Registered: Aug 2000
Location:
Posts: 2

C.7 How about infrared beaming?
The Visors have an infrared (IR) port, just as the Palms do, and basic beaming to other Palms works fine. The main difference is that the transmitter is on the left side of the unit instead of the top. Programs like OmniRemote and IrLink have recently been fixed to run on the Visor.

So I can do exactly the same things (with the IR) that a Palm would do ?


Phydeault

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Connecticut USA
Posts: 2682

About the only IR-related task the Visor can't do out of the box is IR Sync... for that you need some 3rd party software.

Beaming addresses and schedule information works pretty much the same as on a Palm with one exception: if you're using the Datebook+ app on the Visor, it does not beam; for that you need the standard Datebook app.

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MarkEagle - Ice is nice!

Registered: Aug 2000
Location:
Posts: 107

Wouldn't it be sweet if you could hot-synch via the IR port? That would save me from dragging the cradle around on the road with my laptop. I could just leave it at home.

If I point the IR on the VDx at the IR port on my ThinkPad they detect each other but I think that's pretty much the end of their compatibility is it not?

I'm probably dreamin' here...

Ark.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 219

It's not just a dream.... Go to Hacker Dude-san's page. Click "To English"->"S5 PalmWare" & download "BeamSync for Visor." You also need to download IrEnhancement soft from Palm Inc. My computer doesn't have an ir port so I haven't tried, but I heard it works.

[Edited by Taki on 08-20-2000 at 10:51 AM]

Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 24

It works. I use it with my Thinkpad. Took a little while to configure my Thinkpad IR port correctly because it was defaulting to COM5, so I had remove the IR port and re-install from the Control Panel. Also had to make sure that the serial port was disabled. There is some general documentation for how to do this off of IBM's Workpad support pages.

Registered: Aug 2000
Location:
Posts: 107

I installed the software and gave it a try. When I start the hotsynch, the ThinkPad seems to detect the Visor but the Visor gives me the "No connection" error after about 2 seconds. I dunno what the deal is.

zero: Do you need to setup a "Direct Cable Connection" via the IR port for this to work? My ThinkPad doesn't even detect it's own IR port when I try to "Install New Ports" in the Direct Cable Connection dialogue. According to Windows, the IR port should be listed there as well. Only the serial and parrallel ports appear. My IR also seemed to be defaulting to COM5 (as shown when I click on the IR icon in the system tray) so I made it COM4 as you did and selected that in the HotSynch Manager. Still no dice.

Did you use the IR Synching software that IBM provides for the WorkPad on your Visor? Or did you use the software that Taki suggested?

This would be amazing if I could get it to work...

Ark.

[This message has been edited by Arker (edited 08-17-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Arker (edited 08-17-2000).]

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: Kuala Lumpur
Posts: 247

I had the same problem too at first.

In the end, I tried doing this:
1. I lowered the IR speed on the PC from "As Fast as Possible" to 115Kbps or lower.

2. I configured the IR options under the IR icon in Control Panel NOT to pop up the "No Connection" error message.

After that, it seemed to work just fine. It's also a good idea to disable IR Receive under the General Preferences for the Visor - it will stop the annoying "Waiting For Sender" message.

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: cambridge, MA USA
Posts: 27

Look in your control panel at the IR monitor. Under options, find which Comm port is enabled. If any comm port greater than 4 is enabled, go under the device manager is system properties and delete all drivers related to IR (usually the virtual IR ports in Ports and maybe an FIR port in network adapters).

Restart your computer and it'll reload the drivers; hopefully, the IR will be in Comm 1-4 (usually 3 or 4). Now go to your Hotsync manager under setup -> options and change the comm port to whatever comm port your IR is enabled on. Make sure that there is a check against local serial (local USB can also be checked if you want to use the USB cradle as well). If you're using beamsync, make sure it is on (under prefs) and try it out by hitting the local sync button on your visor.

Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 24

Arker,

I did not create a direct cable connection at all. I'm using the BeamSync software that Hacker Dude-san wrote. I did follow the instructions that IBM had though for getting IR syncing to work on a Thinkpad. Here's the website:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/qtechinfo/BMO...type=Hints+and+ tips&subtype=Infrared

On my thinkpad the IR port was on COM5. I completely delted the IR port from the Control Panel -> System -> Devices area. When I rebooted Win 95 recognized the hardware and re-installed it, but I made sure it did it with COM1 this time. The device support is on COM1 but application support ends up on Com4. So this is what I set HotSync to. Finally make sure that you have the Serial Port disabled in the ThinkPad Configuration utility. A good way to diagnose whether or not your IR port is working properly is to diable then enable it in the configuration utility. If it gives you an error then delete the device and start over again. I caution you on deleting the device though. You need to make sure that you have the device drivers for the IR port as backup, and then do so at your own risk!

Registered: Aug 2000
Location:
Posts: 107

Well as it turns out all I needed was to switch from USB port to Serial port in the HotSynch sys tray icon menu. I'm a bit of a dork sometimes. After that it worked! Unfortunatley I wasn't expecting it to take hours to do a hotsynch via IR. I'll have to delete some hotsynch operations if I'm going to use this at all I suppose. I'm not thrilled about using so much battery power just to synch.

I appreciate the help you have given. I'm sure this new treat will be useful from time to time.

Ark.