.Mac calendar synchronisation problem in Leopard
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I've been having synchronisation issues with .Mac services recently related to my iCal calendars. Usually, resetting the .Mac copy with a local copy from one of my computers solved the problem. But not this time.
The SyncServer was generating errors like:
iCalExternalSync[823] [ICalExternalSync ]NSException
name:NSInvalidArgumentException reason:
[ISyncConcreteSession
clientAcceptedChangesForRecordWithIdentifier:formattedRecord:newRecordIdentifier:]:
you can't change the record identifier from
24A0D606-9C62-498A-80BF-0139313AA98D to
node_LocalCalendar/p1: it is already associated
with a different record.or
|Error|Problem encountered while merging changes in
Sync Engine: you referenced the following records
(in a relationship) but did not actually push
them: (
"08C4CB22-E92D-4CB5-8C1B-3EDA9E2E11F5",
"0EDD7D55-9B30-43D7-BA88-84448FAB8FB9",
[..]Until the calendar synchronisation stopped all together. A dialog box told me that the data was inconsistent, and needed to be reset on .Mac.
"Calendars could not be synced due to inconsistent data. Confirm that your computer's data is valid, then reset Calendars on .Mac in System Preferences."
Fair enough. But it didn't solve the problem. Sync still wowed. I restored a backup copy of my calendars, and that didn't do the trick either. I restored a backup copy of another of my computers. That failed too. This was becoming irritating to say the less. At this point, the synchronisation was running on an hourly basis, but the calendars weren't being synched, and I wasn't being told.
To cut a long and boring story short, here's a workaround that worked for me: you need to start fresh again - really fresh. Wiping out all traces of previous synchronisations, caches, etc. Apparently there was some kind of discrepency in my SyncServer cache. Meaning I had to:
- Quit all applications that use .Mac (Address Book, iCal, iSync, Mail, Safari);
- Turn off .Mac syncing and unregister all computers in System Preferences;
- Issue the following commands from the terminal:
killall SyncServer cd ~/Library/Application\ Support mv SyncServices SyncServices-old killall SystemUIServer - Turn on .Mac syncing in System Preferences and click "Sync Now".
- When a dialog appears asking whether to merge or replace data on .Mac, select replace all data on .Mac with data from the computer.
You need to perform this on all your registered computers synching on .Mac except point #5: replace your local data with the fresh copy you just uploaded. My logs activity calmed down after that, no more errors. Sync bliss.
This workaround comes essentially from various Apple Discussions thread such as:
Comments and responses
18 Feb 2008
Thanks for the great instructions. It only took me 15 minutes to fix this problem because of your post. It also saved a new computer buying experience from going bad.
19 Feb 2008
This worked for me. Thanks for the advice.
18 Mar 2008
I was just running into the same problem but after reading this post I was able to fix it in 1 minute.
I simply re-created the calendar data from my main machine (which holds the most up to date calendars) overwriting the old calendar data on .Mac. I just used the regular advanced feature for that. Afterwards I was able to sync the re-written calender data onto my MacBook PRO.
While this may not work for everybody it is a fast thing to try before you hit the command line purging this manually.
Hope this may be helpful for some
Stefanie
28 Apr 2008
Just wanted to add that these instructions also cured my sync woes as well. I have an iMac and recently also purchased a MacBook. Some stuff synced over to the MacBook but some did not, specifically bookmarks and calendars. After following these instructions now everything is merrily syncing along. Thanks for the great post!
13 Aug 2008
This worked, and I was finally able to sync my damned calendars after following these instructions. Thanks!
04 Sep 2008
Yeah baby! After weeks of monkeying around with this and getting nowhere with Apple Support… This fixed my issue!
Thanks a million!
05 Sep 2008
Glad it worked out for you @Rob
:)
11 Sep 2008
I’ve got six devices (two each Macs, iPhones and iPod touches) I like (have to) keep in sync and since Sept 2 syncs for calendars and contacts have been failing (silently). Since I discovered this three days ago, Apple support has been getting nowhere. While waiting for them to do “research” I’ve been doing my own and found this work around which matches my pronlem. There may be a better solution but I am not sure Apple Support will be offering it soon. I’ll post the results.
Cheers
27 Sep 2008
I’ve got a similar problem: just the other way around.
I have erased all the contact and calendar data on my computer and am trying to update my iMac’s iCal and Address Book from Mobile Me. My iPhone and Mobile Me are syncing wonderfully; I consider them both up-to-date. Any clues?
27 Sep 2008
@Greg: strange. I have always had success in updating my Mac from the online (.Mac or MobileMe now) version, if the latter isn’t corrupted. Which isn’t the case if your iPhone and MobileMe account are syncing okay.
Have you updated the .Mac System Preference? It should read MobileMe now (Are you running Leopard? 10.5.x?)
There were some issues with 10.4 (Tiger) and MobileMe syncing – not sure if they are resolved now.
Not much help – sorry…
29 Sep 2008
@David: I’ve updated the MobileMe System prefs several times … I’m running 10.5.5. I’ve completely erased my iSync device list, as I no longer need to sync my trusty SE600i via Bluetooth (which was a painless and reliable process >_
19 Nov 2008
I have Greg’s same exact problem. The good data is on mobileme and my iphone, with healthy syncing between the two. But my iCal in OS X 10.5.5 is way out of date and I’d just like to replace it with what’s on mobileme. Yet I get the “inconsistent data” message when I try to reset data from mobileme. Annoying.
26 Nov 2008
Read http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1627.
14 Dec 2008
Thank you!!! It solved a problem I had since months and Apple did not help at all.
19 Dec 2008
woohoo!!! After trying other suggestions to no avail, I am extremely pleased to say that this fix did actually work for me. Thanks so much!
19 Dec 2008
rik andDanielle I’m very happy it worked for you. I haven’t run into any similar problems since – touch wood.Thank you for letting my know :)
03 May 2009
I have had the same problem with a small twist. All of my data is in the cloud on mobile me. There is no copy on my computer. How can I make a backup off of mobile me and then work off of the backup to my local machine. I am running 10.4.11 on one laptop and tower and 10.5.6 on my mac mini. HELP!!!!!!
04 May 2009
@Chad: If I understand you correctly, you need to synchronise your Mac with the data on Mobile Me, replacing the relevant data on your computer (calendar, bookmarks or whatever) with the data in the cloud.
You should find the information you require on Apple’s website:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1932
http://www.apple.com/mobileme/setup/mac/
Hope this helps.
28 Jun 2009
Hooray! Stefanie’s quick solution (in posting #3) was enough to fix my problem. I encourage others to try that one out.
07 Jul 2009
Bless you Stephanie! Weeks of stress, resolved in a quick minute.
07 Jul 2009
Hooray! Also for me Stefanie’s quick solution (in posting #3) was enough to fix my problem. I encourage others to try that one out.
07 Oct 2009
thanks a lot for your writedown, worked perfect for me!
Michael, Hamburg
09 Oct 2009
@Michael you’re welcome – glad it worked out for you :)
28 Feb 2010
I had this same problem with Contacts [only].
Stephanie’s post in #3 above worked for me also. I had tried a number of steps in the Apple forums.
My mistake, I believe, is in my reluctance to replace the MobileMe data in the cloud with the data that was on my Mac Mini [Snow Leopard] (my “sync/push server”). The Mac Pro (Leopard) silently stopped synching Contacts with the rest of my stuff – iPhone, Mac Mini, Macbook Pro.
Using Stephanie’s one minute suggestion I have resolved the problem. Had that not worked then I’d have had to run through the full solution in this blog.
Thanks very much all. It has saved me days of grief :-)