From rmore at rmore.net Fri Oct 21 22:30:26 2005 From: rmore at rmore.net (Rod Morehead) Date: Fri Oct 21 22:30:34 2005 Subject: [missing-sync-hiptop-talk] A couple of bugs/workarounds for a new user Message-ID: <4359CE72.5090907@rmore.net> As a new user I have spent a substantial amount of time trying to get a good first sync. Without a good sync subsequent syncs seem problematic. Here is what I have gathered from the mailing list, website, and experimenting. Problem: Initial syncs with errors can cause data loss during subsequent syncs. Workarounds: a. If possible, backup your iCal and Address Book data using the "Back up" file menu option built into iCal and Address Book (10.4 or later) before starting to use Missing Sync for hiptop. This allows easy recovery in the event of syncing issues. b. If your first sync(s) have errors and you don't have addresses or events on your Hiptop you want to keep, do the following: In the Missing Sync for Hiptop application hold down the option key and select the "Missing Sync for Hiptop Menu->Debug Options...". Click on "Unregister Sync Clients" and also check "Desktop overwrites handheld on next sync". Also check the "Enable Debug Logging" since the /Users/yourname/Library/Logs/MissingSync for hiptop.log is almost the only way to diagnose the error (and it still isn't easy). c. If you have attempted a sync with the log enabled and it has an error, search for the work "Failed" in the log. Usually soon after the word "Failed" is the record causing the failure. The following couple of items outline two failures I was able to diagnose and correct. Problem: Address Book record sync failure caused by a contact without a firstname or a lastname will cause a sync error. This includes "company" contacts. Workaround: Copy the company name into the last name field. Problem: iCal record sync failure caused by less common timezones in calendar events. The uncommon time zone often occur in iCal (ics) files exported from Outlook and later subscribed/imported into iCal. Workaround: Replace with some more common timezones in .ics file. Examples (original which caused failure -> replacement): America/Dawson ->US/Pacific Africa/Abidjan -> GMT Thanks, --Rod Morehead From RickWagner at divanet.com Sun Oct 23 12:43:00 2005 From: RickWagner at divanet.com (Rick Wagner) Date: Sun Oct 23 12:43:11 2005 Subject: [missing-sync-hiptop-talk] A couple of bugs/workarounds for a new user In-Reply-To: <4359CE72.5090907@rmore.net> References: <4359CE72.5090907@rmore.net> Message-ID: <827BF086-401E-4036-8200-90C1338D37AE@divanet.com> Aparently you're I'm not the only one with issues trying to get this silly software to work.. I guess this also means that these guys didn't do much beta testing before this recently release and now we're all suffering from it. Maybe they should get a clue and fix all of this stuff.. I wonder what kind of legal recourse we have for purchasing a product from them which fails to operate. The least they could do is offer to refund out money. But NOOOOO... that would be far to easy.. I guess maybe I need to call my Lawyer and figure out what he recommends. I'm very disappointed over all this and worse, the support people don't even both to respond to my email questions. On Oct 22, 2005, at 12:30 AM, Rod Morehead wrote: > As a new user I have spent a substantial amount of time trying to > get a good first sync. Without a good sync subsequent syncs seem > problematic. > Here is what I have gathered from the mailing list, website, and > experimenting. > > Problem: Initial syncs with errors can cause data loss during > subsequent syncs. > > Workarounds: > > a. If possible, backup your iCal and Address Book data using the > "Back up" file menu option built into iCal and Address Book (10.4 > or later) before starting to use Missing Sync for hiptop. This > allows easy recovery in the event of syncing issues. > > b. If your first sync(s) have errors and you don't have > addresses or events on your Hiptop you want to keep, do the > following: In the Missing Sync for Hiptop application hold down the > option key and select the "Missing Sync for Hiptop Menu->Debug > Options..". Click on "Unregister Sync Clients" and also check > "Desktop overwrites handheld on next sync". Also check the "Enable > Debug Logging" since the /Users/yourname/Library/Logs/MissingSync > for hiptop.log is almost the only way to diagnose the error (and it > still isn't easy). > > c. If you have attempted a sync with the log enabled and it has > an error, search for the work "Failed" in the log. Usually soon > after the word "Failed" is the record causing the failure. The > following couple of items outline two failures I was able to > diagnose and correct. > > Problem: Address Book record sync