Treo680 working hotsync not found when trying to enable iSync

Question

palm desktop 4.2.2
palm hotsync 3.2.1
+Documents to go conduit
The palm desktop/hotsync is delivered with the treo680
and has to be used with it.
hotsyncing to palm desktop without problems.
I want at least iCal synced with the treo680..
..but the 'Enable Palm Syncing' tells me that the HotSync
software is not properly installed and
the iSync conduit doesnt appear in 'Conduit Setings'
macbook   Mac OS X (10.4.8)   2GB RAM

Answer 1

Welcome to Apple Discussions.
This is actually a very common problem, most often caused by a user electing to perform an archive and install of Mac OS X. The issue involves one of Palm permissions, which must be corrected using one of these two approaches:
Take a look at the permissions of the folders listed below. Your permissions for the folders listed below should appear as described below the pathname to that folder:
For the Macintosh HD:Applications:Palm folder:
Ownership & Permissions
You can: Read & Write
Details
Owner: <shortusername>
Access: Read & Write
Group: admin
Access: Read & Write
Others: Read only
For the Macintosh HD:Library:Application Support:Palm Desktop folder:
Ownership & Permissions
You can: Read & Write
Details
Owner: <shortusername>
Access: Read & Write
Group: admin
Access: Read & Write
Others: Read only
For the Macintosh HD:Library:Application Support:Palm HotSync folder:
Ownership & Permissions
You can: Read & Write
Details
Owner: <shortusername>
Access: Read & Write
Group: admin
Access: Read & Write
Others: Read only
You can either reset those values manually, [then restart and recheck them to be sure that they are set correctly] or use the Terminal application by typing these strings listed below this example—substituting your short user name—as shown below:
sample: "sudo chown -R <shortusername>:admin /Applications/Palm"
actual: "sudo chown -R michaellafferty:admin /Applications/Palm"
…where michaellafferty is the <shortusername> in my case. Be sure to pay attention to the spaces in each string, and the direction of the / or \ [forward and back slash] characters.
Here are the appropriate Terminal entries. Each is is shown bulleted below, but actually begins with the term sudo:
• sudo chown -R <shortusername>:admin /Applications/Palm
[NOTE: at this point, you'll be asked to enter your login password]
• sudo chmod -R 775 /Applications/Palm
• sudo chown -R <shortusername>:admin /Library/Application\ Support/Palm\ HotSync/
• sudo chmod -R 775 /Library/Application\ Support/Palm\ HotSync/
• sudo chown -R <shortusername>:admin /Library/Application\ Support/Palm\ Desktop/
• sudo chmod -R 775 /Library/Application\ Support/Palm\ Desktop/
Again, pay particular attention to the spaces and to the \ characters, as both are critical to the syntax of these commands. Remember to place your actual shortusername in the string where the <shortusername> placeholder is shown, as in the sample above. [Do not include the < and > characters around your actual shortusername.]
Once you have successfully modified your configuration using one of these two methods, you can 'install' the iSync Palm Conduit by selecting the Enable Palm OS Syncing… option under the Devices menu of iSync. Doing so will result in contacts being synchronized with the Address Book, and calendars and to do items being synchronized with iCal. It is possible to synchronize non-conflicting data types on one hand with the Address Book and the Palm Desktop, or on the other with iCal and the Palm Desktop, if you wish. But that option requires special configuration steps, and is not suitable for most individuals. If you decide you want to pursue those options, let me know and I will explain how it can be done. Except under very special circumstances, however, I don't recommend it.
By enabling the use of iSync, you will defeat the standard Palm contact, event and task conduits—which would otherwise conflict with the iSync Palm Conduit—and the memos conduits, which do not conflict. You can re-enable Palm memos synchronization with the Palm Desktop if you wish to do so, simply by dragging the Memo Conduit and Memos Conduit back into the active Conduits folder. You will find them in either the Disabled Conduits folder, or—if there is one—in an iSync Disabled Conduits folder.
A better option long term is to invest in the Missing Sync for Palm OS, which provides a much more robust and reliable synchronization experience. More information about that application can be found here:
http://www.markspace.com/missingsync_palmos.php