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jbleisure · 04:57 AM

Is anyone else having problems with syncing iCal & address book through .Mac?

Loads of duplicate entries.and basically just not doing a good job. This post was just prompted by Address book requesting an additional 320 contacts to be added. I backed up and said yes and it basically just imported all the contacts from my PB withought deleting or updating/modifying anything. I was curious which is why I allowed it - so then I just reverted the file I had saved - but really, I'm sure this app used to work ok. At least better that this. It's hopeless.

jbleisure · Aug 22, 2007, 04:54 AM

..I realised that we now use System Preference .Mac pref pane to sync via .Mac and that is what I'm refering to above.

Sherman Homan · Aug 22, 2007, 06:02 AM

I don't think it is dot mac in general. I use it to sync three computers. Mostly with Mail, iCal and Address Book, but very often from the road through the web interface. That said, I don't know what the problem is with your account.

jbleisure · Aug 22, 2007, 08:05 AM

I don't think it is dot mac in general. I use it to sync three computers. Mostly with Mail, iCal and Address Book, but very often from the road through the web interface. That said,

And your point is?

moonmonkey · Aug 25, 2007, 11:57 AM

It's not rubbish?

TETENAL · Aug 25, 2007, 12:50 PM

Maybe reset all other devices from your main Mac with known good data to reset everything to a proper state.

- - e r i k - - · Aug 26, 2007, 06:54 AM

Seconded. Whenever there's a sync problem, reset .Mac sync from a device you know is good.

jbleisure · Aug 26, 2007, 06:10 PM

How do I reset .Mac.

I assume you mean something other than system pref>.Mac>advanced>unregister and then re-register. Is there another way to reset?

- - e r i k - - · Aug 26, 2007, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by jbleisure

How do I reset .Mac.

I assume you mean something other than system pref>.Mac>advanced>unregister and then re-register. Is there another way to reset?

There's a button called Reset Sync Data... just below that

jbleisure · Aug 28, 2007, 04:08 AM

Thanks - - erik - -

taldrich · Oct 3, 2007, 04:43 AM

I sync my data across multiple Macs, and have found it to be quite unreliable in the last year. I have my .Mac preferences set to sync automatically.

1. It does not sync automatically. I have found the only reliable way to make sure recent entries are definitely synced is to do a 'hard' sync by manually syncing. I have got fed up of getting home after work and finding calendar and address book entries not updated. Even when I switch on a machine and it does its automatic sync, the data is often not updated until I do a hard sync.

2. Occasionally, .Mac throws a wobbly and updates my address book with data that is one or two years old. I then have to find my next most recently updated machine and reset all data from there.

I have a friend (whose job is Mac technical support) who has exactly the same problems, so I know it's not my machine.

Bottom line is that I have learned most of the quirks and how to deal with them, but that's not really the point.

I stopped using Windows in 2003, and I have to say that until today, I do not find the Mac iCal/Address book/Mail solution as good as, or as reliable as, Exchange/Outlook.

Which is not to say that I'd ever go back to the accursed Windows, but the Mac experience is definitely not without its weaknesses.

jbleisure · Oct 3, 2007, 05:02 AM

I did the reset but I'm still finding it unreliable which is very concerning as I use .Mac to sync a lot of contacts and calendars and they are often incorrect these days. When it was working well I loved the ease of use but to be honest I'm considering seeing if I can find a better solution.

taldrich · Oct 3, 2007, 06:08 AM

Well I'm right there with you, so I'd love to hear if you find a better solution. Trouble is, it's the sync that other apps can't provide.

Maybe Leopard will provide the answer. Or maybe some more bugs......

Cadaver · Oct 5, 2007, 07:41 PM

Reset your sync data from a machine known to have good data - use this to overwrite data on the .mac server.

Then, do NOT allow your other machines to sync to .mac without resetting them to use .mac to overwrite the local data.

If you reset one machine, but have other 'bad' data sets syncing as well, you'll just re-corrupt the .mac data.

(sorry if the above is confusing)

I have 4 machines synced with .mac, and haven't had this problem, FWIW.

Kenneth · Oct 5, 2007, 09:40 PM

.Mac syncing saved my life!