i need help w/ setting up a palm pilot for dashboard

[Chris Marra]

Originally Posted by youngWilliam14

i've been able to trick a few devices into thinking that they're getting data from something they're supposed to get data from, so who knows how this one will work. i'm sure that there is/our programmers can cook something up that will make the palm read off data from the O/I

Such an endeavor would require very low-level programming though, as any program written for the Palm would look for USB data through the port by calling up the Palm API for USB communication. You would have to specifically write a dashboard program that undermines the Palm OS and gains direct access to what bits/packets are being passed through the 9 pins. At this point, many devices fit the application much better for the amount of programming required.

We have several Palm III's lying around that we used to use for pit scouting, and they have serial interfaces (we use them to control winamp through such), and have tried using them as dashboards, but never felt like doing the programming when we could just use a laptop. As Alan said, it is much easier to just use a laptop or an older Palm model for a dashboard application, and considering the rules against interacting with your dashboard, it actually makes more sense to use a laptop that has a much larger screen so information is visible.