G.Richard Keech
2003-01-30 initial release
The Palm Pilot m5xx series uses USB for synchronisation. Existing instructions available regarding Palm Pilots didn't account for USB, and were not particularly relevant to Red Hat Linux. This document plugs that gap.
gpilotd. The gnome-pilot package is used to synchronise with the Evolution personal information manager. The gpilotd daemon (provided by gnome-pilot) needs to be running for the synchronisation to happen. To get gpilotd to run on login, create an executable file, gpilotd in /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d/ as follows:
#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/gpilotd&
gpilotd-control-applet. The gnome-pilot package provides the program gpilotd-control-applet, which can be called from the command line in its own right, or is invoked through Evolution's menu system from Tools -> Pilot Settings. It can also be invoked from the Blue Curve desktop Hat Menu -> Preferences -> Pilot/Handspring tool.
Update version. The version of gnome-pilot that comes with Red Hat 8.0 (gnome-pilot version 0.1.65-8) has a problem in that the conduits tab sheet is not available. A modified version (0.1.65-10 )is available which fixes this. You can find it by googling for gnome-pilot-0.1.65-10 or from http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/gnomehide/8.0/RPMS/gnome-pilot-0.1.65-10.i386.html.
Files. The default location for files saved using gpilotd is ~/MyPilot. This is the directory where you should put Palm Pilot applications (prc files) if you want them loaded onto the pilot.
Devices. With Red Hat Linux (up to and including v 8) the device detection and configuration of Palm Pilots is not automatic. The USB Palm Pilot requires the use of the /dev/ttyUSB1 device, which would normally be linked to /dev/pilot as follows:
cd /dev
ln -s ttyUSB1 pilot
chmod 600 ttyUSB1
chown <username>.uucp ttyUSB1
Initial setup. Run gpilotd-control-applet. When run for the first time it will prompt for device setup. Specify:
device: /dev/pilot
speed: 57600
type: Mindspring USB
When prompted, press the sync button on the pilot. If it beeps then you are ok.
The utility lsusb will list the devices on the USB bus. The palm pilot is only on the bus during the sync operation, so don't be surprised if lsusb doesn't show the Palm Pilot initially. You need to be root to run lsusb.
Here is an example before and after pressing the sync button.
Before:
# lsusb -t
Bus# 2
`-Dev# 1 Vendor 0x0000 Product 0x0000
Bus# 1
`-Dev# 1 Vendor 0x0000 Product 0x0000
`-Dev# 2 Vendor 0x046d Product 0xc20d
# lsusb -t
After:
Bus# 2
`-Dev# 1 Vendor 0x0000 Product 0x0000
Bus# 1
`-Dev# 1 Vendor 0x0000 Product 0x0000
|-Dev# 5 Vendor 0x0830 Product 0x0003
`-Dev# 2 Vendor 0x046d Product 0xc20d
Process. If the sync is not happening, ensure that gpilotd is running.
# ps auxw|grep gpilotd
rkeech 3954 0.0 2.2 23396 5688 ? S Jan27 0:01 /usr/bin/gpilotd
rkeech 26084 0.0 0.2 3240 608 pts/0 R 13:04 0:00 grep gpilotd
Log messages. Another thing to check is the file /var/log/messages. The
following records the messages generated during a successful sync operation:
Feb 2 13:07:50 ender kernel: hub.c: USB new device connect on bus1/1, assigned device number 8
Feb 2 13:07:50 ender kernel: usbserial.c: Palm 4.0 converter detected
Feb 2 13:07:50 ender kernel: visor.c: Palm 4.0: Number of ports: 2
Feb 2 13:07:50 ender kernel: visor.c: Palm 4.0: port 1, is for Generic use and is bound to ttyUSB0
Feb 2 13:07:50 ender kernel: visor.c: Palm 4.0: port 2, is for HotSync use and is bound to ttyUSB1
Feb 2 13:07:50 ender kernel: usbserial.c: Palm 4.0 converter now attached to ttyUSB0 (or usb/tts/0 for devfs)
Feb 2 13:07:50 ender kernel: usbserial.c: Palm 4.0 converter now attached to ttyUSB1 (or usb/tts/1 for devfs)
Feb 2 13:07:53 ender /etc/hotplug/usb.agent: Setup visor for USB product 830/3/100
Feb 2 13:07:56 ender kernel: usb.c: USB disconnect on device 8
Feb 2 13:07:56 ender kernel: usbserial.c: Palm 4.0 converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
Feb 2 13:07:56 ender kernel: usbserial.c: Palm 4.0 converter now disconnected from ttyUSB1