Sync - timed out
 

As of today, after adding a few (less than 10) contexts with geo locations, I now get a timed out notice any time I try to sync. My Omnifocus is synced to MobileMe iDisk, I'm currently using my WiFi network, and I'm having no trouble syncing other MobileMe content on my iPhone and I am able to directly access my iDisk from my Mac (and therefore my WiFi network).

I looked and my OmniFocus.ofocus file/package is 190K.

Any thoughts?

I'm having the same problem.

I couldn't access my iDisk through Finder a few minutes ago, looks like MobileMe is back to being a MobileMess again...

/I'm getting cranky

If it makes you feel any better, I saw this too today, and am inclined to agree that it's MobileMe's problem.

I can access my iDisk fine, but I keep getting the time out error when syncing OF.

[QUOTE=Lizard;41453]If it makes you feel any better, I saw this too today, and am inclined to agree that it's MobileMe's problem.[/QUOTE]

What I'm seeing, however, is a primarily timeouts with OmniFocus (mostly iPhone, but also Mac) when syncing to the iDisk. I have noticed zero problems when directly accessing iDisk from the Finder (including a direct copy of the Omnifocus.ofocus file). There's something related to OmniFocus and iDisk or maybe just OmniFocus on the iPhone (can't tell) when it comes to iDisk.

Incidentally, all my tests are on a very fast WiFi (where the same network is delivering excellent performance to the Mac mentioned above).

While it might be easy to just blame it on MobileMe iDisk, I'm not quite convinced. It might be worth looking into, seems like there's something with the read/write method that's not optimized for WebDav or something. During the same time period that I'm having OmniFocus trouble, I'm using iDisk for other tasks without problems. I don't have a mirrored iDisk so it is remotely accessing it from my Mac.

[QUOTE=gregz44j;41471]What I'm seeing, however, is a primarily timeouts with OmniFocus (mostly iPhone, but also Mac) when syncing to the iDisk. I have noticed zero problems when directly accessing iDisk from the Finder (including a direct copy of the Omnifocus.ofocus file). There's something related to OmniFocus and iDisk or maybe just OmniFocus on the iPhone (can't tell) when it comes to iDisk.

Incidentally, all my tests are on a very fast WiFi (where the same network is delivering excellent performance to the Mac mentioned above).

Might be worth looking into.[/QUOTE]
I've got a relatively small OmniFocus file -- I just started using it. I tried syncing from my Mac to iDisk, but got a timed out message. Then I tried broadcasting my settings to iPhone, but it also timed out. Finally, I tried emailing my settings to my iPhone. I got the email on my iPhone, clicked on the link, and got a timed out message. Do ya think this is all part of the same problem? I just now emailed tech support, cuz no one here seemed to have an answer. Sigh. I really am looking forward to using this software.

I was also having the same problem starting today, initially only on my 1st Gen iPhone, but then on my Mac with a MobileMe account.

I did get it working, though I changed so many things at once and had little problems to fix along the way, I can't really describe it in detail. But what seemed to have an effect is to go to WebDav and change the URL from using https to http. The URL is [url]http://idisk.me.com/username/Documents[/url].

I can't say this is what fixes it, but I feel like that's what worked for me.

What confused my testing is when I configured OmniFocus on the iPhone to go with WebDav, it kept switching itself back to iDisk. Somehow I got it to stick eventually, but my poor testing methodology left me without much idea of what.

It's MobileMe, not OF
 

I'm also experiencing the same behavior, but see it with 1Password and a MobileMe sync from the System Preferences, so I do not think it's just OmniFocus.

Error from System Prefs:

[IMG]http://www.grabup.com/uploads/d43cde40825de5420083644d86d69495.png[/IMG]

just getting

Unable to synchronize database with server.

the address is --> [url]https://idisk.mac.com/fakename/Documents/[/url]


looked in there, no files are in there.

How do I get OF to resend a file to this URL so that the iPhone can sync again?

possible fix for sync time out
 

i followed the instructions [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showthread.php?t=8704"]here[/URL] and now have things working just fine, on both the iphone and a laptop.

[QUOTE=hqsbud;41479]change the URL from using https to http. The URL is [url]http://idisk.me.com/username/Documents[/url].
[/QUOTE]

I'm not 100% positive, but the s you removed switched you from encrypted http to unencrypted http. I'm worried that you're sending your MobileMe user name and password in plaintext.

Especially if you changed more than one thing, I'd try switching back to https and see if it still works.

If it doesn't work via secure http, can you let us know if you're behind a firewall, web proxy, or anything that may be distinctive about your network setup?

[QUOTE=outlawgal;41473]Then I tried broadcasting my settings to iPhone, but it also timed out.[/QUOTE]

If this timed out, it almost sounds like the phone had wifi switched off, or maybe the phone and the computer had ended up on different wireless networks accidentally or something.

Unfortunately, there is a certain degree of voodoo involved with these things - I'm utterly unable to get Apple's remote application to connect to my macbook unless I connect the two via an ad-hoc network, and frankly, I'd rather have my internet connection than remote control iTunes.

