PalmSync - Thunderbird: Difference between revisions

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# Before making any changes, test sync to your handheld's supplied desktop software (ex. Palm Desktop), so you know hotsync manager works.
# Before making any changes, test sync to your handheld's supplied desktop software (ex. Palm Desktop), so you know hotsync manager works.
# '''[[Profile_backup#3rd_party_profile_backup_software | Back up Thunderbird data]]. Back up palm desktop data. Read data [[#Issues and Limitations]].'''
# '''[[Profile_backup#3rd_party_profile_backup_software | Back up Thunderbird data]]. Back up palm desktop data. Read data [[#Issues and Limitations]].'''
# If you have over a thousand addresses, or have ''automatically add outgoing e-mail addresses to my ___ address book'' or collected address book turned on, you might need to exclude some address books.  See [[#Installation Notes|(4)]] for why.
# '''Beware how many records you attempt to sync.''' If you have over a thousand addresses, or have ''automatically add outgoing e-mail addresses to my ___ address book'' or sync collected address book, you might need to exclude some address books.  See [[#Installation Notes|(4)]] for why.
# '''DO NOT INSTALL INTO FIREFOX!'''.  Save to '''disk''' with ''right''' (not left) click on and select "save link as".
# '''DO NOT INSTALL INTO FIREFOX!'''.  Save to '''disk''' with ''right''' (not left) click on and select "save link as".
#*palmsync for TB 2.x - is not yet available.  It will be announced here and on mozillazine when available.  Beta version available from [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3202311 this forum article].
#*palmsync for TB 2.x - is not yet available.  It will be announced here and on mozillazine when available.  Beta version available from [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3202311 this forum article].

Revision as of 14:49, 13 May 2008

Much of the information below, except for installation procedures, is also relevant to the Seamonkey environment


PalmSync is an extension that provides a conduit to synchronize your Thunderbird (TB) address book with the Address or Contacts application on your Palm OS® device. PalmSync does Windows and address book sync only, no e-mail or calendar sync. (visit #See also for other platforms and solutions) It replaces the Palm address book conduit in HotSync Manager (HSM). However, with HSM version 4 you can switch between syncing to Palm Desktop and Thunderbird. PalmSync does not affect other conduits and sync options.

Read the #Issues and Limitations to see if PalmSync is right for you, and to avoid unexpected results with your data.

PalmSync's source code is maintained through the same Mozilla facilities as Thunderbird. If you are looking for an enhancement or fix to a problem or have coding experience, please help in the bugs.


Requirements:

  • MS-Windows and Thunderbird 1.5 or higher
  • Vista users should run Thunderbird version 2. Be advised of Palm+Vista issues. PalmSync for version 2 is beta status.
  • Address application on palm device
  • Sync manager, eg Hotsync, installed on PC to manage the conduit. Make sure you have the latest version of sync management software via (Palm Desktop or from the vendor for your model of PDA.


Issues and Limitations

Read carefully before installing and working with PalmSync to avoid unexpected results with your data and to determine if PalmSync is right for you.

  • Some Thunderbird fields do not sync, for example second e-mail address, mailing address, and mobile phone. See description of how your PDA data will be mapped to Thunderbird - Categories and Address Books, Fields
  • PalmSync maps TB address books to palm categories and Palm category names are limited to 15 characters. Therefore, limit TB Address Book names to 15 characters.
  • Palm has a limit of 15 Categories. Therefore, do not establish more than 15 TB Address Books.
  • Palm does not allow duplicate Categories. Therefore, duplicate TB Address Book names should never be used, even though TB allows multiple books with the same name.
  • One (1) and only one TB Address Book name should begin with Personal and that is TB's default Personal Address Book. PalmSync maps TB's default Personal Address Book to the palm default Personal category. Make sure you have only one such Address Book.
  • Do not delete the Unfiled category from the Palm. If you did, create an Unfiled category on the palm.
  • Treo users. Contacts with a null category will not sync. If ALL contacts are selected when you create a new contact the category is set to null, not Unfiled like other PDAs. Select a category, then create a contact and the contact will be set to the selected category.
  • Ensure that all Palm Contacts are assigned to a valid Category. Contacts not assigned to a category will not sync.
  • Contacts marked "private" in the palm address book will not sync.
  • Avoid renaming TB Address Books after your first sync.
  • Syncing with two PCs is unknown territory - you are on your own.
  • Problem syncing ... Danish letters, umlauts (ä, ü, ö, ß), diacritics, etc in names - regression starting with Thunderbird 1.5
  • PalmSync does not sync non-ascii characters, eg. international language, 8-bit, unicode (bug 237624). Therefore, avoid non-ascii characters since they will cause problems within Palm's Contacts and TB's Address Books.
  • Prior to Thunderbird 2 and PalmSync for version 2, PalmSync installs like an extension but does not show in the Thunderbird addons/extensions list and cannot be uninstalled through addons. See #Uninstall below.
  • Limitations developed because Thunderbird address book was not initially designed to be synced. To help remove them you can: a) help with the PalmSync bugs, b) help with address book bugs, and c) help with the next generation of sync solution

Installation

See #Installation Notes for explanation of (1), (2), (3), (4).

