HotSync with Classic

About

HotSync is available in Classic on Palm webOS devices, starting with Classic v2.0. This tutorial's intention is to explain Classic users how they can setup and perform HotSync using their Palm webOS devices.

HotSync lets you sync your Palm OS device with your computer, so your information is backed up and easily editable on your computer.

Keep your information up to date wherever you are. When you sync, any changes you've made to Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Memos are automatically added to your computer or your Palm OS device.

Palm Desktop is the desktop personal information manager. HotSync Manager controls synchronization. Both are included in a single download from Palm Inc. and Access Inc. web sites.

Requirements

The following hardware and software components are required:

^* We strongly recommend that you use the latest Palm Desktop software version as older versions might be incompatible with the HotSync used in Classic.

^** PalmDesktop for Mac does not support synchronization over Network, thus a substitution software Missing Sync can be used for Mac owners. This tutorial describes how to sync PalmDesktop on PC, but setting up the synchronization with MissingSync should be very similar. Please, consult the MissingSync manual for details about the Network HotSync.

^*** HotSync synchronization can also be performed with the remote host that is not connected to the same local area network as the mobile device. Although, deeper network administration knowledge is required for such scenario to setup properly, thus it is not the topic of this tutorial.

Setup

This section provides information on the setup actions that are required for HotSync to work properly.

PC Computer

If you are running Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 make sure that you have Palm Desktop installed on your computer.

Also, make sure that HotSync Manager icon is visible in system tray on your Windows.

Right-click HotSync Manager icon in system tray, and select option "Settings..." in the context menu that will pop up.

HotSync Manager window will show up. Select "Connections" on the left bottom side of the window.

Make sure that "Network(TCP/IP)" connection is checked.

Most importantly, make sure that your PC is connected to the network.

Find out the IP address of your PC.

Firewalls

HotSync is using a regular TCP/IP network for transferring of information between the computer and a mobile device.

Please, make sure that you have disabled the firewall on your computer, thus it does not block the data transfer required for HotSync. Once you have HotSync working properly, you can configure and turn on the firewall again.

If you have configured a firewall or other filtering of network traffic on your Wi-Fi Access Point or Router, please, disable it while setting up HotSync to avoid blocking of HotSync data transfer. Once you have HotSync working properly you can enable it again.




The most typical wireless network setup is that you have a single Wi-Fi Access Point/Router and one or multiple devices connecting to it, using Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection.

Please, make sure that no firewalls or other filters are blocking HotSync traffic.

Palm webOS enables users to establish a network connection between PC/Mac and Palm webOS device using Bluetooth. When such network connection is established between a computer and mobile device the communication between them can be performed using TCP/IP network.

Network HotSync requires TCP/IP network, thus users can utilize Bluetooth in such a manner and perform HotSync.

GPRS/EVDO/UMTS

It is possible to HotSync to a remote computer over GPRS or other mobile networks, but this requires a network configuration setup on your server side which exceeds the scope of this tutorial.

Classic

Make sure that you have Classic v2.0 or newer installed on your webOS device.

After you start Classic, you will be able to see HotSync^* icon in Palm OS Application Launcher.

^* Do not confuse "HotSync" with "HotSync ID" icon. These are two independent applications.

Synchronization

Once you have all the prerequisites setup properly, you can begin HotSyncing.

1. Start Classic on your webOS device.

2. Run HotSync application within Classic.

3. Tap on "-Tap to Select PC-" below HotSync button in the middle of the screen.

4. Tap "Next" button.

5. "Searching for PC..." dialog will be displayed for a few moments.

6. Tap "Other..." button.

7. Tap the empty text field and enter your computer's IP address.

8. Tap "Next" button.

9. Confirm by tapping "Done" button.

10. You should be able to see the IP address of your computer now on the main HotSync application screen.

11. Hit the HotSync button in the middle of the screen to initiate the synchronization process.

HotSync will begin the communication with your computer where HotSync Manager is installed. On initial HotSync you will be asked to create the new user or choose the existing one if you have previously used PalmDesktop.

We strongly recommend that you create a new user and start with the clean sync, instead of using an old user with data from your old Palm OS device.

Conduits Support

Conduits for PalmDesktop and HotSync should work just with any other Palm OS device.

Only conduits that explicitly require USB or Serial connection will not work with Classic, as these types of connection are not supported by Classic.

If you would like to know if specific conduit is compatible with Classic, you could either try it yourself or contact its developer.

Tips

Here are some tips for common cases: