T5 WiFi drivers -- any news ??

[mmurray]

So I have the T5 and the WiFi card and Adelaide is all full of WiFi (http://www.citilan.com.au) but I am waiting for the drivers ....

Any news ?

Michael

[algae737]

Michael,

I, like many others I'm sure, have been watching your thread hoping for some news. Like you, I have the wifi card and am anxiously waiting the release of drivers.

Unfortunately, the silence is deafening. :(

Algae

[edeab220]

According to my contact at palmOne, "There isn't a date confirmed for the availability of the drivers for the Wifi Card on the T5. We're still working on it."

[ulivotsch]

Are there any news about the progress of the developement of the palmone wifi-drivers? Is there already any date for it?

[UnregUnreg99]

Are there any news about the progress of the developement of the palmone wifi-drivers? Is there already any date for it?

This was sent to me today from Palmone support:

I realize the importance of this query and regret to inform you that currently palmOne has not developed any drivers to make the Tungsten T5 compatible to use the palmOne Wi-Fi card. Hence, I am sorry to inform that the palmOne Wi-Fi card is not compatible with the Tungsten T5 Handheld. Also we cannot commit on any date as to when the drivers will be released. We request you to kindly check our palmOne website for latest updates.

[mknavydoc]

That message from PalmOne if authentic really depicts how poorly equipped this company is. What kind of strategy is this company using to attract and keep customers. I don't see how Palm can compete...let alone survive in this wireless age we live in.

I wish we could bring Sony back....at least those guys had some innovation and initiative....something.

[applejosh]

It's little things like this (if you consider it a little thing) that are making some reconsider the other mobile platform. The T5 is supposedly the flagship product. The high end. And they can't make it work with their own wifi card (which you have to have) before releasing the device? All these little things are adding up...

[UnregUnreg98]

That message from PalmOne if authentic...

Follow this link and ask them when the wifi card will work for the T5 and see what they come back to you with:

http://www.palmone.com/us/support/contact/email_support.html

I got a response in just a couple of hours. If enough of us ask/annoy them with the same questions, perhaps they'll give us what we want.

Now, how exactly does this work? Third parties can't develop their own T5 compatible wifi card (ie Sandisk).

[applejosh]

Now, how exactly does this work? Third parties can't develop their own T5 compatible wifi card (ie Sandisk).

I don't know if you were asking a question as to why/how third parties cannot develop a driver for the T3/5, but the reason is that PalmOne won't release certain information (or maybe it was they wouldn't allow Sandisk to release a certain patch file) to make the Sandisk card work with those devices. Some sort of intellectual property thing, IIRC.

[UnregUnreg97]

I don't know if you were asking a question as to why/how third parties cannot develop a driver for the T3/5, but the reason is that PalmOne won't release certain information (or maybe it was they wouldn't allow Sandisk to release a certain patch file) to make the Sandisk card work with those devices. Some sort of intellectual property thing, IIRC.

Thanks, that was my question. I guess that makes sense, PalmOne is in the business of making money, after all.
This just means I'll have to write my own driver to get this wifi card to work. Anyone want in on this?

[KY933]

Probably they want to "promote" bluetooth access points instead? ;) Yes, BT-AP is slow though (very slow compare to wi-fi indeed).

[applejosh]

Bluetooth also has a much shorter range, and since I don't think PalmOne owns any part of the BT patents, I don't think this is their main motivation. BT has a much lower power consumption in general, so they can make smaller devices (less battery needed). Plus I haven't seen any PalmOne branded BT-AP's. (Of course, I haven't personally seen any BT-AP's, but they exist.)

[applejosh]

Thanks, that was my question. I guess that makes sense, PalmOne is in the business of making money, after all.
This just means I'll have to write my own driver to get this wifi card to work. Anyone want in on this?

Good luck. I think part of the issue was frying the SDIO slot or something like that without a patch. (At least that's one of the things I've read along the way.)

[constantine_j_k]

Hello,

I just sent the following email to Palm support, let's see now what they have to say....I really hope that a third party will release drivers for WiFi support.

"I would appreciate if you could let me knonw when the WiFi card will be supported for the Tunsgten T5. I really rely on WiFi and it seems that it has already taken a long time without Palm providing WiFi support for the T5. I purchased the T5 after owning an iPAQ hx4700 and I have to admit that I am really satisfied from it, but it seems that Pocket PCs are progressing faster in terms of wireless communication."

