PALM V Hotsync OS 4.1.4 Problem

[AlbertPalmV]

Hello,

I have Palm V OS 3.1 and have it Hotsync to my Desktop that is running Windows 2000 with Palm OS 4.1.4

Everything was running great until I upgraded my Desktop software to 4.1.4
When I hotsync now I cannot use the stylus pen in other words I can not use the touch pad. I reset the Palm and erased the data and performed all the setup procedures then it works great. As soon as I hotsync it with my desktop it transfers the data fine but doesn't let me use the stylus pen. When you press an icon another icon opens up etc. Please help. Thank you in advance.

Albert

[Jim Cooke]

Albert,

It appears you have bad digitizer settings that have been backed up in your saved preferences file. When you restore from a hard reset, the bad digitizer settings are restored so you are are not able to use the stylus. Have you tried going to Preferences, Digitizer and going through the digitizer setup routine? If not, do so and see if that fixes your problem. Do another hotsync if it does to overwrite the bad digitizer settings you have in the backup now.

[AlbertPalmV]

Jim, Thank you for your reply. Yes, I have gone through the digitizer settings when I do a hard reset which takes me back to OS 3.1 on my Palm and everything works fine... but the problem is when I hotsync it to my desktop which is version 4.1.4 on windows 2000 it doesn't allow me to go through the digitizer routine since I can't use the stylus pen. That's what I'm facing right now.

[JohnKes]

Jim,
Can AlbertPalmV go in and delete the preferences file on the PC? What is that filename? I have heard of this problem before (and solution), but can't remember whether I saw it at PalmBlvd or Brighthand. I will have to do a search later.

[Jim Cooke]

John,

Yes. The first thing I'd try is moving the saved preferences.prc file out of the backup folder since bad digitizer settings are usually stored there. At this point, I'm not clear exactly what's happening with Albert's Palm. I don't think the version of the Palm desktop matters but it sounds like he's saying that his Palm OS reverts to 3.1 when he does a hard reset? I'm confused.:confused:

[JohnKes]

I think the problem may be that HotSync Manager on the PC checks the OS version on the Palm then uploads the OS update file into the Palm based on that version. Perhaps another thing to try is move all the OS update files out of where they are now. That way his OS version will remain unchanged.

BTW, there is a free permanent upgrade to OS 3.3:
http://www.palmone.com/us/support/33upgrade/33_legal_eng.html

[geekboi]

i, too had the problem of my digitizer not working, and had no way of accessing preferences to calibrate it. i was really frustrated, and having just purchased the Palm V from a friend, and not knowing any better, i re-opened the "Welcome" screen, et voila! The second step of the welcome process was calibrating the screen. Now it works fine. It might not get to the root of the problem, but it was a quick fix.

geekboi;)

[cali30us]

Al, I have the exact same problem you do. Palm is fine, but after a successful hotsync, I am prompted to tap the reset button. Then the Palm goes to the Prefs screen, and the touch pad is all off kilter. Hard reset must be performed to make the Palm usable again. This happened for me with a clean install of Palm Desktop 3.01 (from the CD) and also with 4.1.4, on Win XP. Palm V OS is only 3.1, according to PalmOne site. If you find a fix for this, please let me know, and thanks to everyone for your help.

[JohnKes]

Here's a fix for digitizers, DigiFix:
http://www.freewarepalm.com/utilities/digifix.shtml

Here is a free upgrade to PalmOS 3.3:
http://www.palmone.com/us/support/33upgrade/index.html
just remember to start with a fully charged battery. On a Palm III, it uses 15% of the battery! You don't want to run out during the upgrade process!!

[jarusalem]

hi
i am using palm vx with palm os 3.5 too. i upgraded palm desktop 4.1.4 and after hotsycn i can't use stylus pen. and i try the use "Digifix". But i can't use digifix too. I read everything about this problem but i can't my palm. :( how can i digifix without problem. or have you another solve this problem.

[rabor]

Thank you, this thread helped me solve the problem...

I'm using Palm OS 4.0.1, HotSync Manager 4.0.1, PocketMirror 3.1.6.0, and Chapura 1.0.9 on an m125 and WinXP Pro workstation. I've been a Palm user for over four years now and carry a significant amount of day planning and encrypted personal data on my handheld.

