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By Teruel
de Campo ©March 2001PalmPilot and OS/2: http://www.stellarcom.org/palmstuff/index.html |
PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), is a name use to include a small device with
its own operating system used to store/retrieve information from the device as well
as from the internet. It can also connect to private networks (for sending alphanumeric
messages to pager etc.)
By far the most popular operating system is the Palm OS. The Palm and clones
need a Desktop PC to be able to load applications as well as backup or transfer
data both ways. The Palm comes with software called the Palm Desktop for this function.
Click on the image for a larger view of the Palm Desktop running on OS/2
The connection between the Palm device and the PC is through a cradle connected
to a serial port
The Palm Desktop is a Microsoft Windows application that includes a PIM (Personal
Information Manager) and conduits. A conduit is a piece of desktop-resident code
that is executed when the HotSync button of the cradle is pressed. The conduits
let you synchronize the data between the PDA and the PC. The conduit can be accessed
over a number of physical media such as wired serial, wired/wireless modem or wired
network. A conduit is implemented as a DLL (dynamic link library) or Java application.
There is no Palm Desktop under OS/2. However, this does not mean that you can
not run the Palm in an OS/2 system. This is the place to start: http://www.stellarcom.org/palmstuff/index.html.
There are OS/2 programs written for the Palm as well as a Java desktop under development.
The object of this article is to describe the steps to installing and running the
MS Windows version of the Palm Desktop application under OS/2 using ODIN. "ODIN
is the name of the project and software that allows users to run Win32 (Windows
95 and Windows NT) applications in OS/2 Warp operating system natively, almost as
if they were intended to be OS/2 applications in the first place" http://www.netlabs.org/odin/index.phtml.
1. Palm Desktop software version 3.0.1. http://www.palm.com/support/downloads/
2. ODIN: odin32bin-20010131-release.wpi. ftp://ftp.os2.org/odin/daily/
3. There are two ways to install the program and both have different requirements:
4. The first success I had installing the Palm Desktop was associated to the use of Ray Gwinn SIO com port driver 1.60d. I was not able to HotSync with the IBM comport drivers that come with OS/2. However Markus (Markus Montkowski) from the ODIN team has been working hard in improving the serial port handling and has introduce some changes in the code that are included in the release 20010131 of ODIN that has solved this problem. With this version of ODIN I have tested the Ray Gwinn GA 1.60d, The IBM drivers that come with OS/2 and the new and excellent beta from Ray Gwinn and I am happy to tell you that you can HotSync with all of them. My preference is for the excellent Gwinn drivers. http://www.gwinn.com/
- To install the Palm Desktop under ODIN ( that is a direct OS/2 installation) you need the 32 bit MS setup files.
Click on the image at the right for a larger view
- If you want to use the windows Palm tree directory you have two choices:
(a) Be able to see the partition were the Palm directory is located
(b) Backup the Palm tree directory under windows and restore it under OS/2.
Note: I tested the new Palm Desktop application v 4.0. I have not been able to
load the desktop application. The HotSync and the Instapp may be OK but so far the
desktop program is unusable.
A couple of tips <g>:
Or create an ODIN.CMD to facilitate the work (see reference)
Test ODIN with one of the windows Applets like notepad.exe or even
regedit.exe. Sometimes you think the applications are not working
under ODIN and the problem is ODIN itself.
2. Method #1. Install Palm software in OS/2 under ODIN. The Palm Desktop comes
with the 16 bit version of setup.exe and _isdel.exe. ODIN will not
be able to run the setup. You will need to copy the CD to a Hard Disk and then replace
the two setup files with the 32 bit counterparts.
The 16 bit files come with the read-only attribute checked so you can not delete
them. To delete them you can right mouse click to bring up the Properties menu;
Files tab, then 2nd page and remove the check then you can delete them. You also
can use the attrib command. (ATTRIB -R file.ext). Lewis
G Rosenthal uploaded the necessary files to Hobbes:
/pub/windows/win32inst.zip.
3. Method #2. Transfer the windows installation to OS/2. This procedure is a
little more complex. It requires that you see the Palm directories under OS/2 and
also that you have transferred the key entries of the *.dat files into OS/2.
To be able to see the Palm windows directory structure you need a file system
that OS/2 can read. FAT is one option (I have not tested) the other one is FAT32
partition using Henke's FAT32 IFS under OS/2 (this is my setup). http://www.chello.nl/~henk.kelder.
I have a FAT 32 partition under win98 and OS/2 with the same drive letter. This
simplifies the setup. Also it does not matter where I do the HotSync (win98 or OS/2)
all the files are up to date.
Because under windows initially I had only two partition to make the letter the
same I create 4 dummy partition (very small) in front of the FAT32 I wanted to share
between the 2 OS's. With the new IBM Convenience Pack it may be different (or easier)
but I have not installed it yet.
If you do not have shared partitions, you can backup/restore from windows to
OS/2. BackAgain 2000 is a perfect application for this because the OS/2 and the
win98 application are file compatible so you backup with the win98 application and
restore with the OS/2 application. http://www.cds-inc.com
Using the Method #2 you will have to export/import the key entries/key values
from windows *.dat files to OS/2 *.dat files. There are two editors that can read
these files: under windows is regedit.exe and under OS/2 is regedit2.exe.
Click on the image at the
right for a larger view
Use the windows regedit.exe for BOTH procedures: (a) under win98 open
regedit.exe select the key and export a file to the share partition; (b)
under OS/2 open win98 regedit.exe under ODIN and import the previous file.
Repeat for both keys.
The following are the 2 keys that have to be migrated:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSelect: US Robotics and Palm Computing. If your partition letter are different under both operating systems you have to change the paths in both entries. For example if in windows the directory is D:\PALM and under OS/2 is I:\PALM you can open the regedit.exe and using the find command look for D:\PALM and replace it. Or you just can go manually through both key values. Of course you will NOT need all these if you do the SETUP under ODIN.
SOFTWARE
US Robotics
Pilot Desktop
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SOFTWARE
Palm Computing
Palm Desktop
The \ODIN\SYSTEM32\ must have the following files:If some are missing copy them from the windows NT or 98. I have them from NT.
mfc40.dll
mfc42.dll
msvcirt.dll
msvcrt.dll
msvcrt40.dll
oleaut32.dll
HOW
TO HOTSYNC.If the HotSync.exe is loaded, it will HotSync even if the Desktop application
is closed like in windows.
Click on the image at the right
for a larger view
I usually download the Palm applications into the Palm\Add-on directory
and then press the Install button in the Palm Desktop application. After you select
the application it will be install during the next HotSync operation. If for any
reason the path is not correct when you create the program object, the program will
complain with an error message <instapp.exe received an error and can
not be started>. Correct the path or just run the Instapp.exe under
ODIN.
(2) I can not change the behavior under which conditions the hotsync.exe will
load or close. So far the HotSync stays loaded, which appears to be the preferred
behavior and to kill it you have to kill the process using the kill feature of the
WarpCenter or a program like WatchCat. If the HotSync is in memory you can HotSync
without opening the Desktop application.
Click on the image at the right
for a larger view
(3) Be sure you have selected the correct com port HotSync/Setup/Local
(4) Lotus Notes for OS/2 can not connect to the POP3 or SMTP server when the
Palm Desktop is loaded. Just close the Desktop application and kill the HotSync
thread if it is still running.
In summary: almost perfect. I am sure the remaining minor glitches will be solved.
My sincere appreciation for the tremendous work of the ODIN team.