[algae737]

Am I reading this right? Checkout this link (http://www.palmone.com/us/support/downloads/wifi_card.html).

It states: "Important prerequisites for the Wi-Fi® Card by palmOne™ installer:
You must be installing on either a Tungsten T3, Tungsten T5, or a Zire 72. The Wi-Fi Card does not support other handhelds.

Hopefully,

Al

[treffmeister]

I sent an email as well
Algae - that means that they will release a driver; if they don't, some form of monetary compensation should be in order.

[Lance]

Am I reading this right? Checkout this link (http://www.palmone.com/us/support/downloads/wifi_card.html).

It states: "Important prerequisites for the Wi-Fi® Card by palmOne™ installer:
You must be installing on either a Tungsten T3, Tungsten T5, or a Zire 72. The Wi-Fi Card does not support other handhelds.

Hopefully,

AlGood find by algae737! The WiFi drivers have been released!!! :D

There is another update released labeled the Phone Link Update.

Both updates are available for the T3 and the T5.

Updates for PalmOne Tungsten T3 (http://www.palmone.com/us/support/tungstent3/)

Updates for PalmOne Tungsten T5 (http://www.palmone.com/us/support/tungstent5/)

Thanks,
Lance

[soccrnj80]

I also sent a email to palm asking when there would be drivers, stating that it does not look too good for a company who's Flagship Executive pda cannot use a wifi card they manufacture and program , but their "consumer" zire pda can use which costs alot less than the Tungsten T5 can. I said in my e-maqil that alot of message boards are getting tired of waiting for them to come up with just a patch that they can most certainly produce, if they could have made it available for the zire. Hopefully alot more people will innundate them with e-mails. They will have to listen. Keep e-mailing them, I don't even have my wifi card yet, but am always down to help the cause. I am getting one for xmas.

[Lance]

I also sent a email to palm asking when there would be drivers, stating that it does not look too good for a company who's Flagship Executive pda cannot use a wifi card they manufacture and program , but their "consumer" zire pda can use which costs alot less than the Tungsten T5 can. I said in my e-maqil that alot of message boards are getting tired of waiting for them to come up with just a patch that they can most certainly produce, if they could have made it available for the zire. Hopefully alot more people will innundate them with e-mails. They will have to listen. Keep e-mailing them, I don't even have my wifi card yet, but am always down to help the cause. I am getting one for xmas.Refer to my previous reply. ;)

Best regards,
Lance

[soccrnj80]

Looks like they listened... or just lucky timing on our part!!! Great Job guys, and palmOne

[UnregUnreg96]

I was almost finished writing my own driver. I guess this is good news.

I just downloaded it. The date on the readme file is November 17th!? Why would they tell me TODAY that it not available and have no plans of making it available? Ok, so the WiFi card should now work with the T5. Can someone try this and tell us if it actually works?

[Lance]

Unfortunately, I loaned my WiFi card to a T3 user until the new drivers were released. :( Man, did I pick a bad time to be nice. ;) Oh well, anyone out there willing to test it out for their fellow T5 users?

Thanks,
Lance

[UnregUnreg95]

Hey, does this mean third party WiFi cards will work too? Oooh, and if so, will Sandisk's 256mb WiFi SD card work?

[Lance]

Hey, does this mean third party WiFi cards will work too? Oooh, and if so, will Sandisk's 256mb WiFi SD card work?The drivers are only compatible with the palmOne WiFi Card. :(

Best regards,
Lance

[TeeTimeTB]

It works like a charm!!! Finally the purchase I made with my T5 is useable. Thank you Palm!! Easy Install (Mac) and easy use.

[algae737]

Lance,

I hesitate to claim I've "tested" anything after you've elevated everyone's expectations, BUT...


Installation went very smooth. I didn't experience any of the hard resets Palm hinted about.


Palm's Blazer browser seems to work fine & supports the screen in either orientation.

Perhaps we could create a new thread to address PalmOne (or T5) specific WiFi issues. Some initial thoughts that could be discussed:
- wifi hotsyncs (from home & abroad)
- memory issues (how to hotsync something normally stored in your SD card which has been removed to accomodate the wifi card)
- VPN access
- Battery life (I knew that'd get your attention! :))
- etc.

