Trouble Hot-Syncing For First Time: Mac OS X, Missing Sync.

[Pride Of Lions]

(I know that this might not be the most well used forum, but I have to start here out of my love for Palm Blvd.)

I just bought a Zodiac2 to replace my aging T|3 and, being a Mac user, I knew that I'd have to resort to a third party (Missing Sync) solution to get this thing to play nice with my computer.

I'm having troubles getting both computer and PDA to play nice to get one HotSync under my belt. Every time I try to HotSync, I get the Missing Sync Crash Report that says I am getting a Kern Panic (or something.)

I keep sending the crash reports to Missing Sync, and will try to get their input on the situation. Just curious, is there anyone here who has had the same error message when trying to HotSync their Zodiac2 with Mac OS X?

The answer's out there.
POL9A

[Pride Of Lions]

Just to let you guys know, the fine folks at Mark/Space finally (!!) got back to me re: my HotSync issues. We've traded e-mails a few times trying to diagnose and solve the issues. Right now, we stand at me having downloaded their current beta and I'm helping them beta test it while they're helping me solve my particular issues.

I still can't help but think that having phone tech support might have solved this issue quicker.

I'll keep you guys (and gals) posted.
POL9A

[Pride Of Lions]

I just wanted to let you guys and gals know that I've been having some happy HotSync's lately. I think the problem was the hangup with the Vindigo conduit in Missing Sync and the redundancy in PIM conduits for Palm Desktop. The T|3 uses the newer conduits ("Contacts", "Calendar", "Tasks",...) while the Z2 uses the older Palm Desktop conduits ("Address", "Date Book", "To Do",...).

I've been playing with the Missing Sync lately and I really like the Internet Sharing, even though I wish that I could sync AvantGo and my Mail program during the HotSync process itself instead of having to go this extra step. It's the best way I've seen yet, and it sure beats my earlier sync process with my T|3 (sync first on my Mac, then go sync on my PC.)

I've let Mark?Space know about my findings and hopefully they'll get on them so that future Missing Sync users won't have totrip where I fell. I'm not sure how many Z2 users went from the T|3 to the Z2, but there is the backsliding of Palm OS 5 and the Z2 conduits are the older PIM conduits where the T|3 conduits are the newer, and if someone didn't know (like me) and thought that they'd be able to HotSync easily then they'd be in for quite the shock.

Oh yeah, let's not forget that the Vindigo conduit and Missing Sync aren't playing very nice with each other right now, but the beauty of Missig Sync is that it's easy to uncheck any conduit that gives you problems and HotSync easily with the ones that are cool. Mark/Space is working furiously as we speak to rectify the situation.

So let that be a lesson to all of us...someone has to do it first and lucky for you it was me. Not so lucky for me. Love you all, don't forget to write.
POL9A

[Pride Of Lions]

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with you guys re: the latest happy HotSync's. Mark/Space has known about the issue and their latest Missing Sync version has accomodated the issue.

There's nothing like a successful HotSync to re-affirm one's attitude about handheld computing.
POL9A

[palmrocks]

hi there pride of lions ,im trying to see if it would be worth buying the missing sync for palm,for my T3 ,is it easy to install,i have read that it replaces all the conduits and could cause mayor crashes,can you help me here please?

[Pride Of Lions]

Hey palmrocks,

I cannot answer that for you directly, but if my experience helps you in any way, then I'll be happy.

I bought Missing Sync because I had to, with TapWave not supporting Mac OS directly. When I had my T|3, I was content to use the PalmOne offering. Only when my T|3 went South, did I choose to go to Zodiac and with it I had to go with Missing Sync.

The software is easy to install, but to get your T|3 configured you have to be comfortable moving files between your "Conduits" folder and your "Disabled Conduits" folder. The folders are located at...<root>, Library, Application Support, Palm HotSync. To classify which conduits you want available to you you just move them either from one to the other or vice versa.

My experience with Missing Sync was very rocky at first, but once I realized that my Zodiac2 used different conduits then my "old" T|3, I figured it all out. If I were continuing to use my T|3, then all would be well conduits-wise and the transition would've been much more smooth.

Pluses re: Missing Sync include the ability to mount the SD card as a drive on the desktop and swap files easily, AvantGo conduit synchronization, and the ease of use in configuring the conduits and HotSync-able files between the RAM and the SD card in Missing Sync's interface. In the Missing Sync interface, one can drag and drop files to the RAM or SD card (or multiple if your handheld supports it) for the next HotSync. It is also nice to have "Conduit Profiles" where you can customize different conduits to perform at any particular HotSync-ing. Also nice is having the Missing Sync icon in the Menubar to choose between handhelds (if your home/office syncs more than one to the computer) and "Conduit Profiles."

Minuses include paying for something that PalmOns gives mostly away for free. Except for the AvantGo synchronization and the SD card mounting.

It should be noted that I've had Hot/Cold results in dealing with Mark/Space's e-mail support. I was initially perturbed at the lack of phone support and the 1-2 business day e-mail support, especially when trying to get it started. Since then the support has been more responsive and bug fixes have been addressed in subsequent versions.

I must say that I really dig the SD card mounting and the ability to choose which "Conduit Profile" to use at any given time via the menubar icon and without having to open up the "Conduit Manager" like in Palm's offering. I'm not sure that I would've investigated Missing Sync if my T|3 hadn't developed it's issues. I feel fortunate to have such a great third party product to let me use the Zodiac2, and as a plus I get the features I really like that I've mentioned earlier. If you can afford it and you want the extra features I'd say go for it, especially if you plan on moving on to another Palm OS PDA that isn't natively supported under the Mac (ie: Zodiac, or whatever other options there are out there.)

Good luck in their decision. Let me know if I can help in any other way.
POL9A

[palmrocks]

hi pride of lions ,thanks a lot for the review,i'd also like to know ,how far can i share the internet conection with a bluetooth T3

thanks
daniel

[Pride Of Lions]

...that is something I've never tried. However, Mac OS X hints has this article (http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20021103062212288) which might help in your quest. It's a little dated and there may be newer tools to do the same thing, but it also might shed some light on you situation.

Let me know how it works for you.
POL9A

[hellenek]

Hi Pride of Lions,
I read your feedback with a lot of interest because I'm a Mac user who's just upgraded from the T/3 to the Zodiac.
I'm going to buy Missing Sync and will definitely be one of the beneficiaries of your trials.
Cheerio,
Hellene

[Pride Of Lions]

I've been using the latest release of Missing Sync and it does everything right. Vindigo, AvantGo, the PIM's, the SplashData suite,...everything. Previous incarnations had little bugs here and there, but it's all happiness now.
POL9A