FM Radio Player v2010.03.20

@Cash Clientel:

While I as the developer appreciate that you vote for the appand give comments, I dislike how you are stating things you don't know a bit of and claim them to be true.

Who told you that the bugs won't be fixed? How comes you claim to know more about this than the developer of this app. Just when I decided to pick up the code to work on it again after a long time, such a discouraging statement was made here. This is opensource. You don't pay for fast-paced development.

First 3-5 seconds of usage you get solid interference noise while it tunes in.

This is analogue FM radio. White noise happens in an analogue world.

If the CPU is being used at all while the radio is playing it will skip

Blame Nokia for a suboptimal sound system on the N900. It's supposed to be better with PR 1.2, though.

Bluetooth is enabled when the radio is turned on (surely no need for this) and sometimes doesn't disable when the application is closed.

You're right that it gets turned on, but how can you say, there's surely no need for this. Did you read the kernel driver code and hardware spec sheet and had conversations with Nokians, or was I the one who did? Bluetooth is required as the FM radio is a part of the Bluetooth / FM radio combo chip. You cannot use the radio while Bluetooth has no power. And as soon as you power the Bluetooth chip, Maemo OS will jump in and do all the rest to set up Bluetooth. Yes, it's annoying, but I see no way around this. It disables Bluetooth automatically after a few seconds if you close the application, unless it was turned on already before you started the application.

This application has many bugs that won't be fixed so I'm going to list them here as an FYI for any new users. This is a restatement but I just wanted to highlight my frustrations and justify my 2 star rating.

Automatic channel scanning doesn't work or isn't implemented.

Hold down the buttons on the left and right of the screen for scanning. You're right that a full-range autoscan is not implemented at the moment.

This application has many bugs that won't be fixed so I'm going to list them here as an FYI for any new users. This is a restatement but I just wanted to highlight my frustrations and justify my 2 star rating.

1. First 3-5 seconds of usage you get solid interference noise while it tunes in.
2. If the CPU is being used at all while the radio is playing it will skip - this is not related to the radio reception. This includes the application itself download and processing RDS text, emails being received, etc.
3. Bluetooth is enabled when the radio is turned on (surely no need for this) and sometimes doesn't disable when the application is closed.
4. Automatic channel scanning doesn't work or isn't implemented.
5. It's just generally slow and poorly made - the interface is bad and difficult to use. The dev tried to make the look+feel good but unfortunately this is a case of style over substance (and there is very little substance here)

It really is a bare bones and pre-beta attempt to get the FM radio functionality working.

the latest version did not work, it says some file is missing (see the below)

"application packages missing :n900-fmrx-enabler (>=1.5) python-gst0.10"

pls tell how am i fix it?

kgchamith@ymail.com

Great app!

only one problem: the bluetooth stays on, even if it was off during startup. As I don't use bluetooth, does anyone know how to turn bluetooth off with the command line? Then I can create a script to call the application and then turn bluetooth off.

Thank you for this essential app!!

I long for a "scan" button.

how to delete a station? Thank you.

A device like N900 should have a native FM Radio player. However, I must say something about this application that is;

• In spite of using wired headphone, why it turns on Blue-tooth !!!

• While listening this if I receive any call than its not working !!!

Works fine for me till i noticed it open the bluetooth and when i closed the bluetooth connection no sound at all, is it supposed to open the blutooth?

My n900 downloads the file - then I just get a message saying it can't install cause the installfile is corrupt/damaged.

Just love the look of this application! Great work! :)

Qui a dit que le N900 ne faisait pas radio ? En passant, depuis la mise à jour, plus besoin d'activer le Bluetooth !

It is a fundamental add-on for N900. Great solution overall, although it has some performance issues when using Internet connection concurrently.

It's really nice and works fine, I know probably someone mentioned before (and I believe you're working on it) but support for autoscanning and saving stations automagicly would be awesome.

Works fine for me.

Works ok, bur bit laggy and not so responsive. If nice graphics mean low fps then I would vote for simpler graphs and higher fps. More functional UI would also be nice.

@navneet, I am having same issues but the bug isn't submitted so I'll do that as soon as I can.

In my case, the FM just goes silent at times and I have to close and restart the app to hear anything. Is this a bug?

works good 4 me

I'm wondering if any headphone cables do the job or do you need specific headphones for this application to work.

