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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Blank Address Book
Chuck Wehner - Feb 13, 2006 - 1:53 pm
When I open my address book there is nothing there. It was alright I believe until I tried to do a Sync on the .Mac tab of System Preferences and it failed.
I have done all the usual fixes, Disk Repair and Permissions Repair but still nothing. All the files appear to be in the Library and my .Mac account online has all of the address book entries.
I'm out of ideas.
Chuck
I have done all the usual fixes, Disk Repair and Permissions Repair but still nothing. All the files appear to be in the Library and my .Mac account online has all of the address book entries.
I'm out of ideas.
Chuck
Jabberwocky - Feb 14, 2006 - 10:55 am
Fear not - this is fixable.
• Make sure Address Book is not running.
• Go to your HOME folder, select LIBRARY then APPLICATION SUPPORT and delete the folder called ADDRESS BOOK
• Go to PREFERENCES and delete anything to do with the address book, and don't forget the files com.apple.AddressBook.plist and com.apple.AddressBook.abd.plist
• Go to SYSTEM PREFERENCES and select the .Mac preference pane
• UNTICK the check box to synchronize with .Mac - after a moment it will ask you if you want to delete what is stored on .Mac - do not sselect any items and press CANCEL.
• Close SYSTEM PREFERENCES
• Open SYSTEM PREFERENCES and select .Mac again
• Now tell it to sync with .Mac and you should get all your address book items back.
Justin
• Make sure Address Book is not running.
• Go to your HOME folder, select LIBRARY then APPLICATION SUPPORT and delete the folder called ADDRESS BOOK
• Go to PREFERENCES and delete anything to do with the address book, and don't forget the files com.apple.AddressBook.plist and com.apple.AddressBook.abd.plist
• Go to SYSTEM PREFERENCES and select the .Mac preference pane
• UNTICK the check box to synchronize with .Mac - after a moment it will ask you if you want to delete what is stored on .Mac - do not sselect any items and press CANCEL.
• Close SYSTEM PREFERENCES
• Open SYSTEM PREFERENCES and select .Mac again
• Now tell it to sync with .Mac and you should get all your address book items back.
Justin
Chuck Wehner - Feb 14, 2006 - 7:40 pm
Justin,
It didn't work, part of what you said to do didn't happen.
• UNTICK the check box to synchronize with .Mac - after a moment it will ask you if you want to delete what is stored on .Mac - do not sselect any items and press CANCEL.
It never asked me if I wanted to delete what is stored on .Mac. Now all I have is my name and apples in my address book. Maybe its time to do a restore from my backup.
Chuck
It didn't work, part of what you said to do didn't happen.
• UNTICK the check box to synchronize with .Mac - after a moment it will ask you if you want to delete what is stored on .Mac - do not sselect any items and press CANCEL.
It never asked me if I wanted to delete what is stored on .Mac. Now all I have is my name and apples in my address book. Maybe its time to do a restore from my backup.
Chuck
Jabberwocky - Feb 15, 2006 - 5:58 am
Chuck,
It seems like your mac doesn't know about the copy of your address book up on .Mac.
Try this:
• quite Address Book
• open SYSTEM PREFERENCES and go to .MAC
• select the ADVANCED tab
• press RESET SYNC DATA
• on the drop down select CONTACTS
• make sure the left arrow is highlighted, i.e. the animated arrow is flowing FROM .Mac to the computer.
• press REPLACE and then confirm with the OK
Now open address book - are your contacts there?
Justin
It seems like your mac doesn't know about the copy of your address book up on .Mac.
Try this:
• quite Address Book
• open SYSTEM PREFERENCES and go to .MAC
• select the ADVANCED tab
• press RESET SYNC DATA
• on the drop down select CONTACTS
• make sure the left arrow is highlighted, i.e. the animated arrow is flowing FROM .Mac to the computer.
• press REPLACE and then confirm with the OK
Now open address book - are your contacts there?
Justin
Chuck Wehner - Feb 15, 2006 - 1:13 pm
Justin,
Still no luck.
