Zaurus Mac Syncing Sucks

First real big bummer of the Zaurus era, the state of syncing the 5600 to a Mac OS X box is shabby. I was able to get the USB networking working without that much problem but none of the syncing solutions I could find worked at all. I tried the Zaurus Mac Sync Sourceforge project which didn’t work (if I head RTFM I could have known that it wouldn’t) and worse, makes my Mail app stop connecting to my POP server after I try. I can’t find anything else that makes any claim for syncing with the 5600 on the standard Sharp ROMs. According to this guy, I will be able to if I move to OpenZaurus which I might very well do this weekend.

I have not tried making a samba connection via the USB interface to move files but I might to move all my Fictionwise books over. What I really would like is a generic syncing solution for the 5600 to Mac OS X that need not talk to a desktop or anything. All I want is a “File Installer” wizard like the Palm installation manager and the equivalent iSync conduits to sync to my existing calendars, To-Dos and Address Book. Ideally, this would be open source in keeping with much of the platform. Again, if anyone at Sharp is reading this you should put a hacker or three on the payroll and point them at this problem. It could even be me! With PalmOne dropping Mac support, having a nice solid solution for this would be a good competitive advantage for the Zaurus line.

I also (re)found via a google search the MobileWhack device weblog. It has a Zaurus subcategory which I read. I noticed the “syndicate” links were all for the top level but considering that Rael Dornfest the proprietor of the blog is also the author of blosxom, I figured that maybe one could syndicate the subcategories just like you can with any blosxom blog. Hey, I was right!. The RSS for the Zaurus category is now in my aggregator.

Published by

dave

Dave Slusher is a blogger, podcaster, computer programmer, author, science fiction fan and father. Member of the Podcast Hall of Fame class of 2022.

One thought on “Zaurus Mac Syncing Sucks”

Comments are closed.