Scanning is a bit hard to use at times, and a bit off... but good app, looks good, and works pretty well.

Great app. Would be nice to be able to mute the sound directly from the app.

Thanks, nice app

a must have (for me)

Kind of felt like I was missing something from the N800. ;)

The only other thing I'd like to see is manual frequency input.

Perfect app otherwise.

Great app! It could make sense to make RDS line along the whole screen, like a running banner, now it's too short/too quickly refreshed on some stations. And still it would be great to have numeric fq input

Great application! :) Auto-Tuning (Station Scanning) would be nice... but isn't a must have.

Cool and simple, much needed application, need an option to change station when pressing button on handsfree, else always need to unlock keypad to change station.

Really nice, thank you!

I'd like more functional UI. Also scanning doesn't always work.

This is the best FM tuner that I have used. The only thing missing is the option to have a different station list when in another city as mentioned.

awesome!! so yeah what is this blue-tooth for? and what would make a good antenna besides headphones?

my feature requests would be: AM & inputting the radio frequency by typing the numbers.

Excellent app.I've just been for a walk on which the FM tuner on my old N800 used to regularly lose signal for long periods, but this was nearly 100%, only losing the signal for a couple of very short periods.

Wonderful app, works well!

However, there is no option to search for the channels (this may as well be hardware limitation, I don't know) and the bluetooth stays on, even if it was off during startup. It would be nice if the application turned it off, if it was off...

Got the new update and most of the bugs are fixed, great work! I have a suggestion/request... This app is now my main fm receiver for my car until i get a new stereo (stereo fm tuner was damaged during a breakin, but aux in works). The N900 actually works great as a car music/GPS/MP3 system. Only problem is that the graphical display is hard to read when driving, fonts are a bit small, but the click and drag interface is hard to use when bouncing around on the road. Would you consider adding a simple digital interface with nice road friendly fonts and buttons? My girlfriend and other drivers on the road would really appreciate your concern for their safety :)... Regardless... Great work on the latest release!

Ingenious! Works perfectly for me so far. Thanks!! If ideas for future enhancements are needed: what about the possibility of one-touch recording like in good old cassette recorder radios?

Thanks - excellent work with the new release. A few suggestions for making it the best radio application ever: - Add option for multiple sets of saved stations, so if travelling between different locations, users can switch between saved stations without having to scan again all of the time - Autoscanning could be more accurate: at times it misses stations with good signal - Give the option to It would be great to be able to scan the whole dial for available stations - A touch-based volume control would be handy, especially when fine-tuning with keyboard

I have filed a bug concerning the issue where it just stop playing sound after a while https://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=8648 if you are affected. please go there to vote for the bug

I love the new UI. If only the problem which causes it to lose sound till you restart it could be fixed. Its the only thing preventing me from using the app.

I love this radio but I would still like to see the UI in both black and white. I myself like it in black.

Killer application. Love the new UI, also. Keep up the great work, thanks!

would be too much work to have a version of this for the N800??? the UI looks great and I'm not satisfied with the N800 alternative...

Wow, the new UI is awesome, it's so nice to use it. And the auto scan feature is a bit slow but incredibly useful. Now we're waiting for the auto scan and station saving.

Brilliant. Stable, nice UI... and so incredibly useful. Thank you!

Very convenient application and quickly improving. Be aware that reception quality varies greatly depending on headphones and location.

works fine!

Great app!! However, it needs much work. I've detected a possible bug. My bluetooth configuration (in N900) lost its device name (obviously I wrote a name again) and now my phone is not detected as a phone (type of device) when connected to other bluetooth devices (windows or other Nokia phones). Could it be related with this app? I do not use bluetooth in other apps. Cheers!

Great app!! However, it needs much work. I've detected a possible bug. My bluetooth configuration (in N900) lost its device name (obviously I wrote a name again) and now my phone is not detected as a phone (type of device) when connected to other bluetooth devices (windows or other Nokia phones). Could it be related with this app? I do not use bluetooth in other apps. Cheers!

Great app!! However, it needs much work. I've detected a possible bug. My bluetooth configuration (in N900) lost its device name (obviously I wrote a name again) and now my phone is not detected as a phone (type of device) when connected to other bluetooth devices (windows or other Nokia phones). Could it be related with this app? I do not use bluetooth in other apps. Cheers!

