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Level 2

170 points

iCal - inconsistent data - cured it!

Recently I migrated two users to new systems as follows

User1 = iMac G4 OS 10.4.11 --------> Mac Pro (early 2008) OS 10.5.1

User2 = PowerBook G4 OS 10.4.11 ---> MacBook OS 10.5.1

Everything worked correctly except User2 could not synchronize iCal with User1 via .Mac. The persistent error message at the end of each sync attempt was

*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.*

I followed the steps in

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307052

but no joy. Note that neither user's calendar contains groups.

Here are the steps that worked. This may be overkill, but at least now I have all 16 calendars in iCal synching in both directions again.

I considered User1 to have the "gold" version of iCal data. But even though User1 could sync with .Mac there must have been something corrupt on the User1 side (I went through a lot of debug steps on the User2 side to reach this conclusion...)

So the goal was to reconstruct a clean version of iCal data on User1 and push it through .Mac to User2.

As always, make sure you have a reliable backup before poking around deleting files and folders!

1. User1

Open iCal
In the menu bar choose File -> Backup iCal...
You will want this for File -> Restore iCal... if all else fails

In iCal, in the section named Calendars, select a calendar
In the menu bar choose File -> Export...
Save the file in a convenient folder
Repeat for each calendar in your list
Quit iCal

2. User1

Open iSync
In the menu bar choose iSync -> Preferences...
At the bottom, under Advanced, click the Reset Sync History... button
Confirm you want to do this
Quit iSync

Quit all applications
Open .Mac in System Preferences
Select the Sync tab
Deselect every item
Deselect "Synchronize with .Mac"
Click the Advanced... button
Select User1 in the list
Click the Unregister button
Click the Done button

Navigate to the folder ~User2/Library/Calendars
Delete the contents

Navigate to ~User2/Library/Application Support/iCal
Delete the contents

Navigate to ~User2/Library/Application Support/iSync
Delete the contents

Navigate to ~User2/Library/Application Support/iCal
Delete the contents

Navigate to ~User2/Library/Application Support/SyncService
Delete the contents

Navigate to ~User2/Library/Application Support/SyncServices
Delete the contents

3. User2

Repeat each of the steps in the previous section '2'

At this point you now have default data in iCal on User1 and User2. You can see this by opening iCal on either machine. There will be two empty calendars named Home and Work. Quit iCal again before proceeding.

4. User1

Open .Mac in System Preferences
Select the Sync tab
Select "Synchronize with .Mac"
Set the drop-down menu to "Manually"
Select "Calendars"
Select "Show status in menu bar"
Click the Advanced... button
Click the Reset Sync Data... button
In the drop-down menu select "Calendars"
Click on the arrow pointing to the right so that the sentence reads "On .Mac sync info from this computer."
Click the Replace button
Wait for the sync indicators to stop gyrating, especially up in the main menu bar

5. User2

Open .Mac in System Preferences
Select the Sync tab
Select "Synchronize with .Mac"
Set the drop-down menu to "Manually"
Select "Calendars"
Select "Show status in menu bar"
Click the Sync Now button
Respond to the dialogue by clicking the More Options button
In the drop-down select "Calendar - Replace data on computer"
Click the Sync button
Wait for the sync indicators to stop gyrating, especially up in the main menu bar

At this point, if you still have the "inconsistent data" problem you will get that error message. Swear or whatever helps, restore your calendar as in section '1', and wait for progress from Apple...

But if the sync succeeds then you are half way through the tunnel!

6. User1

Open iCal

In the menu bar choose File -> Export...
Select "Import an iCal file"
Click the Import button
Select one of the .ics files you previously exported
Click the Import button
In the drop-down menu select "New Calendar" (if your calendar is named Home or Work just select the appropriate default)
Click the OK button
Repeat for each calendar you exported

(If you are not using the default Home and Work calendars, select each and use Edit -> Delete to remove them)

Rearrange the order of calendars to suit your tastes
Quit iCal

Open .Mac in System Preferences
Select the Sync tab
Click the Sync Now button
Wait for the sync indicators to stop gyrating

7. User2

Open .Mac in System Preferences
Select the Sync tab
Click the Sync Now button
Wait for the sync indicators to stop gyrating

Depending on how your preferences are set in iSync, you may get a dialogue box warning you that more than 5% (or 10%, or...) of your data on this computer is about to be changed. Allow this to happen and proceed.

