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Ron's Obsolete Palm OS Computing Information Page

Palm (and Sony) no longer manufacture PalmOS devices.
Circa 2005, ACCESS acquired PalmSource. In 2010, Palm discontinued production of PalmOS all devices, and HP (HPQ) acquired Palm, it's IP and trademarks. In early 2013, HP announced that it was licensing WebOS to LG Electronics for use on its web-enabled smart TVs. In late 2014, it was reported that HP had sold the Palm trademark and related IP to Wide Progress Global Limited and/or Alcatel Onetouch.

HotPaw Productions no longer supports PalmOS products.
Any PalmOS apps or information you find on this page, use at your own risk.
Almost all of the information on this page is obsolete.

2013 updates:

Old stuff left here for historical reference:


PalmOS/PalmPilot FAQ,
HotPaw™ Software for Palm OS™ handhelds,
PalmOS Handheld General Information,
and PalmOS Application Development resources
for Palm™ and Sony Clie™ , Handheld Computers and Connected Organizers.

Ron's Unofficial Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding PalmOS Handhelds

HotPaw Software

Some of my Newer Experimental Palm OS Applications

Applications for new Palm OS 5 handhelds (Tungsten T/T2/C, NX70V) :

Some Older Experimental PalmPilot Apps

Palm OS and Palm handheld General Information

Useful Software for your Palm OS handheld

Web Sites: Applications:

Palm OS Computing Platform Application Development Resources

Application Creators/Signatures

Old Software Archive

Palm HotSync(tm) Cradle and serial port information

Palm Vx HotSync(tm) Cradle Pinout 

Pinout (left to right, facing the front of the cradle) seems to be:

cradle  cable           Palm III,V,Vx or PalmPilot
------  -----           -----
pin 1   DE9.6, DB25.6   Palm DTR (GPIO output) -> PC DSR
pin 2   N/C             +3.3V on PalmPilot and Palm III handheld
			(current limited by 330 Ohm series resistor.)
			not connected on PalmPilot cradle
	(+4.1V)		(or +4.07V measured on my Palm V cradle)
pin 3   DE9.3, DB25.2   Palm RxD <- PC TxD
pin 4   DE9.8, DB25.5   Palm RTS -> PC CTS 
pin 5   DE9.2, DB25.3   Palm Txd -> PC RxD
pin 6   DE9.7, DB25.4   Palm CTS <- PC RTS 
pin 7   N/C             GPIO input pin for detecting hotsync, contacts
                        with pin 2 when the hotsync button is pressed.
pin 8   N/C             GPIO (input only, not connected in cable)
	(+5.5V)		(or around +5.5 on Palm V cradle only)
pin 9   N/C             N/C  (spare?)
pin 10  DE9.5, DB25.7   Signal Ground

N/C     DE9.4, DB25.20	(PC DTR not connected to Palm)
N/C     DE9.1, DB25.8	(PC DCD unconnected to Palm)
(Cradle uses single sided gold PCB edge connector with 2mm contact spacing.)
Or see 3Com/Palm's Hardware Development page.

Here's a Pilot Cradle (or HotSync cable) to Modem Cable Adaptor wiring diagram.

Palm m500/505 Universal Interface 

... unverified prelim ...
When viewing front of unit, pins are numbered left to right.
 1  GND (power)
 2  USB D+
 3  USB D-
 4  USB VBUS
 5  HotSync IRQ		(+3.3 V for button push)
 6  reserved (N/C)
 7  GND (signal)	(to DE-9 pin 5)
 8  ID (pheripheral type detect: 7.5KOhms to GND for serial)
 9  Vout ~ 3.3V @ 100 mA max
10  Rxd (input)		(to DE-9 pin 2)
11  Txd (output)	(to DE-9 pin 3)
12  Attach Detect	(gnd)
13  CTS (input)		(to DE-9 pin 7)
14  RTS (output)	(to DE-9 pin 8)
15  DTR (output)	(to DE-9 pin 6)
16  charge Vin (+5.0 VDC 5% @ 1.0 A )

Information on the Sony Clie T-series serial port (by Peter Strobel)

Legal MumboJumbo: Palm(tm), PalmPilot(tm) and HotSync(tm) are registered trademarks of 3Com Corp., Palm Inc., or subsidiaries thereof. Pilot(tm) is probably the registered trademark of some pen company. Mario64 is a registered trademark of Nintendo.
This page is always under construction.

Mail to Ron Nicholson at rhn@hotpaw.com .
Ron's Home Page
Copyright © 1997-2004 Ronald H. Nicholson, Jr. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Last Modified 2004-Dec-02, (2009-Jun-13) (a couple 2013 updates)