Level 1

18 points

Pocketmac, Blackberry 8130, and mac

hello,

instead of getting an iPhone (which is what i really wanted), i opted to get a blackberry pearl 8130 as our family is with verizon and we would have to switch our entire family plan over to AT&T. because of my husband's work that was not possible so i got the blackberry pearl 8130. it came with the pocketmac which the verizon tech support folks assured me would sync my iAddress book and iCal to my phone. well, that doesn't seem to be happening. installation of pocketmac seemed to go just fine but when i try to sync, it kind of just hangs there with the status bar almost 2/3rd's completed. what am i doing wrong or what do i not know? i want to make this blackberry pearl work. it is the right size, has all the features i need. the other option for me, with a mac, was a palm 700p which i liked because i am used to palm software but did i just did not like how huge it was in comparison with the blackberry pearl. any advice for me out there? i am on a powerbook G4, running Tiger 10.4.10.

thanks!

PowerBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Nov 8, 2007 5:27 PM

27 replies

Nov 21, 2007 5:56 PM in response to MDTeresa

I have tried both PocketMac and MissingSync with my Blackberry 8130.

MissingSync worked twice syncing with Entourage and then has not been able to make a connection to the Blackberry again so after 5 uninstalls/reinstalls I gave up on MissingSync and I tried to get PocketMac to work but the software goes into (not responding) mode and never opens (unless I'm in SafeMode) but then it doesn't manage to find the Blackberry even though it's listed under System Profiler as attached by USB and fails with no connection made.

I spent about 2 hours at the local Mac dealer today to no avail.

jtus

Level 1

0 points

Nov 24, 2007 5:57 AM in response to MDTeresa

I am using a mack BooK Pro and Leopard 10.5.1 with pocket mac and it works great without any problems at all. I just switched from the Palm Treo 700P. The Pearl 8130 is a MUCH better phone.
It has service in places the Treo never has service and does everything better. If you go to a Treo you will not be happy. I have had these Treo's 600, 650, 700W, & 700P all are junk compared to the BlackBerry.

MDTeresa Author

Level 1

18 points

Nov 24, 2007 6:54 AM in response to jtus

are you able to sync both your iCal and address book? what about iTunes and iPhoto, do you have success with that as well? i had no success with pocketmac and finally broke down and bought missing sync. i am able to successfully sync my address book but that's about it thus far. when i attempt to sync my iCal it shows a calendar with the title of my email address but there is no data, just that title. the guys at missing sync said it had something to do with the permissions on the pearl but i have no idea what to do about that, how to change that to make things work so i can sync my iCal to my pearl.

i DID notice that the 8130 has better reception and i love the push email (which i don't really need but which is a great convenience that i am getting very accustomed to). thank you for sharing that the treo has much poorer reception than the pearl. knowing that makes me think i will keep the pearl because at the end of the day it is a phone first and foremost and good reception is important. i just hope i can figure out the permissions issue so i can finally, one day, sync my iCal to my phone and ditch my palm pilot so i am not carrying around so many gadgets.

thanks,

teresa

MollieTV

Level 1

8 points

Nov 26, 2007 1:16 AM in response to MDTeresa

PROBLEMS WITH SYNCING COMPLETE CONTACT INFORMATION
I'm not having the issues with the calendar, but I am having an issue with syncing my contact info.
I recently bought a pearl 8130. I used to have a blackberry 7130e. Im' a verizon customer and I use a mac with my entourage.
I've had success using my pocketmac to sync up calendars and contacts. But, since I've switched to the Pearl, I only get part of my contact info syncing. It will add a contact name to my phone, but only include one of three phone numbers I have for the person. Or, won't include addresses. There doesn't seem to be any logic in what is included and what is not.
I very much need help with this. I, too, considered the iphone and might switch if this problem can't be resolved.

russellh

Level 1

0 points

Nov 26, 2007 2:21 PM in response to MollieTV

Heya,

Just bought the Pearl via VZW last week and have been troubleshooting things ever since (call it the learning curve).

PocketMac didn't work for me at all, so downloaded Missing Sync demo for a few weeks of experimentations.

RE: contacts not syncing, i discovered that addresses in Adress Book marked "snail" (i made that category up) DID NOT sync to the Pearl. I simply changed them to Home 2 or Work and all was well.

when whole new addresses from the Pearl did not sync to Address Book, i learned that i had to choose a category for the entry. in the Pearl, edit the entry and scroll all the way down to where it says "Categories" click to edit and choose your Adress Book's Group (or type it in exactly as it is on your Mac). This simple discovery made adress syncing work fine.

iTunes synced fine via a new library, but photo sync did not work at all. Sent an error log to M/S folks and they said to hold off until they work this out.

FInally, after 5 days offline for the holidays, i tried a new sync and Missing Sync couldn't find the Pearl to do so. I did the "soft reboot" via turning the Pearl off and pulling the battery out. all synced well after that.

Have also tested out the M/S Notes app and the only weirdness i've found is the lag in updating the desktop version after sync. takes a while....

hope this helps. am happy overall with the Pearl, esp. after getting it for $99 (will wait 2 more years for the iPhone to be super amazing and cheaper etc)..... will most likely drop the $40 for Missing Sync once the demo runs out.

MDTeresa Author

Level 1

18 points

Nov 26, 2007 2:38 PM in response to russellh

thanks so much. i think i have figured out the address book with everyone's assistance. i continue to not be able to sync my iCal though. i have tried so many different things and nothing works. tonight i discovered that when i try to sync the Pearl to iCal something happens that causes my calendars to be duplicated in iCal but there are no calendars listed on the Pearl except for one that goes by my email address (for example, tstrahlman@mac.com) and i have no such calendar. so that is a big conundrum as to why something in the sync process causes my calendars to be duplicated but does not sync a single one of them to my Pearl and then creates a non existing calendar named after my email address.

have you had success with syncing iCal to your Pearl?

i am with you on the iPhone...the Pearl is okay for now but i wait for the day when there have been more additions to the iPhone and it is not so costly!

thanks again for the help.

