PDAs

[+wrtiii]

I've got a line locally on a few different pda's... What works for a pda without major headaches or messing around. I can wait if need be if all of these would be big No No's or I can find something worth a bit more if I need to.

 

Currently looking at -

 

Palm VII Handheld PDA

Palm PDA IIIxe

and

Palm V w/docking station

 

They are all being sold for $20 but it does not seem from what I saw that the best one is necesarrily the chronological one.

 

Advice Please.

 

Thanks,

 

Bill

[ao318]

Not sure which would be best. I used a Palm Tungston E2 with cachemate and GSAK on a laptop running XP. One thing I have read here on the forums, is that these units do not work on some of the newer computers. Maybe someone else can better answer this.

[NordicMan]

Well of those, I think the VII is the "newest" one and I'll use that term loosely

 

As long as you get the data cable with it, and your computer isn't 64 bit, $20 is a cheap investment and will get your PDA learning curve off to a flying start!

[+wrtiii]

So What If I told you I purchased a Palm IIIxe and intend to use it with a 64bit laptop that has no rs232 serial port?

[jholly]

So What If I told you I purchased a Palm IIIxe and intend to use it with a 64bit laptop that has no rs232 serial port?

 

I would say you bought a nice paperweight.

[+wrtiii]

Whelp, whoever claimed it is not possible was mistaken.

 

I purchased a Palm IIIxe, and I went to future shop to get a usb to serial cable. $57 dollars they are insane.

 

So I came home got out my soldering iron googled the pin outs for serial and usb cables, and make my own usb to serial cable. I could find the schmatics again for it if needed

 

Plugged it in got the famous usb conections sound but no drivers.

 

Dig some digging around found that need to use a newer palm desktop

 

You can find a program called PalmHotSync from Pimloco Software that will solve that issue.

 

At any rate it's now midnight but problem solved.

 

So for anyone reading this Yes It is Possible for older palms to work with Windows 7 64 Bit USB. but for the hassle probaly easier j just to buy a newer pda

 

cheers,

[+Chrysalides]

Whelp, whoever claimed it is not possible was mistaken.

 

So I came home got out my soldering iron googled the pin outs for serial and usb cables, and make my own usb to serial cable. I could find the schmatics again for it if needed

I call your bluff. You cannot convert USB to RS-232 with only pinout changes. You need a bridge chip in between.

 

You can get a USB to RS-232 adapter for below $10.

[jholly]

Whelp, whoever claimed it is not possible was mistaken.

 

I purchased a Palm IIIxe, and I went to future shop to get a usb to serial cable. $57 dollars they are insane.

 

So I came home got out my soldering iron googled the pin outs for serial and usb cables, and make my own usb to serial cable. I could find the schmatics again for it if needed

 

Plugged it in got the famous usb conections sound but no drivers.

 

Dig some digging around found that need to use a newer palm desktop

 

You can find a program called PalmHotSync from Pimloco Software that will solve that issue.

 

At any rate it's now midnight but problem solved.

 

So for anyone reading this Yes It is Possible for older palms to work with Windows 7 64 Bit USB. but for the hassle probaly easier j just to buy a newer pda

 

cheers,

 

Have you actually done a hot sync? The palm destops don't have 64-bit usb drivers, and the PalmHotSync seems to be more for handling legacy formats on the newer desktop. Doesn't say anything about providing 64-bit drivers. Without the 64-bit drivers your not going to get the usb to work.

 

As for buying a new PDA, yes that is a better approach. With a PDA with a SD card you can get things on and off the PDA. The M500's are still pretty cheap.

Edited April 22, 2010 by jholly

[+wrtiii]

 

I call your bluff. You cannot convert USB to RS-232 with only pinout changes. You need a bridge chip in between.

 

UART CP2102

[NordicMan]

Hi wrtii I wish you the best in your task. If you do manage to get Palm HotSync working properly on a 64 bit PC using a USB-to-serial adapter then PLEASE post the steps on how to do it, as no one else has been able to do that! (yet )

[+wrtiii]

Ok So What software does everyone like?

 

Seems I am finding mostly outdated info?

 

Seems to be between Cachemate and GPXSonar although Sonar seems to be dead?

 

What I want to be able to do is carry my palm with me for notes, hints, etc. and use it to record TB numbers and what not.

 

I'm going to assume I can't do much for images on this Palm III but maybe it can handle monochrome stuff? lol

 

Anyways, What's a good working setup? (i should've bought something with color )

[NordicMan]

Yep Cachemate is one of the most popular softwares used on Palm PDA's, I used it for years on my Treo650.

 

You do need to get the Palm Desktop HotSync process functioning first, as Cachemate uses that tool as a conduit

 

http://kb.palm.com/wps/portal/kb/common/ar...e/37014_en.html

[+monahmat]

I have a palm m500 w/ cachemate working on Windows 7 64bit. Are others having trouble getting this to work? Vista 64 and Windows 7 64 bit have the ability to emulate 32 bit and should run palm desktop properly. However, I cannot confirm this when using a RS-232 connection, only USB.

[+Chrysalides]

Have you actually done a hot sync? The palm destops don't have 64-bit usb drivers, and the PalmHotSync seems to be more for handling legacy formats on the newer desktop. Doesn't say anything about providing 64-bit drivers. Without the 64-bit drivers your not going to get the usb to work.

 

As for buying a new PDA, yes that is a better approach. With a PDA with a SD card you can get things on and off the PDA. The M500's are still pretty cheap.

If he's actually using a bridge chip between serial and USB (instead of directly connecting the two cables as implied in line 3 in post #6), he doesn't need Palm drivers, only drivers for the bridge chip, so that it appears as a serial port to Palm desktop. Has anyone verified that Palm Desktop works with the older RS232 units (e.g. Palm V, III series) with a computer with RS-232 port? It should work.

 

Unless you have equipment for soldering and making your own PCB, knows how to use them, and can get the bridge chip cheap (including shipping), it's cheaper and less time consuming to just get a $10 adapter.

[jholly]

I have a palm m500 w/ cachemate working on Windows 7 64bit. Are others having trouble getting this to work? Vista 64 and Windows 7 64 bit have the ability to emulate 32 bit and should run palm desktop properly. However, I cannot confirm this when using a RS-232 connection, only USB.

 

I have no troubles with my M500 and Win 7. My comments. I have learned that rfbackup works for the transfer from handheld to SD card. The downside is it transfers everything instead of the single file like fileman.

 

It is true that Win 7 can emulate XP Home, but the problem is that every time you want to use the USB for the hot sync you have to go through the set up. It does not survive a reboot. It seemed painful to me when the SD card approach was simple and easy.

Edited April 22, 2010 by jholly