Chuck
Still no luck.
Chuck
Jabberwocky - Feb 15, 2006 - 4:01 pm
Chuck,
That all worked for me when I deleted all my address book entries. So something else must be spoiling the fun for you. At a guess, something in Address Book prefs, or .Mac sync prefs.
I'll try a few things in the morning (UK time) and get back to you - I am currently at home where sadly I am in a Mac-free zone (wife wont let me buy a new one til we have moved house - hopefully only another 6 weeks!)
Keep the faith.
Justin
That all worked for me when I deleted all my address book entries. So something else must be spoiling the fun for you. At a guess, something in Address Book prefs, or .Mac sync prefs.
I'll try a few things in the morning (UK time) and get back to you - I am currently at home where sadly I am in a Mac-free zone (wife wont let me buy a new one til we have moved house - hopefully only another 6 weeks!)
Keep the faith.
Justin
Chuck Wehner - Feb 15, 2006 - 8:08 pm
Justin,
OK, I'll just hang for awhile in the USA while your in the Mac-free zone. What kind of new one are longing for?
Chuck
OK, I'll just hang for awhile in the USA while your in the Mac-free zone. What kind of new one are longing for?
Chuck
Jabberwocky - Feb 16, 2006 - 5:02 am
Do I go for the mini with one of those lovely HUGE flat screens, or the new Intel dual ore bells and whistles iMac or perhaps even grab a new MacBook Pro for the occasional portability...
Ooh, choices... choices... but then of course, by the time I actually get around to going to the Apple store, there will be newer models anyway!
OK, so back to the problem:
As I said earlier, something is "blocking" your sync, maybe a duff preference file or something. So quit AddressBook, and also reove your .Mac settings from SYSTEM PREFERENCES again. Then lets delete some prefs files.
• go to HOME folder / LIBRARY / APPLICATION SUPPORT
• delete the folder ADDRESS BOOK and SYNCSERVICES
• go to HOME folder / LIBRARY / CACHES
• delete the folder COM.APPLE.ADDRESSBOOK
• go to HOME folder / LIBRARY / PREFERENCES
• delete the files:
com.apple.AddressBook.abd.plist
com.apple.AddressBook.plist
com.apple.DotMacSync.plist
Now just to make sure we come in "clean", restart the Mac.
• When it has restarted, open AddressBook and it should be empty - quit the program.
• Go to SYSTEM PREFERENCES and .MAC and enter your .Mac account details.
• Enable SYNC WITH .MAC and choose MANUALLY
• select just the AddressBook to sync.
• Click SYNC NOW
It may ask you to merge data with local AddressBook and .Mac to which you say yes.
try that...
J
Ooh, choices... choices... but then of course, by the time I actually get around to going to the Apple store, there will be newer models anyway!
OK, so back to the problem:
As I said earlier, something is "blocking" your sync, maybe a duff preference file or something. So quit AddressBook, and also reove your .Mac settings from SYSTEM PREFERENCES again. Then lets delete some prefs files.
• go to HOME folder / LIBRARY / APPLICATION SUPPORT
• delete the folder ADDRESS BOOK and SYNCSERVICES
• go to HOME folder / LIBRARY / CACHES
• delete the folder COM.APPLE.ADDRESSBOOK
• go to HOME folder / LIBRARY / PREFERENCES
• delete the files:
com.apple.AddressBook.abd.plist
com.apple.AddressBook.plist
com.apple.DotMacSync.plist
Now just to make sure we come in "clean", restart the Mac.
• When it has restarted, open AddressBook and it should be empty - quit the program.
• Go to SYSTEM PREFERENCES and .MAC and enter your .Mac account details.
• Enable SYNC WITH .MAC and choose MANUALLY
• select just the AddressBook to sync.
• Click SYNC NOW
It may ask you to merge data with local AddressBook and .Mac to which you say yes.
try that...
J
Chuck Wehner - Feb 16, 2006 - 1:10 pm
Justin,
Myself, I'm waiting for the rumored 13" widescreen iBook thats coming on april fools day.
