pilot-link/README.fedora

Additional information for Fedora pilot-link users
==================================================

pilot-link-0.12.2-10.fc8 and later versions are configured to enable 
the use of libusb for console users - permissions are now handled by
PolicyKit. For more information on libusb see README.libusb.

IMPORTANT:

If your Palm device is plugged in at the time of the upgrade (or you
are experiencing difficuly with having the Palm device recognized) you
should probably unplug and replugin in your device after the upgrade
for the new HAL configuration to take effect.

If kernel module 'visor' is activated then the HAL USB solution may not
work - so it may be necessary to remove it manually
(use command /sbin/modprobe visor) or reboot the computer.

pilot-link libusb support is relatively new and may still be 
incompatible with some handheld devices. If you experience such a
problem you may want to try the older "visor module" USB method 
described below. A long discussion about this problem is at:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=280251.

If this discussion does not help you, please report a bug to:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/


Visor module setup
------------------

The Visor module is a backwards compatibility solution to expose the USB
connection of newer Palm handhelds as a serial device, which is what
older versions of pilot-link and dependent packages require to work.

Unfortunately this solution is inherently imperfect when used with udev
(as Fedora does) - you may have to tweak your individual setup.

1) disable libusb: remove (or comment out the contents) of
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-visor

2) Configure udev to detect the Palm:
2a) copy 60-libpisock.rules from /usr/share/pilot-link/udev/ to 
/etc/udev/rules.d/
2b) within 60-libpisock.rules change all instances of GROUP="dialout" to
GROUP="uucp"

3) Configure permissions so that a console user can access /dev/pilot:
copy 60-pilot.perms from /usr/share/pilot-link/udev/ to
/etc/security/console.perms.d/

When you connect your Palm handheld, watch /var/log/messages - the visor
module should create two ttyUSB devices. Depending on your handheld
model you will need to use either the first or second of these as the
--port argument with pilot-link based programs.

Some users like the convenience of linking this device to /dev/pilot.
To do this add SYMLINK="pilot" and one of either KERNEL=="ttyUSB[02468]"
or KERNEL=="ttyUSB[13579]" to each line in 60-libpisock.rules, depending
on whether you need to use the first or second visor ttyUSB device.
N.B. This is inherently unreliable since another driver could create an
odd number of ttyUSB devices before the /dev/pilot symlink is created.

For further discussion of the inherent problems related to the Visor 
module, see:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=158809


Old serial (non-USB) handhelds
------------------------------

Older serial (non-USB) handhelds can be directly addressed by pilot link
on their serial port (e.g. /dev/ttyS0) or /dev/pilot can be symlinked to
the serial port.

Kevin R. Page, 2007-12-11
Alex Lancaster, 2008-01-07