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Unable to sync database with server (bonjour) [SOLVED (& Feat. Req. Added)] Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
My previous post was badly worded. All your copies of OmniFocus, not just the one on the Mac, are going to need to restart when the wireless network changes.

In general, if you quit all running copies of OmniFocus before switching from one wireless network to another, you should be able to sync. Alternatively, you can do a device-to-device connection and sync that way.

If, after doing that, you're still only able to sync on one of the two wireless networks at your house, you'll want to investigate the configuration of thos networks to see if they're blocking OmniFocus somehow.

My home wireless network configuration prevents Apple's "Remote" application from working, but that's not a bug in the Remote app - it's a network configuration issue.
 
Hi Brian, cheers for that. But as OF on the iPhone seems to switch itself off (ie the iPhone returns to the main menu screen) if it's not used for more than a couple of minutes effectively OF on the iPhone is almost always "switched off/restarted".
I haven't tested whether OF works on the other wireless network at home or not, I never use that network normally.
No doubt I am not the first to suggest this, but with the sync issues I am experiencing I would honestly prefer to have to do a cable sync or even bluetooth. The whole point of wireless syncing is convenience and although I love OF up to now "convenient" is not the word I would use to describe syncing performance. I do appreciate all your help though and I'm sure the app will continue to improve with time.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by PatrickFallon View Post
Hi Brian, cheers for that. But as OF on the iPhone seems to switch itself off (ie the iPhone returns to the main menu screen) if it's not used for more than a couple of minutes effectively OF on the iPhone is almost always "switched off/restarted".
Say what? It shouldn't be doing that! OF should still be running unless you command the phone back to the home screen. That makes me suspicious that you've got something else going on here. If you look in the Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice directory in your home directory, there should be a folder named after your iPhone with some files in there. Do any of them start with OmniFocus or LowMemory?
Quote:
No doubt I am not the first to suggest this, but with the sync issues I am experiencing I would honestly prefer to have to do a cable sync or even bluetooth.
Apple doesn't give developers access to use the cable sync facility. I'm not sure why you think a Bluetooth scenario wouldn't have the same sorts of issues as the WiFi scenario, either.
Quote:
The whole point of wireless syncing is convenience and although I love OF up to now "convenient" is not the word I would use to describe syncing performance. I do appreciate all your help though and I'm sure the app will continue to improve with time.
I'm thinking that the reason you get the sync failures is that your iPhone and Mac aren't on the same network, and thus can't find each other. If the Mac's network gets changed, you have to change the settings on the iPhone to join that network or it won't be able to sync, unless you have a device forwarding traffic between those two networks. I'd try going to the sync setup portion of the settings page and tapping the Get Settings from Mac button (and clicking the Share Settings button on the Mac) after switching the Mac to the other network. If you get the "Searching ..." instead of your username@yourmacname that means the problem is they can't communicate and there's no way a sync will work.
 
Hi whpalmer4, thanks for all the info.
Yep there are a tonne of crash reports in there (about 20 each of "OmniFocus-r114082_2009-07-28-092509_Patrick-Fallons-iPhone" and "OmniFocus-r114082_2009-07-28-092509_Patrick-Fallons-iPhone"). None of them start with "low memory".

Re Bluetooth, I am not an IT expert, although I am reasonably proficient with Macs. However it does seem to me from my experiences (and the experiences of others online) the problem is caused whenever the iPhone/Mac wireless network changes. If I was able to use Bluetooth I would always be syncing between my Mac and my iPhone via the same Bluetooth connection so a change in wireless networks should have no effect.
That's one reason why I can't help but think Bluetooth might have been a better option for syncing. Whatever, simply put at the moment I am spending more time trying to solve sync failures than I am successfully syncing.

"I'm thinking that the reason you get the sync failures is that your iPhone and Mac aren't on the same network, and thus can't find each other. If the Mac's network gets changed, you have to change the settings on the iPhone to join that network or it won't be able to sync".

