[vox-tech] Handspring Visor sync problem

[Jeff Newmiller]

Do a hardware reset.  The plain hardware reset will not lose data,
but it will restore the syncing software to a known working state.

On Tue, 28 Nov 2006, Peter Jay Salzman wrote:

> I've lost the ability to sync my Visor with jpilot and kpilot.  Setup is:
>
>    * kernel 2.6.16
>    * jpilot 0.99.9.2
>    * Debian testing
>    * Handspring Visor prism
>
>
> Here's my analysis of the situation:
>
> 0. visor.o is built into the kernel.  From /proc/config.gz:
>
>       CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_VISOR=y
>
>
> 1. The problem is not a kernel bug because I've been able to sync with
>    this kernel in the past.  I lost the ability to sync a month or two
>    ago, but I haven't updated my kernel in many months.  Note that the
>    Debian jpilot package *has* been updated quite a few times in the
>    past few months, including new upstream CVS releases.
>
>
> 2. The device file being used is /dev/ttyUSB1.  Here's how I know:
>
>       * Initially, there's no USB tty device files:
>
>             $ ls /dev/ttyUSB*
>             ls: /dev/ttyUSB*: No such file or directory
>
>       * Press the hotsync button on the cradle.  While the Visor is trying
>         to hotsync, udev creates the device files:
>
>             $ ls /dev/ttyUSB*
>             /dev/ttyUSB0  /dev/ttyUSB1
>
>       * During this time, reading /dev/USB0 produces no output:
>
>             $ dd if=/dev/ttyUSB0 of=/dev/null
>             0+0 records in
>             0+0 records out
>             0 bytes (0 B) copied, 3.62889 seconds, 0.0 kB/s
>
>       * However, reading /dev/USB1 produces output.  Presumably, this is
>         the visor trying to connect:
>
>             $ dd if=/dev/ttyUSB1 of=/dev/null
>             0+12 records in
>             0+1 records out
>             101 bytes (101 B) copied, 39.3244 seconds, 0.0 kB/s
>
>       * So it's pretty clear that /dev/ttyUSB1 is the correct file.
>
>
> 3. Starting up jpilot, and using File | Preferences, I made sure that
>    jpilot is trying to sync to /dev/ttyUSB1.
>
>
> 4. jpilot is connecting to the visor, but disconnecting immediately:
>
>       * Start jpilot.
>       * Press the hotsync button on the cradle.
>       * Press the hotsync button on jpilot.
>       * Visor plays beeps indicating a connection is made.
>       * Visor immediately plays beeps indicating a connection is broken.
>       * Visor displays "The connection ... was lost" message.
>
>
> 5. However, the app pilot-xfer can list the files on the Visor:
>
>    $ pilot-xfer --list -p /dev/ttyUSB1
>
>       Listening for incoming connection on /dev/ttyUSB1... connected!
>       Reading list of databases in RAM...
>       StripAccounts-SJLO
>       CityTimeDB
>       ...
>       AddressTitlesDB
>       VendorsDB
>
>       List complete. 38 files found.
>       Thank you for using pilot-link.
>
>
> 6. pilot-xfer can also backup and sync my Visor:
>
>    $ pilot-xfer -p /dev/ttyUSB1 -b .
>
>       Listening for incoming connection on /dev/ttyUSB1... connected!
>
>       [+][1   ][SJLO] Backing up 'StripAccounts-SJLO', 80 bytes, 0 KiB...
>       [+][2   ][CiAa] Backing up 'CityTimeDB', 8158 bytes, 8 KiB...
>       ...
>       [+][35  ][addr] Backing up 'AddressTitlesDB', 924 bytes, 464 KiB...
>       [+][36  ][exps] Backing up 'VendorsDB', 472 bytes, 464 KiB...
>
>       RAM backup complete. 36 files backed up, 0 skipped, 0 files failed.
>       Thank you for using pilot-link.
>
>
> 7. The application kpilot doesn't work.  The symptoms are almost exactly the
>    same as what I'm seeing with jpilot.
>
>
> So here's where I am:
>
>    0. Kernel module and udev seem to be doing the Right Thing.
>    1. jpilot and kpilot are looking at the correct device file and
>       are connecting, but immediately disconnecting.
>    2. I can backup/sync just fine with pilot-xfer.
>
> I've analyzed this as far as I can.  I really don't know what to do next.
> Do jpilot and kpilot use the same backend for hotsyncing?
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
> Peter
> _______________________________________________
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> vox-tech at lists.lugod.org
> http://lists.lugod.org/mailman/listinfo/vox-tech
>

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