Open iCal

If all has gone well you should now see everything identical with User1. Do the happy dance or whatever feels good, then get ready to reinstate the other sync selections.

Quit iCal

8. User1

Open .Mac in System Preferences
Select the Sync tab
Select Bookmarks or Contacts or ...

I selected only one at a time in order to keep maximum control while debugging, but you can probably reselect all of your previous categories at once to avoid time spent iterating.

Click the Sync Now button
Respond to any dialogues by indicating you want to use data from this computer
Wait for the sync indicators to stop gyrating -- could take awhile depending on your selections and internet connection

9. User2

Open .Mac in System Preferences
Select the Sync tab
Click the Sync Now button
Respond to any dialogues by indicating you want to use data from .Mac
Wait for the sync indicators to stop gyrating

Depending on how your preferences are set in iSync, you may get a dialogue box warning you that more than 5% (or 10%, or...) of your data on this computer is about to be changed. Allow this to happen and proceed.

Open appropriate applications to confirm that data has synced as expected.

10. User1

Open .Mac in System Preferences
Select the Sync tab
Adjust the drop down from Manually to whatever frequency you desire

11. User2

Ditto

That's it. For experienced users that was way too much detail, but I know others like "the recipe".

Cheers -sailhome

Mac Pro (early 2008), MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.1)

Posted on Feb 3, 2008 6:19 PM

55 replies

Mar 17, 2008 3:56 PM in response to Sailhome

Sailhome, I’m building a shrine to you in my office. Seriously. You saved the day, after several were spent trying to figure out what the heck was going on with my .Mac syncs. YOU ROCK.

Now...if only I could figure out why the Firefox window disappears the second a sync occurs (never to return again, without a log out).

Thank you!!!

Mar 18, 2008 3:10 PM in response to Sailhome

WOW...
Only you solved my problems...

Mar 27, 2008 6:19 PM in response to Sailhome

Sailhome, you're my hero. You solved a very vexing problem!

Apr 9, 2008 10:38 AM in response to Sailhome

Sailhome, this was incredibly helpful. It fixed my syncing problem between iCal completely.

Question. My other issue is Safari bookmarks not syncing. Couldn't I perform mostly the same steps here? But what Library folders would I delete for Safari bookmarks?

Sailhome Author

Level 2

170 points

Apr 9, 2008 4:20 PM in response to Rick Mansfield

Rick,

Good to know this post continues to be helpful. Thanks for the comments.

Wish I could say with certainty that similar steps will help with a Safari sync problem, but it could be something entirely different at play.

If you have a good backup, then tinkering is not as risky. You could try the same approach and see how it goes. Worst case you simply restore.

I haven't looked in every nook and cranny for Safari bookmark and sync files, but a few places are

~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist
~/Library/Application Support/SyncServices/Local/clientdata/com.apple.safari/

So it might be something along the lines of

o Export bookmarks
o quit Safari
o unregister sync
o trash the two items above (or drag them to the desktop where you can put them back later if necessary)
o launch Safari
o import bookmarks
o re-register sync

That's just a general idea -- I haven't tried it to know for certain. Perhaps someone else can chime in if they have specific experience.

If that doesn't help I'd suggest opening a new thread so you get more attention and a better chance that a solution comes forward.

Hope it works out! -sailhome

Apr 10, 2008 7:56 AM in response to Sailhome

I did everything step by step. And everything seems fine my laptop, but on my G5 there is now NOTHING showing in the sync pane of .mac preferences. I can't even select what to back up!!! no calendar, no contacts nothing. it's blank. any suggestions???

mci rock

Level 1

9 points

Apr 19, 2008 7:22 AM in response to Brian S. Campbell

Sailhome, what a nice person you are! thank you.

