not to have to haul out the laptop from my car and boot it every time I need to check something. It's also a nuisance to cart around and keep from getting banged up when I'm crawling around. (Where do you put your laptop when you're balancing on a stepladder in the garage?)

 

That's why the phone would be so handy - it's always sitting in my pocket and always on and ready. But, alas, it isn't to be.

 

There are RDP and VNC clients available for the phone, I'm going to try one of those and remote in from my phone to my desktop workstation or one of my servers which are always on. Not ideal but it may work well enough.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi ergodic,

 

I think ISY AJAX (http://forum.universal-devices.com/viewforum.php?f=55) would work with Droid. Have you tried it?

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[ergodic]

I do have it. It does seem excellent for controlling devices, but AFAIK you still need the admin console for linking, viewing events, etc. Or is there more?

 

I wanted to be able to use the phone as a tool when I'm working on the system - a Swiss Army knife rather than a steak knife so to speak.

 

I did try an RDP client from the phone to my workstation but it is fiendishly difficult to control the mouse. I'm going to try a couple of others but in the end I don't know how useful that will be.

[brad77]

I did try an RDP client from the phone to my workstation but it is fiendishly difficult to control the mouse. I'm going to try a couple of others but in the end I don't know how useful that will be.

For what it's worth, I use Xtralogic's RDP client on my Droid and find that to be very good. The mouse pointer moves relative to your finger (as opposed to being under it) so that you can see what you're doing.

[sfhutchi]

For what it is worth, I seem to have the same limitation with the Palm Pre.

 

Not sure if there is anyone else successfully using the Pre to view the 'advanced' pages.