Sync BlackBerry 8800 with MacBook

I wish I had seen this earlier. I just downloaded Missing Sync. (I have tried using PocketMac in the past and it messed everything up.)

I have 2517 contacts on my BB 8700 connected to BB server via Outlook. I tried syncing two way my new MBP AddressBook and generally ran into a lot of problems with contacts deleted, changed, etc. It was truly a mess.

I have asked for a refund.

Check whether wireless sync is OFF for your contacts (on the Blackberry). If it's ON, it will prevent the sync happening.

why?

Missing Sync will only work with one sync source - either the local Mac, or an Exchange Server. If you switch on wireless syncing, you have chosen the Exchange Server, so you're blocking the Mac.

If your question is why it's like that, it's a decision made by the developer Mark/Space.

I've had some problems with Pocketmac too. I've seemed to have resolved them.

1- Set ical to overwrite the device. This works for me since I don't add cal entry's to my device.
2- The first time you sync the device don't use two way sync. Set it to two way sync after the first sync.

This worked for me. I wish RIM would jump in and support the software a bit more. Pocketmac was flawless on my 7100 and it's not as stable using it with my Perl.

I believe that it's actually more accurate to say that the 'decision' was one by RIM rather than Mark/Space. Here's what the developer of the Missing Sync for Blackberry has to say about using BES wireless synchronization:

"…you can sync the BlackBerry to the BES, but in order to sync the BlackBerry to the Mac using Missing Sync you will need to turn off the BES sync and then sync, when you are done syncing with your Mac you can turn the BES sync back on on the device.

Steps for turning off BES wireless sync:

1. Launch Address Book on the BlackBerry.
2. Access the Menu (press wheel or menu button depending on device).
3. Choose Options.
4. If BES is enabled, there will be a Wireless Synchronization menu item.
5. Make sure the Wireless Synchronization option is set to NO.
6. Repeat for each of the following that have Wireless Sync enabled: Calendar, Tasks, and MemoPad.

For the sync with Missing Sync to work the wireless sync must be turned off at the application level.

Please note, if you are trying to sync to both the Mac and the BES then you need to click on the 'Preference' option in Missing Sync and check the option: 'Allow syncing to multiple computers'. If you do not check that option then you will not be able to keep everything in sync when changes are made on the device and then synced to the BES before syncing to the Mac."

But then how do you stop the syncing to .Mac. It seems to fire up after syncing to AddressBook.

Now I am really confused.

How do you stop the syncing to .Mac? Why would you want to?

.Mac is typically 'invited to the party' by the synchronization framework on your machine. It has nothing to do with the initiation of a synchronization involving your Blackberry, except to the extent that such a synchronization results in changes pushed from such a device back to the truth database through an application like the Missing Sync for Blackberry.

If you do not want to trigger .Mac synchronization events, you disable .Mac Sync in the .Mac preference pane. A .synchronization event with .Mac is an over-the-wire process between your truth database and .Mac using .Mac Sync: it is not an over-the-air process like that between a Blackberry device and a Blackberry Enterprise Server over a carrier network.

Michael,

Turning off Wireless Syncing fixed the issue of syncing to my MBP Addressbook, so thanks on that tip. But heres' the problem. Once I turned on wireless syncing again, something I deleted in AddressBook and syncing to my BB now reappeared on my BB.

Here is what I did:

1. Created a Test record in Outlook
2. BB picks it up via wireless syncing
3. Turned off wireless on BB
4. Synced
5. Modified record on Apple
6. Synced
7. Saw modification on BB
8. Modified record on BB
9. Synced
10. Saw modification on Apple
11. Deleted record on Apple
12. Synced
13. Verified record gone on BB
14. Turned on Wireless syncing on BB

Goes what. . . .old record back on BB (after allowing some time for wireless synicng to catch up.)

That really defeats the purpose doesn't it??? Or am I doing something wrong?

I don't think that you are doing anything wrong. Unfortunately, this effect occurs as the result of attempting to synchronize to two disparate databases, accessed using different technology.

The missing component in this is the bridge from the Sync Services framework to your Blackberry Enterprise Server. Because that link does not exist dynamically and is not controlled by a single entity—your truth database—what you see is actually the predictable result.

I'm not a big fan of over-the-air synchronization schemes, so my approach would be to avoid using one. That's easy with something like Verizon's Wireless Sync on a Palm device, but it might not be so with BES and a Blackberry. You might want to write to Mark/Space to see if they have an approach that deals with this issue, or check their Missing Sync for Blackberry forum. Surely this cannot be the first time this issue has been encountered.

Thanks. I actually sent their Support area the same message and will post hteir reply.