In Reply to Brian...

You may have sorted this already, but once you enter the sync tab in .mac prefs and click/tick on the "sync with .Mac" just wait..... it has a little think and then the Bookmarks...calenders...contacts..etc become ungreyed and and therefore tickable again.

Hope that helps.

Matt

Jul 16, 2008 5:18 PM in response to Sailhome

Wow man, you saved my day!!

I've been having this inconsistent data issue already quite a while, and was hoping that the Apple team would come up with a fix - or that MobileMe would fix it - but that didn't happen yet.

So I stumbled upon this going through the discussion fora, ran through the whole procedure, and kaboom: all calendars in sync again, and updating data mutually...

So, this also means that the underlying syncing mechanism hasn't really changed with the changeover from .Mac to the new MobileMe service, as your procedure still works flawlessly!

There are several other 'cannot sync' threads, and I'll be putting a link to this solution on the ones that I found earlier - but that didn't lead to a solution in the end.

Thanks again!!
Dirk

gswank2

Level 1

39 points

Jul 16, 2008 9:44 PM in response to Sailhome

Thank you for taking the time to post these many steps for recovery. It didn't solve the entire problem, but at least now my calendars do sync with each.

mkoehler

Level 1

0 points

Jul 17, 2008 5:48 AM in response to gswank2

Same here. Thank you very much. So much effort, but with great effect. It solved my synch problems perfectly!!

Txdogs

Level 1

0 points

Jul 19, 2008 7:42 AM in response to Sailhome

I had the same 'inconsistent data' on my Macbook and everything worked fine on my IMAC. So I tried your recipe and ended up with inconsistent dat messages on both Macs. So I restored everything to my IMAC. (Thanks for that most excellent save). Then I deleted everything on the Mobile Me website calendar, attempted to replace everything from my IMAC to it, again with no success. THEN I went to Keychains and did a verify and repair on both Macs and FINALLY everything synced as it should.

So for anyone in the small percentage where the recipe does not work, try checking your keychains. It was listed on a post somewhere on Apple.

Thanks for your help.

Jul 19, 2008 7:55 PM in response to Sailhome

Wow! It worked!

However, even though I was able to do an initial Sync and all information appeared as it should...when I now add a new event in iCal on my iMac Aluminum (primary) it does not get sync'd to the iBook (secondary). I can see that the new event is on my me.com site, but doesn't show up on the iBook when I sync it. It's been over 12 hours since I added the event.

Jul 20, 2008 2:23 PM in response to Sailhome

Result. Many many thanks.

Jul 21, 2008 12:00 AM in response to Sailhome

Thank you so much for posting this!!! I was having a huge problem getting my iCal to sync with MobileMe and with my iPhone. I was at wits end. This solved my problem and the 'push' syncing is working between the phone and computer now. Thanks!

Jul 22, 2008 12:49 PM in response to Sailhome

I had this error as well, and after much discussion with MobileMe support I did some digging of my own and discovered that something (unknown) had created multiple VALARM entries in my calendar.

This is for those of you with a bit of technical knowledge.

If you export the problem calendar (clear all your data, then add calendars one by one until you get the error) then open it in a text editor.

If you see many (many like 30+) entries like the following:

BEGIN:VALARM
X-WR-ALARMUID:9C43A406-2867-4E66-B3B3-411524D437EA
ACTION:DISPLAY
DESCRIPTION:
TRIGGER:-PT5M
END:VALARM

Then you may have the problem. (It can vary with the time in this case it's 5 minutes "5M" on the TRIGGER line, but can be 10, 30 or whatever).

Remove them, reload the calendar and you problem should go away.

If you're REALLY technical, here's the regular expression that can help you:

(?is)BEGIN:VALARM([^ ] )(-PT5M)(.?)END:VALARM

iCal - inconsistent data - cured it!