iSync & .Mac ruined my life

Presumably, after spending "considerable time today deleting dupes from each source, and combining email and phone numbers into one person's name card" you used the "Backup Address Book..." command on the "File" menu, to save all your hard work?

So, now just use the "Revert to Address Book Backup..." command to re-instate your up-to-date Contact data, then click the "Reset sync history..." button in iSync prefs and the "Reset Sync Data..." button in the .Mac system preferences pane.

You don't mention what phone you have, but from experience I've found its better to start with an empty phone and an up-to-date Address Book, then choose to 'overwrite' the phone on first sync, rather than 'merge'.

I have had the identical problem with syncing my mac address book to my V3 Razr as well as to my .mac account.

The major question which remains unanswered is why does the sync software (iSync or .mac) delete data without telling you what it is being deleted.

I write software for a living (for spacecraft) and it should be so easy to make a simple statement of what is being deleted and the option of which item to save on the merge.

The Apple software will tell you it is going to change X number of entries, from one source or the other, but not which item, nor which data within that entry.

So... Why does it delete data without notification????

Pete

iSync synchronises changes between devices and your Mac.

Changes are made manually by the user.

So, if the user changes, adds or deletes a contact on a device, next time the user tells iSync to sync that same action will be made by iSync across all your devices and your Mac.

As the user makes the original change, and the user tells iSync to synchronise, I guess the user should know what will happen!

But, I see your point. More feedback and the option to cancel would be a useful addition sometimes.

However, saying that, I've never had a problem with iSync deleting data, unless I mistakenly delete day myself from one of my devices.

What really would be useful is an easy way to 'undo' the last sync, or revert to a sync state 2 or more syncs back...

Hello All,

To relay my story which i hope may help some people avaid grief. My old nokia 6600 synced beautifully. Bit old so i thought i would upgrade to an O2. After 1 week of messing around and buying $50 of special software on the net. Syncing never worked properly, sold the O2 a week later. Then when i tried go back to sync my nokia, all the O/S stuffed up and i had to re format my powerbook completely. Horrible experience. No more 3rd party software i say.

After a year my 6600 is really getting old, bought a new ericson k700. OOPs never checked but that phone will not sync without 3rd party software. Not doing that again, so i sold the ericson after 3 days.

A week later, i bought a motorola V3. great looking phone and isync comaptible. What they do not tell you is that the motorola address book system is rubbish. Only lets you have 2 numbers and email per name. I have addresses and notes on all my contacts. Sold the V3 after a week. BUT, the motorola when it syncs has a bad habit of wiping out your address book. Went to my back up but still lost a few recent contacts.

Now i am back to my old worn out 6600 and down a few hundred dollars on reselling phones. I still have to upgrade my phone, the 6600 wants a rest.

Recommendations

1 - check the nokia site for up to date isync compatible phones. Even downloading a plug in from this site is OK. Then buy your phone from the list. (Same for ericson and others, i suppose, but i like nokia as a personal preferrence)

2 - Do not buy or install any third party plug ins unless you have checked it on the discussion boards with a number of sources and are sure it will work. They should be cheap ($10) and simple. Careful, as the people that sell this software are on our discussion boards promoting their products. Like my O2 experience, complex 3rd party plug ins can wreck your system.

3 - If , like me, you can not find a compatible phone that you like from the compatible list, wait. Nokia makes new models all the time but the plug ins may take a while. Some models may not be compatible at all. eg 5700 may never have a plug in and the new 6120 may take a while to come out.

I am still waiting for a phone to come along that i would like to buy. In the mean time i keep the bandaids on my 6600.

> bought a new ericson k700. OOPs never checked but that phone will not sync without 3rd party software.

Do you mean the Sony Ericsson K700? That phone has been supported natively by iSync for years:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/isync/devices.html