Maddening Palm iSync problem

I see now that this is a novel, so skip down to the second to last paragraph to cut to the chase. Readers digest version - using iSync with a Palm PDA makes memos not sync anywhere anymore.

So after switching to my Mac Mini I buy a Palm Zire 31 to upgrade from my long in the tooth and dying Palm IIIxe, looking forward to coming up into the 21st century and have my PDA sync with my Mac. So I install the Palm Desktop software, hotsync manager and it pretty much looks like it did in the Windows world so okay then. As things go along I notice that actually things do not work quite like they did in the PC world. Specifically the Calendar function has no real non-kludgy way to add notes to appointment. I find there is a procedure, but it's difficult to follow and doesn't seem to work all that well. I'm a pretty smart guy, but I didn't buy a Mac to make my life more difficult so this is kind of disappointing. And by disappointing I mean a major catastrophe. I use the note attachment to appointments pretty extensively and not being able to easily cut/paste notes on calendar entries is a major step backwards.

So I check out the iSync stuff. That's supposed to make the Palm sync up with the native iCal and address book and should work great right? Also I had been seeing little snippets out on the web that PalmOne's support for the Mac platform with the desktop is less than stellar, in fact possibly to the point of disasterous. So a few trips out to some websites to determine how to get the iSync conduit working and the address app going and hook 'em up. After this is done, I note that all of my contacts which have been transferred that are in categories on my Palm are all lumped into one big category called "All". Well, that was unexpected, but really it's kind of okay since I rarely use the address book on the computer since I'm usually looking for someone's phone number or other stuff when I'm out in the world anyway. Also if I do need someone's number the search will bring it up and I'm not caring too much which category it's in. So this is not a Big Deal. The calendar, however works great, with all notes coming over and easy to attach in iCal. No categories there either but I never use categories. After all if I gotta be somewhere does it really matter whether it's for personal or work? I'm not an hourly contractor, so that's not a big deal either.

What is a Big Deal is that a couple of days later I note that my Memo Pad notes are not getting synced over. I note this when my wife for some reason refuses to beam her shopping list in favor of me inputting into my Palm. Rather than grafitti in her dictation I type pretty fast, so I'll type it into the desktop and then sync it over like it's supposed to work. One sync later, and the memo isn't there. Uh oh. Modify another memo and sync. Nope. Modify on the palm and sync. No joy. This is A Bad Thing. I spend half an hour when I should be at the grocery store trying to figure out how to get it to sync again. Nothing I do, disabling iSync, forcing the conduit in hotsync manager, nada, zip zilch will get my memos to sync anymore.

So is this a bug, or is there any way for me to get my memo pad functionality or am I screwed? The memo feature is one of the main functions of a Palm PDA and I can't believe that iSync would break this basic functionality.

Hard to say if this is a bug - are you running Tiger ??

My Tungsten E is not backing up memos either - but long story there is I really hosed the palm up and had to do the major clear-reset.

What does your sync log say on your mac ??

My sync log says its trying to reload the memo app ( I don't know why yet) - I am running Tiger - I'll have to tinker a bit with this

PC_Puke said:

Hard to say if this is a bug - are you running Tiger ??

My Tungsten E is not backing up memos either - but long story there is I really hosed the palm up and had to do the major clear-reset.

What does your sync log say on your mac ??

My sync log says its trying to reload the memo app ( I don't know why yet) - I am running Tiger - I'll have to tinker a bit with this

Click to expand...

I am running Panther.

Hotsync log states

Loading “Memo Conduit”
Conduit “Memo Pad” version 3.0.0
Sync type is Fast
Remote database 1 name is MemoDB
Memo Pad did nothing

Which is disturbing since it should have done 'something' since there was a change both in the Memo App in the Palm Desktop and in the Palm PDA. I suppose it is possible that nobody uses the Memo application on the Palm anymore and therefore my problem is something that is not encountered that often.

However after further recollection I realize that is an absurd conclusion! I mean, christ in a chicken basket syncing the memo pad application is something that should be accomodated regardless of any issues between PalmOne and Apple! Tell me that this can be possible please!

Yes, I realize that this isn't an end of the world situation, but it is annoying to me. It isn't like the Palm platform is marginal or anything. Or is it?

My guess is that somewhere - in one of the sync managers (Palm or iSync) memo got deselected to sync during sync activity -- thats the most obvious

I don't recall having any sync issues with memo using Panther - but not sure I looked at that


Another good resource is :

http://discussion.brighthand.com/palmhandhelds/

Check out macworld.com. They recently covered that Tiger and iSync is having trouble syncing with certain devices.

Check this thread.

The answer is to not use iSync with your Palm.

Quoting myself here ('cause I wanna ):

I've had a Palm Tungsten E for a little over a year now, after many years with other Palm models. A couple of points to consider:

1. The Palm Desktop program for Macs is very different from the PC version: it's really lousy. I only use it because I dislike Apple's iCal and Address even more. Maybe this will change with Tiger. (The Windows version is much easier to use and far more attractive.)

2. If you use the Palm Desktop program, do not download the iSync conduit. It will cause your Palm to sync with iCal and Address only, and you won't be able to edit addresses or calendar entries in Palm Desktop. If you don't use the Desktop, I am not sure what happens to your other Palm databases (Notes, To-Dos, etc.).

3. Support: I have had a couple run-ins with Palm Support which have led me to decide that I will not buy another Palm product once my Tungsten dies. Read about it here and here. (The problems were never resolved by Palm-- I took care of it myself with the retailer.)

Click to expand...

For what it's worth, I am using Tiger now and I still hate the Mac Address book and iCal. Everything else works if you just use the Palm Desktop.

Well, that sucks. I actually kind of like how iCal works with the Palm device. I dunno, I suppose I can do the old fashioned way where I sync with two computers like I did in the past. I'd sync with a work computer and a home computer. The problem with that was that as my data on the palm started to get much, much bigger serial was becoming unworkable. With USB this is much less of an issue (serial syncs with my old palm doing the 'slow sync' method would take upwards of 45 minutes) so I probably could do that. I would just periodically sync with Windows computer. I can also probably work around it by just using notes on calendar entries if I wish to copy/paste something on my Mac and then cut/paste on the Palm. Memos usually get set into stone as a reference item and then I refer back to it later when out in the feild away from my computer so it's doable. But it still kind of sucks.

I really do not want to go back to the Palm desktop on the Mac.

I have exactly the same issue - I noticed today that all my memos are gone from my Powerbook, and nothing is syncing any more. It always used to work fine.

I didn't think to link it to Tiger, but I have upgraded to that since the last time I checked the memos, so maybe that's it.

I'm using Palm Desktop not iSync. I've never used iSync.

istara said:

I have exactly the same issue - I noticed today that all my memos are gone from my Powerbook, and nothing is syncing any more. It always used to work fine.

I didn't think to link it to Tiger, but I have upgraded to that since the last time I checked the memos, so maybe that's it.

I'm using Palm Desktop not iSync. I've never used iSync.

Click to expand...

It might be something else. Mine still syncs fine and I am on Tiger now.