Hi al god PDA people! I have read many forums on this problem...but none of them worked... does anybody know how i synchronize my Sony Clie PEG-S300 with winxp?? PLZZZ help....

Baro, First, you MUST have the Palm Desktop update off of the CLIE website. Follow the directions - SPECIFICALLY about the *custom* usb switcher install for the S300. After that is installed - it's about a 50/50 chance that XP will select the WRONG usb driver and blow it. If that happens, and you are geting a "Serial port is in use by another device" error - then you have to do this: Open your Device Manager. Attempt to sync the device with Device manager open - when the device appears on the list (sony PEG {com6 or 7 usually}) right click and select "update Driver" When the update driver wizard appears - you MUST select "Install from specific location(advanced)" Point it at your Program Files|Sony Handheld|USB_Driver folder and select the Sop1kUSB.inf file - select open. It will pop up the XP driver verification "driver has not passed... " error - hit install anyway. Sync again and you should be all set! Email me if you have any problems! Good luck - it took me almost 2 weeks of calls to SONY to get this fix. They know about it - but you have to get lucky and get someboday at tier 2 tech support who really knows what they're doing.

Dan, this worked perfectly. You should really work for Sony, because you obviously have more of a handle on their crap software then they do. NEVER TRUST A STEREO COMPANY WITH A COMPUTER: Not to go on a rant here, but Sony has made sh*tty and sub standard software for the CLIE line since day one, they are always the last to update anything, and because they chose the weird kludge known as the "usb switcher" over writing a decent driver like Visor, their good hardware has always been flaky and unreliable in the field. After a lot of frustration with the XP upgrade, I was considering selling my S300...I probably should anyway. Sony makes awesome hardware, but if you can't hook an amp to it, just walk away. You will be happier.

Dan, I tried to install everything like you said but I couldn't find the Sop1kUSB.inf file on my computer. I've downloaded the USB swithcer update and have installed that as well as the Sony Desktop update. Is the Sop1kUSB.inf file something you download or what? If you could email me a response I would appreciate it...thanks!

Dan I would like to take this time out to thank you for your information above, I did everything you stated and it worked perfectly. Having spent the best part of a week trying on my own it was a welcome relief to find the help I needed and the Clie needed to prevent it from being thrown through the window. It is amazing to go to all this trouble to get a Sony Clie to link with a Sony Vaio. Thanks again. Paul.

Last month I downloaded ALL the newest software and couldn't get it to work. Today, I randomly decided to try it out. Here's what I did: Since I took all of it out of starting up at boot, I manually opened the USB Switcher, Palm Desktop, and Hotsync Manager. In Hotsync Manager nothing was checked. I put the CLIE into the cradle, hit the button, and it started doing stuff. Now, last month it would make that new hardware found thing, then say my serial port was already in use (the most common error). On the first try it said the same thing today, but it also randomly asked if I wanted to install new hardware, which of course I knew it had to do in the first place, and I extatically clicked "proceed" because I knew, or thought, this was the missing link. And it was, the CLIE now syncs with just about any setup in Hotsync manager, so it goes to show that it's all about what Dan said, making sure that the CLIE has hardware installed for it. Now I want to find out the best configuration for speed, since it doesn't seem to be giving me USB speeds, which was the whole point of making this crazy USB switcher system and matching it with Palm OS 3.5.5 :( Well I hope it keeps working. Post or email your stories, I'd like to hear them. -David

Yes! It works! Finally! Thank you so much Dan :) The Clie really is a great device.. it's just too bad that Sony keeps messing up with the software (although I think it's better with the newer OS4 models).