Great app!! However, it needs much work. I've detected a possible bug. My bluetooth configuration (in N900) lost its device name (obviously I wrote a name again) and now my phone is not detected as a phone (type of device) when connected to other bluetooth devices (windows or other Nokia phones). Could it be related with this app? I do not use bluetooth in other apps. Cheers!

As for the FM radio.

Japan's FM radio frequency band is 76MHz-90MHz. Nokia mobile phone is usually able to receive that frequencies. However, I'm not sure. N900 Hardware support the frequency of Japan or not. I hope to be able to receive that frequencies even if you have support much applicate.

It won't work. :/ I live in Norway, the tuner finds and name the station on my frequency, but there is no sound coming out :( Yes, I have attached headphones.. What's wrong?

It won't work. :/ I live in Norway, the tuner finds and name the station on my frequency, but there is no sound coming out :( Yes, I have attached headphones.. What's wrong?

Very much appreciated and works for the most part. A little flaky yet. It was not obvious how to delete a preset until I tried moving away from the preset and back to it. The 'Remove' button was sometimes absent. Sound disappeared once after muting & restoring. Restarting the app got it back.

A scan function that automatically set presets would be useful.

Starting to look really good! Still has some bugs, so I can't give it a high rating, can't really use it reliably yet.

1) Screen saver causes problems.

2) When I am driving around, it is near impossible to find new stations. My keypad isn't visible, so I have to try to manually go through every single 10th of a frequency, which will drive you crazy

3) Very hard to use your finger and set an exact frequency, requires patience.

This new version works great, it has fixed lots of bugs!

This new version works great, it has fixed lots of bugs!

@Kevin Liao: the arrows are for switching between presets. They only have effect if you have stations saved.

on my system, the left and the right arrow seems doesn't work ( I mean the one one the screen.) is that the same on your system??

Thank yoU!

@Sergey Vlasov - because the FM receiver and bluetooth transmitter/receiver are on the same chip inside the N900, and there's only one 'power cord' to it.

I just installed version 2009.12.19 and I experienced the same here, The lastest version is an improvement but the problem still exist especially when I lock the screen. I cant easily recreate the problem, but it seem to be unable to recover sound once it is lost due to interruption. Is there a way I can start the app from the commandline so I can via more infor on the issue

The application is great when it works but unfortunately I too can confirm that it goes silent, with no recovery and does so I think 10/10 times when I press the lock button.

Restarting the app worked sometime but another time not which prompted me to turn off/on the phone. I downloaded it today so I'm guessing it must be 12.19 version. I'll try to take some time soon to amend the bug report with more details instead of here in the forum.

In summary I would not have voted for it to be presented as stable status.

Don't see this as negative. It really is a wonderful application and that's why I care about it and want to point out the need to understand whatever those problems are to bring it up to 5 stars.

Re: Reception quality - I have tried with standard Ipod headphones and then all the strong stations sounded great. Try a few different headphones and hopefully that will help out.

Why the hell it needs Bluetooth enabled to work?

Good job, but it still needs lot of improvements!

I love the fmradio its such a great app and the UI is very intuitive. only problem I have with it is the fact that I cant use it for long. It just stop playing sound after a while. anyone else experience this? am using version V2009.12.13.

Thanks Martin. Great work - finaly fixed microphone problem :) Regards from Poland.

Everybody please be advised that version 2009.12.13 can mute phones speakers temporarily when headphones output is selected, see https://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7086

The initial volume when you switch to the speakers does not match the actual volume of the device. Sometimes it does not activate the bluetooth and the radio does not work, in these cases I have to restart the device. I use the version 2009.12.19

Works well for me, but at this time still a work in progress.

Promising, but at the moment is flaky with starting again after being closed (no sound).

works very well... yes there should be a possibility that you can set the station manually.

I found navigation difficult especially when searching around for a station. perhaps use the left/right navigation keys to scroll?

Works well when I take the N900 out of Silent mode. Just needs a way to input a station's frequency manually.

Can you add an image, please?

The reception quality highly depends on the headphones. The Nokia headphones that come with the N900 are said to give poor quality or no radio at all. Please try with cheap headphones without built-in microphones, or simply with a headphones extension cable without headphones. Those usually give the best results.

I have the same issue

i don't understand how this application is supposed to work. i can add channels, but not get them to play.