iCal and duplicates

I’m apparently having the exact same problem, and I do NOT have an iPhone or iPad to which I sync, just a MacBook Pro, running system 10.6.4. Have used iCal for years and never had a problem ‘til today, when a couple events had multiple (20-30!) duplications such as the one for which you provided a screenshot.They appear to have a life of their own. Hope someone can help.

This question isn't close to being answered! I have Palm Desktop that I wanted to import into iCal, in case I ever decide to get a smart phone of some type. I have a hand held palm device that is aging, and use the Desktop to watch my calendar daily. I deleted iCal from my laptop ibook G4, OS10.5.8 because of the way it imported everything in multiples, and then the computer froze or crashed while using iCal. I do not have the original disks, as the computer was used when I got it.
In searching for what phones would let me use my Palm Desktop, and found PCs can use third party software to sync the phone with it, but not Macs. Macs have to use iCal. So I went to my desktop, which uses Snow Leopard and still has iCal. I had tried importing the calendar from my Palm Desktop on this computer in the past, and got many multiples of each entry. Also, things from the memo pad of the Palm device showed up as calendar entries, as did other items, NOT calendar or Date Book information. I exported to a vCAL file, as instructed, and now have yet another calendar with zillions of pieces of information not wanted in my calendar and multiple entries of calendar events. iCal is without a doubt the all time WORST software Apple ever put out. Palm Desktop is the best calendar I have ever used. I wanted a Palm phone to be able to use the same software, but then found out those idiots don't support Desktop anymore, AND their phone uses a totally different OS, so they aren't compatible. The dumbest mistake Palm ever made. Someone help me. I would like to delete all of the multiple calendars and try again. I would like to remove duplicates. I wold like APPLE to care about this problem!

Hi,

Any news?
A customer of mine has similar problems: his items that are repeated, are duplicated in the same day many times and he cannot delete all of them.

What about the resolution?
This question is answered, but it's not!

And you can add me too! I have an iMac, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch which were all synced fine till i updated to the new iCal I was informed about in an email from Apple telling me how easy it would be to update. I followed their instructions in my MobileMe account which as a result meant my calendars disappeared for approx. 24hrs and now the calendars on each device don't sync through MobileMe - for instance i make an entry on my ipad and it doesn't sync to my Mac or iPhone. I'm sooooo frustrated as I need it for work. Do 'tech' people from Apple look in these discussions?

I found an application called iCal Dupe Deleter and used it. It removed only SOME of the duplicates. It's ridiculous! I swear, I don't understand why Apple hasn't pulled this piece of garbage and made a decent calendar. You can't categorize entries. You can't open an entry to see more about it. I don't see how to make a repeating entry, like a week out of town on business. I have never seen such a useless piece of software. I have an entry for my husband traveling on business that is entered as an event, every two days, for years! It was a two day trip. The multiples don't make sense at all.

It appears that iSync only works with bluetooth devices, so for those of us still using Palm handhelds, we are stuck. Synching with the Palm Desktop results in massive duplicates that clog each day's events. iCal is useless the way it is. I can't imagine ever using it on a regular basis. I was hoping I could override the desktop and synch with the handheld and not get the duplicates, but it isn't possible, I guess.

I’ve used iCal Dupe Deleter it in the past, flawlessly. But this time, I got different results, every time I ran it (from correct results, to erasing everything). When I got correct results, the duplicates returned 20 seconds later, before I could make a backup.

Then, when I was fast enough to make a backup, they returned if I ran a sync with my iPod, or iPad. During the sync, I watched the iCal calendar fill with the duplicates. That is strange, because they just returned. Instead of using MBP as the source, and asking which to use, all the duplicates returned.

My computer had some baggage that needed removing. I did TWO things (not sure if order is important, or if both are important). I found these on Apple Discussion Forums:


http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12426956&#12426956

I Used This First.
Greetings,

I don't have that experience in my iCal when changing the order of To Do items that are stored in the server based calendar.

Try refreshing iCal:
First make an iCal backup, File > Export > Archive.

Remove the following to the trash and restart your computer:
Home > Library > Caches > ical or com.apple.ical
Home > Library > Calendars > Calendar Cache, Cache, Cache 1, 2, 3, etc. (Do not remove Sync Cache or Theme Cache)
Home > Library > Preferences > com.apple.ical (There may be more than one of these. Remove them all.)
__NOTE: Removing these files will remove any shared (CalDAV) calendars you may have access to. You will have to re-add those calendars to iCal > Preferences > Accounts.

Once the computer is back up and running open iCal and test.

Hope that helps.

