Golden Gate not syncing with iCloud Contacts

break7bg wrote:

We have discontinued various software, like "Clean My Mac,"

When BrickMyMac is involved, sometimes the only solution is to erase the Mac and set it up from scratch, reinstalling needed apps and manually copying over user files from a backup.

break7bg wrote:

Thank you for this detailed feedback. I will attempt to rid my Mac Air of these issues(software) that were installed over the years. I will uninstall Duck Duck Go browser, if I can find the proper way to do it.

I think DuckDuckGo may be ok, it is the VPN part that I was bringing to your attention. Using VPNs can interfere with normal macOS operations and you have multiple such VPNs active or installed.

I will, then, return to using my Apple-installed Safari browser and I will get rid of Ad Block Extensions in my Safari.

After things are working on your Mac, you can probably reactivate those ad blockers, lots of people use them, but you have a lot of stuff installed that may impact the network traffic and it might be best to start "clean" to get back to a properly working Mac.

The Avira software has been dragged to the Trash can.

Avira says its preferred uninstall procedure is to drag the Avira app to the Trash and empty the Trash. Hopefully that works. If not, Avira says

"it may happen that after an operating system update Avira Antivirus can no longer be uninstalled the conventional way. Consequently, the uninstallation must be performed via terminal.

Click in the menu bar Go → Utilities → Terminal.

At the cursor, enter the following line:

/Applications/Utilities/Avira-Uninstall.app/Contents/MacOS/Avira-Uninstall

Avira Antivirus for Mac is then completely removed from your system."

https://support.avira.com/hc/en-us/sections/360003731798-Installation-Uninstallation

I am using Finder...Go...Go to Folder... to check for remaining files of Avira, Duck Duck Go, Malwarebytes, etc. What next?

That is good but might not find everything. Best way is to get an UNINSTALLER for each product to try to completely remove it. Keep your installer codes and such for a future installation that you could try to do after things are working properly. If you can't get an uninstaller, you will need to use Find Any File (which I believe is free) to search deeply through your Mac, including hidden folders and directories, to find all files associated with the thing you are uninstalling. Spotlight does not search those other folders as deeply as Find Any File does.

If you are still encountering problems, you might consider neuroanatomist's suggestion to completely wipe/format/erase the drive and restore it to as new condition with a fresh OS installed and then migrate over only your files to the new system. I sent you a link Apple provides with instructions for that in an earlier post.

I am not familiar with Avira software so it sounds a bit inconsistent if not buggy. It sounds like the manual uninstall by putting the Avira app in the trash and emptying the trash might be the best you can do. I would search with FindAnyFile (free app) for all files from that manufacturer and also looking to match strings in filenames and internal to the files. FindAnyFile searches many folders that Spotlight does not search (I don't know how you are searching with Terminal). Anyway, you can only do your best. Be careful not to delete files or folders that might be "false positives" in these searches. (I speculate that this might be one of the ways CMM causes problems ...)

If you uninstalled all the VPNs and security tools (Avira, others) as well as CMM, I would boot into Safe Mode, let it sit for 15-30 minutes, then reboot normally, and retest. If still problematic, rerun Etrecheck and post its report.

I am trying to have you avoid the wipe/migrate step that neuroatomist had suggested but I am starting to suspect that will actually be needed if uninstalling all this stuff does not lead to normal functioning of the Mac.

If your wife's Mac is still working ok, I would leave it as it is, but would still recommend uninstalling CMM if she has it too.

What, you installed Avast? That's another one of those pesky items that people report not being able to remove from their Macs in a straightforward way!

I see that Avast does offer some uninstaller for the Mac. I would further explore those. You do need to get rid of all the remaining pieces of Avast. I would use FindAnyFile, I would not use App Cleaner, we see many posts from people whose Macs have been compromised from "cleaner" apps (like CleanMyMac). Although I do see some people who report that if one is careful, App Cleaner can be ok.

I don't think things are looking very promising here, as you had CleanMyMac, Avira, and now Avast and are trying to remove them piecemeal by searching for files. That feels fragile to me. I guess I would welcome second opinions from others here but I am leaning towards what neuroatomist (who has more experience than I do) suggested way back, which is to wipe, reinstall, and migrate files only back from a reliable backup. For this, make sure you have at least two good backups and one should be a "clone" type backup in case you need to resort to manually copying files back.

If you had access to thorough and trustworthy complete uninstallers for each of those three problematic apps, I might encourage more of the "removal" approach. I fear that something leftover or modified by these apps will eventually bite you during some future routine OS update. It doesn't hurt to continue trying to remove things, I guess. But I would not use something called App Cleaner unless you are confidant you understand it and know what you are doing with it.

An aside: I may have mentioned this before, but Apple's standard mitigation for a situation where the system isn't functioning right (Contacts not syncing, FindMy not working) is to verify that the hardware is sound, and if it is, to erase/format/wipe the computer, reinstall a clean vanilla OS, and copy user files only back from a backup. This almost always works because most of the time these things stem from user installed items.

P.S. I would also uninstall or remove that unsigned item from over ten years ago that you found.

Yeah, don't EVER use CleanMyMac. EVER.

I have had the exact same problem, and I have tried seven suggested tips to fix it, and none of them work. It's wreaking havoc on my business, as I need to use my address book on my iPhone and my macbook regularly, and I am always intaking new clients...I hope they fix this soon. I also noticed that my Apple Watch's wallet app is no longer syncing with the iPhone, and since the solutions to fix it are similar and it's also not working, I'm wondering if these are related...

My calendar, reminders, and everything else syncs with iCloud and works fine, but my iCloud contacts do NOT sync with my MacBook AIR. I've spent three days with Apple support and even completely wiped my MacBook and reinstalled everything, and still it doesn't work. The contacts on my phone and iPad sync fine with iCloud, but not the MacBook. WHEN will they find a fix for this?????

break7bg wrote:

I am getting a call back today at 12 noon Eastern. Engineers have studied my computer diagnostics. I will find out more soon. This issue is a real pain because I can’t add new contacts and have them sync with all devices. Devices on iOS 27 are fine. It is the Mac Air M4 not syncing either way. But, the main problem seems to be Find My Mac not able to stay ON. Automatically switches back to OFF.

Did you see neuroanatomist's post in response to your query?

"When BrickMyMac [CleanMyMac] is involved, sometimes the only solution is to erase the Mac and set it up from scratch, reinstalling needed apps and manually copying over user files from a backup."

What have you done to completely remove CleanMyMac? Did you use the provider's UNINSTALLER to completely remove it? Have you searched for any leftover pieces of CleanMyMac still on your computer?

You can talk with Apple engineering as much as you want but unless they identify a hardware problem on your Mac, they probably won't be able to diagnose issues caused by things previously user installed on your Mac.

dile12 wrote:

same here, I tryed everything but no luck, contacts simply doesn't sink with icloud, everything else fine. hope for a fast fix, this is really annoying.

It might be better for you to start your own thread because the original poster may have had issues stemming from their earlier installation of CleanMyMac. They also had other problems such as Find My Mac not staying activated even when switched on in preferences. Unless you have those exact same symptoms, your problem likely has a different cause and solution.