Support from AgIT for the Palm

We will support synchronization of Netscape Calendar events and tasks, Netscape Messenger address books, and Palm Desktop notes. Netscape Messenger e-mail synchronization is not stable and so cannot be supported. We also will not support third-party applications for the Palm Pilot; there are simply too many of them. You may download and use them if you desire, but at your own risk.

Before you start: To install a Palm Pilot, administrative access on the computer is required. However, installation must be performed as the user who be using the Palm Pilot. This means that one cannot log in as an administrator or as another user (such as a Technical Coordinator) who has administrative access; the access rights of the user must be temporarily changed to include administrative rights prior to the installation process, and then those rights must be removed following installation. Therefore, you must call AgIS Support in order to have your access rights changed before you attempt to install the Palm Pilot. Installation and configuration of a Palm Pilot involves three steps:

1. Installation of the hardware, i.e. connecting the Palm Pilot to your computer and charging it;
2. Installation of the Palm software (called "Palm Desktop") on your computer;
3. Installation and configuration of software on the Palm Pilot itself.

The term "Hotsync" will be used frequently during the installation process. This term describes the process of exchanging information between the computer and the Palm Pilot.

Call AgIT Support to have your access rights changed to administrative so that you can install the Palm Pilot.

Find the "Getting Started" foldout card that came with your Palm Pilot.

Go ahead with Step 1, noting that when you are asked to turn off your computer, you must go through the Shutdown procedure! (Select Start | Shutdown and then choose "Shut down" from the dropdown menu; or else hit CTRL-ALT-DEL, click on Shutdown, and then choose "Shut down" from the dropdown menu.)

Step 2 of the "Getting Started" foldout has you connect the cradle to a serial port on the back of your computer. The cable will not connect to anything but a serial port, so don't worry that you'll accidentally attach it to the wrong sort of connection. There should be two serial ports on the back of your computer, and the cradle's cable will attach to either one.

Which one? Choose the one nearest the edge of your computer, if possible. In most cases that will be the correct one.

You should not need to use the supplied adapter.

Follow through with Steps 3 and 4 of the "Getting Started" foldout.

Use all of the default choices. If you are asked to reboot at the end of the process, click "Yes."

Go to Start | Programs and choose the "Netscape Communicator" folder (it might just say "Netscape"). That folder should contain a subfolder called "Palm Tools." Within "Palm Tools" you will find three icons:

1. Address Book Palm Sync Install
2. Address Book Palm Sync Readme
3. Calendar Palm Sync Install

The first of these installs support for your Palm Pilot to be able to synchronize with your Netscape Messenger personal address book.

The third installs support so that your Palm Pilot can synchronize with your Netscape Calendar.

Click on Address Book Palm Sync Install. Follow any instructions that it may give you.

Go to Start | Programs | Netscape Communicator | Palm Tools again and this time click on Calendar Palm Sync Install. Follow any instructions that it may give you.

Congratulations! You have now completed the installation steps that must be performed on your computer. You are now ready for the final steps, configuration of your Palm Pilot.

If your Palm Pilot is charged, remove it from the cradle and turn it on. If it is not yet charged, you can still do these steps but the Palm Pilot must be in the cradle.

The Palm Pilot will have you go through some calibration steps, using the stylus to hit certain points on the Palm Pilot screen. Go through these steps. You may be asked to enter some information … go ahead and do that, too.

In order to sync with Calendar, you will need to tell the Palm Pilot how to do that. Tap on the Applications icon and then choose NC Setup.

NC Setup is the program which configures your Palm Pilot to communicate with Calendar. There are five fields that you must fill in:

You will be asked to put in your name (NOT a userID) and your password (case is important!). A third field is entitled "Connect" and it should specify "To Server."

The next field is "Server," and that must say:calendar.agad.purdue.edu

The final field is "Node." This should be:10000

On the upper-right part of the Palm Pilot screen you will notice that it says "Sign In." Tap on that and a small menu will appear: choose "Dates."

It is in this section where you configure the Palm Pilot to let it know how much of your calendar it should load every time you perform a Hotsync. It takes a lot of time to sync up with a large and busy calendar, so most people limit the amount of information that is placed on the Palm Pilot. A common configuration is for the calendar to hold information from four weeks into the past to twelve months in the future. This setting does not affect the information stored in Calendar on your computer!

Go back to Applications and choose Preferences (Prefs). The small menu at the upper right will allow you to access different settings that you might wish to change. Perhaps the most important is under General, where you can change the time and date, turn on sounds and alarms, and set the auto-off period.