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Strange and numerous syncing problems Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
After upgrading to Snow Leopard, I'm getting multiple syncing error messages (almost every 30 minutes) and it's making me crazy. I should've captured screen shots for each one so I could remember all of the problems, but here's a summary (as best I can remember).

1. The most recent error is a pop-up that says: "Replace your database and start syncing? Your current database will be backed up on your computer and replaced by the sync database." I keep canceling this because I don't know why I'm getting the message.

2. Sync conflict. I've also been getting a pop up (through Moblie Me I think) that says there is a conflict between the database on my iDisk and the database on the desktop. It obviously wants me to choose one database to correct the problem. But then the little syncing symbol inside the box keeps twirling endlessly and I wind up having to exit out of the dialog. The dialog subsequently pops up multiple times but doesn't let me fix the problem.

Help.
 
MobileMe is attempting to sync your OmniFocus database file. You don't want that, as it doesn't understand how to do it properly. You should store your sync database in the Backup directory on the iDisk instead of Documents if you are going to have MobileMe disk sync running. The contents of the Backup directory are ignored by the MobileMe sync.

Your other issue may or may not be related, but you definitely don't want MobileMe doing any syncing of your OmniFocus database. Is it possible that you didn't have MobileMe sync enabled before your upgrade? Turning it off would be another approach, if you don't need it.

The "do you want to replace your database and start syncing" message is only supposed to happen if OmniFocus detects that the sync database (on MobileMe in your case) is newer than the local one, and it might have gotten confused if MobileMe changed your sync database. I would use File->Replace Server Database... to repopulate the server copy from your local copy (I'm assuming here that your local copy has all your changes), and turn off MobileMe disk sync to see if the various warnings go away. If they do, and you want MobileMe disk sync back, then you should move your sync database into the Backup folder -- contact the support ninjas by email or phone and they can walk you through it, if you have questions.
 
suzyq - I don't think this is a mobile me issue. I and others are having similar sync problems (there is another thread on those issues). I'm not sure what the reply post was trying to get you to do by turning off Mobile Me syncing - according to OF that is the easiest way to sync. I am trying the same set up and get the same errors and haven't been able to sync all day. Hang in there -- hopefully they will get this figured out quickly.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MileHiPhone View Post
suzyq - I don't think this is a mobile me issue. I and others are having similar sync problems (there is another thread on those issues). I'm not sure what the reply post was trying to get you to do by turning off Mobile Me syncing - according to OF that is the easiest way to sync. I am trying the same set up and get the same errors and haven't been able to sync all day. Hang in there -- hopefully they will get this figured out quickly.
There's some confusing terminology here. If you go to your MobileMe preferences in System Preferences, you'll see that there's a feature which has MobileMe sync the contents of your iDisk from one machine to another (and to the MobileMe server). There is also the MobileMe webDAV service, which OmniFocus uses if you configure it to do MobileMe as your sync choice. OmniFocus writes directly to the MobileMe webDAV server, with no time lag. MobileMe disk syncing, on the other hand, runs periodically and tries to make sure that your files which are changed get replicated to the other MobileMe clients. The OmniFocus database is not a single file, but a whole directory full of them, even though the Finder treats it like a single file for many purposes. When MobileMe tries to reconcile changes made by OmniFocus directly on the server with an older copy on your local disk, bad things will happen to your data, because MobileMe has no clue how those files are organized, or how to protect against OmniFocus coming along and writing to those files as it is shuffling them around. The recommendation is that you not store your OmniFocus database in a part of the MobileMe disk structure that will be synchronized by MobileMe, if you use the MobileMe disk synchronization feature (many do not).

The bug that is being seen elsewhere appears to be triggered at least in some cases by the database file on the sync server (MobileMe's webDAV server, in this case) appearing to be more recent than the copy on the local machine. One way that could happen is if MobileMe tries to sync your database for you. My suggestion above eliminates the situation of the sync server's copy appearing newer by replacing it with the good local copy, and turning off MobileMe disk syncing eliminates that as a possible cause for the server's copy appearing newer. It does not guarantee that she isn't seeing this behavior for another reason, but it does eliminate one known cause.

So, I'm not telling her not to use MobileMe as her sync method for her iPhone, I'm telling her not to use something else also called MobileMe to potentially corrupt her database. There's a sticky at the top of the iDisk/MobileMe/.Mac syncing forum that talks about the discovery of the issue, labeled "Warning from OMNI: iDisk Sync can report false conflicts" if you want more info.
 
Suzyq, you're probably having the problem that this forum post talks about. (That post includes information on how to fix the problem and prevent it from happening again.)

There's an additional problem that we're working on, but what you're seeing sounds like the one I linked to above. If that doesn't work for some reason, email the support ninjas and we can assist.
 
 


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