Let me know what you folks think?

Algae

[algae737]

I thought for fun I'd reply using the wifi connection. So far, so good.

[STBXXL]

algae737,

I'd be interested in the download speed you get with the WiFi card and the T5. Could you please check this on http://www.dslreports.com/mspeed with the 200k file size offered?

I like to see how much faster it is compared to a BT to LAN connection (I get up to 130 kbit/s). If it's much faster I probably have to buy the card. :D

Thanks a lot.

[mmurray]

So far with a T5 and an Airport Extreme everything is fine except I had to turn off the encryption. I have access restricted to only allow the machines I have and the T5 to connect so encryption is not a big deal. I expect I can get it working but everytime I reboot the Airport Extreme base station my son loses his Lineage connection which is NOT GOOD :-). I'll mess with it later tonight.

Its a lot faster than sharing the internet from my Powerbook with bluetooth.

Tomorrow I'll try it on the VPN at work.

Michael

PS: Edit. OK I have the 128 bit WEP (or 104 bit WEP) working. I had to use the HEX equivalent password which the Airport Admin Utility generated.

[constantine_j_k]

I got the same reply to my email saying that the WiFi card is not supported etc...but according to another thread, the drivers have been released.

[algae737]

algae737,

I'd be interested in the download speed you get with the WiFi card and the T5. Could you please check this on http://www.dslreports.com/mspeed with the 200k file size offered?

I like to see how much faster it is compared to a BT to LAN connection (I get up to 130 kbit/s). If it's much faster I probably have to buy the card. :D

Thanks a lot.

STBXXL,

This was at home, connected to my LAN, which has a DSL connection. I ran the test several times with the following results:

multiple instances of "unstable/too fast a result, please choose a larger file (3.315s, 3.279, 3.461, etc.)
369 kbit/sec, 0.241s latency, 4.767s d/l time
353 kbit/sec, 0.242s latency, 4.566s d/l time

I received the "too fast" result more often than not. The few times it sort of hesitated during the download was when I got hard numbers. The difference in download times being in excess of a second.

Algae

[algae737]

I got the same reply to my email saying that the WiFi card is not supported etc...but according to another thread, the drivers have been released.
Here's the link again to PalmOne's support page to Download T5 WiFi drivers (http://www.palmone.com/us/support/downloads/wifi_card.html).

On another (sad but funny) note, I awoke this morning to a new email from PalmOne stating:

"Dear Al:

Thank you for contacting palmOne Technical Support...I would like to inform you that at the moment palmOne WiFi Card is compatible only with Tungsten T3 handheld and Zire 72 handheld. Therefore, the Tungsten T5 handheld related driver is not available for the WiFi Card. I am sorry to inform you that we do not have any information about the release of the WiFi driver for your Palm. I deeply regret the inconvenience caused to you.

Regarding returning the palmOne WiFi Card, if you have purchased it from our Online Store, then please contact palmOne Online Store at..."

It certainly seems the right hand and the left hand at PalmOne are not on speaking terms.

Algae

[mmurray]

Back up this very thread & you'll find a link to PalmOne's support page to download the drivers.

On another (sad but funny) note, I awoke this morning to a new email from PalmOne stating:

"Dear Al:

Thank you for contacting palmOne Technical Support...I would like to inform you that at the moment palmOne WiFi Card is compatible only with Tungsten T3 handheld and Zire 72 handheld. Therefore, the Tungsten T5 handheld related driver is not available for the WiFi Card. I am sorry to inform you that we do not have any information about the release of the WiFi driver for your Palm. I deeply regret the inconvenience caused to you.

Regarding returning the palmOne WiFi Card, if you have purchased it from our Online Store, then please contact palmOne Online Store at..."

It certainly seems the right hand and the left hand at PalmOne are not on speaking terms.

Algae

Maybe you should drop them a line explaining where they can download it from.

Michael

[algae737]

Maybe you should drop them a line explaining where they can download it from.

First I laughed, then I did just that! Great idea & one I just couldn't pass up. I even included a hyperlink for them.

Algae

[Lance]

Lance,

I hesitate to claim I've "tested" anything after you've elevated everyone's expectations, BUT...


Installation went very smooth. I didn't experience any of the hard resets Palm hinted about.


