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).
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1. DISCLAIMER
1.2. New_versions_of_this_document
1.3. Major_Changes
1.4. Copyright_and_Licensing
2. Connecting_to_the_PC
2.1. Serial_Connection
2.2. Devfs_device_naming
2.3. USB_Connection
2.4. IR_Connection
2.5. Network_Connection
3. The_pilot-link_suite
3.1. Installing_the_pilot-link_software
3.2. Using_the_pilot-link_software
4. Coldsync
4.1. Installing_coldsync
4.2. Using_coldsync
5. Desktop_Applications.
5.1. JPilot
5.2. Gnome-pilot
5.3. Evolution
5.4. KPilot
5.5. XNotesPlus
5.6. WMSync
6. Other_Software
6.1. The_Pyrite_Project
6.2. MalSync
6.3. PalmPix_Decoder
A. Appendix
A.1. Resources
A.2. Devices_that_use_the_Palm_OS
A.3. A_History_of_Palm_OS_devices.
1. Introduction
This document describes how to connect your PalmOS PDA to a computer running
Linux, and synchronise the PDA data with local applications.
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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.
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1.4. Copyright and Licensing
This document is copyright © 2001 Sean Buckley and copyright © 1997, 1998 &
1999 David H. Silber.
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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).
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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.
* Manrake 8.1 creates a link from /dev/usb/tts/1 to /dev/pilot when the hotsync
button is pressed on the cradle.
* RedHat 7.2 requires the link to be created manually. The link is then
persistent across boots (thanks to Jim Mueller for this information).
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2.3. USB Connection
USB access to Palm devices is relatively new. The Handspring Visor seems to be
well supported, and works with the pilot-link suite. Currently, the Palm m500
series only works with coldsync, although pilot-link support is in active
development. Update: the current development version of pilot-link, 0.10.x, has
support for USB devices. See the pilot-link section for more about this
release.
To use any USB device under Linux, you need to have USB support in your kernel.
You will also need the relevant modules available. Most (TODO: Check which
distros work out of the box) recent Linux distributions have USB support
enabled by default. To check your system, try the following command as root:
modprobe visor
If you get no output from this command, then the module is available and you do
not need to recompile your kernel. If this does not work, try the alternative
usbserial module:
modprobe usbserial
This is used by some distributions, such as Redhat 7.0.
If you need to set up USB support in your kernel, the Handspring_Visor_with
Linux_mini-HOWTO provides instructions. (TODO: Incorporate into this HOWTO?)
Once USB support is set up, you should use device /dev/ttyUSB1 to communicate
with your PDA. Note that this device name only exists after you have pressed
the hotsync button on the cradle. You must press the button before running the
connection software.
If you have problems synchronising via USB, try an updated kernel. There may be
some timing issues with the USB driver. For example, I found that stock
Mandrake 8.1 did not work on one PC, but worked first time on a faster PC.
Upgrading to a stock 2.4.17 kernel solved the problem and worked fine on both
PCs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.4. IR Connection
The latest Palm devices have infrared (IrDA) ports. If you have one of these,
and a PC with an infrared port, you can synchronise over IrDA and do away with
the cables altogether.
David A. Desrosiers has written a comprehensive HOWTO on the subject. (TODO:
Include this inline?)
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2.5. Network Connection
It is possible to physically connect your PDA to one PC, and synchronise it
with another PC elsewhere on the network. This might be a useful feature if you
need to synchronise with a PC to which you cannot physically connect your PDA.
Once again David A. Desrosiers has written a (less comprehensive) HOWTO on the
subject. (TODO: Include this inline? Not convinced of the value of this method
- anyone care to comment?)
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3. The pilot-link suite
The pilot-link suite provides the tools for communicating with your PDA. The
pilot-link programs provide the background functionality for many higher level
programs, but can also be used on their own as command line tools.
Most distributions come with the pilot-link suite available as an optional
package. The package will be available on the installation media or from the
ftp site of the distribution. Install the package in the usual way for your
distribution. You may also need development versions of the packages if you
wish to compile any software that uses pilot-link.
Note: Unless otherwise specified, the details below refer to the 0.9.x release
of pilot-link. The version in development is 0.10.x. This version contains
support for USB devices, and has been updated to ensure greater consistency
between the various utilities. Once 0.10.x is officially released, this
document will be updated for the new version.