failure caused by a contact > without a firstname or a lastname will cause a sync error. This > includes "company" contacts. > > Workaround: Copy the company name into the last name field. > > > Problem: iCal record sync failure caused by less common timezones > in calendar events. The uncommon time zone often occur in iCal > (ics) files exported from Outlook and later subscribed/imported > into iCal. > > Workaround: Replace with some more common timezones in .ics file. > > Examples (original which caused failure -> replacement): > > America/Dawson ->US/Pacific > > Africa/Abidjan -> GMT > > > Thanks, > > --Rod Morehead > _______________________________________________ > missing-sync-hiptop-talk mailing list > missing-sync-hiptop-talk@lists.markspace.com > http://lists.markspace.com/mailman/listinfo/missing-sync-hiptop-talk > > To unsubscribe, send an email from your subscribed email address to: > missing-sync-hiptop-talk-leave@lists.markspace.com > From conrad at fringehead.org Sun Oct 23 12:46:16 2005 From: conrad at fringehead.org (Conrad Heiney) Date: Sun Oct 23 12:46:28 2005 Subject: [missing-sync-hiptop-talk] A couple of bugs/workarounds for a new user In-Reply-To: <827BF086-401E-4036-8200-90C1338D37AE@divanet.com> References: <4359CE72.5090907@rmore.net> <827BF086-401E-4036-8200-90C1338D37AE@divanet.com> Message-ID: -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 What problems are you having? Maybe someone on the list can help. On Oct 23, 2005, at 12:43 PM, Rick Wagner wrote: > Aparently you're I'm not the only one with issues trying to get > this silly software to work.. I guess this also means that these > guys didn't do much beta testing before this recently release and > now we're all suffering from it. > > Maybe they should get a clue and fix all of this stuff.. I wonder > what kind of legal recourse we have for purchasing a product from > them which fails to operate. The least they could do is offer to > refund out money. But NOOOOO... that would be far to easy.. > > I guess maybe I need to call my Lawyer and figure out what he > recommends. I'm very disappointed over all this and worse, the > support people don't even both to respond to my email questions. - --------------------------------------------- Conrad Heiney conrad@fringehead.org The unexamined shirt is not worth wearing. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (Darwin) iD8DBQFDW+iQyVm6VkRf/dQRAr9KAJ4+ZrBLzI24GSDKbmIgop7zX7isqwCeM+Ri 2lAqd0T2J8D7sutFwequZAo= =mC4t -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From RickWagner at divanet.com Sun Oct 23 12:49:06 2005 From: RickWagner at divanet.com (Rick Wagner) Date: Sun Oct 23 12:49:10 2005 Subject: [missing-sync-hiptop-talk] A couple of bugs/workarounds for a new user In-Reply-To: References: <4359CE72.5090907@rmore.net> <827BF086-401E-4036-8200-90C1338D37AE@divanet.com> Message-ID: It has yet to complete a synch with my hiptop since the day it was installed. On Oct 23, 2005, at 2:46 PM, Conrad Heiney wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > What problems are you having? Maybe someone on the list can help. > > On Oct 23, 2005, at 12:43 PM, Rick Wagner wrote: > > >> Aparently you're I'm not the only one with issues trying to get >> this silly software to work.. I guess this also means that these >> guys didn't do much beta testing before this recently release and >> now we're all suffering from it. >> >> Maybe they should get a clue and fix all of this stuff.. I >> wonder what kind of legal recourse we have for purchasing a >> product from them which fails to operate. The least they could do >> is offer to refund out money. But NOOOOO... that would be far >> to easy.. >> >> I guess maybe I need to call my Lawyer and figure out what he >> recommends. I'm very disappointed over all this and worse, the >> support people don't even both to respond to my email questions. >> > > > - --------------------------------------------- > Conrad Heiney > conrad@fringehead.org > > The unexamined shirt is not worth wearing. > > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (Darwin) > > iD8DBQFDW+iQyVm6VkRf/dQRAr9KAJ4+ZrBLzI24GSDKbmIgop7zX7isqwCeM+Ri > 2lAqd0T2J8D7sutFwequZAo= > =mC4t > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > _______________________________________________ > missing-sync-hiptop-talk mailing list > missing-sync-hiptop-talk@lists.markspace.com > http://lists.markspace.com/mailman/listinfo/missing-sync-hiptop-talk > > To unsubscribe, send an email from your subscribed email address to: > missing-sync-hiptop-talk-leave@lists.markspace.com > From conrad at fringehead.org Sun Oct 23 13:10:26 2005 From: conrad at fringehead.org (Conrad Heiney) Date: Sun Oct 23 13:10:37 2005 Subject: [missing-sync-hiptop-talk] A