HOWTO: Syncing Smartphones with SynCE & Multisync

[Stormx]

NOTICE:
This thread is rubbish. It won't work with any kernel version other than the one I used here. Its only of historical interest. Theres a 99% chance it won't work if you follow it.

Since I wrote this, an excellent wiki has been started. Use it instead:

http://www.synce.org/index.php/SynCE-Wiki















Notes: This is my first How-To, and I do hope it helps people struggling with SynCE / Multisync and devices that are troublesome. The guide comes from a few places. Firstly, the Pocket PC Syncing Guide, Kernel Compilation Guide, SynCE How-To and of course the fantastic Ubuntu support channel! The guide is aimed at 2.6 kernels (it won't work otherwise)! Throughout the How-To I will use the term "device". This can refer to any phone or device listed below

This guide is *very* unpredictable because it is very hardware-dependant. You may need to take some different steps to make it work on your system. I can barely get this to work on this system alone, so this guide should only really be treated as guidelines than exact steps to take

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Works with: Orange SPV, SPV e100 and SPV e200
Should Work With: i-Mate Smartphone, i-Mate Smartphone 2, Qtek 7070, Qtek 8010, Qtek 8080, Motorola MPx200, Orange c500

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Before you start:
If you are used to using a windows program to "Sync" your phone/device and it is not listed above, have a look at the Pocket PC Syncing Guide.

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Finding out where the device is mounted
This step is option; if you know where your device is mounted, you don't need to do this
If you don't know where your device is mounted, unplug the device (take it out its cradle) and run

ls /dev > /tmp/before

Now plug in your device

ls /dev > /tmp/after
diff /tmp/before /tmp/after

You should get an output like:

648a649
> ttyUSB0

Its the ttyUSB0 which is important! This is where the device is mounted when plugged in. Make a note of this, and if you get problems later (for example, when installing synce or running synce-serial-configure) try using this info!

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Lets get going!
Close down what you aren't using, including any open terminals. Unplug the device from its cradle/lead. Open Terminal!

sudo apt-get install librra0 librra0-tools librapi2-tools libsynce0 synce-dccm synce-multisync-plugin synce-serial coreutils libc6 gcc-3.4 gcc linux-tree linux-headers-386

If prompted to install any other packages, do it! You need all of these!

If prompted to give data for the SynCE package, stick with the default, unless you have a reason not to

Note: Users of PPro, Celeron, PII / III / IV should replace "linux-headers-386" with "linux-headers-686"

cd /usr/src
sudo tar --bzip2 -xvf linux-source-2.6.12.tar.bz2
sudo ln -s /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.12 /usr/src/linux
cd ~
wget http://www.dython.net/z/hosted/stormx/kernel-2.6-driver-new.tar.gz
sudo tar -xvf kernel-2.6-driver-new.tar.gz
cd kernel-2.6-driver
sudo make
sudo rmmod ipaq
modprobe usbserial
sudo insmod ./ipaq.ko

If you get problems in the first 3 lines, leave a post! I will try and fix!
If you get problems with the 5th line, its my fault. I've taken the file off my webserver.
If you get problems with the 6th line, make sure you have all the right untarring/gzipping packages installed
If you get problems with the 8th line, leave a post with the error/output!
If you get something like "ERROR: Module ipaq does not exist in /proc/modules" on the 9th, ignore it. It doesn't matter
If you get problems on the 10th or 11th, leave a message with the error!

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Time to test! PLUG IN YOUR DEVICE

sudo synce-serial-config ttyUSB0
dccm
sudo synce-serial-start
--WAIT FOR A COUPLE OF SECONDS--
synce-pstatus

If you get "synce-serial-config was unable to find a character device named "ttyUSB0" ", make sure the phone lead/cradle is plugged into the first USB slot (if it isn't, try changing the 0 to 1, etc)
If you get "synce-pstatus: Unable to initialize RAPI: An unspecified failure has occurred", run "sudo synce-serial-abort", and try to repeat the process above. Try and wait between each command, it helped for me. If you still can't get it to work, leave a post!

Hopefully, you'll get an output of info on your device! If you don't, stop here. Otherwise continue. Make sure we are still in ~/kernel-2.6-driver

sudo make install

That should install the new driver for good! Now lets continue to set up multisync!

synce-matchmaker create 1

If you get an error, ignore it, so long as you have "Partnership was successfully created" at the end of the output. If you don't try changing "1" to "2"

multisync

In multisync, create a new partnership between SynCE(Top plugin) and Evolution (Bottom Plugin). Make sure you already have an account in evolution, though! Try pressing "Sync" and watch the contacts section of evolution. If nothing happens, press the "Resync" button (You may need to unhide it, look through the menus). If still nothing, something is up. Leave a comment!