If you upgrade to 0.10.x, you will also need to update applications which use
pilot-link. In particular, J-Pilot and gnome-pilot need modifications to work
with 0.10.x. J-Pilot 0.99.2 should work with the latest version of pilot-link.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1. Installing the pilot-link software
The pilot-link suite comes with most major Linux distributions, including
RedHat, Mandrake, SUSE and Debian. If you intend to compile applications which
rely on pilot-link, you may need to install development packages as well.
If you use a distribution that does not come with pilot-link, or you need a
more recent version, you can find the latest release at www.pilot-link.org. As
well as the current version, you will find a link to the latest CVS snapshot.
Once you have the downloaded the source, unpack and compile it as follows:
tar -zxvf pilot-link.0.9.5.tar.gz cd pilot-link.0.9.5
./configure
make
make install
The programs can be run directly from the directory in which they were
compiled. You may wish to test them before running make install. For more
information, see the README file that comes with pilot-link.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2. Using the pilot-link software
Most of the programs in the pilot-link suite are conduits, that is they
transfer data into or out of your Palm OS device.
Each time you use of one of the programs, press the HotSync button on your
PDA's cradle. This will initiate the PDA side of the data transfer. Note that
not all of these programs prompt you to press the `HotSync' button, so you may
have to remember to do it yourself.
For more details, view the corresponding manual page. There is an overview
manual page under the name pilot-link.
The pilot-link programs all use the same method of determining the location of
your PDA:
* If a device is specified on the command line, that device will be used
regardless of the other settings.
* If the environment variable $PILOTPORT is set, that will be used unless a
port is specified on the command line.
* If no port is specified on the command line, and the $PILOTPORT variable is
not set, /dev/pilot will be used.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2.1. pilot-xfer
Possibly the most useful program in the pilot-link suite, pilot-xfer allows you
to install programs on your Palm OS device, make a backup, and restore that
backup.
To install a program:
pilot-xfer /dev/pilot -i program.prc
To backup your Palm OS device:
pilot-xfer /dev/pilot -b backup-directory
This will copy all of the databases on your Palm OS device, (including
programs?) to a directory called ``backup-directory'', creating it if it does
not already exist.
To restore data to Palm OS device:
pilot-xfer /dev/pilot -r backup-directory
Generally, you will only need to do this if your Palm OS device loses power or
if you have to do a hard reset.
To list the programs on your Palm OS device:
pilot-xfer /dev/pilot -l
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3.2.2. install-memo
To install a memo into your (already existing) project category:
install-memo /dev/pilot -c project project.memo
The name of the file will be inserted into the memo as its first line and will
appear in the directory of memos on your Palm OS device.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2.3. memos
This program grabs each memo from the Palm OS device and prints it out in
standard mailbox format.
To view your memos:
memos /dev/pilot
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3.2.4. pilot-addresses
Transfer the address database to or from your PDA.
To write your address data to a Linux file from your PDA:
pilot-addresses /dev/pilot -w storage.file
To read your address data from a Linux file onto your PDA:
pilot-addresses /dev/pilot -r file
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4. Coldsync
Coldsync is an alternative to the pilot-link suite for transferring data to and
from your PalmOS device. Like pilot-link, it can synchronise, backup and
restore Palm databases.
There are fewer applications available which use coldsync as their backend.
That may change, but it seems to reflect a difference in philosophy between
coldsync and pilot-link. Applications that sync using pilot-link tend to build
in the functionality for synchronisation. It is therefore the author of the
application that decides to include pilot-link support.
Coldsync takes a different approach. Conduits can be written to use coldsync
with almost any application. The synchronisation process can be entirely
transparent to the application. If the application author is not interested in
adding PDA support, it does not matter. As long as the data format of the
application is available, someone else can write the conduit.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1. Installing coldsync
Some Linux distributions are carrying coldsync, but it is not yet as widely
available as pilot-link. It is also a younger application, so you are more
likely to need to compile from source.
You can find the latest release of coldsync at www.ooblick.com/software/
coldsync. As well as the current version, you will find a link to the latest
CVS snapshot.
Once you have the downloaded the source, compile it as follows:
tar -xvzf
colsync-2.2.5.tar.gz
cd coldsync-2.2.5
./configure
make
make install
You can run coldsync directly from the src directory. For more information, see
the README file that comes with coldsync.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.2. Using coldsync
4.2.1. The .coldsyncrc file
By default, coldsync reads configuration parameters from a file called
.coldsyncrc in your home directory. The -f flag overrides the default if you
need to use an alternative configuration file. In addition, some of the
parameters in the configuration file can be set or overridden on the command
line.
