iSync 2.0 and Handspring Visor

Welcome to Apple Discussions.

Palm Desktop version 4.0 for Macintosh provides support for early Treo [pre-600] smartphones and Visor handheld organizers, and includes HotSync Manager release 3.0 in both the CD-ROM and downloadable installer sets.

The iSync 2 built-in help file states that in order to use iSync 2, you need to:

"[Make] sure you've installed Palm Desktop 4.0 or later for Mac OS X, and have synced your Palm and computer at least once using HotSync Manager. iSync requires HotSync 3.0, which is installed along with the Palm Desktop 4.0 software."

It would seem that your Visor handheld should be supported under Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and iSync 2. What is it that indicates to you that support is not available for this particular Palm device series? Is it this footnote on the supported device list?

i "To sync your Palm device, you must first have Palm Desktop 4.2.1 (or later) installed."

The footnote in incorrect - it actually requires Palm Desktop 4.0 and HotSync Manager 3.0, as stated earlier.

I have the Treo 600-specific Palm Desktop 4.1 release installed, and have always synchronized effortlessly, both with iSync 1.5 prior to the release of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, and now iSync 2.

Hi Fred,
As Michael explains, with regard to syncing Palms with Macs, I always recommend starting first with Palm Desktop. Get that working. Only after that is working, do I move onto disabling the appropriate Palm desktop conduits and enabling the Apple/iSync conduit.

The conceptual problem I encountered when first grappling with how to sync my Palm(s) and my Mac was understanding that the Palm Desktop has two application components:
1) the Palm Desktop app, which provides the GUI interface to the Palm-supplied PIMs: calendar, addresses, todos, memos
2) the Palm Hotsync Manager application, which manages the actual syncing process and the various Palm-supplied and 3rd-party syncs.

In the case of iSync, what one is doing is turning off the Palm PIM conduits and enabling the Apple-supplied iSync conduit. But the Hotsync Manager is still managing all the conduits and performing the actual sync.

Hope this helps,
best regards, ...ben

As Ben explained - quite well, I might add - just above, there are effectively two component parts the Palm Desktop: the rewritten Claris Organizer which became the Macintosh application displaying PIM information on your Palm [contacts, calendaring, tasks or to do entries, and memos] and the HotSync Manager.

You can think of the HotSync Manager as a bin into which you toss conduits. Only non-conflicting conduits are allowed, so that when you effectively replace the Palm Desktop application with iCal and the Address Book, the otherwise conflicting standard Palm conduits listed below are moved into a Disabled Conduits folder, a sort of storage area for conduits not in use.

The conduits moved into storage - depending upon which version of the Palm Desktop is installed - are either:

i Address Conduit, Datebook Conduit, Memo Conduit
[more about this later] and the
i ToDo Conduit,
or
the
i Contacts Conduit, Calendar Conduit, Memos Conduit
and a
i Tasks Conduit.

Historically, installation of the iSync Palm Conduit resulted in the movement of the Memo or Memos conduits to the Disabled Conduits folder - which was sort of silly because they did not conflict with iSync in any way - and users were able to move them back into the active Conduits folder to restore the synchronization of memos. Of course, you could only view them on the otherwise unused Palm Desktop, which itself was sort of silly. Which brings me to this point…

I decided to toss the HotSync Manager and replace it with a better bin:
b The Missing Sync
from Mark/Space. Okay, I suppose I should point out here that the installer for The Missing Sync actually tossed it for me, but if you end up purchasing and installing it, you'll get my point. Not only does it provide a readily configurable, highly adaptive and powerful replacement for the HotSync Manager, but it also provides both a Mac OS X memorandum application and matching conduit, a conduit to synchronize AvantGo content, and so on.

As Ben pointed out, it is important to get the Palm Desktop installed and working, then install iSync as an effective replacement for its' PIM component and a means to interact with iCal and the Address Book. I took it one step further, and installed The Missing Sync afterward, as an effective replacement for the HotSync Manager. More information about that product can be found here:

http://www.markspace.com/missingsync_palmos.php

A + goes to Ben for originally offering the explanation he did…

Interesting. Maybe this is a permissions problem with a single folder. UPD205.prc is the April 1998 version 2.0.5 Palm update. The file is usually found at the end of this path:

Macintosh HD:Applications:Palm:Palm OS™ Updates:v2.0.5 Update

…along with other updates. My whole Palm OS™ Updates folder contains four folders labeled:

* v1.0.7 Update
* v2.0.5 Update
* v3.0.2 Update
* v3.1.0 Update

The parent folder is set with these permissions:

b Ownership & Permissions
] You can Read & Write

b Details:
] Owner: michaellafferty
] Access: Read & Write

] Group: admin
] Access: Read & Write

] Others: Read only

Hi Fred,

I'm not familiar with UPD205.prc, but what version of Palm OS is your Handspring running? If this file is an update to Palm OS 2.x and you're running at least say, Palm OS 4.x, on your Handspring do you really need this file at all?

best regards, ...ben

What I find interesting about this is:

On the Apple downloads page for Palm Desktop 4.2.1 ( http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/productivity_tools/palmdesktop.html) in the System Requirements pane on the right it states: 'Not compatible with iSync 2.0'

So, should I install Palm Desktop, get Hotsync conduits working in that first, then migrate over to iSync, or just start using iSync, since it already includes the Palm conduits (there's no data on the Visor, it's all on the Mini).

