STEARsoft - FAQ

You need to make sure the server program is running when you do a HotSync (It usually is, but just to check...). To ensure it is running, have any of the PC component bits open and working (eg STEAR Control, or the STEARsoft Server or viewing some web interface successfully).

The most likely thing however, is that the HoySync IDs aren't matching exactly:
Go to the Manager program in the Windows component (STEAR Control then chose Account Management). Press the Users... button to go into the users screen, and select your username account from the list on the left. On the right-hand side you will see boxes labelled "Name", "Password", "Data Subdirectory" and "Palm HotSync ID". The box for "Palm HotSync ID" is critical here. It must match exactly your Palm HotSync ID as seen on your Palm device and in your Palm Desktop application. Note that capitalization is important here.

In the Web Module, from the Menu on the left select "HotSync Options". Change the top option to "Desktop overwrites handheld" and press "Save settings". Now doing a HotSync may fix your problem.

There is a known issue with certainly some (possibly all) versions of Palm HotSync Manager: After several syncs, particularly copying everything with large databases, The HotSync manager appears to run out of memory - before this is apparent with warning messages, data is dropped on synchronising. The fix is to exit the HotSync manager (click on the HotSync icon in the tooltray and select exit), and then to restart HotSync Manager. This behaviour isn't normally seen unless you never switch your computer off and never log off, or unless initial setting up of multiple handheld devices is being done from one computer. This problem has only been discovered in testing, and not actually been reported in general use so far. Normal short day-to-day syncronisation should not build up to this problem, and the direct network synchronisation option which avoids using HotSync Manager also avoids this problem.

There wasn't, but there now is. See the Current price page for details.

There are 3 types of username/password. It's possible they are becoming muddled. See the Clarification of passwords screen for help. Also be aware that repeated failed attempts to log in to the Administrator account or a teacher account will lock that account. See the Clarification of passwords page for details.

You can pay for STEARsoft by credit card (VISA/Mastercard and others) without a paypal account and without needing to set up a paypal account. We do use Paypal's merchant services to process secure online credit-card payments, but this is not to be confused with using paypal; it is a standard credit card processing service, which happens to be provided by the same company. Our current choice has been to avoid the risks associated with keeping customer credit card details ourselves by handling payments through a secure and trusted third-party. If you have alternative suggestions for payment, please let us know so that we can improve our service to you. Please use the suggestions or technical support pages to contact us.

Once you have an account, log in to it and create the multiple licenses there - though each needs to be entered individually. It is important that each Hotsync ID is different (and matches the Hoysync ID of the designated Palm device). For speed, once you have entered the details for one license and pressed the "complete registration" button, press the back button on your browser, change the name and Hotsync ID information to the next palm device and press the "complete registration" button again - you'll get another license. Etc. When you come to pay to upgrade the licenses to full versions, select all the licenses you wish to upgrade and you can make a single payment.

Unfortunately, mistakes and problems are a reality in the computer world. Our technical support uses web pages and email due to the nature of our company. Ensuring we have a reliable way to communicate back to you is critical before such times occur. Experience also shows that customers are less likely to 'lose' important license, username and password information if the details are emailed to them rather than simply displayed on a web page. We do recognise the annoyance of Spam, and hate spam mail ourselves. We therefore have a policy of not passing on any email addresses to anyone at all, or for using them ourselves for further marketing.

This has been seen on a network running different V-LANs. There is an interesting feature in internet explorer that can cause it to attempt to authenticate using port 80 even if accessing a web page on another port (eg 13031). If your network is set up to correctly route (and allow) traffic to port 13031 of your STEARsoft server, but not port 80, then internet explorer fails to make a connection on port 80, waiting for a timeout 3 times before trying as requested on port 13031. The fix for this is to either use Firefox, or to add port 80 to your network routing information. Note that port 80 does not need to be open on the STEARserver machine.