Categories: Testing | Development Process | Hardware | Technical Resources/Services | S60

This page was last modified 12:39, 28 May 2008.

From Forum Nokia Wiki

Remote Device Access also known as RDA allows developers to test their applications on a variety of Symbian based Nokia devices remotely over the Internet. The current setup has total of 20 devices and about 15 different device models. Usage is free of charge for all Forum Nokia members.

Additionally Nokia has recently made an agreement with the S60 lisencees to pilot 1xSamsung and 1xLG devices in the service. The included models are LG KT610 and Samsung SHG-i450. Both are based on Symbian OS 9.2 and S60 3rd ed. FP1. These 2 devices are available on "as is"-basis: Forum Nokia does not offer technical support for them.

Forum Nokia's Remote Device Access site

Access the service

RDA for dummies

RDA description

The main application features are:

• Installing and running applications on the devices. The installer accepts .sis/.sisx and .jar-files
• File transfer client. Transfer files between a device and your PC
• Reboot the device ("softboot"). The devices are automatically rebooted after each usage session.
• Change screen orientation. Works on device that support this feature.
• Change color depth+reduced resolution mode. Can improve the response time.
• Debug logs. For viewing text files and capturing Symbian OS panics.

What can be tested:

• Symbian, Java and Flashlite applications
• Python, Open C - if the required plugin is installed first
• Different types of content, for example themes
• Web technologies, for example Widgets and other types of web applications/pages

Network connectivity:

The RDA devices are supplied with data SIM cards and many of the devices are also WLAN enabled. Developers can test:

• Data services using the predefined RDA (WLAN) and Elisa Internet access points to access the Internet.
• Incoming phone calls and incoming SMSs. This allows developers to test incoming interruptions as specified in Symbian Signed/Java Verified test criteria.
• Other types of networks access (outgoing phone calls, outgoing SMS/MMS etc.) are blocked.
• There is no global positioning system (applies to devices like the Nokia N95) because the devices are located in a lab where the signal strength is limited. However, you can test positioning-based services in RDA using the Simulationpsy positioning simulation tool.

RDA getting started + typical problems

What is needed:

• Forum Nokia user account.
• Java webstart, typically comes with Java Runtime engine. A fairly recent version is needed: http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/
• A standard web browser, such as Mozilla Firefox or Internet explorer.
• Internet connection that allows outgoing traffic to ports 80 and 1200.

Typical problems:

- Errors when trying to launch the Java webstart application

• Make sure that you have Java webstart installed and that your browser can associate JNLP-files with it.

• Make sure that firewalls etc. are not blocking traffic to ports 80 and 1200. Port 1200 may be blocklisted by default on some setups.

- Authentication problems:

• Go to Control Panel->Java->Temporary Internet files. Clean up up the cache, also do the same for browser cache. If you are able to log in for example to the discussion boards, then the login should also works with RDA.

• There is a known issue that the maximum lenght of allowed username for RDA/RPM login is 16 characters. The Forum Nokia CAS authentication (used in webUI) works with longer usernames so affected users are still able to login to webUI (reservation system) but not the devUI (the Java client): users will receive "invalid username/password"-error. The workaround is to create a new Forum Nokia user accoutn with shorter username.

- Further problems - contact the RDA administrator

Tips & tricks

• You can use 2 devices on the same time: just simply click the "Start RDA"-button twice to open 2 instances of the RDA Java webstart client. A use-case for this might be for example testing bluetooth interaction between 2 devices.

• It's recommended that you remove the applications you installed before the usage session ends. The easiest way to do so, is to go to Applications menu of the device, navigate to application icon and click "c"-button to trigger uninstallation. For S60 2nd edition devices you'll have to go to application manager and delete the application from there.

• To make debugging application errors a bit easier, you can write out some debug data on a text file and display it on real time using the "View debug log-console"-feature. For example if you are using a text file named on debug.txt, located on the c:\-root of the device, simple click "Attach new debug-file" and write c:\debug.txt to the address field.
  

Remote Device Access FAQ

Q: What is Forum Nokia’s Remote Device Access (RDA) service?

A: Forum Nokia’s RDA service offers developers remote access to several Symbian platform devices and allows application testing on actual target devices over the Internet

Q: Why is Forum Nokia offering the Remote Device Access (RDA) service?

A: Web-based access makes it easy for developers to test their mobile applications and services on Nokia platform devices at any time during the application development process, without the need to have the devices at hand.

Q: How does the Remote Device Access (RDA) service work?

A: The RDA service consists of a device pool and desktop client application. The client application provides access to device screen and keypad functionality, enabling installation of applications. To test their applications on Nokia platform devices, developers need only an RDA account and a PC with a Web browser. Multiple services can be used simultaneously, and users can select and reserve specific devices.

Q: Who has access to Remote Device Access (RDA)?

A: The RDA service is available to all registered Forum Nokia members.

Q: How does a developer get started with the Remote Device Access (RDA) service?

A: Users log in to the RDA system with their Forum Nokia user name at http://apu.ndhub.net. After they've logged in, a reservation view is displayed. The reservation system works like a calendar: developers make a reservation for a specific device(s) and when the reservation is due, they can proceed to use the service. For more information, see the instructions provided at the Forum Nokia site and the Help section of the application.

Q: How much does the Remote Device Access (RDA) service cost?

A: Registered Forum Nokia members can use RDA free of charge.

Q: I'm trying to launch the RDA application but I get a Java error. What should I do?

A: The most typical problem is outdated or missing Java runtime environment. The RDA Java webstart application requires you have JRE 5.0 or newer installed. Download and install it from: here. You can have several versions of JRE installed if you need to keep an older version for emulator or other purposes.

Q: Can I access network from the RDA devices?

A: The RDA devices are supplied with data SIM-cards and most devices are also WLAN enabled: you can access internet using the pre-defined RDA (WLAN) and Elisa Internet access points. To allow testing incoming interruptions we have also enabled possibility to receive incoming calls and incoming SMSs. Other types of network access is currently blocked (outgoing telephony, outgoing SMS/MMS...).

Links from Forum Nokia Blog

• Remote Device Access - an introduction
• Test on Devices You Don't Have!
• Remote Device Access - Testing on the Latest Devices

External Links

• Remote Device Access service launched by Forum Nokia

Additional articles on FN wiki

• How to access RDA from Carbide
• How to install MIDlets on RDA devices
• Recording video from RDA
• RDA and OGL applications
• RDA and Open C applications
• RDA WLAN settings
• Using positioning simulation tool with RDA

RDA videos

• Demo video
• WLAN access point-settings
• RDA webinar
• Nokia N95 running Widgets (using RDA)
• Positioning simulation tool with RDA (N95)