The following is an example of a .coldsyncrc file:
listen serial {
device: "/dev/palm";
protocol: default;
transient;
}
pda "My Palm" {
snum: "L0PK17C13832-M";
username: "Sean";
userid: 1234;
directory:
"/home/sean/m505";
default;
}
This example tells coldsync to look for a serial port connection on /dev/palm.
The transient keyword tells coldsync that the device may not exist until the
user presses the Hotsync button. The pda section tells coldsync the serial
number of the device, the username and id of the user and the directory to
which the device will be backed up.
The coldsync configuration file is well documented in the man page (man
coldsync), but it is worth repeating some points:
* Do not use a userid of 0 in your PDA section. This can lead to a loss of data
if you need to perform a hard reset of your Palm.
* If you have a Palm m505 with a USB cradle under Linux, you should not use
listen usb. Instead use listen serial with protocol: simple;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.2.2. The p5-Palm Perl modules
P5-Palm is a set of Perl modules for communicating with a Palm device via
coldsync, and can be downloaded from the coldsync site. The purpose of the p5-
Palm modules is to simplify and speed up the creation of conduits.
You should install p5-Palm if you want to use any of the coldsync conduits. You
do not need p5-Palm if you will only be using coldsync for simple backups.
To install the modules:
tar -zxvf p5-Palm-1.2.4.tar.gz
cd p5-Palm-1.2.4
perl Makefile.PL
make
make install
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4.2.3. Coldsync conduits
A number of conduits are available for coldsync. These conduits use coldsync to
synchronise other applications with your PDA. The conduits generally require
the p5-Palm Perl modules described above.
The list of conduits is available at http://www.ooblick.com/software/coldsync/
conduits/.
The conduits require an entry in your .coldsyncrc configuration file. To find
out what should be entered, run /path/conduit -config, where path is the
location of the conduit.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Desktop Applications.
This section describes applications which can synchronise their data with your
PDA. The applications generally use pilot-link to provide communication with
the PDA. Coldsync provides conduit capabilities to application that are not
specifically written with PDAs in mind.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1. JPilot
JPilot is a Personal Information Manager (PIM) that provides a replacement for
the Palm Desktop software provided for Windows and the Mac. JPilot provides
desktop versions of the Palm address book, todo list, calendar and memopad.
JPilot can also be used to install applications onto the PDA.
JPilot is available with most Linux distributions. You can also download JPilot
from http://www.jpilot.org. To use JPilot you must have pilot-link installed.
As JPilot is a gtk+ application, you will also need gtk+.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2. Gnome-pilot
Gnome-pilot aims to provide PDA connectivity for the Gnome desktop. Gnome-pilot
provides conduits for the Gnome PIM applications, a control centre applet for
configuring the link, and a panel applet for dislaying the hotsync status.
Gnome-pilot uses a daemon process to communicate with the PDA via pilot-link.
Client applications use the daemon, rather than call pilot-link directly. The
daemon must be running in order to use the client applications such as the
conduits.
Gnome-pilot should be available as part of Gnome. The home page for the project
is at http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnome-pilot/.
Gnome-pilot configuration is done through the Gnome control centre. If you have
gnome-pilot installed, you should have a "Pilot Link" section under the
peripherals section of the control centre.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2.1. The Pilot Link Applet
The Gnome control panel Pilot Link applet allows you to configure your PDA for
use with Gnome. You must set up your PDA before you can use any of the Gnome
conduits.
The first step is to add a device. Start the Gnome control centre, and click on
"Pilot Link" in the left hand pane. The right hand pane should show the pilot
link applet.
* Click on the devices tab, then click "Add". You should see the "Device
Settings" dialog box.
* The "Name" field can contain anything to help you identify the port that you
create.
* The "Port" field should contain the port to which you attach your PDA. The
port should be the same as you use for pilot-link.
* The speed and timeout values will depend on your device. Try the defaults,
and change them if you have problems synchronising.
* The "Type" should be set to your device type.
Once you have configured the device, you can configure the actual PDA:
* Click on the "Pilots" tab, then click on "Add...". You should then see the
"Pilot Settings" dialog box.
* If you already have a user name set up on the PDA, click "Get from pilot" to
download the username and ID. Otherwise, click "Send to pilot" to set up your
username on the PDA.
* The "Pilot Attributes" allow you to name your PDA and set a local directory
to use for the conduits.
* The "Sync action" determines what happens when you press the hotsync button
on your PDA. The default is "Use conduit settings". This allows you to
customise set different sync actions for each conduit.
