Both the Treo 650 and the iBook have built-in Bluetooth, so I was looking forward to being able to sync the two without needing to drag around another cable. However, for some reason, I couldn’t get it to work.
iSync’s instructions said that I needed to install Palm Desktop and the appropriate iSync conduit first, but it still didn’t work after that.
Searching around, I found the following instructions (slightly edited), which worked for me as well:
Make sure no Palm software (or iSync) is running on the Mac.
In ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/, delete all com.palm.* files. (If you’re feeling less adventurous, you can move them to a temporary folder first.)
In ~/Library/Preferences, delete all com.palm.* files.
In System Preferences (the app), under ‘Bluetooth,’ make sure your computer is ‘Discoverable’ (box checked) in the ‘Settings’ tab.
In the ‘Sharing’ tab, make sure the ‘Bluetooth-PDA-Sync’ service has the ‘On’ box checked. Select the service name. On the right, there is a dropdown box for ‘Type:’ — make sure that is set to RS-232, not Modem.
Exit Bluetooth prefs, saving all changes if it asks you to.
Reboot if you changed any Bluetooth settings. (This wasn’t in the set of instructions on the linked site, but I had to do this — if you don’t, and it doesn’t work, you’ll need to start over with deleting the com.palm.* files.)
Run the HotSync manager and enable HotSync. Go to the Connection Settings tab, and turn on the Bluetooth-PDA-Sync connection method.
(Optional, but necessary if you want your calendar, address book, etc. to be synchronized to Mac apps, rather than Palm Desktop) Under the HotSync menu, choose Conduit Settings, highlight the iSync Counduit, and choose Conduit Settings. Choose “Enable iSync for this Palm device.” Load iSync, and check the settings to make sure they’re what you want.
Now, if you set up Bluetooth on the Treo and pair the device with the Mac, you should be able to HotSync successfully.
Caveat lector. This worked for me, but it may turn your Mac’s hard drive into cheese and your Treo into a squeaky toy for your pet. You have been warned.
Unfortunately, it looks like the Treo isn’t designed to be able to HotSync reliably to two different computers (in my case, a PC workstation at the office and the much-more-portable iBook). If you know how to make this work, please let me know!
Tip: The HotSync process goes much more quickly if you turn off the Backup conduit. This is especially noticeable when syncing over Bluetooth. You can decide which is more important to you — the ability to kinda sorta restore your settings if your handheld gets lost or stolen, or a 30-second HotSync. (Note that you should be using a program like BackupBuddy to do an automated backup every night at 3am, so that if you ever have to do a hard reset, you can restore everything directly from the memory card, rather than having to resync with a computer. Especially handy when traveling!)