Palm's Blazer browser seems to work fine & supports the screen in either orientation.

Perhaps we could create a new thread to address PalmOne (or T5) specific WiFi issues. Some initial thoughts that could be discussed:
- wifi hotsyncs (from home & abroad)
- memory issues (how to hotsync something normally stored in your SD card which has been removed to accomodate the wifi card)
- VPN access
- Battery life (I knew that'd get your attention! :))
- etc.

Let me know what you folks think?

AlgaeIf you want, I can separate out the posts that relate to Algae's quote above and put them in another thread. Just let me know what everyone would like.

By the way, a good battery test might be to stream music over the WiFi connection using Pocket Tunes. ;)

Take care,
Lance

[STBXXL]

STBXXL,

This was at home, connected to my LAN, which has a DSL connection. I ran the test several times with the following results:

multiple instances of "unstable/too fast a result, please choose a larger file (3.315s, 3.279, 3.461, etc.)
369 kbit/sec, 0.241s latency, 4.767s d/l time
353 kbit/sec, 0.242s latency, 4.566s d/l time

I received the "too fast" result more often than not. The few times it sort of hesitated during the download was when I got hard numbers. The difference in download times being in excess of a second.

Algae

Thanks. I like the the "too fast" result! Well, I think I have to get this card sooner or later (probably sooner).

Cheers.

[algae737]

If you want, I can separate out the posts that relate to Algae's quote above and put them in another thread. Just let me know what everyone would like.

By the way, a good battery test might be to stream music over the WiFi connection using Pocket Tunes. ;)

Lance,

I think starting another thread would be a good idea & you're probably just the guy to do it. I'm afraid I'd be over my head.

I'd be willing to try the streaming audio test, but I might need a little help setting it up.

Algae

[constantine_j_k]

I replied to them and said that they may be wrong as the drivers are available from their site....I gave them also the link, :-) haha!

[algae737]

By the way, a good battery test might be to stream music over the WiFi connection using Pocket Tunes. ;)

I've got Pocket Tunes setup to stream from ShoutCast, tested it & it works fine. The T5 is charging right now & I'll test the battery later this evening.

I guess I'll stream audio with the sound off initially to isolate just the WiFi card's drain?

Algae

[algae737]

WiFi HotSync now works with my home network. So, I deleted my previous post looking for help.

On page 17 of the P1 WiFi User's Guide, it mentions using your computer's network name in the Primary PC setup. This didn't work for me.

BUT, I found this on another forum: "Set the Handheld Primary PC User - Once you successfully Hotsync (your new T5 via cable), set the User Name in the Hotsync "Primary PC" settings to "!!" (without the quotes). This will tell Hotsync to use the IP address on the PC setup directly." My comments in italics.

Some of you who are much wiser than I probably already knew this and understand why. All I know is - it works. :rolleyes: And, I thought it may help someone else.

Algae

[Lance]

I've got Pocket Tunes setup to stream from ShoutCast, tested it & it works fine. The T5 is charging right now & I'll test the battery later this evening.

I guess I'll stream audio with the sound off initially to isolate just the WiFi card's drain?

AlgaeWell, there will be some processing associated with Pocket Tunes decoding the audio stream, so I think it will be difficult to isolate the drain from just the use of the WiFi card. You might try to duplicate one of the initial audio tests I setup on the Tungsten T5 (1st Test: Pocket Tunes with screen ON and volume at 50% or 2nd Test: Pocket Tunes with screen OFF and volume at 50%). I think with the screen on might be a better test since most people will probably have the screen on while checking e-mail or browsing the web. Just me two cents.

Algae, thank you for all the information on your experience with the WiFi card and the T5. Good job!

By the way, I hope to have my WiFi card back tomorrow. :)

Take care,
Lance

[mmurray]

As I have a 256 SD card and the WiFi card I am doing a regular card shuffle. It reminds me of the very early macs where you got quite good at swapping floppy disks. Then they bought out a mac with 2 disk drives (this
is all before hard disks!)

OK enough nostalgia. Can anyone recommend a good case that will hold some SD cards - particularly the extra long WiFi card.

Thanks - Michael

[algae737]

Well, there will be some processing associated with Pocket Tunes decoding the audio stream, so I think it will be difficult to isolate the drain from just the use of the WiFi card.

