Hi. I posted a similar thread over in the general forum a while ago and got a couple answers, none of which helped terribly, and now the thread appears to have died. I thought I might be able to get better answers here.

My question is this: I have a Palm Zire71 that I have syncing with Linux (Mandrake 10.0 currently). The problem is ... I can't seem to get files to move *from* my computer *to* my Palm. I can backup my Palm just fine, and I'm assuming I can restore just fine (haven't tried yet; no need). I write--am working on a novel, in fact--and I need to be able to write on both my computer and my Palm and keep the document current on both.

I use Docs to Go, since it worked great when I was in Windows. Problem is, there seems to be no way to read/edit its files on Linux, or to convert Word or .sx* files to its format. I need something that will let me work on my novel (or any other document of that nature) on both devices, and that will keep the document synchronized and current.

Any ideas, suggestions, or answers? I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

PS. I'd also like to be able to install programs to my Palm from Linux, too. But that's not as important as the novel/document stuff.

Does the Zire 71 have an SD card???

I use my SD card reader to put files onto my Palm m130 from my Linux machine. Then I use QuickOffice for Palm (similar to Documents to Go) to read the "word" docs (saved as a word doc from OpenOffice).

To get them back over, I have to save as a text file, or in the case of a spreadsheet, as comma diliminated text.

kpilot and jpilot should have installation routines to install Palm programs to the PDA.

Thanks for the reply. I do have an SD card, yes. And I got the card reader working for a bit in Mandrake, then Konqueror and Nautilus both froze when I tried to access the card again later. I rebooted into Kanotix, from CD, and was able to access it just fine. I just couldn't write to it.

I was going to see if Docs to Go were able to read a Word file that wasn't converted to .pdb or whatever. I *think* it can, but I'm not sure. But since I wasn't able to write to the card, I couldn't test that theory.

I took a look at QuickOffice, and it looks good, but I can't install it. They only have a Windows and a Mac installer. No Linux. And I didn't see a way to download just the .prc for a trial.

I wish more companies like Dataviz, etc., would make Linux versions of their software, in addition to Windows and Mac. It'd make life so much easier.

You should try a SanDisk single slot SD card reader,... My guess is that you might have a multi-slot reader, which many distros have real problems with. I've had nothing but success with SanDisk's reader.

As far as QuickOffice goes, I used Win2000 to get it to my Palm, using my work laptop. Once it was on and registered, the PRCs can be backed up in Linux using jpilot or kpilot.

If Docs to Go doesn't support native file formats, what good is it?

Personally, I wish there was a Palm version of OpenOffice.

PNY single slot reader, actually. The problem isn't with it. It's with my Mandrake installation. Something got messed up in it, I think. X is a little screwy right now (Mozilla occasionally freezes and takes the whole desktop with it, and ctrl-alt-F2 doesn't work to get to a text session, and a game I have no longer works. I updated security/bugfix stuff via Mandrake's Update Source deal and that's when it started), and possibly something else as well. Which is part of the reason I'm thinking of switching to a hard drive install of Kanotix.

Docs to Go supports native format, or so it says, but after I backed up everything from the Palm, those "native format" files were .PDB.pdb, not .doc. And if QuickOffice does the same thing (backing it up as .prc/.pdb), I'll have the same problem. Nothing to read the backed up file with. Which would do me no good. I need to be able to add the new stuff, added on the Palm, to the old stuff already on the computer. Not to mention that I can't afford to register it right now. I just got a new job and my first paycheck doesn't arrive till the end of the month, or the week after.

Anyway, I've got a temporary solution right now. I'm borrowing a laptop from my parents. One they hardly ever use (it was a gift to them), so nothing standing in the way of keeping it all the rest of this month, which is how long I *need* a solution for right now.

Thanks again for your help. I appreciate it. A Palm version of OpenOffice would be nice, yeah. Integrated with the desktop version, cross-platform.

Later versions of Documents to go are supposed to support real word docs. Are your docs on the Palm or on the card? I think everything on the Palm automatically gets a .pdb extension, regardless of what file type it actually is.

I used the trial version of Wordsmith some time ago and I liked it better than Documents to Go. It should be able to sync with Linux, I think.

I have the bundled Documents to Go that I got with my TT but I've never been quite happy with it. I currently use plain text files that I edit with SiEd (which is free software)

It does support real Word docs, and can save in that format. I just couldn't access them with the .pdb.pdb extension. I moved one of them to the card and, using a different computer running Windows, accessed the card and saw it as a .doc. I then transferred another .doc to the folder on the card, stuck the card back in the Palm and opened Docs to Go. I had to do a search for supported files, then I was able to see and open it in Docs to Go.

I'd forgotten that I was going to try this very thing before, thanks to the inconsistent access to the card reader in Mandrake. If I can get my computer to consistently be able to access the SD card reader, this solves my problem.

Also, I downloaded SiEd, only to be unable to install it. I installed/set up gnome-pilot via Evolution, and have no GUI other than the settings. And JPilot, with a clear GUI, isn't syncing with the Palm. I'm not going to worry too much about that, however, until I have the time to reinstall/upgrade Mandrake or change to Kanotix.

Thank you for your help and for pointing me to SiEd. It looks like a useful program.

"PS. I'd also like to be able to install programs to my Palm from Linux, too. But that's not as important as the novel/document stuff."

You can install programs from Linux to your Palm using J-Pilot
In order to do this, you need to obtain the .prc prgram file for Linux (some apps only unpack on a Windows machine, sadly). Here is what it looks like: J-Pilot Installing Palm Apps From Linux

J-Pilot needs to be installed on top of pilot xfer and other needful things as described at some point here:
Palm Sync via USB in Linux

The best tool I have for my Palm is Card Export* - this lets you 'export' your SD card and the computer sees it as a USB Memory device. Plug your USB cable in, run the .prc on the Palm and any decent distro will pop the SD card up as /mnt/removable (or similar). This runs well on Windows / Linux and apparantly Apple as well.

It works so well that I actually _paid_ for it.