Ubuntu Wiki

Please check the status of this specification in Launchpad before editing it. If it is Approved, contact the Assignee or another knowledgeable person before making changes.

• Launchpad entry: ltsp-palm-devices

• Packages affected: ltsp-client, ltsp-server, ltsp-localapps

Summary

Currently, thin clients in a business environment cannot use palm syncing, as there's no way to plumb a connection over the network. We need to install some extra bits in the LTSP chroot to make this happen.

Rationale

Palm devices are still in use in the business world, and this is a feature that the LTSP developers desire to get working.

Use cases

• Clay, a lawyer, walks up to his thin client, and logs in, he launches gnome-pilot, and connects to his palm, and syncs to his calendar within Evolution.

• Julia wants to back up her palm. She plugs in her palm to the thin client, and starts KOrganizer. Things work as expected. Syncing with KOrganizer's standard .ics files might be doable with jpilot; for KDE-specific resources need KPilot daemon running (per-user).

Scope

• ltsp-build-chroot should also include pilot-link

• pilot-link needs promotion to main.

Design and Implementation

• Install pilot-link

• the ltsp-client-setup needs a section like:

if [ ${LTSP_PALMPILOT} == "true" ]; then
    pilot-nredir -n -p /dev/pilot
fi

• User will need to set up their palm application to point to their thin client. Most apps using pilot-link libraries will support net:any as address passed in to pilot-link, accepting incoming network connections.

Unresolved issues

• It would be nice to automatically set the $PALMPORT environment variable on the client to point to what LTSP client they're on. For a first cut, the user can manually configure, and we'll sort out auto configure next cut.
• Need to have the right kernel modules loaded (visor). Various reports of incompatibility between different kernel / visor module versions and hardware need to be sorted out.

• Lifedrive, T|X and some other devices start a connection when plugged in, not when HotSync button is pressed. The Lifedrive might be recognized as mass storage; other devices seem to create a ttyUSB connection which doesn't speak DLP / SLP and which will hang protocol forwarding unless suitable timeouts are used to disconnect and ignore the USB device. On HotSync, the existing ttyUSB connection is broken and a new one started.

Future Plans

• Auto background sync with Evolution when the "palm sync" button is pressed, without the need for user interaction? Isn't there a gpilotd for that?

CategorySpec