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Recurring CalDAV login issues with iPhones and SLS (10.6 Server)

I have 10.6.4 Snow Leopard Server running on a Mac Mini and am having intermittent problems with various iPhones logging into CalDAV calendars. The iPhones are a 3G running iOS 3.1.3 and a 3GS running iOS 4.1.

iCal server works perfectly, with Push, on desktop clients.

The iPhones do work occasionally. Push is still not possible (AFAIK) but 15 minute fetch interval is acceptable for now (when is push coming to iPhones btw?). However, a few times per week, sometimes as many as 5 times in a single day, the iPhone will report "Password Incorrect." This happens on its on, presumably after one of the fetch intervals. Re-entering the password usually works, and is stored correctly for hours or days, but eventually it happens again. Sometimes password is accepted after re-entry but sync will silently stop working, which is even worse than the error popping up.

Each iPhone has 3 CalDAV accounts, one of which is a delegate, one of which is shared by all. The password issue happens with all of them, but far more often with the shared account. The password incorrect prompt does NOT always happen with all of them at once, sometimes just one of the accounts will throw the login error and the others will work for a while.

On the server, iCal has Authentication set to "any method", port 8008 and SSL on, Port 8443

The iPhones connect to CalDAV with SSL on port 8443 using "server" set to server.companyname.com

I have deleted the Calendar accounts on the phones repeatedly, hardware reset the phones, deleted all data and set up accounts again. This fixes the problem for a few days but then it comes back.

I don't see much in the iCal server logs, but I might not know what to look for. What should I look for or try next?

Thanks for any help.

Mac Mini 2Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Oct 13, 2010 12:58 PM

Reply
151 replies

Nov 24, 2010 10:23 AM in response to e.f.

Two weeks ago I went ahead and submitted some type of report to Apple about this just to make it official. I have heard nothing.

Sometimes I can go for a day or two and not have the problem, sometimes I have the problem three times a day. I wish I could develop a "this is what happens to cause this and reproduce it."

Overall - it works pretty well. If I had to deploy this is many users as a company - I would be embarrassed to make my users deal with this. As a home server user, it's just me.

Nov 24, 2010 11:40 AM in response to deeky1981

i can also report an update to 4.2.1 did not resolve the problem. i submitted a bug report to apple a few weeks ago and i got an email asking me to attach a device log from the phone. so that's promising that someone is paying attention. that means the more people submit a bug report, the faster something will be done about it. so do it. http://bugreport.apple.com

as a template, here is what i entered:

Problem ID: 8659967

Summary: iPhones and iPads running iOS 4 repeatedly see CalDAV authentication error despite correct login credentials. iCal Server running on 10.6.5 server. Problem occurs on both wifi and 3G. Re-entering password works for a few hours, then fails again.

Steps to Reproduce: Sync calendars on any phone with iOS 4. iOS 3 phones also experience the problem, but less frequently.

Expected Results: Correct login should never have to be re-entered

Actual Results: "password incorrect". sync stops with no further error messages.

Notes: many others posting on Apple Discussions have experienced the same issue. iPhone demonstrated same issue after iOS 4.2 update. Log from iPCU attached.

RESPONSE FROM APPLE:

Engineering has requested the following information in order to further investigate this issue:

Could you please attach your device log to the bug report. Device logs can be retrieved via the Organizer in Xcode. Or, from the iPhone/iPad Configuration Utility:

1. Download and install iPCU from http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/
2. Launch iPCU, then connect device with USB cable
3. Click the Console tab in iPCU
4. Reproduce the problem
5. Click the “Save as” button to save the log to a text file.
6. Attach the text file to the bug report

Dec 1, 2010 8:38 AM in response to e.f.

Problem ID: 8715764

Summary:
iPhone repeatedly prompts for CalDAV authentication error despite correct login credentials. When this happens the iCal in question is not in sync with the server. OSX Server version is currently 10.5.8 (though the issue affected previous 10.5.x releases as well). Testing also shows this occurs with OSX Servers running all version of 10.6.x up to the current release of 10.6.5. iPhones running multiple versions of iPhoneOS/iOS from 3.x to 4.x are affected - all the way up to the current release of 4.2.1

Steps to Reproduce:
Setup a CalDAV iCal on an iPhone to sync to an OSX Server running the iCal service. I can't say what triggers the problem to occur as the timing seems to be randomly distributed across many events: unlocking the phone after idle time, reboot, normal device operation (non-idle device), etc. But at some point, you will be prompted for incorrect username/password for your CalDAV account on the iPhone.

Expected Results:
The iPhone CalDAV account should remember the correct credentials and not become "disassociated" from the OSX Server repeatedly - prompting the user to re-input the username/password to the account.

Actual Results:
The iPhone CalDAV account repeatedly prompts the user to re-input the username/password to the account. When this happens, the iPhone CalDAV account becomes "disassociated" from the OSX server in that it is no longer in sync - updates to the OSX Server iCal on other devices aren't seen by the iPhone & updates on the iPhone aren't sync'd to the OSX Server iCal.

Regression:
n/a

Notes:
See this discussion thread for numerous users experiencing this problem: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12687136#12687136

Dec 1, 2010 11:49 AM in response to e.f.

Looks like it's a known 'feature'. I got the following reply on my bug report:

+This is a follow up to Bug ID# 8699817. After further investigation it has been determined that this is a known issue, which is currently being investigated by engineering. This issue has been filed in our bug database under the original Bug ID# 8434401. The original bug number being used to track this duplicate issue can be found in the State column, in this format: Duplicate/OrigBug#.+

+Thank you for submitting this bug report. We truly appreciate your assistance in helping us discover and isolate bugs.+

+Best Regards,+

+Patrick Collins+
+Apple Developer Connection+
+Worldwide Developer Relations+

Dec 1, 2010 12:31 PM in response to e.f.

Christmas has come early! I want to start by saying how good it feels to finally discover a group of people that are experiencing this issue. I've been suffering from this problem for more than two months now and have felt very alone. I've questions my abilities as a novice admin at every turn until I think I've figured it out and then the problem comes back and totally crushes my morale. Overall this problem makes me look like an ***** because I'm supposed to make everything "just work" and I just can't stamp this one out.

Anyway all the symptoms you have described are in line with what I have seen, in fact the recent release of IOS 4.2.1 seems to have made it worse. Prior to this release I believe I could just hit cancel on the password prompt and everything would be fine, but now I'm seeing that it just disables fetch altogether.

*Failed Solutions...*

- Changing the time zone
- Disabling Time Machine
- Upgrading Users to Admin
- Disabling SSL
- Drinking heavily

*Treating the Symptom...*

I don't have a cure for this issue, but I do have what I think is something that keeps it from happening frequently. Approximately EVERY 24hrs I run Disk Utility and Repair the permission on my server Main HD. It SEEMS to me that this reduces the frequency of this error popping up. I have to admit thought this could just be a placebo effect because I REALLY want something to work.

*Moving Forward...*

Hopefully we'll see a solution in the near future. I'd also like to see if this issue happens on other platforms like a blackberry or a Nokia 96. If i get around to trying this out I'll hit you guys back.

<Edited by Host>

Recurring CalDAV login issues with iPhones and SLS (10.6 Server)

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