Riley P. Richardson
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: iCal restarts by itself

I've noticed an oddity about iCal, which is syncing through iCloud under Mac OS X 10.7.3. If I create or edit an event using iCal I can briefly see an indication in the top of its window that it is updating (" — Updating…"), and I always wait until this indication goes away before I quit iCal. However, very often I'll notice moments later that iCal is running again, even though I didn't intentionally restart it. If I then quit iCal without any event creation or editing, it won't restart on its own. Any ideas about why this is happening?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Apr 2, 2012 12:00 PM

by MadisonP,Solvedanswer
MadisonP MadisonP
Level 5 (4,765 points)
A:

Hm.  I'm not sure.  Reviewing a packet trace while the updating is taking place suggests iCal has to authenticate with the iCloud server and then is switching to a second server to upload / download the calendar data that was changed.  Thats entirely speculation however.

 

Glad that took care of it for you

Posted on Apr 4, 2012 5:39 PM

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Riley P. Richardson

Q: iCal restarts by itself

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  • by MadisonP,

    MadisonP MadisonP Apr 3, 2012 4:38 PM in response to Riley P. Richardson
    Level 5 (4,765 points)
    Apr 3, 2012 4:38 PM in response to Riley P. Richardson

    Greetings Riley,

     

    When iCal is talking to a server (the updating you see at the top) it is pushing changes from the computer to the server and back down again.  If you quit the program before the push is complete, iCal will re-open itself in order to complete the push so the changes are not lost.

     

    If you are confident you have waited several seconds after the updating badge does away then there may be a cache or preference that is not working as it should.

     

    Troubleshooting:

     

    1. First make an iCal backup:  Click on each calendar on the left hand side of iCal one at a time highlighting it's name and then going to File Export > Export and saving the resulting calendar file to a logical location for safekeeping.

     

    2. Go to iCal > Quit iCal

     

    3. Remove the following to the trash and restart your computer:

    Home > Library > Caches > com.apple.ical

    Home > Library > Calendars > Calendar Cache, Cache, Cache 1, 2, 3, etc. (Do not remove Sync Cache or Theme Cache if present)

    --- NOTE: To get to "Home > Library" in Lion: Click anywhere on the desktop and then click on the "Go" menu at the top of the computer screen while holding down the "option" key on the keyboard.  You will see "Library" in the menu.

     

    4. Launch iCal and test.

     

    If the issue persists:

    1. Go to iCal > Quit iCal

     

    2. Remove the following to the trash and restart your computer:

    Home > Library > Caches > com.apple.ical

    Home > Library > Calendars > Calendar Cache, Cache, Cache 1, 2, 3, etc. (Do not remove Sync Cache or Theme Cache if present)

    Home > Library > Preferences > com.apple.ical (There may be more than one of these. Remove them all.)

    --- NOTE: Removing these files may remove any shared (CalDAV) calendars you may have access to. You will have to re-add those calendars to iCal > Preferences > Accounts.

     

    3. Launch iCal and test.

     

    Hope that helps!

  • by Riley P. Richardson,

    Riley P. Richardson Riley P. Richardson Apr 3, 2012 4:57 PM in response to MadisonP
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 3, 2012 4:57 PM in response to MadisonP

    Your suggestion that I wait "several seconds" was key. I discovered that about five seconds after the first indication of updating disappeared, another such indication came up briefly. After that, no more updating was indicated, and quitting iCal then doesn't lead to automatric restarts of iCal. I guess I just wasn't waiting long enough before quitting iCal. Any idea why the updating takes place in two phases?

  • by MadisonP,Solvedanswer

    MadisonP MadisonP Apr 4, 2012 5:39 PM in response to Riley P. Richardson
    Level 5 (4,765 points)
    Apr 4, 2012 5:39 PM in response to Riley P. Richardson

    Hm.  I'm not sure.  Reviewing a packet trace while the updating is taking place suggests iCal has to authenticate with the iCloud server and then is switching to a second server to upload / download the calendar data that was changed.  Thats entirely speculation however.

     

    Glad that took care of it for you