couple of bugs/workarounds for a new user In-Reply-To: References: <4359CE72.5090907@rmore.net> <827BF086-401E-4036-8200-90C1338D37AE@divanet.com> Message-ID: <3E7A724A-9689-461A-832C-4240B608030D@fringehead.org> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Not sure if you've tried this, but: Hold down option and pull down the menu and you'll see a "debug options" item. Under there, check the box for loggin, and then also click the "unregister sync clients" button to force a slow sync. Try syncing again after that. It may well work, and if it doesn't it writes an informative log now to ~Library/Logs/MissingSync for hiptop.log. You may well see a smoking gun in there, or if not maybe someone on the list does. Please accept my apologies in advance if you've already done this. I was on the beta and it was a routine thing while we were helping them debug. On Oct 23, 2005, at 12:49 PM, Rick Wagner wrote: > It has yet to complete a synch with my hiptop since the day it was > installed. > - --------------------------------------------- Conrad Heiney conrad@fringehead.org The unexamined shirt is not worth wearing. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (Darwin) iD8DBQFDW+43yVm6VkRf/dQRArM3AKCKQOiWwUf2Zg7PnSN5yvEPGjdMvACgpeaS p+NxuvOBbDFtokI66rGhD1Y= =2mTT -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- From tilman at virtualtourist.com Sun Oct 23 13:22:49 2005 From: tilman at virtualtourist.com (Tilman Reissfelder) Date: Sun Oct 23 13:23:08 2005 Subject: [missing-sync-hiptop-talk] A couple of bugs/workarounds for a new user In-Reply-To: <827BF086-401E-4036-8200-90C1338D37AE@divanet.com> Message-ID: Guys, I hope someone from mark/space is reading this at all. This is the 3rd time I unsubscribed from this mailing list just to have it come back after a few weeks. Please take me off permanently. I gave up on the sidekick, bought myself a treo. Works. I can't believe I paid money for an alpha-test-grade software. It would be nice of you to refund my money - your product never once worked properly in the half year I tried to use it. Did you even test it yourself before release? I don't think I used any but the most basic functionality and not even that worked once for the address list. Any responses? - T On 2005-10-23 12:43, "Rick Wagner" wrote: > > Aparently you're I'm not the only one with issues trying to get this > silly software to work.. I guess this also means that these guys > didn't do much beta testing before this recently release and now > we're all suffering from it. > > Maybe they should get a clue and fix all of this stuff.. I wonder > what kind of legal recourse we have for purchasing a product from > them which fails to operate. The least they could do is offer to > refund out money. But NOOOOO... that would be far to easy.. > > I guess maybe I need to call my Lawyer and figure out what he > recommends. I'm very disappointed over all this and worse, the > support people don't even both to respond to my email questions. > > > On Oct 22, 2005, at 12:30 AM, Rod Morehead wrote: > >> As a new user I have spent a substantial amount of time trying to >> get a good first sync. Without a good sync subsequent syncs seem >> problematic. >> Here is what I have gathered from the mailing list, website, and >> experimenting. >> >> Problem: Initial syncs with errors can cause data loss during >> subsequent syncs. >> >> Workarounds: >> >> a. If possible, backup your iCal and Address Book data using the >> "Back up" file menu option built into iCal and Address Book (10.4 >> or later) before starting to use Missing Sync for hiptop. This >> allows easy recovery in the event of syncing issues. >> >> b. If your first sync(s) have errors and you don't have >> addresses or events on your Hiptop you want to keep, do the >> following: In the Missing Sync for Hiptop application hold down the >> option key and select the "Missing Sync for Hiptop Menu->Debug >> Options..". Click on "Unregister Sync Clients" and also check >> "Desktop overwrites handheld on next sync". Also check the "Enable >> Debug Logging" since the /Users/yourname/Library/Logs/MissingSync >> for hiptop.log is almost the only way to diagnose the error (and it >> still isn't easy). >> >> c. If you have attempted a sync with the log enabled and it has >> an error, search for the work "Failed" in the log. Usually soon >> after the word "Failed" is the record causing the failure. The >> following couple of items outline two failures I was able to >> diagnose and correct. >> >> Problem: Address Book record sync failure caused by a contact >> without a firstname or a lastname will cause a sync error. This >> includes "company" contacts. >> >> Workaround: Copy the company name into the last name field. >> >> >> Problem: