Battery Prefs 1.42
(Shareware $5)

© 2001-2006 Michael J. McCollister

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Battery Prefs sets the default battery type of your Palm OS device. It also displays statistics such as voltage level and low battery warning levels.

Contents of This Document

1. Installation
2. System Requirements
3. ZIP File Contents
4. Usage
5. Special Comments
6. Registration
7. Version History
8. Legal Disclaimer

I. Installation

Installation of Battery Prefs is just like any other Palm OS program. This program shows up in your Palm Preferences application (known as "Prefs") and not in the application launcher. However, it can be configured to show up in the application launcher. Battery Prefs cannot be run from an external memory card and should be installed only to internal memory.

Upgrading from a previous version does not require that you uninstall the previous version.

II. System Requirements

Requires Palm OS 3.0 or greater. 30 Kbytes of free memory on the Palm OS device is required.

III. ZIP File Contents

IV. Usage

Once installed, open up the Palm Preferences application and select "Battery" from the pull down menu at the upper right portion of the screen. On some devices Battery Prefs will be shown as "Battery" in the "Other" section of the Palm Preferences application.

Battery Prefs can be configured as an application by selecting "Preferences" from the "Options" menu. Note that this feature is only available for registered users.

This program displays various information for the current battery type. The battery type can be changed so that the low battery warning is properly calibrated. The warning and critical voltage levels change depending on the battery type selected. "Default" refers to the factory default battery type. Setting the battery to the wrong type may result in loss of data. Use this feature with caution.

V. Special Comments

Not every Palm OS version supports the same battery types. The table below shows the supported removable battery types for a given Palm OS version.

On some devices, such as the Visor Neo and possibly some other Handspring devices, selecting Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) will prevent beaming from occurring. In this situation when a beam is attempted the  message "Power Manager: Beaming has been temporarily disabled because the combination of features you are using requires more power than currently available. (Pwr 1E03)" will be displayed. Unfortunately, this is a hardware problem and cannot be fixed by Battery Prefs. If using NiMH batteries on a device that exhibits this problem it is recommended that Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) be selected as the battery type.

VI. Registration

Register Battery Prefs for just $5 at PalmGear.com. Registration entitles you to personal use of Battery Prefs on a single Palm OS device, free upgrades and support via e-mail. By registering Battery Prefs:

• if your device has removable batteries, the battery type will survive a reset,
• The bar graph will also include more information, such as numerical percentage and charging status, and
• Battery Prefs can be configured to launch as an application instead of a preference panel.

When you register please provide the program name (Battery Prefs), the user name and the registration code. The registration key that you will receive is based on your Palm user name.

If you have further questions about registration, such as volume discounts, please send e-mail to support@MikeMcCollister.com.

VII. Version History

• 1.42 (10/27/2006)
• Made some minor user interface changes and bug fixes.
1.41 (12/09/2004)
• Made some minor user interface changes and bug fixes.
• In the registration form menu, "Graffiti Help" will now display "Graffiti 2 Help" for devices that have Graffiti 2.
• Added 108 DPI icons for 240x240 displays.
• Removed color HandEra icons and bitmaps as there will never be a color HandEra device.
• Changed support e-mail address.
• 1.40 (07/01/2003)
• Added support for changing Battery Prefs into an application. This is done by selecting "Preferences" from the "Options" menu. Note that this feature is only available for registered users.
• On the registration form, if the "abc" in the graffiti area is tapped, the numeric keyboard now comes up.
• Fixed a memory leak that would happen under rare conditions.
• 1.31 (03/14/2003)
• Added a menu items to beam and send Battery Prefs to another Palm OS device.
• Made some minor user interface changes.
• Fixed some minor bugs.
• 1.30 (07/06/2002)
• Modified the logic associated with loading the battery type to avoid problems if the database has been corrupted.
• Now works with the Palm OS 5 high resolution screen.
• Tweaked the looks of the battery level indicator.
• Made the icon look a little better.
• No longer forces the display to a 0 degree rotation on the HandEra 330.
• 1.21 (03/09/2002)
• Fixed a rare bug that may cause problems when a one-button dialog is closed.
• 1.20 (10/10/2001)
• Made some minor user interface changes, including making the percentage level bold.
• The default battery now has the ability to change if upgrading to a new Palm OS device.
• Now supports the HandEra 330.
• Includes support for the optional Lithium Ion battery available from HandEra.
• Includes support for minimizing/maximizing of the Virtual Silkscreen.
• Supports other 160x160 Palm OS devices (Palm IIIxe, m500, etc).
• High resolution battery level bitmap.
• 1.14 (09/12/2001)
• Fixed a bug that prevented some valid Registration Keys from registering Battery Prefs.
• Made some minor interface tweaks.
• 1.13 (05/30/2001)
• Fixed a bug that prevented the color text in the battery meter on a Visor Prism from showing up.
• 1.12 (05/14/2001)
• Added some more color in the battery meter area.
• 1.11 (04/27/2001)
• Fixed a minor bug that directly accessed some Palm GUI structures.
• When Battery Prefs is run from another application, it is now more compliant with other Palm preference/panel applications. Basically some minor user interface changes.
• 1.10 (04/19/2001)
• Battery Prefs now displays only battery types that your Palm can handle. This fixes a problem with some of the older Palms and especially Handspring devices. Also, if your Palm device as a built-in battery, you are no longer able to change it.
• Battery Prefs now displays actual battery type and not the desired. This caused a little confusion if the battery type was changed by another means.
• Added a little bit more color for color devices.
• Battery Prefs will no longer reset the Palm on every install. It is much smarter about this now.
• 1.0 (04/08/2001)
• Initial Version.

VIII. Legal Disclaimer

This program is provided AS-IS; there is NO WARRANTY, express or implied. The user assumes full responsibility and liability for any use of this program. All Rights Reserved by Michael J. McCollister, except as noted below.

Permission to distribute this package complete and unmodified for personal use via the Internet for no charge (other than reasonable connection charges) is granted to the public. Distribution for commercial purposes via any other medium, including but not limited to CD-ROM, floppy, or printed material, in whole or in part, requires express permission from the author, Michael J. McCollister (support@MikeMcCollister.com).

Only unmodified versions may be distributed with this notice intact.