I'm asking because I just came across my Handspring Visor Dlx in a box from my college move, and I'd like to get it working with my mini, and there seems (to me, at least) to be conflicting info between what iSync tells you in the program, online, and Palm Desktop.

~owen

The citation you mention on that page is a mistake, and should not appear there at all. It refers
i not
to the Palm Desktop, but rather to the iSync Palm Conduit release 1.2, which is not compatible with iSync. It is just one more example of lousy quality assurance with regard to the release of iSync 2 and .Mac Sync.

In fact, iSync
i requires
Palm Desktop 4.2.1 or - in its' place - a HotSync substitute like The Missing Sync. iSync cannot synchronize a Palm handheld organizer or smartphone without components present only in the Palm Desktop or The Missing Sync.

From my perspective, it is advisable to install the Palm Desktop and synchronize with it to preserve any data on your Palm Device. In your case, the Visor contains no data, so the actual synchronization is not necessary, but the installation of the Palm Destkop is. Ideally, you should do this:

* install the OS X compatible Palm Desktop package provided on CD-ROM with your handheld
* install [upgrade, actually] this software by using the downloadable Palm Desktop 4.2.1 package avaiable from Palm or Apple
* launch iSync and enable all three preferences under the General heading in the Preferences… dialog
* select Enable Palm OS Syncing… from the Devices menu, and follow the instructions, then quit iSync 2
* launch the Palm Desktop, and use the Configure Settings… option from the HotSync menu to insure that the box labeled Enable iSync for this Palm device is checked, then quit the Palm Desktop
* launch iSync 2 and select Add Device… from the Devices menu if your Visor does not already appear in its' main window
* press the Palm icon to drop down a configuration pane to select options for your device

You're now ready to synchronize. To do so, always make sure that iSync is open. Select Sync Now from beneath the Sync Status icon in your menubar, and press the HotSync button on your cable or cradle when the confirmation dialog appears. [If you do not launch iSync prior to initiating a synchronization, the event will not be logged and other devices will not be included.]

Anyone resolve this problem. I am having the same issue as well- incomplete install and lack of sync with Handspring in Tiger.

I seem to be having the same problem. It seems to me that the first time I tried to sync it worked, but now it won't...at least not iCal - which is what I've been testing in by adding new calendar items.

On my iSync window there is a yellow ! on my Visor icon, and every time I open iSync I get a message that says:

"Before you can use your Palm OS device with iSync, iSync needs to do the following:
Make sure HotSync is properly installed
Install the iSync HotSync Conduit in te Palm HotSync
Resolve any conflict with other HotSync Conduits
To begin, click Continue."

I then follow through all the instructions, and continue to have the same problem.

I followed the instructions in this post to no avail. So, I'm wondering....

Thanks!
wendy

Have you launched the Palm Desktop and used the HotSync menu to select the iSync Conduit to be sure that the box labeled
b Enable iSync for this Palm device
is checked? It is supposed to happen automatically as a consequence of following the instructions in that dialog box, but sometimes remains unchecked.

Does you device appear in iSync, or can you not get that far?

Enable iSync for this Palm device is checked.

As I said in my origninal post, my device appears in the iSync window, but it has a yellow exclamation point sign on it and gives the message quoted in my original post.

I just removed the device from iSync and now it can't find my device to add.

Any other ideas? Has anyone been successful in syncing a Visor Edge with Tiger? It sounds like it can't be done.

It would be easier to suggest options if your configuration is specified. I realize that you are attempting to synchronize a Visor Edge, but…

* with what version of iSync?
* running under which release of Mac OS X?
* to what sort of platform?
* and, which version of the Palm Desktop is installed?
* is your Edge connected via USB, or using a serial to USB converter?

Sorry, thought I'd given all this previously:

with what version of iSync? iSync 2.1
running under which release of Mac OS X? 10.4.2
to what sort of platform? Visor Edge, Palm OS v3.5.2H2.0, my computer is an iMac G5 (not sure which platform you're asking for)
and, which version of the Palm Desktop is installed? 4.2.1
is your Edge connected via USB, or using a serial to USB converter? direct USB

I've read most of your postings and followed all the directions you've provided to no avail. And now, iSync doesn't even find my Visor, although Palm Desktop is Syncing, I use iCal and Address Book exclusively, and these won't sync.

Thanks for your help!

wendy