Why won't my Palm sync?

January 10, 2006 7:09 PM

PalmFilter: My Tungsten E2 and iMac G5 don't seem to want to play nice together.

The Mac is running OSX, and I use Palm Desktop 4.2.1 on it; the E2 is about seven months old. The problem comes when I try to hotsync: it'll sync a couple of things, and then run and run and run with no discernible progress, until finally I get the dreaded "conduit manager/file is busy" (or something similar) message. I've tried Palm's e-mail support, and done everything they said: hard reset, removing and reinstalling Palm Desktop, etc. Nothing works. This is seriously screwing up my attempts to stay organized, so any help would be much appreciated.

posted by shallowcenter to technology (8 comments total)

Which conduit is running when it hangs, can you tell?
posted by Lazlo at 7:44 PM on January 10, 2006

If you can't figure that out...disable all the conduits, and then re-enable them one by one, until you figure out which one is causing problems.
posted by filmgeek at 7:49 PM on January 10, 2006

There are workarounds...

I've had a number of problems with syncs (OS X 10.3.9, Palm Desktop 4.0, Handspring Visor color). I use Palm desktop now only for installing programs -- it manages to keep from crashing long enough to do that).

Notes stopped syncing a while ago...I found a Palm app called NoteTaker that I installed that syncs to plain text files on the Mac (but only one way as far as I can tell). I disabled sync to Palm's address book -- I use Apple's. I disabled sync to Palm's calendar -- I use iCal. I use "to dos" in iCal inatead of notes for info going the other way.

(I've got a used Treo600 on the way...I'll see shortly how this setup holds up with different hardware...)
posted by omnidrew at 8:04 PM on January 10, 2006

"inatead" = "instead"
posted by omnidrew at 8:05 PM on January 10, 2006

Thanks, folks. Laz, seems like it hangs up most often when syncing the calendar.
posted by shallowcenter at 8:19 PM on January 10, 2006

When I've had hangs it's always been with third-party extensions. Are you strictly syncing between Palm Desktop and the builtin PIM apps on the handheld, or is there some other software in the mix? (FWIW I'm syncing a Tungsten E to XP desktops at home and at work, with Outlook as the desktop PIM and Beyond Contacts on the Palm side. That can be...interesting sometimes.)

I've noticed that sometimes the app being displayed on the Palm isn't the one whose conduit is actually running. Filmgeek's process-of-elimination approach would be your best bet in finding the actual culprit in that case. If it turns out to really be the calendar application you may have a calendar entry that's corrupted, in which case you could back up your desktop profile, do a similar process-of-elimination with your calendar entries, and when you find the problem appointment restore your original profile and just delete the bad one. I'm afraid I can't help much with the mechanics on the desktop end since I don't know how Palm Desktop is laid out on the Mac.

Also, have you tried hard-resetting the Palm to clear it back to fresh-from-the-factory state?
posted by Lazlo at 9:39 PM on January 10, 2006

I'm having exactly the same problem with an old Palm V and my G4DP running 10.4.3.

I have to disconnect the usb cradle and reconnect it in order for the HotSync button to be recognized.

I also scoured Google the last time I did a Palm Desktop install. Turned out that I had to install as root to get things to work. (really bad design)

I'm leaning towards getting a TX and MissingSync to avoid all of this Palm sw madness.
posted by Wild_Eep at 7:29 AM on January 11, 2006

My datebook wouldn't sync. I deleted everything related to the isync conduit (I had quit using it) and formallly uninstalled the desktop, then reinstalled with the latest version.

I noticed the most recent version of the desktop required an admin password, so presumably it installs as root now. Now it syncs and I feel much better.
posted by mecran01 at 2:54 PM on March 30, 2006