Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 5

Data from Handspring not transferred to Palm Desktop

This is driving me crazy! (and sorry for the long note).

Problem:

I seem to have "lost" my date book, address book, to do list, and memo pad records on my computer. They appear on my Handspring, but after what appears to be a successful synchronization, they don't appear in Palm Desktop. How do I "start over" and tell Hotsync to copy EVERYTHING to the desktop?

Further Info:

- Hot Sync Manager tells me the synchronization was successful each and every time I attempt it and there is nothing peculiar in the log. However, when I open Palm desktop there are no records in my memo pad, etc.
- I have also explicitly changed the conduit settings to "Handheld overwrites Desktop" and end up with the same results.
- I don't have multiple users set up in Palm Desktop.
- I've installed and uninstalled software like Lotus EasySync (which changed the conduits). This problem seemed to start to occur sometime after this.
- I've since reinstalled Palm Desktop v4.0.1 several times. The conduits all appear to be set to synchronize with Palm Desktop now.
- I synchronize with an IBM laptop.
- I've subsequently installed Palm Desktop on a brand new laptop - same results.
- I've tried all of these and haven't been able to fix the problem!



So, it's almost like my Visor "thinks" that all the records in my memo pad, etc. have already been synchronized, so it doesn't bother with them. Which leads me to another question pertaining to exactly how does Hotsync determine what records need synchronization? Are there date and time stamps on each record that Hotsync compares between your PDA and the computer? Anyway, the answer to that is less important then getting this to work!

Registered: May 2000
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Posts: 163

Preference Setting?

I remember that some of my appointments weren't syncing for a while, and found a setting in the Lotus conduit that determines a date after which events are not sync'd. Is there a similar setting somewhere in the Palm Desktop app?

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 216

Something very similar to this happened to me last week. I had a battery failure and lost all of my data. When I did a hotsync, none of my info was in my datebook but it was all present on the desktop. I changed the conduit settings to desktop overwrites and still nothing. I did repeated hotsyncs and nothing. I was getting ready to post a question here when I figured out what was wrong: When reconfiguring the general settings after my batteries died, I entered the date as January 18, 2001 and not 2002!!! As I had purged all of my old data, there was nothing in datebook for January 2001. Of course, once I reset to the correct year, everything worked. Could you have possibly done something similar?

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 5

- I've never been able to find any date settings in the Palm Desktop software (I wish there was so that a person could trick it into re-synching the "old" data).

- My batteries are fine and I've double checked the date and time on the handheld and everything is correct. In fact, I've tried changing the date on my handheld to a really old date in hopes that I could trick it into re-synching my data back to the desktop. No luck with or without the correct date settings.

- Keep in mind I'm trying to get the data from my handheld to the desktop (I'm worried that if my handheld crashes, I won't have any of this data on my pc!!).

- Anyone else got any suggestions????

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 708

I would suggest uninstalling the Palm Desktop from your PC. Then go into Windows Explorer and make sure everything is removed from the Backup directory.

In my case it is C:\Program Files\Palm\*

It could also be C:\Program Files\Handspring\*

If you had the old desktop installed and installed 4.0 over it, you might have both directories.

Inside this directory you will have multiple folders called:

Address
Archive
Backup
Datebook
ETC...

The Backup folder contains all the software and preferences on your PDA. The other folders, such as Datebook, contain the DB for the the Datebook program itself.

It is possible that all of this got corrupted after EasySync.

I would make sure you have removed all of this and then try and reinstall the HandSpring Version of PalmDesktop 4.

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 5

Thanks for all the suggestions, but..... No luck with that suggestion either. In fact, just to be sure I didn't miss something on the pc, I've since tried synchronizing with 2 new pcs which I had never synchronized with before. Result was the same - none of the data in my memo pad on my handheld gets transferred to the pc. So, there is no way there is anything on the pc that is causing the problem - it has to be my handheld that causing the problem.