Shapiro

Level 1

5 points

Dec 4, 2007 2:33 PM in response to MDTeresa

There appear to be several different recent issues:

1. 8130 calendar problems
Some people have reported success by doing the following:
Open Options / Advanced Options / Service Book
Delete CICAL service book entries [some people say keep one]
(You probably shouldn't do this if you sync with a BES, though)

2. 10.4.x repeating calendar event duplication
This should be fixed in the next release. It has been fixed for 10.5 in the current release.

3. 8130 mounting (photos, music, files)
We are actively looking into this, but it is a difficult problem since it is an interaction between the device and Mac OS X at the USB mass storage level. We see the problem even if our software isn't installed at all.

4. General connection issues
These are fairly rare, but do occur on certain people's devices. We usually tell people to turn on verbose logging in the sync history window, attempt to sync, and then contact technical support to send in the log. We're also trying to get specifications from RIM on the device protocol to figure out why it is happening.

Thanks,
EricS
Mark/Space Engineering

Message was edited by: Shapiro

russellh

Level 1

0 points

Dec 14, 2007 5:55 PM in response to MDTeresa

hey again,

wondering if you got ical to sync ok. i've had no problems with ical. this is probably because i never used ical until i got the pearl. i started out with a few entries on my mac and no problems. i've recently added other calenders to sync and no problems. i officially put my paper cal on the shelf for the rest of the year and am using ical daily to work out my schedule.

i'm wondering if you can either go to a different user on your mac and start a new ical and see if it syncs ok. or back up your current ical, delete it (not sure how to do that) along with plist, etc. and start over to see if that works too. somewhere in your ical, you have something that the pearl doesn't like.

know this might suck, with redoing all your events, but if it works this way, you can start fresh and not have any more pearl stress.

good luck!

PS: the Mark/Spence Notebook app is still buggy, but it does work. Paid for it today and am hoping that they figure out the photos/music issue.

MDTeresa Author

Level 1

18 points

Dec 15, 2007 8:11 AM in response to russellh

hi,

i have been so swamped the last weeks with sick kids and holiday preparations that i have not had the time to sit down and figure this out. i had spent so much time on this issue that i knew if i sat down to try again it would take forever. well, your post today got me off the dime to try once more.

since you had success with iCal, i felt like there had to be a work around for me so i, too, could successfully upload my iCal to my Pearl. so today i tried all the steps that Eric and Christopher at Mark/Space and some folks in Apple Discussions had tried.

the first thing i tried was to do the back up and revert with my calendar. but, today i decided that i would do that for each calendar in my list. i had only done that with the one calendar i had been trying to sync. frankly, as i did each calendar and it showed each one was the same size - even though some were larger than others - i thought i was taking a fruitless step but that was the magic trick! suddenly all of my events in all of my calendars uploaded! i tried just one calendar and it uploaded and then i selected all of them to see what happened and it worked! so finally, miraculously, i have my calendars AND my contacts on my Pearl and all is right with the world!

i guess the next thing i will need to see is if i can change an appt. on my Pearl and have it update my iCal but i will try that later on this weekend.

thanks again for your post!

t.

MDTeresa Author

Level 1

18 points

Dec 15, 2007 8:14 AM in response to Shapiro

today after much trial and error i finally was able to sync my iCal to my Pearl using Missing Sync for Blackberry! the key that i discovered was backing up and reverting for each single calendar on iCal. previously, as i had been just trying to sync one calendar, i only did that with the calendar i was trying to sync. today i decided to do that for all of my calendars. frankly, i did not think it was going to work as each calendar appeared to be the exact same file size even though some were bigger than others, so i thought my attempt was going to be fruitless. but it worked! i guess the next step will be to see if i can add, delete, or change an appt. on my Pearl and have it sync up to my iCal on my laptop successfully.

thanks for your help, eric.

t.

CDeer

Level 1

0 points

Jan 6, 2008 10:29 PM in response to MDTeresa

I have a powerbook G4 running on 10.3.9. Has anyone used a blackberry Pearl on this system? I want to buy it, but with all the problems I see others going through with newer OS, I don't want to buy it and then have worse problems. Does anyone know if the issues with loading music and photos on the blackberry has been solved as yet? Does the Missing sync & pocketmac work on 10.3.9? I called Apple and they said so long as a usb connection or bluetooth was capable i could use iSync with the Blackberry, but I am seeing from everyones posts that that is not the case. Please help!

Jan 7, 2008 9:19 AM in response to MDTeresa

I just had this same problem up until last night. The problem for me was first I uploaded all my info from outlook (this is where my info was stored before I switched to mac) to the blackberry and then I was stuck in the same situation as you when I try to get that info to sync between my mac and blackberry. The problem seemed to be that outlook locked these data entries. In order to correct this I first need to wipe the handheld (options-> security settings-> general -> press menu key-> wipe handheld. Then set up your device. In order to get my info from my PC to my Mac I used outlook2mac ( http://www.littlemachines.com/ yes it costs $10 but well worth it for me). Once I had all my info on my mac the sync worked fine with the wiped handheld.
Looking at your post it does not seem like you had quite the same problem (no transferring data to windows), but it appears as if wiping the data on your blackberry might do the trick. Also it might be that the data entries on your blackberry or mac are locked (read-only) and you have to allow read/write access for both devices. Good Luck!

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Pocketmac, Blackberry 8130, and mac