iCal record sync failure caused by less common timezones >> in calendar events. The uncommon time zone often occur in iCal >> (ics) files exported from Outlook and later subscribed/imported >> into iCal. >> >> Workaround: Replace with some more common timezones in .ics file. >> >> Examples (original which caused failure -> replacement): >> >> America/Dawson ->US/Pacific >> >> Africa/Abidjan -> GMT >> >> >> Thanks, >> >> --Rod Morehead >> _______________________________________________ >> missing-sync-hiptop-talk mailing list >> missing-sync-hiptop-talk@lists.markspace.com >> http://lists.markspace.com/mailman/listinfo/missing-sync-hiptop-talk >> >> To unsubscribe, send an email from your subscribed email address to: >> missing-sync-hiptop-talk-leave@lists.markspace.com >> > > _______________________________________________ > missing-sync-hiptop-talk mailing list > missing-sync-hiptop-talk@lists.markspace.com > http://lists.markspace.com/mailman/listinfo/missing-sync-hiptop-talk > > To unsubscribe, send an email from your subscribed email address to: > missing-sync-hiptop-talk-leave@lists.markspace.com -- Tilman Reissfelder 1600 Rosecrans Ave. 6B #210 Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 Founder Ph: 310.727.2602 VirtualTourist.com, Inc. Fx: 310.727.2603 From wkeuffel at xmission.com Sun Oct 23 14:47:09 2005 From: wkeuffel at xmission.com (Warren Keuffel) Date: Sun Oct 23 14:47:06 2005 Subject: [missing-sync-hiptop-talk] A couple of bugs/workarounds for a new user In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <6D8789EF-9EC5-481B-956D-AEEF3A0AE2B2@xmission.com> I have had no problems with my Sidekick and the new 10.4 software (but I waited until it was out of beta). Had some problems with the old 10.3 software when I first got started with the Sidekick, but tech support helped me get through those. I wouldn't call the software alpha-test-grade, and I think their tech support is helpful. Sorry your experience has not been as good. Warren On Oct 23, 2005, at 2:22 PM, Tilman Reissfelder wrote: > Guys, > > I hope someone from mark/space is reading this at all. > > This is the 3rd time I unsubscribed from this mailing list just to > have it > come back after a few weeks. Please take me off permanently. > > I gave up on the sidekick, bought myself a treo. Works. > I can't believe I paid money for an alpha-test-grade software. It > would be > nice of you to refund my money - your product never once worked > properly in > the half year I tried to use it. Did you even test it yourself before > release? I don't think I used any but the most basic functionality > and not > even that worked once for the address list. > > > Any responses? > > > > > - T > > > > > > > > On 2005-10-23 12:43, "Rick Wagner" wrote: > > >> >> Aparently you're I'm not the only one with issues trying to get this >> silly software to work.. I guess this also means that these guys >> didn't do much beta testing before this recently release and now >> we're all suffering from it. >> >> Maybe they should get a clue and fix all of this stuff.. I wonder >> what kind of legal recourse we have for purchasing a product from >> them which fails to operate. The least they could do is offer to >> refund out money. But NOOOOO... that would be far to easy.. >> >> I guess maybe I need to call my Lawyer and figure out what he >> recommends. I'm very disappointed over all this and worse, the >> support people don't even both to respond to my email questions. >> >> >> On Oct 22, 2005, at 12:30 AM, Rod Morehead wrote: >> >> >>> As a new user I have spent a substantial amount of time trying to >>> get a good first sync. Without a good sync subsequent syncs seem >>> problematic. >>> Here is what I have gathered from the mailing list, website, and >>> experimenting. >>> >>> Problem: Initial syncs with errors can cause data loss during >>> subsequent syncs. >>> >>> Workarounds: >>> >>> a. If possible, backup your iCal and Address Book data using the >>> "Back up" file menu option built into iCal and Address Book (10.4 >>> or later) before starting to use Missing Sync for hiptop. This >>> allows easy recovery in the event of syncing issues. >>> >>> b. If your first sync(s) have errors and you don't have >>> addresses or events on your Hiptop you want to keep, do the >>> following: In the Missing Sync for Hiptop application hold down the >>> option key and select the "Missing Sync for Hiptop Menu->Debug >>> Options..". Click on "Unregister Sync Clients" and also check >>> "Desktop overwrites handheld on next sync". Also check the "Enable >>> Debug Logging" since the /Users/yourname/Library/Logs/MissingSync >>> for hiptop.log is almost the only way to diagnose the error (and it >>> still isn't easy). >>> >>> c. If you have