Palm OS Development for macOS

A complete Palm OS development environment for macOS ARM (Apple Silicon) with pre-built toolchain, SDK, and hello world template.

Quick Start

# Clone this repository
git clone https://github.com/savaughn/palmdev-macos.git palmdev-macos
cd palmdev-macos

# Run setup (downloads toolchain and SDK)
./setup-toolchain.sh

# Build hello world
cd helloworld
make build

# Output: build/HelloWorld.prc ready to install on Palm device!

What's Included

• Pre-built prc-tools - m68k-palmos-gcc compiler for macOS ARM
• Palm OS SDK - Headers and libraries for Palm OS
• Build tools - pilrc, build-prc, pilot-link
• Hello World template - Ready-to-build sample application
• Automated setup - One-command installation

Requirements

• macOS 11+ (Big Sur or later)
• Apple Silicon
• Homebrew installed
• ~100MB disk space

What Gets Installed

The setup script will:

1. Download prc-tools from GitHub releases

   • Installs to local toolchain/ directory
   • Includes m68k-palmos-gcc 2.95.3
   • Installs target directories to /usr/local/{arm,m68k}-palmos/

2. Install support tools via Homebrew

   • pilrc (resource compiler)
   • pilot-link (device communication)

3. Download Palm OS SDK from jichu4n/palm-os-sdk

   • Installs to /usr/local/palmdev/
   • Includes SDKs for Palm OS 1.0 through 5r4

4. Configure toolchain with palmdev-prep

   • Writes GCC specs files to /usr/local/lib/gcc-lib/
   • Writes trap numbers to /usr/local/share/prc-tools/
   • Configures SDK paths for compilation

Building Applications

The Makefile automatically finds the toolchain - no need to source any config files!

# Build the hello world app
cd helloworld
make build

All build output goes to the build/ directory.

Installing on Palm Device

Via HotSync

# Install to Palm via USB
pilot-xfer -i build/HelloWorld.prc

Via POSE (Palm OS Emulator)

Drag and drop the build/HelloWorld.prc file onto the POSE window.

Via Palm Desktop

Copy the build/HelloWorld.prc file to your HotSync install folder.

Troubleshooting

"curl: command not found"

Install Xcode Command Line Tools:

xcode-select --install

"brew: command not found"

Install Homebrew:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

"palmdev-prep: Permission denied"

The SDK installation requires sudo. You'll be prompted for your password.

Compilation errors with system headers

Make sure you're using the flags in the Makefile:

m68k-palmos-gcc -palmos3.5 -nostdinc ...

The -nostdinc flag prevents macOS system headers from conflicting with Palm OS headers.

"No genuine PalmOS.h found"

Run palmdev-prep to configure the SDK:

export PATH="$PWD/toolchain/usr/local/bin:$PATH"
sudo -E env "PATH=$PATH" palmdev-prep

Documentation

• Palm OS Programming Tutorial
• prc-tools Documentation
• Palm OS Reference

Next Steps

After building hello world:

1. Read the source - helloworld/HelloWorld.c is fully commented
2. Modify the UI - Edit helloworld/HelloWorld.rcp for resources
3. Study Palm OS APIs - Check SDK headers in /usr/local/palmdev/sdk-3.5/include/
4. Build something cool - Games, utilities, network apps!

🔄 Updating

To update the toolchain:

# Re-run setup to get latest versions
./setup-toolchain.sh

Contributing

Found a bug? Have a feature request? Want to share your Palm OS app?

• Open an issue
• Submit a pull request
• Share your creations!

License

This template and setup scripts are provided as-is for Palm OS development.

• prc-tools: GPL
• Palm OS SDK: Palm OS License (educational/non-commercial use)
• Support tools: Various open source licenses

Credits

• jichu4n - Palm OS SDK and Homebrew tap
• savaughn - prc-tools macOS ARM builds
• Palm, Inc. - Original Palm OS SDK and documentation
• prc-tools community - Maintaining the GCC toolchain

Architecture Note

These pre-built binaries are for macOS ARM (Apple Silicon) only.

For Intel Macs, you're already covered by existing homebrew packages.