iCal/E2004: how to force sync?

[Heath]

How often does Entourage send info to the Sync database, and how
frequently does iCal retrieve it?
Is it upon quit or relaunch, or some other timed interval? Will they
sync if they both sit open all day? And is there a way to sync them
manually?

Thanks, Heath

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

How often does Entourage send info to the Sync database, and how
frequently does iCal retrieve it?

On my Mac it is almost immediate. I don't know how often it syncs, but
it can't be too long.

Is it upon quit or relaunch, or some other timed interval? Will they
sync if they both sit open all day? And is there a way to sync them
manually?

You can't sync manually as far as I know. If I keep the two apps open
and add an event in Entourage, it takes me less than a minute to see it
in iCal (but I might be lucky).

Corentin

 

[Jon Connell]

You can't sync manually as far as I know. If I keep the two apps open
and add an event in Entourage, it takes me less than a minute to see it
in iCal (but I might be lucky).

That's my experience too: iCal must be running to have the sync happen.
I was hoping to use iCal's publishing to get my Entourage calendar
published on the web, but this was foiled by not having iCal running!

Jon

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

That's my experience too: iCal must be running to have the sync happen.
I was hoping to use iCal's publishing to get my Entourage calendar
published on the web, but this was foiled by not having iCal running!

That is also true of other applciations. I use Yojimbo and the
instructions clearly state that the applciation has to be running to be
able to sync data (through .Mac, but it is Sync Services as well).

Corentin

 

[Heath]

Hmmm. I added a date to Entourage this morning and it has yet to show
up in iCal. It's been open a couple of times since then. I also
deleted and then re-added the date with both running just now, after
reading these responses, and it still hasn't shown up. I've got the
sync preference box checked. I wonder what else I could be doing
wrong?

thanks, heath

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Hmmm. I added a date to Entourage this morning and it has yet to show
up in iCal. It's been open a couple of times since then. I also
deleted and then re-added the date with both running just now, after
reading these responses, and it still hasn't shown up. I've got the
sync preference box checked. I wonder what else I could be doing
wrong?

There might be somethign fishy with your SyncService database. There is
a way to reset it, but it sure isn't for the faint of heart.....

Corentin

 

[Heath]

There might be somethign fishy with your SyncService database. There is
a way to reset it, but it sure isn't for the faint of heart.....

I'm game - I sync with my Palm anyway, so I have a backup of all data
(and Sync Services worked for me till recently, so most stuff is also
backed up in my Address Book and iCal, just not any recent changes.)
(And no, I can't think of anything I did that might have messed up my
syncing - it is weird, since it used to work!!)

Can you point me to a help article on how to pinpoint the problem, or
walk me through what to do?

Thanks so much,

Heath

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

I'm game - I sync with my Palm anyway, so I have a backup of all data
(and Sync Services worked for me till recently, so most stuff is also
backed up in my Address Book and iCal, just not any recent changes.)
(And no, I can't think of anything I did that might have messed up my
syncing - it is weird, since it used to work!!)

OK, you asked for it....

Use the Activity Monitor to quit the "SyncServer" process (you need to
make sure it's not running anyway).
trash everything in this folder:
~/Library/Application Support/SyncServices/

Open the .Mac prefpane to make it reload your synching prefs.
You don;t really need to have a .Mac account as far as I know. It will
help load the registered services anyway.
Launch all app that sync with Sync Service to make sure they are
properly registered.
In you case, that's iCal, the System Address book and Entourage.

If you sync with .Mac, add Mail, Safari, and whatever other app you have
that might sync with .Mac. The Mac will appear as if it had never
synched with .Mac. Use the Prefpane to trigger a sync (for some reason,
a first sync has to be run from the prefpane. If you run it through the
menu, it often silently fails on you and writes up warnings in the sync
log).

This should reset this pretty well. You might trigger the Conflict
assistant that will try to resolve potential problems in the new sync.

Corentin

 

[Heath]

This should reset this pretty well. You might trigger the Conflict
assistant that will try to resolve potential problems in the new sync.