  1. Before making any changes, test sync to your handheld's supplied desktop software (ex. Palm Desktop), so you know hotsync manager works.
  2. Back up Thunderbird data. Back up palm desktop data. Read data #Issues and Limitations.
  3. Beware how many records you attempt to sync. If you have over a thousand addresses, or have automatically add outgoing e-mail addresses to my ___ address book or sync collected address book, you might need to exclude some address books. See (4) for why.
  4. DO NOT INSTALL INTO FIREFOX!'. Save to disk with right (not left) click on and select "save link as".
  5. In Thunderbird, go to "Tools -> Add-ons (Extensions) -> Install" to install PalmSync.xpi from disk. (1)
  6. Restart Thunderbird to activate the extension. (1)
  7. Verify conduit settings (2):
    1. Right click the Palm Hot Sync icon in the system tray and select "Custom" to get a list of conduits.
    2. Find Thunderbird/Seamonkey/Mozilla Address Book conduit (near the bottom) - If you do not see "Synchronize The Files", change it and check "Set as Default". If you do not see the conduit then consult #Bugs and Troubleshooting
    3. Find Contacts conduit (near the top) - If you do not see "Do Nothing", set it to "Do Nothing" and check "Set as Default". If you do not see this conduit or something like it (some PDAs have different names for their contacts) you might want to get a newer version of sync software so you can switch between syncing to Palm Desktop and Thunderbird.
    4. Click OK.
  8. Verify HotSync® - Do a sync and check the PDA sync log (3) to verify palm and Thunderbird sync correctly. If problems consult #Bugs and Troubleshooting.

Bugs and Troubleshooting

Is Mozilla Address Book conduit listed in hotsync (Hot Sync > Custom) and is set to synchronize?

  • If not, run palmsyncinstall.exe from the extension directory. For version 2 it's in /extensions/p@m/ of the Thunderbird profile folder. In version 1.x look in Thunderbird's "'program'" directory.

If no data syncs:

  • Contacts conduit (if it exists) should be set to "do nothing".
  • Set Mozilla Address Book conduit in hotsync to "desktop overwrites handheld" (do NOT set as default) and hotsync once. If it syncs then the problem was not with PalmSync - it was probably data corruption on the handheld (HH), a condition known to prevent syncing. CAUTION: DT -> HH will clear contact data on your handheld and replace it with Thunderbird's data.
  • Retest syncing to your handheld's default desktop application, for example Palm Desktop with HSM Contacts' conduit set to sync and Thunderbird Address Book set to do nothing.
  • For non-stable versions/development versions of Thunderbird (nightlies, release candidates, etc) you need a special version of PalmSync. Also check the bug list.

Problems persist:

  • Ask for help at Thunderbird General mozillazine forum.
  • Check Bug list and known issues
  • If running Thunderbird 1.5 or 1.0 - Uninstall PalmSync AND Thunderbird. Reinstall both.
  • After checking bug list and not finding a good match, file a new bug in component "Mailnews: Palm Sync" of product "Core". Select "Other Products" to find "Core" with
    • short summary and good description - clear and exact steps for someone else to exactly reproduce the problem.
    • versions - paste versions of all of the following into the bug comments : PalmSync, Thunderbird build string at help>about, Hotsync at hotsync>about, hotsync log from hotsync>view log
    • conduit log file - attached as a file (see below)
  • Conduit log
    • To create a conduit log:
      • create a "permanent" environment variable named MOZ_CONDUIT_LOG
        • windows XP classic view: click Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables
        • windows XP menu view: click Start -> Control Panel -> Performance and Maintenance -> System-> Advanced -> Environment Variables
      • under System Variables create a New variable MOZ_CONDUIT_LOG with value c:\temp\conduit.log, and click OK
      • click OK
      • restart Thunderbird
      • Hotsync
      • view the log file. If you can't find the file or it is empty then the install did not finish correctly, the conduit is probably not being called for some other reason, or your environment variable is not correct.
    • [An alternative is a "non-permanent" environment variable - set the variable from the widows command prompt (start>run>cmd or start>programs>accessories>Command Prompt), type SET MOZ_CONDUIT_LOG=c:\temp\conduit.log and then start Thunderbird from that window. The environment variable will be "gone" when you close the command prompt window.]
    • about Conduit log: [TODO] conduit log is persistent, appended to, etc

Enhancement requests

The most notable (not just Palm OS® or Thunderbird) are:

