This is the second installment of my quest to install simulators on my Windows XP system for all the major smartphone platforms. Yesterday we covered the BlackBerry simulator; today we’ll tackle the Palm OS version of the Treo.
The first step will be to the Palm developer center. If you don’t already have a free developer account, register for one now. (It’s necessary to download any of the simulators.)
Since we’re covering devices based on Palm OS, I’ll pick the latest which is the Centro smartphone. Palm offers a simulator for each device, so follow these steps to get the one for the Centro:
- Start at the Centro Developer Center
- Under Quick Links, click on Simulators
- In the KB article shown, click on Centro_Sprint_Simulator_Release.zip and download it (18MB)
- Extract the .zip file into some convenient location
- In the extracted files, navigate to PalmSDK\Simulators\Centro_Sprint_Simulator_Release_Build_X
- Double-click on PalmSim.exe to start the Simulator
- Choose the .rom file pointed to by default (e.g., Simulator.SprintCdmaRelEnUS.rom)
- If a Windows Firewall warning message appears, choose the Unblock option
You now have a working Palm OS simulator!
Some tips and tricks:
- Read up on the documentation (\Doc folder) to learn about keyboard commands and so on
- Run the Prefs app on the device, choose Power, and set the Auto-off to 3 minutes
- To access the internet from the simulator, right-click anywhere, choose menu Setting | Communication, and select Redirect NetLib calls.
thank you for this series... if you can figure out how to get the nokia E-series simulators working with network access you might be my hero. from what I've been able to dig though, it looks tough.
Thanks for the info on running the simulator. When I boot the Centro simulator, it goes into a setup screen that asks you to press the Center button, but I can't figure out what keyboard or mouse command corresponds to the center button. Does it require a full numeric keypad with NumLock off so you can press '5'?
Ben, as far as I can tell you're right: it needs to be a numeric keypad "5" to be the equivalent. The 5-way button on the Palm corresponds to 4-left, 8-up, 6-right, 2-down, 5-center on the keypad. If you have a laptop or smaller standard keyboard, you can usually press a key combination to use the equivalent of a dedicated numeric keypad.
It would seeem the Palm Developer's Network site neither offers the Palm SDK nor the Centro Simulator file any longer. It seems to have been replaced by the ACCESS Developer's Network, which provides developer tools like the Palm (Garnet) OS SDK and Simulator. The Centro file, however, isn't available.
I found this link from a Chinese site, which downloads the same file (I'm assuming), but in WinRAR format (Centro_Sprint_Simulator_Release.rar). I've unpacked and tested it. It works like a Palm Centro.
Just in case, check the file with antivirus software before unpacking. Use at your own risk, etc.