THEN,

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1627

Mac OS X v10.5, v10.6: Resetting the SyncServices folder

I Used This Second.
Last Modified: September 17, 2009
Article: TS1627
Old Article: 306484


Symptoms
You may need to reset the SyncServices folder if you are:
▪ Unable to open iSync in a particular Mac OS X user account.
▪ Unable to click the Sync pane in MobileMe Preferences (in System Preferences) for one Mac OS X user account, but another user on the same computer works as expected.
▪ Unable to reset data on your computer with data from MobileMe for one user, but another user on the same computer works as expected.
▪ Unable to open or use the Sync menu extra in a particular Mac OS X user account.

Important: Manually removing the SyncServices folder is strongly discouraged because this may lead to unexpected data loss.
Products Affected
iSync, Mac OS X 10.6, MobileMe, Mac OS X 10.5
Resolution
Reset the SyncServices folder with these steps
Important: Prior to resetting the SyncServices folder, it is strongly recommended that you back-up any important data that you Sync regularly.
▪ For information about backing up in Mac OS X, see this article.
▪ For information about backing up your MobileMe Sync data, see this article.
▪ For information about manually backing up Sync-related data, see this article.

Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard
1. If you see this Sync menu extra in your menu bar skip to step 2. If you do not have this icon, you need to enable it in System Preferences:
▪ From the Apple () menu choose System Preferences.
▪ Click MobileMe and then click the Sync tab.
▪ Select the option to "Show status in menu bar."
2. While holding down the Option key on your keyboard, click the Sync icon in the menu bar (if you see the Sync menu extra but you are unable to open it, skip to step 5)
3. Choose Reset Sync Services.
4. Click Reset Sync History. 
If this does not resolve your issue or if you are unable to open the Sync menu extra, follow these steps:
5. In the Finder, choose Utilities from the Go menu.
6. Open Terminal.
7. In the Terminal window, type or paste the following command on a single line: 
/System/Library/Frameworks/SyncServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/resetsyn c.pl reset
8. Press Return.
9. When the operation is complete quit Terminal.

(The link has instructions for Leopard & Tiger)


Then, not to tempt fate, using iTunes,
My iTunes is set up not to auto sync, as soon as connected:
iTunes/Preferences/Devices/
Check box in front of “Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically.”

Connect device.
Click on device in left column.
Click on the “INFO” tab, shown across the top in iTunes, below the big APPLE window (not the top menu).
Scroll down in iTunes to ADVANCED, put a check mark next to Calendars. (During next sync only, iTunes will replace the information on this iPod (or iPad) with the information on this computer.)

Then, APPLY, which will start the sync. I did this for both the iPod, and my iPad.

I have an iPad, iPhone and two MacBooks. I have had the problem with duplications and have gone to the Genius Bar more than once to have the Geniuses employ the fix you used. I did have to clean up my calendar and it was a hassle.

However, after upgrading my ipad and iphone operating systems to the newest version this past Friday and upgrading my macbooks, today I decided to upgrade to the newest version of ical on MobileMe. The upgrade has wreaked havoc. I not only have duplications in the same time slot (e.g., four or five or ten of the same appointment at 5pm), but I also have duplications over the course of a day (e.g., the same appointment will appear twice at 11am, then another two times at 4pm, then once at 4:30pm). It's a disaster and I don't know what to do. Frankly, I'm afraid that I'll end up losing everything. HELP!

I am having a similar problem with Entourage. I have at least 50 Entourage listings in iCalendar. I uncheck them and then I have them back again, doubled. I do not want Entourage and have tried to delete it. The problem is with iCal. What can I do to get rid of Entourage and to quit having multiple events in my calendar?

I have a Mac Pro, a MacBook, 2 iOS devices and a .mac account . I used to have duplicate events on all of my devices. Both computers in iCal have a calendar list. I have an "On my Mac" and "gheminway@me.com" calendar groups. On my MacPro I deselected all of the calendars within "on my mac". Initially this eliminated all the duplicates. But within a few minutes the duplicated events returned and all the calendars "on my mac" had been reselected. I changed sync to manual on both the MacPro and the Macbook. Using the MacPro I again deselected all of the calendars within "on my mac" and reset sync data so that the MacPro replaced data on MobileMe. With the MacBook I reset the sync data so that MobileMe replaced the calendar data on the MacBook. The duplicate events were gone on all devices.

I hope this helps,

Gordon

I am sure that I am asking this question in the wrong spot, but I am getting frustrated. I am trying to make a calendar, and the first question is "Do I want to use from ical? What is ical? Thank you in advance cheryl