Yesterday, while preparing for travel, I did the usual routine. Sync the Palm and install fresh AAAs. As sometimes happens, the battery swap left my handheld corrupted. No problem: I simply restored the data. Well you guessed it, following the resync, my digitizer settings were so far our of whack the device was unuseable. :eek:

This is the first time the problem was so bad I couldn't reach the prefs:digitizer. I tried syncing bits and pieces of my data, to no avail. I started digging around until I arrived at...

C:/program files/palm/rabor/backup/

..., but I couldn't be sure which file contained the saved digitizer settings. So I Googled "which palm hotsync file restore digitizer" and the top hit was this thread. :cool:

After reading all your posts and swiming around at palmone.com, I was getting a little discouraged. The most promising tidbit came from geekboi's post concerning the "welcome" app. But I still couldn't reach it with the stylus after restoring my data. That's when I hit on solution#1, assigning the "welcome" app to a button.solution#1

step 1: Copy profile c:/progra~1/palm/rabor
to c:/progra~1/palm/rabor.save
for safe keeping.

*remember to replace 'rabor' with your user name.

step 2: Delete
c:/progra~1/palm/rabor/backup/saved_preferences.prc

step 3: Reset Palm and asign the "welcome" app to the
"todo" button (use prefs:buttons).

step 4: Restore all but the "system" throught Hotsync
Manager settings.

step 5: Press the "todo" button, the "welcome" app
launches and runs the digitizer.

Solution#1 solved the digitizer problem, but left me with two other problems. First, a number of preferences were gone and would have to be reenterd (I could deal with that). Second, I learned that my encryption key (128 bit) was lost and all my encrypted data was lost with it. I could not resore my data with out "saved_preferences.prc" and the key stored within; this breaks solution#1 because the prc stores button assignments.

Thst brings me to Solution#2. Instead of deleating "saved_preferences.prc," edit it to make the "welcome" app button assignment. It's simple and better than solution#1 because you don't loose anything (except a button assignment, whch takes two seconds to reset once your finished with the welcome:digitizer). Here's how it works...solution#2

step 1: Copy profile c:/progra~1/palm/rabor
to c:/progra~1/palm/rabor.save
for safe keeping.

*remember to replace 'rabor' with your user name.

step 2: Edit c:/progra~1/palm/rabor/backup/saved_preferences.prc
with any text editor.

setp 3: Look for the string "dateaddrtodomemo" these are
the four four-character app names assigned to each
button 'date' 'addr' 'todo' and 'memo.'

note: this string will be different if you have previously
assigned a different app to any of the buttons. The string
starts on line 1 at character 411 (pos:0000:018E) in my
saved_preferences.prc file.

Step 4: Change any of the four apps (I changed 'todo') to
the "welcome" app name 'setp'. The result sould look
like this "dateaddrsetpmemo".

step 5: Restore your Palm nomally.

step 6: Press the "todo" button, the "welcome" app
launches and runs the digitizer.

step 7: Tap prefs:buttons to restore your 'todo' button.

That's it. I've got my data back and hopefully I wont see this problem again for another four years. I just registered and posted here tonight to give a little someting back; since you helped me out and all. Thanks again!


Sincerely,
Don Rabor

[fs1010]

Wow, thanks a lot for this solution, rabor! It brought me to my final solution, which I also want to mention here. It's just that you do not need the whole reset and restore procedure:
- copy the saved_preferences.prc to somewhere else
- edit it according rabor's message (replace 'todo' with 'setp')
- install this new saved_preferences.prc using your usual install procedure (e.g. with palm quick install by double-clicking the .prc file and sync your palm)
- press the 'todo' button that leads you to the welcome-app and digitizer.

Regards,
Felix.

[srg42]

I have had the same problem with two Palm V models. Here's the workaround. Go to this site

http://www.freewarepalm.com/utilities/z-digitizer.shtml

Download the utility and install it. Do a soft reset and it will allow you to calibrate the screen. It's not a hack, it simply tells your Palm to run the calibration program everytime there's a soft reset. A hard reset erases the program so don't do that. This little program works great-trust me. I don't know what's wrong with these old Palms now but they all seem to be having this problem. Good luck.