Still no luck, if you just want to call it quits thats fine with me as I said before I do have a backup but I thought since the info is on .Mac that someway I could back it up from there. Apparently not!
Chuck
Myself, I'm waiting for the rumored 13" widescreen iBook thats coming on april fools day.
Still no luck, if you just want to call it quits thats fine with me as I said before I do have a backup but I thought since the info is on .Mac that someway I could back it up from there. Apparently not!
Chuck
Jabberwocky - Feb 16, 2006 - 1:55 pm
Oh really... hadn't heard that one. I never quite got it with the iBook/PowerBook thing - basically the same but white plastic or silver metal. When it was the Fisher-Price clamshell it was an easy decision! But then, it was the company that paid for the more expensive shiny silver one...
Back on the saga, I've had a moment of inspiration... I've just tried this and it worked fine.
• create a NEW user account on your Mac
• login as that account
• open preferences and set .Mac details
• sync address book
• open address book program and back up address book - FILE / BACKUP ADDRESS BOOK
• copy the address book backup file to the shared folder
• logout and log back in as your normal account
• open address book program and select FILE / REVERT TO ADDRESS BOOK BACKUP, selecting the backup file in the shared folder
And Bob is, as they say, your mother's brother!
Back on the saga, I've had a moment of inspiration... I've just tried this and it worked fine.
• create a NEW user account on your Mac
• login as that account
• open preferences and set .Mac details
• sync address book
• open address book program and back up address book - FILE / BACKUP ADDRESS BOOK
• copy the address book backup file to the shared folder
• logout and log back in as your normal account
• open address book program and select FILE / REVERT TO ADDRESS BOOK BACKUP, selecting the backup file in the shared folder
And Bob is, as they say, your mother's brother!
Chuck Wehner - Feb 16, 2006 - 7:33 pm
Justin,
(And Bob is, as they say, your mother's brother!) must be an English saying I don't get it.
Well guess what? That didn't work either so I just said to hell with it and grabbed my backup disk. That worked, so all is well again.
Thanks so much for all your efforts and drop me a line now and then to let me know what new Mac you ended up with.
Chuck
cwehner@macosx.com
(And Bob is, as they say, your mother's brother!) must be an English saying I don't get it.
Well guess what? That didn't work either so I just said to hell with it and grabbed my backup disk. That worked, so all is well again.
Thanks so much for all your efforts and drop me a line now and then to let me know what new Mac you ended up with.
Chuckcwehner@macosx.com
Jabberwocky - Feb 17, 2006 - 4:31 am
Well I am really stumped as to WHAT is going on with your machine.
But glad to hear that it is now back. Presumably there is a log somewhere that says what it is or is not doing...
"Bob's your uncle" is an old expression that means a variety of things depending on the context but generally along the same lines of: "all is safe", "you've got it made" or "it's as easy as that"
It is purported to go back to 1887 and marked the height of a prolonged act of political nepotism. The Victorian prime minister, Lord Salisbury (Robert Cecil) appointed his rather less than popular nephew Arthur Balfour to a succession of posts. The most controversial was chief secretary of Ireland, a post for which Balfour was generally considered entirely unsuitable.
Chuck, it's been fun. I'll shout when I get to build my study in the new house and go to the Apple store... one of each I think would be nice
But glad to hear that it is now back. Presumably there is a log somewhere that says what it is or is not doing...
"Bob's your uncle" is an old expression that means a variety of things depending on the context but generally along the same lines of: "all is safe", "you've got it made" or "it's as easy as that"
It is purported to go back to 1887 and marked the height of a prolonged act of political nepotism. The Victorian prime minister, Lord Salisbury (Robert Cecil) appointed his rather less than popular nephew Arthur Balfour to a succession of posts. The most controversial was chief secretary of Ireland, a post for which Balfour was generally considered entirely unsuitable.
Chuck, it's been fun. I'll shout when I get to build my study in the new house and go to the Apple store... one of each I think would be nice
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