[MacNN Staff]

I just had a fun morning trying to get this to work on my Powerbook G3/333. I paid for the downloadable version of the upgrade, and ran the installer. The first time it did not work right at all and the palm reverted to normal mode. Tried again and no joy. Rebooted the laptop and it proceeded properly, except that it left the palm III unusable. I followed directions and put it into debug mode, then reflashed it. AGAIN AND AGAIN. Finally I called palm, they walked me through exactly what I had just done myself. My palm was still useless, they informed me that the only thing they could do was charge me $100 to fix it, even though it was their software update - which I paid for - for their hardware.

I decided they were incompetent and downloaded the old 3.3 OS installer and was able to flash that OS onto it to get it working again.

Oh, and one last comment. When you call their tech support it gives you a menu option for people using a palm connected to a mac. This is used for marketing purposes only - it takes you to the same people and none of them have mac experience. The tech I talked to also told me that he had never done the upgrade or seen it done. He also told me to "go to the start menu".

Justin Cordesman
Acting President
InterTech Technologies Inc.

I had the same miserable experience...They told me to buy the CD and that they would refund the cost of the download, if you could ever get them on the phone. They agreed to not charge me for shipping only after much complaining about the $8.00 shipping charge (for regular mail). I resorted to the same fix that you did. My overall feeling about my experience...let me just say the the Handspring looks much more attractive.

I think you were both lucky.

I live in Johannesburg and wasted half an hour trying to get the download. South Africa does not use zip codes, so I found myself "stealing" CA and 90210. Then they wanted a phone code, but of course, a South African code doesn't work. This obligatory ("We really, really, really promise not to use this data") form filling just doesn't work for anyone living outside the US. So, by the time I had got an acceptance, it was mainly lies, anyway.

Then, as if to add insult to injury, the system declined every South African card I offered and then refused my UK-based VISA debit card which has plenty of funds in it.

Reading the report on the download made my quite happy I didn't succeed.

Imagine the arrogance of believing you only sell product in the US. What a bunch of parochial jerkoffs!

Paul Perton
Peripheral Operators (Pty) Ltd
Johannesburg

[Provda]

Same story for me, more or less, including an hour wait to get to tech support that didn't know anything. Had to reflash with 3.3; for those of you that may have to do the same, make sure you use Advanced mode on the desktop software.

[mmurray]

Paul,

Did you get to fill in an address specifically for the
credit card anywhere ?? If not my guess is that
they check the billing address against the card
address.

I thought about giving it 1 Infinity Loop etc like I did for iTools
but read about somebody on the net who had given it a
fake address, got their card billed and then couldn't
download !

The CD is released tomorrow in Australia. But I am annoyed
about having to pay $60 Aust, about $30 US for a minor upgrade -
I won't use the other stuff.

Michael

[nemanirc]

I had a very similar experience. I have my Palm III connected to my G3 B&W through a Keyspan PDA adaptor. I also had to go into Debug mode to no avail. I am back running OS 3.3. I found Palm support to be nearly "value-free". After working on the phone for 45 minutes with "First level" tech support, I was told that I needed "Second level" support. But, they had already gone home and would have to call me. I am still awaiting my call...

------------------
R. C. Nemanick, Ph.D.

[This message has been edited by nemanirc (edited 11-20-2000).]

[suthercd]

I too had very unsatisfying tech support trying to upgrade to Palm OS 3.5. The first phone contact was not at all familiar with a mac and the second said they were having problems and maybe I should call back in an hour or two.

E-mail to tech produced the first automated response (OK by me) and then a tech support e-mail directing me to a downlaod page to download the ssame software.

Craig

Interestingly, I had the reverse problem with my Palm Vx. I tried applying the free update for the Vx on my Windows 2000 PC at work, and could not get it to apply (it gave me an error relating to "wrong version"). So I downloaded the Mac updater and ran the re-flasher on my iBook, and it worked with no problems at all.

I did have to re-install my OnmiSky software afterwards, though (it writes stuff to flash).

-Josh Turiel

I had a similar problem upgrading to Palm OS 3.5 from my B&W G3/350. The upgrader throughly hosed my Palm IIIx, and I had to re-install Palm OS 3.3 to get it to function at all.

What's worse was that there was no indication within the program that there was a problem. Once started, the upgrader put the random 'snow' on my Palm for about 7 minutes, then instructed me to do a soft reset (push down key, then reset), and repeat. Did this four or five times before I thought that this probably wasn't right. Took the batteries out overnight, and tried again. No luck. I e-mail Palm, and they said was do a hard reset, and try again. Haven't tried that yet.

