Palm T5 RS232 Interface >> Home

The new Palm Tungsten T5 from PalmOne has a new interface called Multi-connector.

It doesn't have a standard RS232 interface anymore, but a serial UART which can be used to set up a simple RS232 interface. Simple, because handshake lines are not included.
Lines available are:

This interface should be fine for most applications, but keep in mind that it could be different from cables shipped for the old universal-connector interface!
To make your RS232 working on a T5 device you need 2 things:
  1. A special cable with built in electronic. This is needed to convert TTL levels from Palm hardware to real RS232 signals.
  2. As the electronic will be powered directly from the Palm, a piece of software is needed to switch on/off the power out line which is part of the Multi-connector. This pin can be controlled from a C-library found on the T5 device.

ASLib package

Ordering this package you will get:

T5 serial cable specification

This cable comes with a standard 25 pin female D-Sub connector with built in electronic to meet standard RS232 voltage specification. The layout is set up in a way, that you can use a standard 25 pin to 9 pin extention if you need to use a 'small' serial connector.

Connector on Palm: Multi-connector
Serial connector: 25 pin female
Length of cable: 1m

Pinning (the corresponding layout for the 9 pin PC-interface is for your information only!):
25 pin D-Sub connector 9 pin PC-interface
2 RXD (input) 3 TXD (output)
3 TXD (output) 2 RXD (input)
7 GND 5 GND
15 +5V charge for Palm    
T5RS232Cable

As the Multi-connector does not have an integrated power plug we have used pin 15 of our connector to make charging possible through that cable if needed!

Shared Library Methods ASLib 2.x

In order to use the ASLib Shared Library, the library must be loaded using the NSBasic LoadLibrary statement. This statement should be located in the program's Startup code so that the functions will be available throughout the program: Program's Startup code: 
  Sub main()

    LoadLibrary "ASLib", "ASL"

  End Sub
Additionally the ASLib Shared Library and the ASLib.INF file must be present in your "nsbasic\lib" directory and the ASLib.prc file must be downloaded to your device or included as ressource.

Version()

Returns the version number.

Example 

Dim version as Double

version = ASL.Version()
BatVolts()

Returns the device battery voltage * 100.

Example 

Dim volt as Integer

volt = ASL.BatVolts()
Plugged()

Returns 1 if device is powered trough external adapter, else 0.

Example 

Dim power as Integer

power = ASL.Plugged()
T5ExtPwrOn()

Switch on Power line and return status of operation:
0 if everything is fine
1 if T5 specific library could not be found (typically seen on any other device than a Tungsten T5)
2 if T5 specific library could not be opened
3 if operation could not be performed
4 if T5 specific library could not be closed

Example 

Dim res as Integer

res = ASL.T5ExtPwrOn()
T5ExtPwrOff()

witch off Power line and return status of operation:
0 if everything is fine
1 if T5 specific library could not be found (typically seen on any other device than a Tungsten T5)
2 if T5 specific library could not be opened
3 if operation could not be performed
4 if T5 specific library could not be closed

Example 

Dim res as Integer

res = ASL.T5ExtPwrOff()

Terms & conditions

This program is commercial software. Only ASLib library Version 2.x includes a royalty-free per-developer runtime license. You can distribute the extension PRC files royalty-free with your application but you need to purchase a separate license for each NSB developer (person).

You can contact the author by mail: office@schloegl-software.at
You can find my public PGP-key at: http://schloegl-software.at/publicPGP_key.asc

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