attempted a sync with the log enabled and it has >>> an error, search for the work "Failed" in the log. Usually soon >>> after the word "Failed" is the record causing the failure. The >>> following couple of items outline two failures I was able to >>> diagnose and correct. >>> >>> Problem: Address Book record sync failure caused by a contact >>> without a firstname or a lastname will cause a sync error. This >>> includes "company" contacts. >>> >>> Workaround: Copy the company name into the last name field. >>> >>> >>> Problem: iCal record sync failure caused by less common timezones >>> in calendar events. The uncommon time zone often occur in iCal >>> (ics) files exported from Outlook and later subscribed/imported >>> into iCal. >>> >>> Workaround: Replace with some more common timezones in .ics file. >>> >>> Examples (original which caused failure -> replacement): >>> >>> America/Dawson ->US/Pacific >>> >>> Africa/Abidjan -> GMT >>> >>> >>> Thanks, >>> >>> --Rod Morehead >>> _______________________________________________ >>> missing-sync-hiptop-talk mailing list >>> missing-sync-hiptop-talk@lists.markspace.com >>> http://lists.markspace.com/mailman/listinfo/missing-sync-hiptop-talk >>> >>> To unsubscribe, send an email from your subscribed email address to: >>> missing-sync-hiptop-talk-leave@lists.markspace.com >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> missing-sync-hiptop-talk mailing list >> missing-sync-hiptop-talk@lists.markspace.com >> http://lists.markspace.com/mailman/listinfo/missing-sync-hiptop-talk >> >> To unsubscribe, send an email from your subscribed email address to: >> missing-sync-hiptop-talk-leave@lists.markspace.com >> > > > > > -- > Tilman Reissfelder 1600 Rosecrans Ave. 6B #210 > Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 > Founder Ph: 310.727.2602 > VirtualTourist.com, Inc. Fx: 310.727.2603 > > > > _______________________________________________ > missing-sync-hiptop-talk mailing list > missing-sync-hiptop-talk@lists.markspace.com > http://lists.markspace.com/mailman/listinfo/missing-sync-hiptop-talk > > To unsubscribe, send an email from your subscribed email address to: > missing-sync-hiptop-talk-leave@lists.markspace.com > > From brian_hall at markspace.com Sun Oct 23 16:28:32 2005 From: brian_hall at markspace.com (Brian Hall) Date: Sun Oct 23 16:30:32 2005 Subject: [missing-sync-hiptop-talk] Re: Support In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mark/Space people read this list, but the purpose of this list is as a discussion forum, not as a means of requesting official customer support. Customer support is handled at If the online help resources at that page don't answer your issue, you can start a support ticket at We shipped the 2.0 version a few months back. If people are not using the 2.0 release, they can download a copy at http://www.markspace.com/downloads.html - 2.0 is a free update for all customers. The only reason to be using 1.x is if you have not yet upgraded your Mac to be running OS X 10.4 "Tiger". Finally, if there is a support ticket that has not been resolved, please send me the ticket # and I can forward that to support to investigate. As I write this email, the oldest open ticket currently in the hiptop support queue is from Friday at 12:27pm Pacific time. Our support people work Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm Pacific time with the goal of responding to all hiptop support tickets within 1 business day (ie, a request made on a Friday should be answered by Monday, the next business day). Brian -- _____________________________________________________________________ Mark/Space, Inc. voice 408-293-7299 654 N. Santa Cruz Ave. #300 fax 408-293-7298 Los Gatos, CA 95030-4360 From bcriscuolo at markspace.com Mon Oct 24 06:53:20 2005 From: bcriscuolo at markspace.com (Brian M. Criscuolo) Date: Mon Oct 24 06:53:32 2005 Subject: [missing-sync-hiptop-talk] A couple of bugs/workarounds for a new user In-Reply-To: <4359CE72.5090907@rmore.net> References: <4359CE72.5090907@rmore.net> Message-ID: <528E414A-24DC-47A3-A936-C73202F13DE6@markspace.com> Rod, I'm sorry you're having problems getting the sync to work correctly. Hopefully we can get it to work correctly, or at least address the issues you have in a productive way. A couple notes, from your report: > Problem: Address Book record sync failure caused by a contact > without a firstname or a lastname will cause a sync error. This > includes "company" contacts. > > Workaround: Copy the company name into the last name field. > You're right, that does happen, and I regret that it wasn't noticed during testing. It seems that the hiptop API doesn't like records with no first or last name. > > Problem: iCal record sync failure caused by less