I had the same problem installing 3.5. After a really long time with tech support they told me that there is a known incompatibility with the mac installer and that an update would be out in a few weeks.

[cameronk]

In terms of flashing your rom from a PB, your problem could stem from flashing through the IR sync. Because of the nature of the palm power management system, when the batteries begin to dry up, the first part of the device to have power cut is the infrared port. To fix your problem, I would recomend that you try syncing again through the serial port. Although my first flash was unsuccessful, currently my PalmProfessional with a 2mb upgrade card runs OS3.5 quite well. As to the Palm support, I must recommend that you try checking out the PalmMac email list. The url for the list, http://www.execpc.com/~krugd/palmac.html
, is a treasure trove of Palm-related mac stuff. For the non-Americans with problems downloading the software, you might want to try using the localized Palm pages for your area.

hope this helps,

Cameron

------------------
Check out my URL and PGP key.

I have had similar problems as others posted trying to upgrade my Palm III from my PB.

However, now my Palm apears to be toast. I have the "snowy" screen and can't even get the 3.3 installer to work. When I hit the synch button on the cradle as the 3.3 installer requests, it just sits there and does nothing. Any suggestions or ideas on what I'm doing wrong?

BTW, Palm support is, as everyone else concludes, pitiful...

[Provda]

Libertyc:

Go into debug mode: hold the scroll button down while you press the reset button on the back of the palm. You will get a tiny blinking area on the top left of your screen. Replace you Palm in the cradle. Then in the flash software you have choose "advanced" mode. You should be able to connect with the 3.3 software at that point when you press the "next" button.

This is insane. I had the same problem with my B&W G3/350 and my Palm IIIx. The updater repeatedly asked me to go into debug mode and then updated for 7 minutes in an infinite loop. Ended up saving the Palm by flashing it back to 3.3. I tried repeatedly to call Palm tech support but kept getting cut off.

I tried their online support which was less than my worst expectations with some guy telling me to replace my brand new batteries and telling me how to put the thing into debug mode. After repeatedly telling me it was my fault and that I must've interrupted the update, he told me that I now had an "attractive paperweight".

I then emailed support@palm.com asking specifically about Mac compatibility issues and described in detail my problem and exactly what the updater was doing. I got some crap response that was an obvious cut-paste job from Palm's site about how the updater works. I sent a reply indicating that their response was ridiculous and once again asking for a reply to my specific questions. I got another, different, pasted response. I emailed them this morning that I wanted an immediate refund. Still haven't heard back yet.

Apparently, the reason Palm decided to charge for this update was that their 3.3 update had so many support calls on it. How funny is that? Anyway, I will never again buy an update from Palm or buy a Palm product. Might even get myself a HandSpring for Christmas.

If anyone's been able to solve this problem, let us know!

Your USB driver is not good, I updated my USB driver and now I am able to upgrade my Palm.

Originally posted by Spaceman Spiff:
This is insane. I had the same problem with my B&W G3/350 and my Palm IIIx. The updater repeatedly asked me to go into debug mode and then updated for 7 minutes in an infinite loop. Ended up saving the Palm by flashing it back to 3.3. I tried repeatedly to call Palm tech support but kept getting cut off.

I tried their online support which was less than my worst expectations with some guy telling me to replace my brand new batteries and telling me how to put the thing into debug mode. After repeatedly telling me it was my fault and that I must've interrupted the update, he told me that I now had an "attractive paperweight".

I then emailed support@palm.com asking specifically about Mac compatibility issues and described in detail my problem and exactly what the updater was doing. I got some crap response that was an obvious cut-paste job from Palm's site about how the updater works. I sent a reply indicating that their response was ridiculous and once again asking for a reply to my specific questions. I got another, different, pasted response. I emailed them this morning that I wanted an immediate refund. Still haven't heard back yet.

Apparently, the reason Palm decided to charge for this update was that their 3.3 update had so many support calls on it. How funny is that? Anyway, I will never again buy an update from Palm or buy a Palm product. Might even get myself a HandSpring for Christmas.

If anyone's been able to solve this problem, let us know!

[nemanirc]

I had failures on both my B&W G3 using the Keyspan PDA adapter and my PowerBook 1400 using the original serial adapter. Neither met with success. I am back to running OS 3.3 until I hear that Palm has addressed this problem.

Originally posted by Palmman:
Your USB driver is not good, I updated my USB driver and now I am able to upgrade my Palm.

[This message has been edited by nemanirc (edited 11-28-2000).]