Once you have configured your PDA, you need to configure the conduits.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2.2. The Pilot Conduits Applet
Start the Gnome control centre, then click on "Pilot Conduits" in the left hand
pane. If you have a PDA configured in the pilot link applet, you will see a
list of available conduits. If you have more than one PDA, you can use the drop
down list to select the one that you wish to configure.
Each available conduit starts out disabled. To enable a conduit, select it in
the list and click on "Enable". You will then be given a choice of methods for
synchronisation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.3. Evolution
Evolution is a Microsoft Outlook clone for Gnome from Ximian. Evolution comes
with a conduit for gnome-pilot. The conduit can be configured through the
gnome-pilot conduits control centre applet described above.
Warning: Mandrake 8.1 comes with a beta version of Evolution. This version
seems to have a bug whereby it does not correctly identify records when
synching. This can lead to records being duplicated on the PDA.
The latest version of Evolution can be downloaded from http://www.ximian.com.
Evolution is designed mainly for use with Ximian Gnome, and installing it
independently involves resolving a number of dependencies.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.4. KPilot
KPilot is the KDE equivalent of Gnome-pilot. KPilot provides basic PIM
functionality, as well as conduits to KDE applications such as KOrganizer.
As with gnome-pilot, kpilot uses a pilot-link via a daemon process.
KPilot is available from http://www.slac.com/pilone/kpilot_home
TODO: Again, I don't really use KDE, but will give it a spin.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.5. XNotesPlus
XNotesPlus provides a means to post small notes on your X-Windows desktop.
These notes can be shared as memos with your PalmOS device.
In addition to the notes, XNotesPlus provides PIM features, and integrates the
notes feature with the todo list and addressbook. Note that XNotesPlus does not
perform a true synchronisation, but simply replaces changed databases.
The XNotesPlus web page at http://www.graphics-muse.org/xnotes/xnotes.html
contains full installation and use instructions.
XNotes is shareware, and not freely distributable.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.6. WMSync
If you use WindowMaker, this might be useful. From the website:
Wmsync is a WindowMaker dockapp that starts your favourite sync program for
your Palm(TM) PDA. It displays a small animation when syncing. It is controlled
by a small perl script via SIGUSR1 and SIGUSR2 so it is highly customizable.
That´s all.
Wmsync is available from http://home.t-online.de/home/db7ne/wmsync.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Other Software
6.1. The Pyrite Project
Pyrite Publisher is a tool to convert documents to and from the Doc format used
by electronic books for the Palm PDA. Compressed zTXT files are also supported.
Pyrite Publisher is written in Python, with an optional module in C for
enhanced data compression performance.
The library used to communicate with the Palm is available separately, as
python-libpisock. The library is a python binding for the pilot-unix libpisock
library.
Pyrite is available from http://www.pyrite.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.2. MalSync
Malsync is a command line tool for synchronising Palm PDAs with the AvantGo
server. AvantGo is a - well, you'll know what it is if you use it.
Unfortunately the website is a masterpiece of marketspeak.
Malsync is available from http://www.tomw.org/malsync
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.3. PalmPix Decoder
The PalmPix decoder extracts pictures from a PalmPix database. The PalmPix is a
digital camera attachment for Palm PDAs.
The PalmPix decoder is available from http://www.geocities.com/aa_soft/
PalmPix.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Appendix
A.1. Resources
Information resources for Linux/Palm applications
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.1.1. Pilot-link
* Website http://www.pilot-link.org
* General mailing list http://www.pilot-link.org/mailman/listinfo/pilot-link-
general/ .General discussions about pilot-link, conduit ideas, wish list
items and anything else.
* General mailing list archive http://www.pilot-link.org/pipermail/pilot-link-
general/
* Announcement mailing list http://www.pilot-link.org/mailman/listinfo/pilot-
link-announce/ . Announcements for pilot-link releases, conduits, third-party
tools and applications.
* Announcement mailing list archive http://www.pilot-link.org/pipermail/pilot-
link-announce/
* Development mailing list http://www.pilot-link.org/mailman/listinfo/pilot-
link-devel/ . Development list for pilot-link code, releases, patches,
conduits, bugs, testing.
* Development mailing list archive http://www.pilot-link.org/pipermail/pilot-
link-devel/
* "Next Generation" pilot-unix mailing list http://www.pilot-link.org/mailman/
listinfo/pilot-unix-ng/ . Development list for pilot-link code, releases,
patches, conduits, bugs, testing.
