Random MomBlog

I like to test things before I go on a trip. I was hoping to go on a trip without my laptop (this may be the first in years for a week-long trip), and I wanted to be sure I could charge my Treo from my iPod’s wall charger (a small adapter from wall current to USB). Cell phones come in handy on the road, at least while the battery lasts.

My Treo 700p failed the test! It would not charge from anything but my actual laptop. The closest I could come to faking it out was to plug a powered USB hub into my laptop, plug Treo cable into hub, plug Treo into cable, let Treo start charging, and then sneakily unplug the hub from my laptop. That’s a lot of hassle just to get it to charge!!!

I’ll just bring the spare battery instead, but it’s annoying not to be able to charge how I wish, so I had to ask Google why. From Treo charging in cradle from Palm Support Forums:

Besides using the charger to charge the phone, the PC will need to be on to use the trickle charge method. Some motherboards can allow continuous current even if PC is shut down but clearly your PC does not have such motherboard. The reason why your powered usb hub is not charging the phone is that the hub itself regulates power by “On Demand” and that demand is active data xfers from A to B or vice versa. So if no data is moving, then there will be insufficient power from that usb port to initiate a trickle charge.

Phooey. At least the mystery is explained; too bad my Treo wall and car chargers died (I think it wears out the connectors somehow since new cables work, but that’s another story).

Error Message: Application Launch Failure
The application "Transport Monitor" could not be launched because of a shared library error: "
<__ct__16ctransportrelmacfp18opaquetransportrefuc>”
(OK)

In addition to that error window, I had these errors in Console.app: [0x0-0x46046].com.palm.HotSync.TransportMonitor[732] /Applications/Palm/Transport Monitor/Contents/MacOSClassic/Transport Monitor[732] Launch failed with error code -2807 (cfragUnresolvedErr) for application /System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Support/LaunchCFMApp
com.apple.launchd[223] ([0x0-0x46046].com.palm.HotSync.TransportMonitor[732]) Exited with exit code: 9

Solution: from MacFixIt,

Error: Transport Monitor could not be launched; fix

Some users have reported receiving the message “Transport Monitor” could not be launched because of a shared library error” when starting up Mac OS X or performing other operations.

This error message indicates a problem with one of the components included with the Palm Desktop software, and you may need to re-install the software.

First, uninstall Palm Desktop via these instructions.

Next, re-install Palm Desktop, which is available as a standalone download.

If you have recently performed an Archive and Install and are experiencing this problem afterward, the HotSync libraries (part of the Palm Desktop package) may be located in at /Previous Systems/Previous System(1)/Library/CFMSupport/HotSync Libraries.

You can move these files to the /Library/CFMSupport/ directory in order to obviate a re-install.

I’m pretty sure this is a conduit conflict from having both Palm Desktop and Missing Sync installed, so you could just remove all non-Apple conduits and re-install the one you want to use.

So I’m headed to un-install, then side-step to Missing Sync (they sent me an upgrade coupon, so I’ll bite). (I don’t like that they have a spotty reputation for customer service, I think Missing Sync is a bit over-priced, and I think it has bad software design from that one time right after I bought Missing Sync it wasn’t giving me the underlying error message that I saw when I reverted back to Palm Desktop. I recognized the error right away, fixed it, and went back to Missing Sync with mistrust. Error messages, even cryptic numbers, beat no error message with no sync.)

Since I upgraded Missing Sync, I’m happy with sync again. So I didn’t test this tip out, but removing conduits from the “active” location and re-installing really should have fixed it too.

Now if this isn’t just the fastest way to join Gmail: SMS Signup for a Gmail Account. I’m teetering on that edge … do I want to see email on my Treo or not? If it’s good, I’ll never be unplugged ever again, and I’m not sure that’s good. (Then again, my cute kid can always convince me to play with him, so I do have that reality check. And I sure do enjoy relaxing with my fantastic hubby, so maybe I would remember the world outside of my Treo.)