common timezones > in calendar events. The uncommon time zone often occur in iCal > (ics) files exported from Outlook and later subscribed/imported > into iCal. > > Workaround: Replace with some more common timezones in .ics file. > > Examples (original which caused failure -> replacement): > > America/Dawson ->US/Pacific > > Africa/Abidjan -> GMT > I looked at the time zone settings in the hiptop desktop interface. They most definitely do not support a full set of time zone names, nor do they use standard naming conventions for time zones. This is likely the problem. The sync code simply sets the time zone to what is coming out of the desktop event data, which *should* match up to danger's. Evidently it does not. I suspect that when the data was exported from Outlook, it never had a true time zone set - only GMT-# - just saving the offset from GMT. When it was imported into iCal, the first match, alphabetically, was chosen. I know for sure that on OS X, America/Dawson is the first time zone at GMT-7 (or -8, if PDT). That's a big problem in applications that I'm seeing - they just don't do time zones well (or at all). b ******************** Brian M. Criscuolo Senior Software Engineer Mark/Space, Inc. bcriscuolo@markspace.com From rmore at rmore.net Mon Oct 24 07:31:09 2005 From: rmore at rmore.net (Rod Morehead) Date: Mon Oct 24 07:31:19 2005 Subject: [missing-sync-hiptop-talk] A couple of bugs/workarounds for a new user In-Reply-To: <528E414A-24DC-47A3-A936-C73202F13DE6@markspace.com> References: <4359CE72.5090907@rmore.net> <528E414A-24DC-47A3-A936-C73202F13DE6@markspace.com> Message-ID: <435CF02D.2030907@rmore.net> Brian, thanks for the quick and professional response. I will take the rest of the support interaction off the list. I hope you don't mind my sharing what I found with the mailing list in my previous email. I just wanted to ensure that others had the results of my workaround findings since it isn't easy to figure out why a sync fails. Although I have been disappointed that my initial experiences have uncovered some issues, I do think the Missing Sync for Hiptop is a useful product. It is a relatively new product, but with good support and bug fixing I'm sure these issues will be resolved. In general, there are probably two types of users buying this product: 1. Longtime Hiptop users. These people primarily have their data on the hiptop, so I suspect the product works very well from the start since the data already conforms to the more restrictive Hiptop data model. 2. Long time iCal, Address Book, iSync users like myself. These people have more heterogeneous data and probably have more issues. So here are some resulting requests: 1. First and/or Last name required should minimally be a doc issue. There may be a way to have Missing Sync handle it (by populating the last name field from the company name as a part of sync), but it may be more trouble than it is worth in terms of confusing users and making sync even more complicated. Perhaps a warning or informational message when such records are found and then no attempt is made to transfer them to the hiptop servers. 2. A agree 100% with your analysis of the chain of events when importing iCal data. I think it is unfortunate that iCal doesn't give you some control over the GMT offsets to time zone names conversion. I think it would make sense for MarkSpace to: a. Add code to attempt to "normalize" time zones into what Danger wants. b. Request an enhancement from Danger to support standard time zones and GMT offsets. c. Submit a bug to Apple to keep the GMT offset and not "normalize" into a time zone (America/Dawson does not mean the same thing as GMT offsets). I can try and submit this bug as well, but I think the odds are pretty low of this getting fixed by Apple. I agree that it is lousy that exchange seems to operates in GMT offsets only. 3. As an enhancement I'd like to see some consideration given to recovery from failed first syncs since, in my environment, they seem to result in subsequent syncs sometimes deleting records. Minimally a warning to back up (or an offer to script the same) might be a good idea. Another approach might be to offer to "reset sync clients" if the there is no good sync on record. 