DateFix 2.0.0-beta.2

Keep your Palm working after 31 December 2031. Second beta.

What's new in beta.2: the default start year is now 1932 (window 1932 – 2059). 28 years are 10,227 days, exactly 1,461 weeks, and the leap-year pattern repeats every 28 years, so weekdays and leap years are identical internally and in reality (beta.1's 1940 was 3 days off). Applications that do their own date arithmetic are then right without a patch; only a year they draw themselves still differs. Existing installs keep their start year (use Options → Prepare Update, then HotSync this version). New in the repository: tools/yearfinder, a scanner that finds the places in an application that draw the year themselves (for the planned per-application patch table).

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 1932), so the clock, the Calendar, Tasks, alarms and reminders keep working for another 128 years (1932 – 2059). 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 1932 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.2.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: 384b2df25764c0a1a97dfcd154f8caeabd947dcda1410ddc31b11bb5ba6d94ec