How to install a Pocket PC app using a Mac?

I have a little application that I wrote for the Pocket PC. I
distribute the app as a CAB file, which I tell people to copy to their
PDA, using Windows Explorer on their PC. But what about Mac owners?
How do they get the CAB file onto their PDA? I just tried plugging my
PDA into a Mac, using the PDA USB cable, and the Mac basically ignores
it. Is there some software the Mac user has to install to be able to
see the PDA in the file system?

---
Sun Jul 13 06:01:49 CDT 2008

On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:20:28 -0700 (PDT), silverfox <dcfrench@gmail.com> wrote:

>I have a little application that I wrote for the Pocket PC. I
>distribute the app as a CAB file, which I tell people to copy to their
>PDA, using Windows Explorer on their PC. But what about Mac owners?
>How do they get the CAB file onto their PDA? I just tried plugging my
>PDA into a Mac, using the PDA USB cable, and the Mac basically ignores
>it. Is there some software the Mac user has to install to be able to
>see the PDA in the file system?

Tell them to buy the 3rd party application, Missing Sync. It will provide the
equivalent of ActiveSync on their Mac.


Robert Scott
Ypsilanti, Michigan

silverfox
Mon Jul 14 16:49:01 CDT 2008

On Jul 13, 4:02 am, -...@---.--- (Robert Scott) wrote:
> On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:20:28 -0700 (PDT), silverfox <dcfre...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >I have a little application that I wrote for the Pocket PC. I
> >distribute the app as a CAB file, which I tell people to copy to their
> >PDA, using Windows Explorer on their PC. But what about Mac owners?
> >How do they get the CAB file onto their PDA? I just tried plugging my
> >PDA into a Mac, using the PDA USB cable, and the Mac basically ignores
> >it. Is there some software the Mac user has to install to be able to
> >see the PDA in the file system?
>
> Tell them to buy the 3rd party application, Missing Sync. It will provide the
> equivalent of ActiveSync on their Mac.
>
> Robert Scott
> Ypsilanti, Michigan


Thanks, Robert.

I guess that if the person has a dual boot Mac that they are set too
right? But do they need to install ActiveSync to copy a file to the
PDA?

For some reason I thought that just connecting the PDA via USB would
make the PDA file system visible, like a thumb drive or a CF card,
without requiring ActiveSync. Is this incorrect? And if it is
correct, isn't there a way to do the same thing on a Mac without
having to purchase an ActiveSync replacement?

Scott
Mon Jul 14 17:03:15 CDT 2008

silverfox <dcfrench@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>For some reason I thought that just connecting the PDA via USB would
>make the PDA file system visible, like a thumb drive or a CF card,
>without requiring ActiveSync. Is this incorrect?

You need ActiveSync (or equivalent for the Mac) to copy files to the
device. There are two exceptions:

Vista includes a driver that allows you to copy files to and from a
device using Explorer without installing Windows Mobile Device Center
(the Vista version of ActiveSync, basically).

A very small number of devices have an option on the device to present
part of the file store as a standard USB file system when connected to a
PC.

There are of course other ways to transfer files to a PDA (i.e., using a
SD card, using Bluetooth, etc), but not just plugging it in via USB and
exploring the entirety of the device like a USB flash drive.

--
--------- Scott Seligman <scott at <firstname> and michelle dot net> ---------
Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When
he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?
-- Clarence in It's a Wonderful Life

silverfox
Mon Jul 14 18:22:16 CDT 2008

On Jul 14, 3:03 pm, "Scott Seligman" <selig...@example.com> wrote:
> silverfox <dcfre...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >For some reason I thought that just connecting the PDA via USB would
> >make the PDA file system visible, like a thumb drive or a CF card,
> >without requiring ActiveSync. Is this incorrect?
>
> You need ActiveSync (or equivalent for the Mac) to copy files to the
> device. There are two exceptions:
>
> Vista includes a driver that allows you to copy files to and from a
> device using Explorer without installing Windows Mobile Device Center
> (the Vista version of ActiveSync, basically).
>
> A very small number of devices have an option on the device to present
> part of the file store as a standard USB file system when connected to a
> PC.
>
> There are of course other ways to transfer files to a PDA (i.e., using a
> SD card, using Bluetooth, etc), but not just plugging it in via USB and
> exploring the entirety of the device like a USB flash drive.
>
> --
> --------- Scott Seligman <scott at <firstname> and michelle dot net> ---------
> Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When
> he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?
> -- Clarence in It's a Wonderful Life

Thanks very much for the information.

r_z_aret
Tue Jul 15 14:15:29 CDT 2008

On 14 Jul 2008 15:03:15 -0700, "Scott Seligman" <seligman@example.com>
wrote:

>silverfox <dcfrench@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>For some reason I thought that just connecting the PDA via USB would
>>make the PDA file system visible, like a thumb drive or a CF card,
>>without requiring ActiveSync. Is this incorrect?
>
>You need ActiveSync (or equivalent for the Mac) to copy files to the
>device. There are two exceptions:
>
>Vista includes a driver that allows you to copy files to and from a
>device using Explorer without installing Windows Mobile Device Center
>(the Vista version of ActiveSync, basically).

Programs running under "big" Windows can use a set of functions called
RAPI to manipulate files and data on an attached Windows Mobile
device. In particular, RapiUtils (I read about them in a Scott
Seligman post, and find them very useful) is a set of utilities that
use RAPI. However, RAPI is supported if and only if ActiveSync/WMDC is
installed, so programs that use RAPI aren't really independent of
ActiveSync.


>
>A very small number of devices have an option on the device to present
>part of the file store as a standard USB file system when connected to a
>PC.

I've tried a program called CardExport from Softik that claims to do
this. I'm pretty sure I had it working on at least one device. I know
it doesn't work well on my JasJar (Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC).


>
>There are of course other ways to transfer files to a PDA (i.e., using a
>SD card, using Bluetooth, etc), but not just plugging it in via USB and
>exploring the entirety of the device like a USB flash drive.

FTP is another

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Robert E. Zaret, eMVP
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