Workshops » TamsPalm - the Palm OS / web OS Blog

Getting a Margi Presenter-to-Go to work on a Palm LifeDrive

Jun 262007

Margi’s Presenter-to-Go was a very interesting add-on for Palm OS handhelds. It allowed these machines to output data to a monitor or beamer attached via an analog VGA port. However, the manufacturer gave up on the product some time ago…and the drivers are said to be incompatible with the LifeDrive.

Anyways, 1src user Caitoz reports a way that made the Presenter-to-Go work on his LifeDrive. Get the full scoop here:
http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128551

We don’t have access to a LiveDrive and thus couldn’t test this approach. If you manage to try it out, please let us know about your results!

Treo 680 custom ROM’s – reflash your Treo 680′s ROM to get extra DB cache

Palm News, Rom nicking No Responses »

Jun 152007

From the moment the first NVFS devices hit the market, users and developers alike wished for bigger DB caches. Soon, developers found out that removing unneeded applications from the machine’s ROM increased the DB cache – and so-called custom ROM’s began to spread like wildfire(in fact, they spread so much that the Treo 680 includes a warning about them).

While Treo 650 users could customize their ROM’s for quite some time, Treo 680 users can now follow suit. A few TreoCentral users posted a few custom ROM’s complete with instructions – and users are already reporting successes!

Get the full scoop here:
http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=144028

If you take the plunge, please tell us how you fared!

Note Pad for Treo 680

Rom nicking 3 Responses »

Jun 142007

After having received a few inquiries about this, PalmOne’s Note Pad is NOT included into the Palm Treo 680′s ROM per se. So, a hard-reset Treo does NOT include this application.

However, the instructions outlined in Note Pad for Treo 600 also work for Palm’s latest GSM Treo, the 680(tested) and will probably also work for the Treo 755p.

Please let us know how you fare!

Creating “stickers” for Clie Organizer

Workshops No Responses »

Jun 092007

While doing my daily visit to 1src, I found this link which could be very interesting for all Clie Organizer users:
http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51802

The tutorial above allows you to create your own “stickers” for Clie Organizer on your Clie using bitmap images and pilrc – a must read for everyone who uses Clie Organizer and isn’t satisfied with the included stamps!

VersaMail 3.51 on a Palm TX

Rom nicking No Responses »

Jun 062007

1src users have reported success with ROM nicking VersaMail from a 700p onto a Palm TX.

Full instructions and a list of the needed files are available here:
http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128082

How to fix .php page download problems with Blazer

Basics, Wireless 5 Responses »

May 132007

When I originally got my Treo 680, its Blazer browser refused to open many web sites and instead showed a window like the one below:
0a How to fix .php page download problems with Blazer

Most pages which were dynamically generated via php and thus ended in .php were impossible to render on my Treo 680…this severely limited usability.

If this happens, a fix is easy and readily available. Download Resco Explorer(trial is enough), and open Control Panel -> Associations. Look for an association to .php(like the one shown below) and delete it:
1a How to fix .php page download problems with Blazer

Blazer now no longer feels the urge to ‘pass on’ the file to another application as there is no handler available in the Palm Os’ses registry. Instead, it proceeds to render and show the page normally…

Palm Tear-Down instructions

Palm News, Workshops 7 Responses »

Apr 292007

Taking my Palm Treo 600 apart a few months ago took a lot of time, as figuring out all connections wasn’t exactly easy(teardown pictures can be posted if you want them). A “maintenance guide” would have been worth its weight in gold.

Apparently, a few RoHS-crazy individuals at Palm’s have decided to offer us exactly this(a tear-down guide) on their Environmental Programs page. While there still isn’t a PDF for the Treo 680, the takeapart process for all other recent Palm units is covered there in considerable detail:
http://www.palm.com/us/support/contact/environment/instructions.html

Have fun taking your handheld apart – and be careful not to break it!

Just in case: we are not responsible for whatever you do with these files!

2GB memory card compatibility

Basics, Memory 22 Responses »

Apr 202007

In Austria, retailers are starting to press 2GB memory cards into the market with force(stay tuned for a review of the ‘volksspeicherkarte’). While walking past one of the stacks, I decided to gobble one up….and test it on all handhelds I own. Here we go:

Palm m500 vs 2GB card
The m500 had no problems reading a small PRC file from the card. However, writing data onto the card failed with an error message.

Palm Tungsten T3 vs 2GB card
The T3 read data from the card easily, but could not write data to it.

Palm Tungsten E2 vs 2GB card
The Tungsten E2 failed to see the memory card. Total failure.

Palm TX vs 2GB card
No problems, read/write works.

Palm Treo 600 vs 2GB card
No problems, read/write works.

Palm Treo 680 vs 2GB card
No problems, read/write works.

To cut a long story short, here’s a little table of the results:

Device	Sees card	Execute PRC(read)	Save PRC(write)
m500	y	y	n
Tungsten E2	n	n	n
Tungsten T3	y	y	n
TX	y	y	y
Palm Treo 600	y	y	y
Palm Treo 680	y	y	y

What about sharing your handheld experiences? Share some data and it’ll get posted here for your fellow readers!