One other thing I've noticed is that after I do a synchronization, I'm getting records in my address book and to do list on my pc that I had deleted on my handheld quite a while ago! How is this possible?

I'm almost ready to do a hard reset and start from scratch!!

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 216

Ignore this. I made a mistake.

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Last edited by Pathdoc on 01-25-2002 at 04:21 AM

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 708

quote:

---

Originally posted by lhaire
Thanks for all the suggestions, but..... No luck with that suggestion either. In fact, just to be sure I didn't miss something on the pc, I've since tried synchronizing with 2 new pcs which I had never synchronized with before. Result was the same - none of the data in my memo pad on my handheld gets transferred to the pc. So, there is no way there is anything on the pc that is causing the problem - it has to be my handheld that causing the problem.

One other thing I've noticed is that after I do a synchronization, I'm getting records in my address book and to do list on my pc that I had deleted on my handheld quite a while ago! How is this possible?

I'm almost ready to do a hard reset and start from scratch!!

---

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In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. JOHN 14:2

Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 8

the answer is simple

Your solution is very simple and it all centers on the fact that you once used EasySync. Simply phone or e-mail Handspring Technical Support and ask them for their EasySync related HotSync fix solution. Any experienced agent will know what you are talking about instantly and give you want you need.

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 708

Re: the answer is simple

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kim
Your solution is very simple and it all centers on the fact that you once used EasySync. Simply phone or e-mail Handspring Technical Support and ask them for their EasySync related HotSync fix solution. Any experienced agent will know what you are talking about instantly and give you want you need.

---

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In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. JOHN 14:2

Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 5

Lotus and hotsync problems

READ THE FOLLOWING IF YOU HAVE EVER HAD PROBLEMS WITH HOTSYNC AFTER INSTALLING A 3RD PARTY LOTUS SYNC. SOFTWARE!!

Ahhh.... success!!

Thanks to everyone who replied and for their suggtestion. Finally after coming to the conclusion that it was the installation of Lotus EasySync that caused my synchronization problems, I found something on Handspring's website that previously escaped me that led me to the solution. So, here is a summary.

Problem:
After installing Lotus EasySync, doing a synchronization, and then uninstalling Lotus EasySync, Hotsync no longer synchronizes your PIMs via Palm Desktop.

Source of problem:
Some 3rd party Lotus packages may install hidden databases on your PDA which remain even after uninstalling the software . I now know that Lotus EasySync does indeed do this! Once these hidden databases are on your PDA, Hotsync will continually read these dbs instead of the standard PIM dbs. That's why it may appear you're synching "old" data which you can't see!!
Check out the following Handspring article:
[url]http://support.handspring.com...esType=RESEARCH[/URL]

Solution:

Install the Z'Catalog utility from
http://www.eblong.com/zarf/zcatalog.html
Follow the instructions in the author's excerpt on the same web page called "Fixing the Lotus Problem" as follows:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fixing the Lotus Problem
Z'Catalog is often recommended for fixing a hotsync problem caused by Lotus Notes. I have no personal experience of the details -- I've never used Lotus Anything -- but I'm told this is how it works:

Install Z'Catalog on your PDA.
Run it.
Choose "Options" from the menu; check "Allow Dangerous Actions". Close the options dialogue.
Go down the list of databases, and use the "Delete" menu option to delete anything that starts with the word "sync". (For example, "syncaddressbook.db").
That's what I know.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once you've removed all of these (hidden) databases, try resynching and your should see all your current data from your PDA synchronized correctly!!

Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 5

Re: Lotus and Hotsync problems

Sorry, I messed up on the Handspring URL in my last reply. Here is the correct one:

http://support.handspring.com/esupp...esType=RESEARCH

Registered: Jan 2002
Location:
Posts: 8

there's a more simple way...

Actually, just go to www.palmgear.com, download and install the free utility "SyncFixer 2.0", install it on your Visor and run it once. This fixes the problem in a more user friendly way. Send an e-mail to the author thanking him (her?) for this nice little utility.