DateFix 2.0.0-beta.1

Keep your Palm working after 31 December 2031. First public beta.

Palm OS stops its calendar on 31 December 2031. DateFix moves the start of Palm OS's date counting from 1904 to a year you choose (default 1940), so the clock, the Calendar, Tasks, alarms and reminders keep working for another 128 years (1940 – 2067). The basic idea - run the clock in the past and add the offset when a year is shown - was published before by Tavisco (NaivePalmdayMitigation, Palm OS 3.5 - 4.x). DateFix automates and extends it: it moves the clock itself (surviving a reset), converts the stored dates once (with a backup to the SD card), patches more of the date API and also runs on Palm OS 5.

Before you start: make a HotSync backup and insert an SD card if you can. Enabling converts your stored dates; dates before the start year (birthdays before 1940 with the default) are set to its first year. Emergency exit: a soft reset holding the navigator up button starts the Palm without DateFix. Please read the README.

Works on

• Tungsten T3 (Palm OS 5.2.1), Palm m515 (4.1) - tested on the devices
• Tungsten E2 and Palm m515 in an emulator
• Handspring Visor (3.5.2H3): the built-in Date Book is right; Date Book+ shows the internal year in its week, two-week and year view (see known limitations)

Everything else with Palm OS 5 or 3.5 – 4.x is expected to work but not confirmed - please report your device, Palm OS version and the Test line from DateFix (see the README).

Known limitations

• Applications that draw the year themselves (not through the system's date functions), e.g. Date Book+ week/year view, show the internal year. A per-application patch table is planned.
• HotSync with a desktop transfers the internal dates.
• The window is 128 years; Palm OS below 3.5 is not supported.
• Not yet run on a device: a reminder set in 2031 for 2032, reading a 2025 event in 2033, World Clock, time-dependent games. The arithmetic behind them is covered by host tests and emulators.

Install: HotSync DateFix-2.0.0-beta.1.prc to the Palm, start DateFix, choose the start year, tap Enable, confirm the conversion. To update later use Options → Prepare Update (not Disable), then HotSync the new version.

SHA-256: 92f0e11df7a0c78b9a2f1d8584b0da62b68c07bec2465456b029a8cf9f15b7c7