22 replies to this topic

[snakesonaplane]

I recently acquired a Palm IIIc. Looking around online, I have been unable to find anything really cool to do to it, and without Wifi it is kind of limited in capabilities. What would you guys do with a working Palm Pilot that can't get online but still has a neat color screen?

[LUCKY_FUCKIN_CHARMS]

well shit you could always use it as a universal remote, or see if some of the old sd bluetooth cards are compatible with it then tether it to your phone to get online.

[Pharoh]

There was an article in MaximumPC Magazine a few months ago that showed how to use an old PDA as an external mini monitor. They only used a program called SideWindow and the PDA's docking station. It's possible that your Palm might be capable of this.

This is the online version of the article:
http://www.maximumpc...dware_heres_how

You'll want to take a look at page 5.

[light]

There is also a program called PalmOrb which emulates a matrix orbital display. You can then use something such as LCDSmartie to push content to it. (This is what I do with my old Palm III)

-Light

[Peroxyde]

If its docking station has a serial interface, you can use it to telnet/ssh into devices.

[snakesonaplane]

Thanks for the replies. Using it as an external display sounds pretty interesting. Being able to use it to connect to the OBD on my car would be epic, but I think I'm dreaming.

[mirrorshades]

Use it to play games, or as a mini-PDF/ebook reader.

[Seal]

There is also a program called PalmOrb which emulates a matrix orbital display. You can then use something such as LCDSmartie to push content to it. (This is what I do with my old Palm III)

-Light

I did that with my Palm too. It's a great util.

There's also Frotz, the Z-Machine emulator (play text games!), and even though you don't have Wifi, there were many tools released to automatically download pages from the interwebs for offline viewing. So for instance, I would automatically download the news off of slashdot, the weather, and whatever else. Often you could also tell these apps to download all linked to pages, that way you could expand on the stories you read on your offline slashdot.

[snakesonaplane]

These are all good suggestions. So far, I've followed vector and seal's advice.

I am using Avantgo to sync movies, weather, news, etc. I also installed "Omniremote," which is particularly cool because it lets me capture any infared signal and make my own customizable buttons. I have it set for everything in my house, including my computer and my oscillating tower fan.

Unfortunately, I had to sync it on an older system that has a COM port because the dock is serial. For some reason, my laptop recognizes the serial to USB adapter and gets the hotsync message, but it won't sync. I've looked around for help with this but I'm unable to find much. After adjusting the transmission speed in both Palm Desktop and Device Manager, still nothing.

[army_of_one]

Use it as a token generator in a one-time password system. Wouldn't be as secure as dedicated hardware, but might work well for something like SKEY or Perfect Paper Passwords. Could also use a modified version of KeePass or Password Safe to store all your passwords on there, protected by a high-security, master password. Needless to say, all of this requires some competence in both low-level coding and cryptography. It would still be relatively easy to do SKEY, but modifying one of the others could require you to hit the book: Practical Cryptography, by Schneier and Ferguson.

Of course, you could always sell it to me for 75% off list price, and I'll post all kinds of interesting uses for it.

[systems_glitch]

There was an article in 2600 a few years back, about using an old Palm handheld with a modem as a "disposable" hardware wardialer (at the time, a Palm III or IV and modem cost around $40 used). You could always try that, if you're interested in wardialing. The chief advantage of having a wardialer you didn't mind losing was that you could leave it in places, like your office's server room, patched into a line.

[snakesonaplane]

Okay. My newest obsession is using the IR feature of the Palm for everything. See the "Hacking washing Machines" thread in Retail Hacking if you'd like to help with my little project. I'm trying to find the IR freq that cycles the power on the Diebold control box.

[IndexPhinger]

Okay. My newest obsession is using the IR feature of the Palm for everything. See the "Hacking washing Machines" thread in Retail Hacking if you'd like to help with my little project. I'm trying to find the IR freq that cycles the power on the Diebold control box.

Good luck dude! I'll sniff around my local washing machine repair shop and see if "andy" would get me a nice manual.

[snakesonaplane]

Thanks man, it looks like this:



But if your guy knows a quicker, more effective way to bypass the box then I'm all ears. I believe they're Maytag commercial washers and dryers (they're in a dorm).

[IndexPhinger]

Thanks man, it looks like this:



But if your guy knows a quicker, more effective way to bypass the box then I'm all ears. I believe they're Maytag commercial washers and dryers (they're in a dorm).

LR3000 Laundry Reader Kit for Terminal Server.

I dredged up some semi-useful info...

http://209.85.173.10...lient=firefox-a

http://universities....e/cu_lr3000.pdf

Thats not a Diebold.

Its a CBord?

I'm thinking its an older model but produced under a different name!

Look around for an ethernet cable.

You Need CS GOLD to access the machine's internal settings.

Try syncing with the machine or hook up a laptop to it

Edited by IndexPhinger, 12 October 2008 - 07:04 PM.

[snakesonaplane]

There's an ethernet jack in there when you open it up. I could run a crossover cable to it and do a packet capture, but my main goal is to be able to activate the power cycle without having to open the card swipe box up. When I saw the IR port I LOL'ed cause I know there's gotta be a way to do it with a Palm Pilot. Just gotta get that sucker's frequency and see what I can do from there...

[PurpleJesus]

Does this one controller, control a bank of washing machines? Do each of those machines have a relay inside them to energize them? Could you lay a strong rare-earth magnet on the relay and bypass any need for control signals??

Just and old school thought.

-yes, I half ass read the links.

[snakesonaplane]

Hi Purple,

One card swipe box (the one pictured) sends the authorization signal to the washers and dryers. This authorization signal can be defeated by resetting the power on the card swipe, but it involves physically opening it up and entering a series of codes. My hope is that I can find the IR freq to reset the power and enter the codes without having to open the box up. I'm not sure what kind of cable lies between the Diebold swipe and each washer, or if there is an easier way to activate the "credits" on the machines.

[PurpleJesus]

Hi Purple,

One card swipe box (the one pictured) sends the authorization signal to the washers and dryers. This authorization signal can be defeated by resetting the power on the card swipe, but it involves physically opening it up and entering a series of codes. My hope is that I can find the IR freq to reset the power and enter the codes without having to open the box up. I'm not sure what kind of cable lies between the Diebold swipe and each washer, or if there is an easier way to activate the "credits" on the machines.

Could you write an IR packet sniffer for your Palm. Lie to the dude saying there is an error and lift the freq when he uses their gadget?

I think I'm seeing your problem now, it's not that the machines are 'off' it's that they don't know how much service to give you.. ??

[snakesonaplane]

Basically, there's no problem. I figured out how to reset the card swipe box's power and get it to "authorize" the washing machines. But I see on the outside that there's an IR port, so I'm very very interested in what it does. Perhaps it would enable me to reset the power without having to open up the box and look really sketchy.