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Exploring the device

wget ftp://chpujol.ath.cx/pub/Ubuntu/Packages/Synce-Gnome/synce-gnomevfs_0.9.0-2_i386.deb ftp://chpujol.ath.cx/pub/Ubuntu/Packages/Synce-Gnome/synce-software-manager_0.9.0-2_i386.deb ftp://chpujol.ath.cx/pub/Ubuntu/Packages/Synce-Gnome/synce-trayicon_0.9.0-2_i386.deb 
sudo dpkg -i synce-gnomevfs_0.9.0-2_i386.deb synce-software-manager_0.9.0-2_i386.deb synce-trayicon_0.9.0-2_i386.deb
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/libgtop-2.0.so.5 /usr/lib/libgtop-2.0.so.2
synce-trayicon

You should be able to explore the device now! Look in your tray for the new synce icon, right click > Explore with File manager (Thanks to Jehu for this section)

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Help/Support
SynCE USB How-To
SynCE USB Debug instructions
HOWTO: Pocket PC Syncing with Evolution (ubuntuforums)
HOWTO: Kernel Compilation for Newbies (ubuntuforums) (we don't actually compile the kernel, we just need it's source for the driver)

I hope this was in any way useful for people who struggled with SynCE and a device above. I know I did! If something doesn't work, please leave a comment or PM me!

[rickmans]

I got the following error:

root@rickubuntu:~/kernel-2.6-driver # synce-serial-start

synce-serial-start is now waiting for your device to connect

root@rickubuntu:~/kernel-2.6-driver # synce-pstatus
synce-pstatus: Unable to initialize RAPI: An unspecified failure has occurred

[rickmans]

Okay I found out that my previous problem was due the fact to run that as root. Now I have got this problem:

sudo synce-serial-config ttyUSB0

ERROR:

synce-serial-config was unable to find a character device named "ttyUSB0"

Run "synce-serial-config --help" to get help.

[Stormx]

Make sure your device is plugged into the first USB slot, ttyUSB0 (if it isn't, try changing the "0" to the correct slot number), and also attached to the lead/cradel

EDIT: I've added a "Finding out where your device is mounted" section. Have a look at that

[Jehu]

Hi,

thank you for posting an solution.

I've still the problem: the USB-Device (MDA III) disconnect/reconnet every second. Output in /var/log/messages:

Dec 27 15:21:19 localhost kernel: [4295181.301000] usb 4-5.2: PocketPC PDA converter now attached to ttyUSB0
Dec 27 15:21:22 localhost kernel: [4295184.206000] usb 4-5.2: USB disconnect, address 15
Dec 27 15:21:22 localhost kernel: [4295184.208000] PocketPC PDA ttyUSB0: PocketPC PDA converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
Dec 27 15:21:22 localhost kernel: [4295184.209000] ipaq 4-5.2:1.0: device disconnected
Dec 27 15:21:25 localhost kernel: [4295187.149000] usb 4-5.2: new full speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 16
Dec 27 15:21:25 localhost kernel: [4295187.196000] ipaq 4-5.2:1.0: PocketPC PDA converter detected
Dec 27 15:21:25 localhost kernel: [4295187.199000] usb 4-5.2: PocketPC PDA converter now attached to ttyUSB0
Dec 27 15:21:28 localhost kernel: [4295190.094000] usb 4-5.2: USB disconnect, address 16
Dec 27 15:21:28 localhost kernel: [4295190.095000] PocketPC PDA ttyUSB0: PocketPC PDA converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0
Dec 27 15:21:28 localhost kernel: [4295190.097000] ipaq 4-5.2:1.0: device disconnected

Any Ideas to resolve this?

So long
Jehu

[Jehu]

Ok, now (after very much trys) the Device is connected.
So why this dis/connect-Problem?

EDIT:
Its now possible to connect the PDA!

If you want to user the synce-trayicon and a File-Explorer, download and install the packages from:
ftp://chpujol.ath.cx/pub/Ubuntu/Packages/Synce-Gnome/

Now set the following symlink:
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/libgtop-2.0.so.5 /usr/lib/libgtop-2.0.so.2

Start the tryicon

synce-tryicon

Now you can explore your PDA by using the new icon in the panel.

So long
Jehu

[Stormx]

>DeleteMePlease<

[Stormx]

Thanks for that. I added that to the main how-to with the wget commands. It works perfectly for me, too. I can see it all fine =)

[jerrek71]

Trying to download the kernel-2.6-driver.tar.gz gives me the following text/html file;

Array
(
[req] => kernel-2.6-driver-new.tar.gz
)
lol

Which I suspect is entirely not what I need to be using

Presumably this file will be used to build a mod-ipaq that talks to the SPV as that's the only step that I can't do and I don't work... Which is a shame

If you know how to Sync a Nokia 6630 I'd be interested too - I've tried everything I can find on the web!

Cheers for the HOWTO - I've no doubt once the 'bug' is fixed on that webserver that everything will be fine.

[Stormx]

Awfully Sorry! Hang on!

EDIT: Sorry about that. New CMS. I switched the file to another server. Check it =)