Palm Desktop 4.1 compatibility with Mac OS X woes

[markmac]

why would a mac user even bother to use a program that won't install in the first place? yes, there may be ways around this but why didn't palm re-write their palm desktop so that it would install right in the first place on Panther?
I would like to know successful mac panther users are with a program like palm desktop that won't install itself.

[iggyboy2]

I have loaded the palm desktop successfully onto my g4 ibook, Panther 10.3.5. I had no problem at all actually.

Do I use it? No, not really. I will use iCal and address book through iSync as soon as I get my address information typed in! Had it set up once, but I reinstalled my system and can't find the backup I thought I made. Oh well. I have a Zire 71 on which I track my students grades using Easygrade Pro.

Oh yeah...GO BROWNS! (I am a transplanted Clevelander enjoying the sun and warmth of the South.)

[markmac]

Iggyboy2, how did you do that? how did you install your. when I do it, I get a "cannot install, error message." I'm using 10.3.6

[Viro]

I don't have any problems either with 10.3.6. Did you do the usual maintainance tasks(i.e.repair permissions, reboot,etc) before trying to install?

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Just because Palm Desktop 4.1 refuses to install on your system does not automatically narrow the problem down to the Palm Desktop 4.1 installer. There could be many, many things that you've done to your system that would prevent the installer from launching: installed too many "haxies" (haxies are not guaranteed safe and can cause problems with other programs or the system itself), interrupted an "optimizing" process after an install, etc. Or, maybe there's nothing you did to the system -- either way, there's something other than the installer that's preventing it from installing.

I would suggest following Viro's advice: first, rebooting from the Mac OS X Install CD and running a "Repair Disk" and then rebooting from the hard drive and running a "Repair Permissions." Then try the installer again. Write back if you need help doing either of those.

Also, another good test is to create a new user account via the "Accounts" pane of the System Preferences and seeing if the Palm Desktop 4.1 installer works under that new account. If it does, we've eliminated the installer as the problem and have verified your account as the problem. If that happens, we'll need further troubleshooting.

[markmac]

what are "repair permissions?"

[ElDiabloConCaca]

It repairs the UNIX-style permissions on your boot drive, if they somehow got changed. It's a good thing to do every month or so.

Open "Disk Utility" in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder. Select your boot volume, then click "Repair Permissions" at the bottom. Let it run until it's complete. It only needs to be run once.

If that doesn't help, reboot with your Mac OS X Install CD in the drive, and immediately hold down the 'c' key and keep it held down. Soon, you should be presented with a window asking you to select a language for installation. Instead of selecting a language, select "Open Disk Utility" from one of the menus in the menubar (I think it's the File menu, but I could be wrong). When Disk Utility opens, select your hard drive, then click "Repair Disk" (not "Repair Permissions"). Let it run until it's complete. If it reports that it found errors on the drive, run it again and keep doing so until no errors are reported.

[markmac]

Viro, what you the "usual" maintenance tasks that you refer to and how do I do them?