[NBLUG/talk] HotSync difficulty

[Lincoln Peters]

On Thursday 02 February 2006 13:22, Bob Blick wrote:
> > First of all, I should mention that I ended up exchanging the Palm Z22
> > for a
> > Palm TX this afternoon, as the Z22 quickly proved inadequate for what I
> > wanted to do.
>
> What did you want to do with it?

OK, "inadequate" may be an oversimplification.  I gave up on the Z22 because 
the alarm wasn't loud enough, I couldn't get it to do vibrating alarms, and 
using Graffiti in that tiny box (seemed smaller than the m515) was just to 
awkward.

Aside from that, I searched Google and could not find ANY accounts of anyone 
successfully sync'ing a Z22 with anything on Linux.  (OK, so I should have 
looked that up *before* purchasing the Z22.)

>
> > It seems that every new PDA on the market is set up by default to sync
> > via a
> > USB cable.
>
> It's the least common denominator now. Many computers come without serial
> ports - USB is faster too, and since storage is bigger on newer PDAs,
> speed is an issue.

I know.  My only complaint is that USB always seems to be disproportionately 
more difficult under Linux.

>
> > I suppose I could hook up the Palm TX to a Windows computer with a
> > modified
> > USB cable and do a bit of packet sniffing to make a working sync driver,
> > but
>
> Unlikely unless you become a USB expert first, and then build some neat
> custom hardware.

Exactly--I don't have the time or the patience for that.

>
> Either your old M515 did everything you need, in which case you should
> continue to use it or get another old Palm device that has serial.
> Eventually you will get info on how to make USB sync to work.

Emphasis on it *did* everything I need.  I've been experiencing frequent 
random crashes as of last week.

>
> If the old M515 doesn't fit your needs, why not get something that runs
> Linux, like a Zaurus, or can be made to run Linux, like an iPaq? I have a
> Zaurus, and although battery life isn't great, there are such things as
> external battery packs(very cheap), and spare batteries(not so cheap),
> both of which I have and so I never have to worry about running out of
> juice. You can get a Zaurus in like-new condition for $150. Same for a
> decent iPaq.

Fair enough, but I didn't see any Zauruses available by retail, and I don't 
want to have to wait for a PDA to be mailed to me unless I have a compelling 
reason to do so.


Why am I in such a hurry?  The Spring semester at SSU started on Monday.  All 
week before then (1/21 through 1/28), I was in Los Angeles.  If I remember 
correctly, the m515 started crashing on Monday, 1/23.  I returned from Los 
Angeles on the afternoon of Saturday, 1/28, which only left me about 36 hours 
in which to try to find a replacement.

I've managed to survive the first week at SSU without fully resolving this 
issue, but I am not an organized person by nature, so I don't want to let 
this drag on any longer than necessary.

>
> BTW, if you look at the help-wanted ads, it looks like Palm is heading
> towards Linux.

How ironic.


-- 
Lincoln Peters
<sampln at sbcglobal.net>

Perfection is acheived only on the point of collapse.
- C. N. Parkinson

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