PalmOS-HOWTO(1).pdf

Palm OS Desktop HOWTO

Sean Buckley

sean@redbug.uklinux.net

David H. Silber palm@orbits.com − Original version

v2.0.1, 03 March 2002

This HOWTO describes the use of Palm OS devices with Linux. Most of the advice is applicable to any

version of the Palm PDA, and also to other devices that use the Palm OS, such as the Handspring Visor and

Sony Clie. Many of the tools described here will also work with other types of Unix, such as FreeBSD.

NOTE: this is a work in progress. There's a lot more I want to write, and I've noted areas that need work (look

for TODO in the text). This version is very much an early draft to get the ball rolling. I would especially

appreciate feedback from users of other combinations of PDA and Linux distribution (I currently use an

m505 with Mandrake 8.1).

Palm OS Desktop HOWTO

Table of Contents

1. Introduction. ....................................................................................................................................................1

1.1. DISCLAIMER. .................................................................................................................................1

1.2. New versions of this documen. ........................................................................................................1

1.3. Major Changes. .................................................................................................................................1

1.4. Copyright and Licensing. ..................................................................................................................1

2. Connecting to the PC. .....................................................................................................................................2

2.1. Serial Connection. .............................................................................................................................2

2.2. Devfs device naming.. .......................................................................................................................2

2.3. USB Connection. ..............................................................................................................................3

2.4. IR Connection. ..................................................................................................................................3

2.5. Network Connection. ........................................................................................................................4

3. The pilot−link suite. ........................................................................................................................................5

3.1. Installing the pilot−link software. ....................................................................................................5

3.2. Using the pilot−link software. ..........................................................................................................5

3.2.1. pilot−xfer. .........................................................................................................................6

3.2.2. install−memo. ...................................................................................................................6

3.2.3. memos. ..............................................................................................................................7

3.2.4. pilot−addresses .................................................................................................................7

4. Coldsync. ..........................................................................................................................................................8

4.1. Installing coldsync. ...........................................................................................................................8

4.2. Using coldsync. .................................................................................................................................8

4.2.1. The .coldsyncrc file. ..........................................................................................................8

4.2.2. The p5−Palm Perl modules. ..............................................................................................9

4.2.3. Coldsync conduits. ............................................................................................................9

5. Desktop Applications.. ..................................................................................................................................11

5.1. JPilot ...............................................................................................................................................11

5.2. Gnome−pilot. ..................................................................................................................................11

5.2.1. The Pilot Link Applet. ....................................................................................................11

5.2.2. The Pilot Conduits Applet. .............................................................................................12

5.3. Evolution. ........................................................................................................................................12

5.4. KPilot. .............................................................................................................................................12

5.5. XNotesPlus. ....................................................................................................................................13

5.6. WMSync. ........................................................................................................................................13

6. Other Software. .............................................................................................................................................14

6.1. The Pyrite Project ...........................................................................................................................14

6.2. MalSync. .........................................................................................................................................14

6.3. PalmPix Decoder. ...........................................................................................................................14

A. Appendix. ......................................................................................................................................................15

A.1. Resources ...................................................................................................................................................16

A.1.1. Pilot−link. ....................................................................................................................................16

A.1.2. Coldsync. ....................................................................................................................................16

Palm OS Desktop HOWTO

Table of Contents

A.1.3. JPilot ...........................................................................................................................................16

A.1.4. Gnome−pilot. ..............................................................................................................................16

A.1.5. KPilot. .........................................................................................................................................17

A.1.6. Other resources ...........................................................................................................................17

A.2. Devices that use the Palm OS. ..................................................................................................................18

A.2.1. Palm. ...........................................................................................................................................18

A.2.2. Handspring. .................................................................................................................................18

A.2.3. Sony. ...........................................................................................................................................18

A.3. A History of Palm OS devices.. ................................................................................................................19

1. Introduction

This document describes how to connect your PalmOS PDA to a computer running Linux, and synchronise

the PDA data with local applications.

1.1. DISCLAIMER

As always with information you read on the net, proceed with caution. Most of the information in this

HOWTO has been tested with the devices to which I have access; an original Palm Pilot Pro and a new Palm

m505. I have tried to indicate instances where I have not been able to test the information.

If you have access to Windows or a Mac, I would recommend backing up your PDA with the provided

software before testing it under Linux. Otherwise, take a backup with the Linux software before attempting to

synchronise.

1.2. New versions of this document

The latest "work in progress" version of this document can be found at

http://www.redbug.uklinux.net/palm/index.html .

1.3. Major Changes

This document was originally called the Palm Howto. Major changes are detailed below.

Revision History

Revision 2.0.1 2002−03−03

Added info about various software that I hadn't even heard of before I got feedback from 2.0.0.

Revision 2.0.0 2002−01−06

Major rewrite to include USB connections and recent PalmOS devices

Revision 1.1.1 1999−02−28

Last version maintained by David Silber.

1.4. Copyright and Licensing

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free

Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no

Invariant Sections, with no Front−Cover Texts, and with no Back−Cover Texts. The full text of the license

can be found at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

1. Introduction

2. Connecting to the PC

The first step to getting your PDA running under Linux is to connect it to your PC. Until recently, all PalmOS

devices connected via a serial cable. The latest devices use USB, and some can also connect via infrared.

Another development allows the PDA to physically connect to one machine on the network and synchronise

remotely with another machine.

2.1. Serial Connection

The serial connection is currently the easiest way to connect your PDA to your PC. Simply connect the cradle

to a serial port, then refer to that port when using coldsync or the pilot−link suite. The serial connection is

slow, but has the advantage of being tried and tested. It should work with any Palm OS device for which a

serial cable is available. Serial cradles and cables are available as accessories for the Palm PDAs, including

those which come with USB cradles as standard.

For convenience, you may wish to create a device called /dev/pilot as a link to the serial port. The

pilot−link suite uses this device by default, so if the link exists it will save you having to specify it each time

you call one of the programs.

To create the link, log on as root and enter the following command:

ln −s /dev/ttyS0 /dev/pilot

Replace /dev/ttyS0 with the serial port to which you have connected the your PDA. The device name

/dev/ttyS0 corresponds to COM1 in DOS/Windows terminology, /dev/ttyS1 is COM2, and so on.

You also need to ensure that you have permission to write to the serial port. On a standalone workstation you

can change the permissions to allow global access to the port. As root, enter the following command:

chmod a+rw /dev/ttyS0

Greater security can be achieved using the group permissions. Set the permissions to read/write for the group

and add the required users to the user list for the group (see man group ). (TODO: More detail).

2.2. Devfs device naming

Recent Linux distributions may use devfs for device naming. In this case /dev/ttyS0 may not exist, or

may be a symbolic link to /dev/tts/0 . This is a new naming scheme brought in with the 2.4 kernel.

Simply replace all references to /dev/ttyS0 with /dev/tts/0 .

If you use symbolic links with devfs, you may find that the links do not persist correctly after you reboot. The

/etc/devfsd.conf file controls the creation of symbolic links to dynamically created devices.

As always, the operation seems to be set up differently under different distributions.

2. Connecting to the PC

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