Palm Pilot synchronization in Meerkat now that kpilot is deceased

[pwabrahams]

Is there a replacement available for kpilot that works in Meerkat? Jpilot isn't it, because it does not integrate well with kontact, korganizer, kaddressbook, etc., even though it's a fine program on its own terms. gnome-pilot doesn't even have the same functionality as kpilot.

It's interesting but discouraging that Google searches for "palm pilot kubuntu" keep coming up with kpilot, which has been dropped from Meerkat.

What are Kubuntu users with Palm Pilots using for synchronization these days?

[jeremy1701]

Re: Palm Pilot synchronization in Meerkat now that kpilot is deceased

I think we're all using iPhone's these days, pwabrahams. :P

No seriously... I don't think there's been any work done on Kpilot for a few years now.... I was googling your problem and came away with this:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...er/+bug/421673

Reading the comments, there are several from 2010 near the middle where some have claimed success by uninstalling modemmanager.

[pwabrahams]

jpilot works

The problem those other folks were dealing with was that jpilot wasn't working because of some mixups about serial devices and USB ports. But jpilot does work as it's supposed to under Kubuntu 10.10. The problem is in its specs, not its behavior -- it doesn't integrate well with the KDE environment even if it works in that environment because it doesn't easily share files with the kontact world. I can understand why kpilot is no longer being maintained, but I'd like to find a substitute for it. I get the impression that things are not much better in the Ubuntu Gnome environment.

Aside from the fact that the iPhone is far more expensive than the Palm and has functionality I don't need, I'm also quite turned off by the AT&T tie-in and the requirement of a long-term contract with AT&T. But I guess that if none of the people who do Kubuntu development care about Palms any more, then it will remain at best casually supported.

I do have another alternative, but it doesn't work reliably: run the Palm desktop under Windows within VirtualBox, so I don't have to leave my Linux environment. But VirtualBox has some trouble with the Palm because the USB connection gets turned on only when the sync is actually taking place. In fact, if you do an lsusb with the Palm plugged in, it normally doesn't show up. It shows up only during the synchronization. I'd much prefer a native Linux app.

[jglen490]

Re: Palm Pilot synchronization in Meerkat now that kpilot is deceased

I realize this is an old topic, however if anyone's searching for an answer to a Palm hotsynch problem, I'll share my solution.

Palm device: Zire 31 (no snickering from the peanut gallery!!)
Distro: 10.04 LTS
PIM: Thunderbird/Lightning

Problem: I synch my ZIre 31 to Jpilot. Then I export from Jpilot into an iCal (.ics) file. I tried importing the iCal file to Lightning and end up with duplicates. Either Jpilot doesn't keep track of what has been exported or Lightning can't sort out and properly merge what was has already been imported.

Solution: In Calendar, use the File -> Open ->Calendar File ... . Then select the .ics file exported from Jpilot. That .ics file will be added to the list of calendar files appearing in Lightning. The next time I export from Jpilot, I delete the previous .ics file from the calendar list, then do the File ->Open ->Calendar File ... , again. Since the file from Jpilot is always a complete retransmit, the old stuff and new shows up again in Calendar. Thanks to ssitter in Mozillazine Forums!!

Lot of steps, but it works. And oh by the way, I'll never buy an iPhone Maybe an Android (Linux 1st cousin), we'll see. But the Zire lives on!!

[jeremy1701]

Re: Palm Pilot synchronization in Meerkat now that kpilot is deceased

Thanks for the tip! But seriously... Wow! A Zire?! Bring back memories. :P

BTW, I switched to Droid; iPhone is way too restrictive.