I am able to connect to my empeg with my Palm PDA through a terminal program on the Palm using a serial cable by connecting the cable to the male serial port at the back of the empeg. But if I try to connect to the female serial connector (with the appropriate gender changer) on the back of the sled while the empeg is inserted, I cannot seem to make a connection. I have read somehwere that the TX and RX are crossed on this connector versus the connector on the back of the empeg, but even with a null modem adapter I have had no luck.

Can anyone shine some light on my problem?

Thanks.

Some relevant info:
mk2a, 2.00beta13, hijack296

I just recently re-wrote the FAQ entry on this topic based on information I was given in another thread. See if this helps.

If you don't mind answering this... why exactly are you connecting the two? I have a m500 and I'm trying to think of any reason to connect the two.

In order to log into the empeg without needing a real terminal or computer with terminal emulator.

I used to use a Palm as a portable terminal for some devices like this that also had a serial console. Works rather well, all things considered.

Edit: I'm guessing. Obviously, I don't know what's going on in his head, but it makes sense to me.

Because it's possible!

While that really is the main reason, there are some pratical reasons as well. Once logged on with the Palm, I am able to change the kernel at any time to any other I might have stored on the empeg by simply copying the image file to /proc/kernel_image. As a matter of course, I keep several versions of the kernel as well as several version of HiJack on the empeg at all times. As a side note, I also keep copies of empeg-car and jemplode on the empeg in case I ever need to install software on a new machine. (This thing is so cool, the possibilities are endless!)

Another use would be to edit the config.ini file from in my car. Has anyone had an editor running on the empeg yet?

The Palm can also be used as a diagnostic tool to watch output to the serial port, i.e. boot messages, track name/fid/position/artist/album/etc. by setting notify=1 in config.ini.

Plus it's just plain cool to have a serial port in my car into which to plug my Palm. Very high awe factor!

I am sure I will find more uses given time!

- Errol

Another use would be to edit the config.ini file from in my car. Has anyone had an editor running on the empeg yet?

Both ae and vi has been used - do a search...

/Michael

And if you think a cable is cool, how about connecting your palm to the empeg using the infrared stuff.

I guess you'd just need need irda/ircomm in the kernel and something that can spawn a shell on /dev/ircomm. There is a palm app called 'ptelnet' that can connect to either plain serial, serial over IR, or telnet. But telnet would involve running pppd on the player.

Hey, and with palmvnc, even people with a broken display nipple can still view/control their players