* "Next Generation" pilot-unix mailing list archive http://www.pilot-link.org/
pipermail/pilot-unix-ng/ . Replaces the old pilot-unix list that is now
offline.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.1.2. Coldsync
* Website: http://www.ooblick.com/software/coldsync
* Mailing list: send an email to coldsync-hackers-request@lusars.net with the
word subscribe in the body.
* Mailing list archive: http://www.thedotin.net/maillists/coldsync-hackers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.1.3. JPilot
* Website: http://www.jpilot.org
* Mailing list:send an email to listar@moongroup.com with the word subscribe in
the subject.
* Mailing list archive:http://www.moongroup.com/archives/jpilot
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.1.4. Gnome-pilot
* Website:http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnome-pilot
* Mailing list:http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gnome-pilot-list
* Mailing list archive:http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-pilot-list/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.1.5. KPilot
* Website:http://www.slac.com/pilone/kpilot_home
* Mailing list: There is no specific KPilot list, but you can use the kde-pim
list. To subscribe, send an email to kde-pim-request@kde.org with subscribe
followed by your email address in the subject.
* Mailing list archive:http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-pim&r=1&w=2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.1.6. Other resources
* XNotesPlus website: http://www.graphics-muse.org/xnotes/xnotes.html
* WMSync website: http://home.t-online.de/home/db7ne/wmsync.html
* The Pyrite Project website: http://www.pyrite.org/
* Malsync website: http://www.tomw.org/malsync/
* PalmPix decoder website: http://www.geocities.com/aa_soft/PalmPix.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.2. Devices that use the Palm OS
This is an overview of the range of devices that work with the software
detailed in this HOWTO.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.2.1. Palm
* Pilot 1000, 5000, PalmPilot Personal, PalmPilot Pro. The original Palm PDAs,
no longer in production. These should work over a serial port connection.
* Palm IIIe, IIIx, IIIxe, IIIc. The III series, again no longer in production.
These should work over a serial port connection. The first colour Palm, the
IIIc, had an optional USB connection, but the serial interface is required
for Linux.
* Palm V, Vx. The V series, again no longer in production. These introduced the
IR interface, and it should be possible to synch them via an IR port on a
suitably equipped PC. They also work over the serial port connection.
* Palm VII, VIIx. The VII series, again no longer in production. These
introduced the built in wireless connection. They feature an optional USB
connection, but the serial interface is required for Linux.
* Palm VII, VIIx. The VII series, again no longer in production. These
introduced the built in wireless connection. They feature an optional USB
connection, but the serial interface is required for Linux.
* Palm m100, m105. The current entry level Palm PDAs. These should work over a
serial port connection.
* Palm m500, m505. The latest version of the IR connection enabled Palm. They
come with USB cradles as standard, and should synch over USB. An optional
serial cable is available if USB synchronisation is not possible,
* Palm i705. The latest Palm with wireless network connection capability. It
synchronises via USB. No reports yet on whether it works with Linux over USB.
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A.2.2. Handspring
* Visor. The Handspring Visor series of PDAs come with USB cradles. Serial
cables are also available. USB is better supported under Linux for the Visor
than for Palm PDAs, so USB should work with few problems.
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A.2.3. Sony
* Clie. Sony's higher resolution version of the Palm PDA.
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A.3. A History of Palm OS devices.
This section is included unchanged from the original document. It's clearly out
of date, and I'm not sure if it's worth keeping in. It's a bit offtopic for a
Linux howto, and the effort of keeping it current seems a bit pointless.
Instead I've added a section detailing devices that use the Palm operating
system, and which therefore should work with the instructions in this HOWTO.
There are two versions of the Pilot. They are the 1000 and the 5000 and have
128k and 512k of RAM, respectively. They come with Palm OS 1.0 in ROM.
Then came two devices with the name PalmPilot. They are the PalmPilot Personal
and the PalmPilot Professional and have 512k and 1 Meg of RAM, respectively.
They also have a backlighting feature for the LCD panel and version 2.0 of the
operating system. The Professional also comes with a TCP/IP stack and a few
extra programs built-in.
IBM has released a rebadged version of the PalmPilot Professional, which they
call a WorkPad.
Now we have the Palm III, which has a redesigned case and an infrared port, not
to mention the 2 Meg of RAM and Palm OS 3.0.
There is an announced product from Qualcomm, called the pdQ smartphone, which
is a cell phone that incorporates a Palm OS PDA. Don't get all excited about it
yet, it will not be released until sometime in 1999.
It is possible to upgrade any Pilot by swapping out the memory card, which
includes both RAM & ROM. Of course, this doesn't get you backlighting for the
original Pilot series.