This is stating the obvious, the Mac and the iPhone are always on the same network. I have two wireless networks at home, but I always use the same one for both the Mac and the iPhone. And yes I check the Mac and iPhone havent' automatically connected to the other network for some reason. I am always syncing (or rather trying to sync) the iPhone and Mac at home on the same network. I am aware that changing networks (ie when going on a wireless network on either iPhone or Mac when out and about) causes syncing issues and I have been quitting OF on the mac and iPhone and retrying (as per Brian's suggestion). this sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. Likewise creating a a computer to iPhone network sometimes works sometimes doesnt. Cheers, Patrick
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by PatrickFallon View Post
Hi whpalmer4, thanks for all the info.
Yep there are a tonne of crash reports in there (about 20 each of "OmniFocus-r114082_2009-07-28-092509_Patrick-Fallons-iPhone" and "OmniFocus-r114082_2009-07-28-092509_Patrick-Fallons-iPhone"). None of them start with "low memory".
You should probably bundle those up and email them to omnifocus-iphone@omnigroup.com for their perusal, toss in a mention of this thread, too. The app should continue running until you run something else or the battery goes, in my experience.
Quote:
Re Bluetooth, I am not an IT expert, although I am reasonably proficient with Macs. However it does seem to me from my experiences (and the experiences of others online) the problem is caused whenever the iPhone/Mac wireless network changes. If I was able to use Bluetooth I would always be syncing between my Mac and my iPhone via the same Bluetooth connection so a change in wireless networks should have no effect.
It's not really the same connection; it has to get set up each time though you may not be aware of it happening. My Bluetooth experiences with other devices have not been as error-free. The sync via WiFi w/Bonjour has been 100% reliable for me, including when I've moved the computer to another completely different network (like going to the coffee shop), but most of the time I use MobileMe for reasons not related to having trouble syncing via Bonjour. One difference is that I'm not using a computer-computer network.
What are you using to provision your networks?
Quote:
This is stating the obvious, the Mac and the iPhone are always on the same network.
It may be obvious to you, but it wasn't obvious to me from your report that it was the case. I like to eliminate the easy fixes like "are the cables plugged in" before moving in on subtler possibilities where something may only fail sporadically. It sounds like your problem is that the two aren't able to find each other, not that something goes wrong after they do. That's a bit odd, because the code that handles all of that is Apple's code, not Omni's, and gets used millions of times a day. So what is special about your situation that makes what is normally reliable code fail? That's the puzzle here...
 
I'm having the same issues with syncing OF and it's very frustrating.

I'm not seeing any crashes on the iPhone. The two devices are definitely on the same network, though during the day, my iPhone switches around a fair bit as I travel. When I come home, I want to sync up with my home machine, and it almost never works.

Really need some help here.
 
Knassar, if you take a look at the "Creating a computer-to-computer network" page in Mac Help, set one up and make sure your iPhone connects to that network, does the sync succeed or fail?

If the sync fails with a computer-to-computer connection, you'll likely want to open the "Security" pane of system preferences on your Mac and make sure the firewall isn't preventing OmniFocus on your phone from talking to OmniFocus on your Mac.

If those tips don't resolve the problem, the best thing to do is probably to contact the support ninjas directly so we can help.
 
Patrick, the crash reports may give us some information about what's going on here. If you contact the support ninjas as Bill suggested, that's going to be the quickest route to getting this figured out.
 
Will do, thanks to all who offered their advice and experience. Definitely one of the better forums i've seen for getting advice that is actually helpful from people who actually know what they're talking about.
 
Let me just add one more voice here, since I have the same problem.

I always get the "Unable to synchronize database with server" the first time I open Omnifocus iPhone and try to sync. I press "Retry" and it syncs. It's guaranteed, like clockwork. Never syncs the first time. Makes no difference whether you have it set to auto or manual (manual is less frustrating, because it doesn't try to sync and fail every time you open it).

Despite this thread being marked "Solved," there is nothing here that will fix the issue. It happens every time, no matter what I do.
 
 


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