Not exactly help, but at least some sympathy.

One question: when you said that sending the settings via email timed out, did you mean that the subsequent connection to MobileMe timed out, or were we unable to install the synch settings. I assumed the former, but figured it was worth checking.

[QUOTE=motorwayne;41486]just getting

Unable to synchronize database with server.

the address is --> [url]https://idisk.mac.com/fakename/Documents/[/url]


looked in there, no files are in there.

How do I get OF to resend a file to this URL so that the iPhone can sync again?[/QUOTE]

It sounds like your desktop mac hasn't synced or the file got deleted. Are you able to sync from your mac?

I Can't Get this to Work Consistently!
 

When it works, this is spiffy. But that is infrequent. It times out all the time and the syncing is wonky. Is OMNI going to look into this, or what? And [I]why[/I] exactly can't this use the regular iPhone sync? Very disappointed.

beerzie, it's a little unclear which issue you're referring to. Our current opinion about the "Timed Out" error is that MobileMe is still experiencing growing pains and that's pretty much beyond our control. We are working on improving OmniFocus' support for various other WebDAV services (many of which do not follow the same spec as MobileMe) and improving our error messages where possible, to help track down problems that we can resolve.

If by "regular iPhone sync" you mean the cable for charging your phone and syncing it with iTunes, we can't use it because Apple won't let us.

I got the blasted thing to work on Mobile me - was "timing out"
 

I finally got the blasted thing to work.

- Made sure I had the latest sneaky peek version.
- Followed the instructions from a previous post to a tee. To paraphrase..

- If you have stuff on the phone, make sure it's on the Mac. You'll be deleting it.
- Open you IDisk/Docs and delete OmniFocus database.
- Reset your "Sync" options on your Mac OF sync prefs (there is a reset button there)
- Change idisk.mac.com/... to idisk.me.com/... (NB: This makes it a WebDav sync NOT an iDisk one - don't be alarmed).
- Sync your Mac OF from the pref panel of OF.

In my case, this is where the instructions went awry. I had to email the settings from the OF prefs panel, receive the email in my phone, then click the link in the email to initiate a sync. I believe this was related to a flaky iphone wifi connection. So I switched the wfi off and went with Edge.

If you are asked for a password, that's a great sign you're on the right track.

Then I added an item to the phone, hit sync... wasn't there on the mac. However when I went to the mac OF pref panel and clicked sync, Victory! ( I think there is some sort of natural lag before it lands in OF - not sure how this works or why I had to initiate a sync from the mac - maybe the OF folks can shed some light on this)

Looking back, I would have to say the "timed out" error had nothing whatsoever to do with a mobileme error. It may have been to a flaky wifi connection.

[QUOTE=dennismccarthy;41684]Then I added an item to the phone, hit sync... wasn't there on the mac. However when I went to the mac OF pref panel and clicked sync, Victory! ( I think there is some sort of natural lag before it lands in OF - not sure how this works or why I had to initiate a sync from the mac - maybe the OF folks can shed some light on this)[/QUOTE]

OmniFocus (on the desktop and on the phone) has no way of being notified that data has changed on another Mac or device, so it polls periodically to check for changes. Currently, at least, it will check once an hour for new data - if you want it to check more often, you can manually initiate a sync. I think this is the situation you are hitting.

Now, when you make a change on one device, OmniFocus on that device knows that it has local changes, so it will try to sync those changes to the server pretty quickly (currently within 2 minutes, because maybe the Mac or phone/iPod will get put to sleep soon, or a second device will be looking soon to see if there are changes, etc.). When it does that, it will get any changes on the server that it didn't see previously. Note that if you make changes in OmniFocus on the phone and then exit it (hit the Home button, follow a web link, etc) before it has a chance to sync, it won't be able to push its changes to the server until you launch it again. (Same goes for the Mac, but you're generally less likely to quit OmniFocus on the desktop before it has had a chance to push its changes to the server.)

(During a sync, if the same item - action, context, etc. - has been changed on multiple devices/Macs, OmniFocus assumes that you want the most recent change so it will keep that one. If a sync is interrupted, whatever portion of the data got synced will be available for other devices to pick up when they sync - the remainder of the changed date will have to wait until the originating device gets another chance to sync.)


The takeaway here is that syncing from one device does not immediately update any other devices - they won't see the change until they sync as well, which can be done manually, or will be done automatically once an hour (that period is subject to change). On the phone, since apps tend to be quit frequently, it will sync on launch if it has been an hour since it last synced. I don't believe that we do that on the desktop, at least not yet.

Also, syncing is more efficient if you only make changes on one device at a time - this typically allows the changes to be incorporated very quickly, whereas if a sync has to resolve both local and remote changes, it has to do a lot more work in order to ensure data integrity. So my advice would be that if you are quickly changing between devices (your phone and your Mac, for instance), sync both devices as you switch between them. Also, if you make changes, make sure you manually perform a sync or give OmniFocus enough time to sync on its own before you exit OmniFocus. (Or realize that those changes will not get propagated until later.)

-andrew