Well. Lance, unfortunately I had already started my "test" before seeing your reply. On the bright side, I am running Pocket Tunes with the screen on & the brightness on low. The Pocket Tunes counter proved very helpful in terms of tracking time.

Final numbers: After...
22" of play time, 99% battery
42" of play time, 86%
111", 25%
131", "your battery is low..."

And after 136 minutes and 48 seconds, it dropped the connection & the screen went dark. There was battery left, because I powered it back up to check the total play time. Unfortunately, I forgot to check the battery percentage before plugging it in. I'm very impressed so far.

As for the thanks - you're quite welcome. It's the least I could do after the trail you blazed earlier. And, I'm really just trying to keep the crowds calm until you get your wifi card and start amazing us again with underwater tests and the like! :D

Algae

[Lance]

Wow! 2 hours and 11 minutes! I know that does not sound very long, but you are draining the battery with the screen, the WiFi card, and audio playback. I think I will have to run it on a T3.

Thanks!

Best regards,
Lance

[algae737]

FWIW -

I noticed that after configuring your HotSync preferences for wifi, you can leave Modem/WiFi as your default. There's no need to select Local or Modem when you perform your next HotSync.

For a cable HotSync, simply press the button on the cable itself. HotSync bypasses the Modem/WiFi settings displayed on your T5's screen & uses Cradle/Cable settings anyway. When the HotSync is finished, it returns you to the HotSync screen with Modem/WiFi still selected ready for your next WiFi HotSync.

WiFi: use the icon
Cable: press the button

Algae

[algae737]

Wow! 2 hours and 11 minutes! I know that does not sound very long, but you are draining the battery with the screen, the WiFi card, and audio playback. I think I will have to run it on a T3.

Lance,

My wife has a Zire 72 with wifi set-up, and I'd bet you a nickle her's wouldn't make it past 45" or so. It seems to really take a beating from the wifi card.

I continue to be impressed with the battery in this T5.

Algae

[UnregUnreg94]

I called Sandisk yesterday. Because P1 will not give them the info they need, they have no plans to release a driver to make their WiFi card compatible with the T5.

Does this mean their driver will be out sometime today?

[Antoine]

SanDisk cannot create drivers for palmOne handhelds. There is apparently some important work, or patch, that needs to be available for SanDisk to do so. Right now there is the SanDisk card that only has been tested and working on the Zire71 and then the palmOne card for the Z72, T3, and T5. That is about it unless palmOne does something to help SanDisk support other consumer models.

[DeanDC10]

SanDisk cannot create drivers for palmOne handhelds. There is apparently some important work, or patch, that needs to be available for SanDisk to do so. Right now there is the SanDisk card that only has been tested and working on the Zire71 and then the palmOne card for the Z72, T3, and T5. That is about it unless palmOne does something to help SanDisk support other consumer models.

Tapwave figured out how to make the SanDisk work on their Palm based PDA. I find this interesting......

http://www.tapwave.com/wifi/

[mmurray]

Tapwave figured out how to make the SanDisk work on their Palm based PDA. I find this interesting......

http://www.tapwave.com/wifi/

I guess the financial imperatives are different. palmOne want to sell their WiFi cards so it suits them not to have SanDisk as competition. TapWave want to sell their PDA's so it suits them to have a WiFi card that is compatible with it.

Michael

[DeanDC10]

SanDisk claims that Palm has to release a patch for their card to work on a Palm based device. I guess TapWave has proved this theory as being invalid.

It is interesting that TapWave figured out a way to make the SanDisk Wifi card work in their Palm based PDA when SanDisk claims it is not possible.

I would think SanDisk would want to sell their WiFi cards to any Palm user and would also be financially motivated to create drivers.

[mmurray]

SanDisk claims that Palm has to release a patch for their card to work on a Palm based device. I guess TapWave has proved this theory as being invalid.

It is interesting that TapWave figured out a way to make the SanDisk Wifi card work in their Palm based PDA when SanDisk claims it is not possible.

I would think SanDisk would want to sell their WiFi cards to any Palm user and would also be financially motivated to create drivers.

I wonder how much access TapWave have to the code for the PalmOS ? I don't know how this kind of licensing model works. Maybe TapWaver are allowed to mess with the PalmOS ? That would mean they could write the patch that is needed.

Michael