2.2. Setting up a Network Service Profile

Before we can connect to the network with the Palm handheld, we need to set up a Network Profile for using TCP/IP on the Palm. With this "Service Profile", we can initiate a connection to the LAN or the Internet, or other networked services, very similar to dialing with an analog "dial-up" modem.

Go into Prefs → Network, and tap on Menu, then on "New", to create a new Network Profile.

On OS4 devices, "New" is located in the Service menu. Tap on Menu, then on "New" to get there, as shown in Figure 2-6 below.

On OS5 devices, you can simply tap on the "New" button located at the bottom of the screen, as shown in Figure 2.7 below.

Figure 2-6. Network Preferences for OS4 Devices

Figure 2-7. Network Preferences for OS5 Devices

Create a new connection here, using a descriptive name you can remember ("Internet" is a good one to choose, and one we will use for these examples). Fill in a username associated with your Linux machine, and the correct password for that user. The username and password you enter here should be a valid user on your Linux machine, capable of logging into the machine with the password you enter.

In the Connection dropdown, choose "Direct Serial" for OS4 and earlier (non-USB) devices, or select "Cradle/Cable" for OS5 (and supported USB) devices. When you are done, it should resemble the following (yes, my username is really 'hacker'):

Figure 2-8. Network Profile Settings

From here, tap on "Details" at the bottom, and make sure the settings match the following two screenshots. Specifically that the DNS and IP address are checked (IP address and DNS will be automatically set by our ppp connect command), and that the "Script" portion simply has "End", and no other values.

Figure 2-9. Network Profile Connection Details

To change the login script to terminate immediately (which is what we want), simply tap on the dropdown in the script menu and select "End" at the bottom of the list. All other dropdowns below this field will now be removed.

Figure 2-10. Network Profile Login Script Details

Go back to your HotSync™ application now, and tap on the "Modem" option above the HotSync™ icon in the center of the screen. Underneath this icon, you should see a "Select Service" option. Tapping on this will bring you to the Network preferences we were just in. Select your newly-created profile from here (remember we called it "Internet") and tap on "Done". When complete, you should see a screen similar to the one below:

Figure 2-11. Selecting Network Service to HotSync™ Across

That's it for this part. You should now have HotSync™ configured to communicate with a remote PC over a specific IP address in the HotSync™ settings, and a Network Service profile used to communicate across the network from there, with a specific username and password known to that remote machine you are going to communicate with.