Well, I did all that stuff (and incidentally joined .Mac - I'd been
meaning to anyway.) It looks like did something, b/c there's now a
folder called "local" in the application support/sync services folder,
when I had trashed all that stuff. But Entourage and iCal still aren't
syncing. The conflict assistant never showed up.

Launch all app that sync with Sync Service to make sure they are
properly registered.
In you case, that's iCal, the System Address book and Entourage.

How can I tell if the apps are registered properly? I launched them,
and they seem fine, although iCal doesn't have the Entourage calendar
(I had deleted it before in an attempt to get a clean sync.)

So...everything seems exactly the same as it was before I did this
stuff? Nothing is harmed, but they're still not syncing. (I also
tried quitting Entourage and restarting, quitting iCal and restarting,
and unchecking and rechecking the "sync" boxes in Entourage prefs to
see if that would wiggle something loose, so to speak - but no dice.

(Also, if I checked the mail and smart mail options in the .Mac pane
when I joined, does it automatically sync Entourage? B/c I didn't see
an Entourage box to check. I know that's probably obvious, but I want
to make sure!)

Thanks for your patience! -Heath

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Well, I did all that stuff (and incidentally joined .Mac - I'd been
meaning to anyway.) It looks like did something, b/c there's now a
folder called "local" in the application support/sync services folder,
when I had trashed all that stuff. But Entourage and iCal still aren't
syncing. The conflict assistant never showed up.

At least it tells me that the SyncServices are at work again.
Could it be something with the prefs in Entourage?? Didi you
double-check that the Synching preferences were still checked??

How can I tell if the apps are registered properly? I launched them,
and they seem fine, although iCal doesn't have the Entourage calendar
(I had deleted it before in an attempt to get a clean sync.)

Once they are registered, they are listed in the .Mac prefpane in the
Sync tab.

So...everything seems exactly the same as it was before I did this
stuff? Nothing is harmed, but they're still not syncing. (I also

At least nothing is harmed :->

tried quitting Entourage and restarting, quitting iCal and restarting,
and unchecking and rechecking the "sync" boxes in Entourage prefs to
see if that would wiggle something loose, so to speak - but no dice.

Try rebooting and re-opening the .Mac pref pane then to see whether
Entourage now shows up in the list (it should be there for the Entourage
Notes).

(Also, if I checked the mail and smart mail options in the .Mac pane
when I joined, does it automatically sync Entourage? B/c I didn't see
an Entourage box to check. I know that's probably obvious, but I want
to make sure!)

Nope. Sync Services will sync contacts, events and notes only.

Corentin

 

[Heath]

At least it tells me that the SyncServices are at work again.
Could it be something with the prefs in Entourage?? Didi you
double-check that the Synching preferences were still checked??

All the prefs were checked correctly, however....

Try rebooting and re-opening the .Mac pref pane then to see whether
Entourage now shows up in the list (it should be there for the Entourage
Notes).

Entourage Notes showed up in there after the restart! And iCal picked
up my Entourage stuff after the restart! So I guess it's fixed -
however, .Mac is now saying that login failed every time I try to sync.
But it's heartening that iCal has my Entourage stuff!

So...now it seems like there's just some problem with .Mac and me, but
that Entourage and iCal and Address Book have gotten it together
finally. Thanks so much for walking me through all that! You guys are
the best!

Heath

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Entourage Notes showed up in there after the restart! And iCal picked
up my Entourage stuff after the restart! So I guess it's fixed -
however, .Mac is now saying that login failed every time I try to sync.
But it's heartening that iCal has my Entourage stuff!

Try triggering the sync from the .Mac prefpane again.
You can also use the Console application to check the sync logs to try
and figure out what really goes wrong with authentication.

So...now it seems like there's just some problem with .Mac and me, but
that Entourage and iCal and Address Book have gotten it together
finally. Thanks so much for walking me through all that! You guys are
the best!

I'm glad it worked

Corentin