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8.7 Synchronizing with a Palm

There are several tools that you can use to synchronize your Palm and
Linux system. pilot-xfer, which is part of the
pilot-link (http://www.pilot-link.org/) package, lets you
synchronize your Palm to a directory. You can synchronize to
KDE address books, calendars, etc.
with KPilot (http://www.slac.com/pilone/kpilot_home/).
GNOME-Pilot
(http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnome-pilot/)
lets you do the same with GNOME applications.

In each of these applications, you'll be asked to press the HotSync button somewhere along the way. When this happens, launch HotSync on your Palm, select IR to a PC/Handheld, and click the on-screen HotSync button (not the HotSync button on your cable or cradle), as shown in Figure 8-17.

8.7.1 KPilot

You can use KPilot
as a free alternative to the Palm Desktop software for Windows and
Mac OS X. To set up KPilot with your Palm over infrared:

Launch KPilot (select it from a menu or run the command
kpilot). The main window appears as shown in Figure 8-14.

Figure 8-14. The KPilot main window

Click Settings Configure KPilot. The settings window
appears, as shown in Figure 8-15. Specify
/dev/ircommN (where
N is the number of your infrared device,
usually 0) as the Pilot device and click OK.

Figure 8-15. Setting the Pilot device in KPilot

The main window should update to display the following (if it
doesn't, check your IrDA configuration):

13:05:54  Trying to open device...
13:05:54  Device link ready.

Next, click Settings Configure Conduits to choose the kind
of information you want to synchronize. The conduit configuration
window appears, as shown in Figure 8-16. Select each
conduit you want, and click Enable. Click OK when you are done.

Figure 8-16. Selecting which conduits to use in KPilot

To synchronize with your Palm:

Place your Palm's infrared port in range of that of
your Linux system.

On your Palm, click the on-screen HotSync button as shown in Figure 8-17.

The first time you sync, you may get a dialog indicating that the
Palm already has a username associated with it. If you
haven't synced the Palm before, the dialog may be
slightly different.

The KPilot window shows the progress of the HotSync as it
continues.

Figure 8-17. Starting a HotSync from the Palm

8.7.2 pilot-link

Use the pilot-xfer utility to back up, sync, or
restore your Palm (see the pilot-xfer manpage for a
complete list of options and features). For example, to sync your
Palm into the ~/Palm directory, use the
--sync option and specify
/dev/ircommN (where
N is the number of your infrared device,
usually 0) as the port with the -p option:

bjepson@linux:~> pilot-xfer -p /dev/ircomm0 --sync ~/Palm
Listening to port: /dev/ircomm0
Please press the HotSync button now... Connected
Synchronizing /home/bjepson/Palm/Novarra-19.txt.pdb
Synchronizing /home/bjepson/Palm/Novarra-19.nod.pdb
...

You can use the --backup option to back up your
Palm and the --restore option to restore it.

8.7.3 GNOME-Pilot

GNOME-Pilot
lets you synchronize your Palm to various components of the GNOME
desktop, including Evolution. To configure
GNOME-Pilot:

Launch GNOME-Pilot (gpilotd-control-applet).
You'll see a Welcome screen. Click Next.

The Cradle Settings appear (Figure 8-18). Give your
settings a name, then select the port, such as
/dev/ircommN (where
N is the number of your infrared device,
usually 0), and speed (115200). Specify a type of IrDA and click
Next.

Figure 8-18. GNOME-Pilot cradle settings

The Pilot Identification appears. Here you must specify whether
you've synced this Palm before. If not, provide a
username and ID. Click Next.

If you have synced the Palm before, the Initial Sync screen appears,
and GNOME-Pilot will try to retrieve the username and ID. Click Next
after it has retrieved the name and ID (see Figure 8-19).

Figure 8-19. GNOME-Pilot retrieving the username and ID

The Pilot Attributes screen appears, as shown in Figure 8-20. You can specify a name, working directory,
and action to perform on syncing. You should set the Sync Action to
Use conduit settings and click Next.

Figure 8-20. GNOME-Pilot displaying the Pilot Attributes

The final screen appears, which should indicate success. Click
Finish, and the Pilot Link dialog appears, as shown in Figure 8-21.

(Optional.) If GNOME-Pilot retrieved a negative ID in Step 3, you
should change it now. Select your Palm in the Pilot Link dialog and
click Edit.

The Pilot Settings appear, as shown in Figure 8-22.
Set the ID to a reasonable number (just to be safe, choose an integer
between 1 and 254) and click Send to Pilot. You'll
need to press the on-screen HotSync as shown earlier in Figure 8-17.

Figure 8-21. The Pilot Link dialog

Figure 8-22. Setting a new ID with GNOME-Pilot

Select the Conduits tab (see Figure 8-23), and for
each conduit you want to enable, select the conduit name and click
Enable.

Click OK when you are done.

Now, when you press the onscreen HotSync button, you may not see
anything on the screen unless you've added a panel
item for GNOME-Pilot. However, the Palm will show you
what's happening as the HotSync
progresses.

Figure 8-23. Specifying conduit settings in GNOME-Pilot