Palm on MAC OS X (Pete's notes)

Get the Palm Desktop software from the Palm website. After I installed it, I had to reboot to get the HotSync Manager started, and then I HotSync'd.

Get the Meeting Maker stuff from the UCAR F&A website. Once you've run Meeting Maker once to load all the scheduling data, go ahead and configure the HotSync Manager Conduit Settings and set the Meeting Maker password. You should then be able to do a HotSync. If it doesn't work, make sure you have HotSync Manager started. If it still doesn'twork, make sure you have HotSync Manager's settings set correctly, as described in the next paragraph.

(the following stuff is documented in the Keyspan:USB Serial Adapter for Mac OS X-v2.x User Manual, see the "Configuration Examples for Mac OS X" section, in the "Palm Desktop" subsection).

Configure HotSync Manager
With the Palm in the cradle, the cradle connected te the Keyspan, and the Keyspan connected to the Mac, start or restart HotSync Manager. From the HotSync Manager menubar, click HotSync->Setup.... Click the Connection Settings tab. If the KeySpan is plugged in, you should see a "Connection" named keyserial-port. Check the radio button next to it and uncheck all the others. Select it and click Settings. Set the Connection to Serial and set the speed to "As fast as possible". Click the HotSync Controls tab. Check the "HotSync Enabled" button. You should be able to HotSync now.

To HotSync
Once HotSync Manager is configured, to do a HotSync just:

  1. With the Palm in the cradle, the cradle connected te the Keyspan, and the Keyspan connected to the Mac, start or restart HotSync Manager.
  2. Press the HotSync button on the cradle. If it doesn't work, go to the HotSync Manager Settings and make sure the Enabled button is checked. While it's running, don't change windows - wait for it to complete.
WARNING: when you do a HotSync, and the Mac displays the HotSync Progress window, leave it active until the HotSync completes. It seems to pause whenever it doesn't have focus!

If you think you want to use iSync to synchronize your Mac Address Book and iCal to the Palm, think again. When I tried to install the iSyncPalm thing, it said that in order to work properly with the Palm device it would have to disable the "MM Date Conduit". So I didn't pursue the iSync thing. Sigh.


Pete Siemsen
Last modified: Mon Mar 13 11:27:20 MST 2006