Tweaks and Tools

  • Exclude an address book/category from syncing - Go to tools>options>advanced>general>config editor. Put "dirtype" in the config editor filter to see a list of the form ldap_2.servers.<ab_pref_name>.dirType, these are Thunderbird's internal "preference name" for each AB. Then right-click to create a boolean preference for each exclusion with a name of ldap_2.servers.<ab_pref_name>.disablePalmSync with a value of TRUE. Example, the preference name for Collected Addresses (or if you prefer, Collected Address Book) is "history", so the boolean preference for CAB is ldap_2.servers.history.disablePalmSync. (Warning: <ab_pref_name> is Thunderbird's internal "preference name", not the "pretty name". Pretty name is what you see when in the address book window).
    * This preference is documented in Bug 227507. And it has no UI (User Interface), so you will not find it in Thunderbird's preference menus nor in the extension's options.)
  • Choose home or work address - To sync home address information instead of work add a preference with tools>options>advanced>general>config editor, right-click, boolean preference mail.palmsync.useHomeAddress and set to TRUE.
    *This is documented in Bug 226221. This feature has no UI, i.e. you will not find it in Thunderbird's preference menus.
    - You can instead add a line to prefs.js as follows:
pref("mail.palmsync.useHomeAddress", true);
  • MoreColsForAddressBook aka morecols is an extension which allows import/export of Thunderbird AB to and from Palm Desktop via vcard format
  • Conduit Tools - these provide detailed control over and information about your conduits (these tools are not for the faint of heart)

Installation Notes

(1) PalmSync is installed via extension manager but it is NOT a true extension. Therefore you will not see it in Thunderbird's list of addons/extensions, nor can it be UNinstalled/removed via extension manager. Use the Uninstall instructions.
(2) Some versions of Palm software retain Palm Desktop's Contacts as the default conduit after PalmSync installs the Mozilla Address Book conduit. This has been documented with Palm Desktop version 4.1.4 with HotSync version 6.0.1. So, to be safe, the final step of PalmSync install is to verify the conduit settings.
(3) Versions prior to 1.5 do not make an entry in the hotsync log - bug 183722.
(4) PDAs have limited storage. PC's generally don't. "Collecting" addresses can cause large address books which will cause a sync to exceed a PDA's storage limit, especially if the PDA is a phone. If you have over a thousand Thunderbird addresses you should evaluate and possibly exclude some address books from syncing, such as collected address book by creating a Thunderbird preference of ldap_2.servers.history.disablePalmSync set to true. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/PalmSync_-_Thunderbird#Tweaks_and_Tools for details.

Thunderbird 1.0.x at 1.0.2 - use of these versions is not recommended. It requires Contacts Sidebar extension to work avoid a TB 1.0.x bug 234391.

Uninstall

With Thunderbird version 2 you uninstall using addons/extension manager. The items below are primarily for versions 1.5.0.x, 1.0.x, etc. There is no uninstall procedure that removes the PalmSync software from disk, but you can disable or reset conduit and hotsync settings which affect the connection to Thunderbird. Choose a method depending on the results you need to achieve.

  • To disable the PalmSync conduit, keep it available for future use, and switch the sync back to Palm Desktop:
  1. Right click the HotSync icon in the system tray and select "Custom" to get a list of conduits.
  2. Edit Mozilla Address Book conduit, change to "Do nothing", check "Set as Default", click OK. (If you do not see Mozilla Address Book then the PalmSync was not activated or not completely installed.)
  3. Edit Contacts conduit (i.e. Palm Desktop), change to "Synchronize The Files", check "Set as Default"., click OK. (If you do not see Contacts then you must restore the Palm conduit using the clean and restore method below).
  4. Click OK.
  • To remove PalmSync conduit programatically so Mozilla Address Book will not appear in the hotsync list:
  1. Find PalmSyncInstall.exe in your Thunderbird profile (Thunderbird v2) or program directory (prior to v2)
  2. From a DOS prompt in that directory, do PalmSyncInstall.exe /u<br\>Seamonkey users can remove the palmsync conduit from hotsync with Start > Program > Seamonkey > Palm Tools > Uninstall
  • To remove PalmSync conduit manually so Mozilla Address Book will not appear in the hotsync list, use a tool from Tweaks and Tools, or do the following:<br\>WARNING: Do not proceed unless you are experienced at modifying registry values.
  1. Make a backup of your registry prior to making any changes (File > Export).
  2. Run regedit (Left click on the Start button > Run > regedit).
  3. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\U.S. Robotics\Pilot Desktop\ApplicationX (Where X is an integer - look for the entry that has a value "Name" with data of "Mozilla Address Book".
  4. Delete this Application X entry where "Name" value is "Mozilla Address Book"
  5. Exit regedit.
  6. Shutdown and restart HotSync manager.
  • To clear and return to factory default settings for HotSync choose from several methods:<br\>Warning: You must reinstall any conduits you added after you last installed Palm Desktop.
    • Run HotSyncWizard.exe - see Tweaks and Tools
    • Uninstall and reinstall the Palm Desktop. Or slightly less drastic ...
    • hotsync -r<br\>
      1. Get a command prompt (Start > Run > cmd), navigate go to your Palm software root folder (cd C:\Program Files\Palm\).
      2. Run hotsync -r (type: hotsync -r). This will reset the Palm Desktop's HotSync conduits to their factory defaults.
      3. Exit the command prompt (type: exit).

See also

Documentation and References

Source Code