(I don’t need to point out that you can Gmail for the Treo, do I? I’d still install Google Maps first, though.)

Tips, Treo

Ah, finally! One of the ways I use my Treo is to search Froogle while I’m in the store. It curbs regrettable impulse buys when I can check prices and reviews on the stop. However, Froogle isn’t the easiest site to read on a Treo. So when I saw Froogle for Mobile, I had to take a look. Sure enough, wml.froogle.com is what I want to use instead! Nice.

Karston played with my Treo after dinner today, and then I couldn’t find it. I went through the whole house carefully, at toddler height. I checked the box where he had unpacked the box, dropped in my office keys, and then put everything back. Finally I went back to the stand-by, Where did you definitely see it last? Daddy had seen it (for sure) later than I was sure I had seen it, so I started there. He saw Karston grab it from the coffee table. So I walked all around the living room on my knees, and looked under the couch. No phone. We called my phone, but Karston’s learned to turn off the phone function, and yes, my phone was off the air. So finally I lifted couch cushions, and found it under the second one I checked. Whew! I didn’t even know Karston hid things there!

The new trick I learned by accident on my Treo is that you can dim the screen for a session by pressing OPTION (the black blob) and MENU. Press that combination again, and the screen goes back to normal brightness. I use this when I want to enter some tasks at night (so I can clear my brain and then fall asleep), when the screen seems so bright at the lowest setting. This extra-dim setting is also good for playing solitaire (Klondike in Patience) during a midnight nursing. (I then use it as my very expensive flashlight so I can get back in bed without tripping on something otherwise unseen.)

I couldn’t believe that my new Treo 700p didn’t allow me to write Graffiti all over the touch screen (like my Tungsten T3). Thanks to Mr. Google, Graffiti Anywhere came to the rescue! That’s on my short list of must-have Treo applications. I’m much happier now that I can use graffiti again. (All this does is enable the Graffiti that’s in the ROM already. It’s not some nasty hack that could do terrible things to your Treo’s memory.)

The built-in keyboard isn’t as bad as I expected, but I’m better at Graffiti or on full-sized keyboards. Not surprisingly given its history [1] [2], the SK6688 keyboard driver kills my Treo. Even when that IrDA driver (latest 2.30 version) is not active, I can’t use the right 75% of my touchscreen. Quickly deleted and placed on my black list! In theory, my Treo 700p is supported, but I’d like to talk the QA person who said that! I started with a Treo 700p that didn’t have any custom installs, and I had problems. I could see that being the only test case, and the only case that works, but when it’s a case that doesn’t work, the QA group is asleep at the wheel. (Note: this is not a complaint about the Treo 700p, but a diatribe about a bad driver for an external keyboard.)

The whole Treo is smaller than I expected, but it has a certain heft. It does weigh 50% more than my StarTac it replaces as a phone. I don’t think it’s heavier than my Palm on a scale, but because it’s smaller, it’s denser, and I notice that heft. The 320 x 320 screen, physically smaller than the Tungsten T3 screen in 320 x 320 compact mode, obviously has a finer dot pitch. However, the screen is very bright, so I’m not squinting at the screen. In fact, I like the smoother appearance of this screen, even though I expected not to like the smaller screen.

I appreciate the hot sync button on the sync cable. My Tungsten T3 only had a hot sync button on the cradle, so when I brought the smaller hot sync cable on a road trip, I had a laborious process to get Hot Sync-ing. It’s a nice touch.

The Verizon belt clip case for it is obnoxious: I don’t need a case that holds my phone an inch away from my body! Egad, what were they thinking? I’m used to clipping equipment to my belt or to my pocket. I’ve found that clipping those items farther from my body just gives them a chance to build up momentum when they do whack into me, and I’d prefer to keep them snug. Less chance of knocking them off when I dart through a small area (like between racks in the data center when I’m working on my servers). (Again, this is not a complaint about the Treo 700p itself!)

Overall, I like this gadget so far.

Palm, Tips, Treo