Running Linux, 5th Edition - Matthias Kalle Dalheimer [142]
The first step in getting the connection to work is to see whether your PDA is recognized by the kernel. So connect the cradle (or the direct cable) to your computer and your PDA. Take a look at the kernel log messages, which you can do by becoming root and typing tail -f /var/log/messages. (More information on kernel log messages is presented in "Managing System Logs" in Chapter 10.)
Now, while viewing the kernel log messages, force a synchronization attempt from the PDA, such as by pressing the HotSync button at the cradle or issuing a command in the user interface of the PDA that performs a synchronization. If the PDA is connected via USB, you should see something like the following (some lines were truncated to fit the book's page):
Jun 21 10:32:52 tigger kernel: ohci_hcd 0000:02:06.1: wakeup
Jun 21 10:32:52 tigger kernel: klogd 1.4.1, ---------- state change ----------
Jun 21 10:32:52 tigger kernel: usb 3-2: new full speed USB device using address
Jun 21 10:32:52 tigger kernel: usb 3-2: Product: Palm Handheld
Jun 21 10:32:52 tigger kernel: usb 3-2: Manufacturer: Palm, Inc.
Jun 21 10:32:52 tigger kernel: usb 3-2: SerialNumber: 3030063041944034303506909
Jun 21 10:32:52 tigger kernel: visor 3-2:1.0: Handspring Visor / Palm OS convert
Jun 21 10:32:52 tigger kernel: usb 3-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now
Jun 21 10:32:52 tigger kernel: usb 3-2: Handspring Visor / Palm OS converter now
In this case, a USB-connected Palm Tungsten T3 was found. If nothing shows up, several things could have gone wrong: the hardware connection could be broken, the synchronization request could not have been recognized, or the kernel could be missing the necessary driver modules. Chapter 18 has more information about locating and installing kernel driver modules, in case that's the problem.
KPilot Synchronization
Next, you need the software that synchronizes actual data over the wire. For the very common Palm family of PDA (which also includes the Sony Clié, the Handspring Visor, and many other look-alikes), this is the pilot-link package. The package is already included with many popular distributions; if you need to download it, you can find it at http://www.pilot-link.org. Usually, you are not going to use the programs contained in this package directly, but through other application software that builds on them. What this package contains, besides the building blocks for creating said application software, is conduits, small applications that support one particular type of data to be synchronized. There are conduits for the calendar, the address book, and so on.
Up to this point, the software and procedures we've described were dependent on the type of PDA you want to synchronize, and independent of your desktop software. The actual software that you are going to interact with, however, is different for different desktops. We look here at KPilot, a comprehensive package for the KDE desktop that synchronizes Palm-like PDAs with both KDE desktop applications such as KOrganizer and KAddressBook and GNOME desktop applications such as Evolution.
KPilot, at http://www.kpilot.org, consists of two programs, kpilotDaemon and kpilot. In theory, you need only kpilotDaemon, as this is the software that waits for the HotSync button to be pressed and then performs the synchronization. In practice, you will want to use the kpilot application at least initially, as it allows you to configure the daemon and check that everything works as expected.
Upon starting up KPilot (Figure 8-45), select Settings → Configure KPilot from the menu bar. The program offers to start the Configuration Wizard; click that button. On the first page, you need to provide two pieces of information: the username stored in the PDA (so that the data is