4. I am also having ongoing issues with iCal event records getting duplicated into the Unfiled calendar in iCal. I would be happy to share my iCal and Address Book data with MarkSpace if it would help to reproduce this issue. Thanks, --Rod Morehead rmore@rmore.net Brian M. Criscuolo wrote: > Rod, > > I'm sorry you're having problems getting the sync to work correctly. > Hopefully we can get it to work correctly, or at least address the > issues you have in a productive way. > > A couple notes, from your report: > >> Problem: Address Book record sync failure caused by a contact without >> a firstname or a lastname will cause a sync error. This includes >> "company" contacts. >> >> Workaround: Copy the company name into the last name field. >> > > You're right, that does happen, and I regret that it wasn't noticed > during testing. > > It seems that the hiptop API doesn't like records with no first or > last name. > >> >> Problem: iCal record sync failure caused by less common timezones in >> calendar events. The uncommon time zone often occur in iCal (ics) >> files exported from Outlook and later subscribed/imported into iCal. >> >> Workaround: Replace with some more common timezones in .ics file. >> >> Examples (original which caused failure -> replacement): >> >> America/Dawson ->US/Pacific >> >> Africa/Abidjan -> GMT >> > > I looked at the time zone settings in the hiptop desktop interface. > They most definitely do not support a full set of time zone names, nor > do they use standard naming conventions for time zones. This is likely > the problem. The sync code simply sets the time zone to what is coming > out of the desktop event data, which *should* match up to danger's. > Evidently it does not. > > I suspect that when the data was exported from Outlook, it never had a > true time zone set - only GMT-# - just saving the offset from GMT. > When it was imported into iCal, the first match, alphabetically, was > chosen. I know for sure that on OS X, America/Dawson is the first time > zone at GMT-7 (or -8, if PDT). That's a big problem in applications > that I'm seeing - they just don't do time zones well (or at all). > > b From agutterja at arch.utah.edu Fri Oct 28 10:06:10 2005 From: agutterja at arch.utah.edu (Jim Agutter) Date: Fri Oct 28 10:06:21 2005 Subject: [missing-sync-hiptop-talk] A couple of bugs/workarounds for a new user In-Reply-To: <4359CE72.5090907@rmore.net> References: <4359CE72.5090907@rmore.net> Message-ID: Rob, Thanks for posting this information. I have been plagued with errors on the syncing for about 2 months now but didn't have the time to figure it out. I looked at my contacts and calendar and had both issues that you identified in your posting. Fixed those and I am back in business with no errors. thanks again it was really helpful jim On Oct 21, 2005, at 11:30 PM, Rod Morehead wrote: > As a new user I have spent a substantial amount of time trying to > get a good first sync. Without a good sync subsequent syncs seem > problematic. > Here is what I have gathered from the mailing list, website, and > experimenting. > > Problem: Initial syncs with errors can cause data loss during > subsequent syncs. > > Workarounds: > > a. If possible, backup your iCal and Address Book data using the > "Back up" file menu option built into iCal and Address Book (10.4 > or later) before starting to use Missing Sync for hiptop. This > allows easy recovery in the event of syncing issues. > > b. If your first sync(s) have errors and you don't have > addresses or events on your Hiptop you want to keep, do the > following: In the Missing Sync for Hiptop application hold down the > option key and select the "Missing Sync for Hiptop Menu->Debug > Options...". Click on "Unregister Sync Clients" and also check > "Desktop overwrites handheld on next sync". Also check the "Enable > Debug Logging" since the /Users/yourname/Library/Logs/MissingSync > for hiptop.log is almost the only way to diagnose the error (and it > still isn't easy). > > c. If you have attempted a sync with the log enabled and it has > an error, search for the work "Failed" in the log. Usually soon > after the word "Failed" is the record causing the failure. The > following couple of items outline two failures I was able to > diagnose and correct. > > Problem: Address Book record sync failure caused by a contact > without a firstname or a lastname will cause a sync error. This > includes "company" contacts. > > Workaround: Copy the company name into the last name field. > > > Problem: iCal record sync failure caused by less common timezones > in calendar events. The uncommon time zone often occur in iCal > (ics) files exported from Outlook and later subscribed/imported > into iCal. > > Workaround: Replace with some more common timezones in .ics file. > > Examples (original which caused failure -> replacement): > > America/Dawson ->US/Pacific > > Africa/Abidjan -> GMT > > > Thanks, > > --Rod Morehead > _______________________________________________ > missing-sync-hiptop-talk mailing list > missing-sync-hiptop-talk@lists.markspace.com > http://lists.markspace.com/mailman/listinfo/missing-sync-hiptop-talk > > To unsubscribe, send an email from your subscribed email address to: > missing-sync-hiptop-talk-leave@lists.markspace.com > >