Learning Red Hat Linux, Third Edition

Pilot/Handspring Tool

Red Hat Linux includes gnome-pilot, a tool that lets you synchronize your Palm or Handspring PDA (personal digital assistant) with your Linux system using your system’s serial port and your PDA’s serial hot sync cradle. By default, Red Hat Linux is configured to enable you to back up your PDA to your Linux system or restore a backup from your Linux system to your PDA. You can also synchronize Evolution’s calendar, task list, and contact list with your PDA. These functions are broken under Red Hat Linux 7.3 and 8.0; however, it’s simple to work around the problem.

To set up your system to communicate with your PDA, choose Accessories → Pilot/Handspring Tool from the GNOME or KDE menu. The Welcome panel appears, as shown in Figure 6-9.

Figure 6-9. The gnome-pilot Welcome panel

Plug your PDA into its cradle and plug the cradle into your system’s serial port. Click Next to continue. The Cradle Settings panel, shown in Figure 6-10, appears. Specify the serial port to which the cradle is attached. If you’ve synched your PDA by using a Microsoft Windows host, you can use the information in Table 6-1 to determine the serial port.

Table 6-1. Linux and Windows serial port designations

Windows designation	Linux designation
COM1	/dev/ttyS0
COM2	/dev/ttyS1
COM3	/dev/ttyS2
COM4	/dev/ttyS3

Figure 6-10. The Cradle Settings panel

Click Next to continue. The Pilot Identification ...