SDHC for Palm Treo 700p, maybe Palm Treo 650

Rom nicking No Responses »

Jan 022007

PalmInfoCenter has published a howto on moving the Palm Treo 680′s slot driver to the Palm Treo 700p in order to enable SDHC support on it:

http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9166/howto-enable-sdhc-card-functionality-on-the-treo-700p/

Commenters report success on Treo 650′s, too – what about trying it out and telling us how you fared?

EDIT: Don’t try it on PDA devices if you don’t have a backup. It was tested on two PDAs (TX and TC) where it caused a hardreset / reset loop !!

Finding out when your Palm was built

Workshops 2 Responses »

Nov 282006

Just in case you ever wish to know when your Palm branded Palm PDA was built, TamsPalm has the solution for you. The serial number of each PDA contains the exact date of manufacturing.

The algorithm behind the serial number generation is shown in this BrightHand thread:
http://forum.brighthand.com/showthread.php?t=21626

A 1src user created a nice little app that displays the manufacturing date – it can be downloaded here:
http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120103

When was your PDA built?

A new use for Todo list – bug and feature tracker

Workshops 3 Responses »

Nov 142006

As you may probably have noted by now, parts of TamsPalm are still down because of the server migration taking longer than expected. Beeing the kind of Mantis freak that I am, coding without a bug tracker is hell on earth. But not coding is even worse, and I thus needed to find myself a quick bug/feature tracking tool.

Sifting through my Treo 600, I suddenly recalled the Todo list application. I used it often back in the days of my Palm IIIc, but stopped using it eventually. And now, it suddenly has a reason again…

The secret to using To Do successfully is the category filter – create a single category for each of your programs. One category per application – otherwise, you have no chance of finding out where that bug belongs. Then, create one task per feature. Just write a headline, and put all the remaining data into the Note field of the todo record.

This way, you will have an ordered list of To Do’s available on your Treo wherever you are. It can’t sync with others and doesnt support assigning, etc – but when you’re offline for a long time, it may just be your only choice…

How do you use Todo List?

Replace your LifeDrive’s hard disk with a CompactFlash card

Palm News, Workshops No Responses »

Sep 272006

From the moment the Palm LifeDrive was introduced, people began to try to replace its harddisk with a compact flash card. USers on the german forum Nexave tried and failed soon after release…but now, it seems to be possible.

According to WikiHowto, it is possible to replace the LifeDrive’s hard disk with a 4GB compact flash card – other card sizes, will, however, not work(the LifeDrive always assumes a 4gb card):
http://howto.wikia.com/wiki/Howto_replace_microdrive_with_compactflash_in_LifeDrive

The site lists compatible card types(not all CF cards work for this hack) and also gives detailled instructions about the process!

BTW, I dont have a LifeDrive and thus cant confirm anything. Users reported success on various boards…but as said, no warranty!

LJP – the Treo 600 Gameboy Emulator

Games, Workshops 37 Responses »

Sep 172006

From the moment that I got my Treo 600, I wanted to play Nintendo GameBoy Color games on it. The OMAP CPU should be more than strong enough for the average gameboy game, and the 3 MEGs of RAM should also suffice. Getting the games running was a bit tricky – here is how I did it:

Step one – get the emulator
In order to play Gameboy games on a Treo, you need an emulator. I chose LJP because it keeps most of its data on VFS – get the PSI installer here, and install it onto your Treo. Afterwards, run the program and wait while it installs all neccessary data to your SD card.

Step two – get the ROM’s
This is the difficult part – you need to download the contents of gameboy modules(called ROM’s) from somewhere(sometimes called a ROM world). Nintendo is very territorial about them, so don’t ask me where to get them from.

Step three – get the ROM’s onto the Treo
Stuff the Treo’s SD card into a card reader and copy the .gb or .gbc files into the following folder:
/palm/programs/ljp/gb/roms

Step four – launch LJP
After having stuffed the card back into the Treo, launch LJP. Switch to Gameboy mode(dropdown at the left, choose GB), set up the controls(Config button), choose the ROM and click Launch. Your Treo now becomes a Gameboy – enjoy!

In case you don’t believe me, look at the following Videos(at Google Video):
Tetris DX on Treo 600
1942 on Treo 600

NIH syndrome applied: web design/stock photography

Editorials, Workshops 3 Responses »

Aug 292006

Most MicroISV’s make one capital mistake: they design their web sites themselves and shoot most scenery/background images on their own. They argue that getting professional templates and photos is too expensive…and head to the stores buying an expensive digital camera and loads of HTML/CSS/URP books.

And then, they spend weeks and weeks of time on creating something they could have had for free(essentially). Today, there are many sources of legal free stuff – let’s look at the resource I used when creating PalmBinaryClock.com:

oswd
OSWD, short for open source web design is a collection of freely useable templates. A template is a HTML/CSS page that contains everything necceccary to display correctly – you need only basic HTML skills to add in your content. Cfreating such a site leaves your mind free for important tasks like simplifying the text, choosing good screenshots and creating great usability!

Creating such a template yourself definitely is possible, but as Patrick McKenzie and Joel Spolsky stated, you probably won’t want to if you aren’t a web design shack.

Pay them a visit – it will definitely pay out!

www.oswd.org

As for stock photography, I currently look at a few new sites – so more on that another day!

What do you think?

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