[arul]

Was originally excited to hear of this new release until i found out no BT sync and no OS upgrade ability!!! Bummer!!

[chad5]

Originally Posted by chad5

Okay,

I got the 8703e on sprint, today, (she's sitting right next to me charging), I just downloaded the PM 4.0 official release.

I've backed up Address book.
I've backed up iCal.
I'm gonna back up my bookmarks in Firefox, (though I've go hundreds and probably should cull through them before I try to bring them over).

I'm gonna reboot, quick all applications, repair permissions and quit any and all open apps.

Then I’m gonna unstuff the file and read all the read me's, (ill probably go blind).


Is there anything else I could do other than what I'll find in the read me? I haven't done anything to the BB 8703e yet, I don't have an Intel Mac so I have not done any updates or aftermarket themes or anything.

All I want to do today is Get all my contacts, iCal, and email set up on the BB.

Thoughts?

Oh, and I just read the PM thread with the 100 responses. And per one of the post, I'm gonna avoid trying to sync tasks and stickies, too.

It worked! I did everything above, and kept the PM 4.0 manual open while I went through the first sync preferences panes.

Wow, for the first time in forever, I have all my Mac contacts and calenders on my phone.

I might be missing something or it might all turn to double contacts crap on future syncs when I allow my laptop g4 in on the party, (currently only using the G5,) but for the next few hours.


Success!!!!


I quoted myself. That's a first, too.

[sydney196]

I am excited that it is being offered. I am not too worried about the bugs, as in time i am sure they will be fixed. So was this RIM's attempt at possibly taking over that part of the biz from PocketMac? Looking for more exciting things to come...

[mr_kitty]

I was able to get the contacts/notes/calendar to sync flawlessly, however when I tried to upload IM+ (my first non-OTA install) tonight I came across a serious bug.

Apparently if you have a 8100 without a mediacard installed and try to upload an application, the software doesn't know how to handle it, it just continually looks for the the card. The sync log files show the software stops at:

"Checking for mounted BlackBerry media cards."

It never recovers. Activity monitor shows "pcscd" (owned by root) using all available CPU, and it won't force quit (tried sudo kill, et al) even after pocketmac has been forced down and the USB cable unplugged. Google for pcscd tells me pcscd is the "PC/SC Smartcard Daemon"... so i'd say it's fairly conclusive (did the uninstall, comb through for anything pocketmac remaining, reinstall already as well as trying with and without memory cards enabled on the handheld).

this is on my iBook G4 1.33 GHz 1.25 GB RAM primary. I'll try it on my Intel Core Duo Mac Mini a bit later (it's currently ripping a DVD, so I can't crash it).

Has anyone got uploads to work on a pearl yet? i'll probably get the SD Micro card tomorrow and give it another go and see if there is any change with a card for it to find.



on the otherhand, i sure am glad to have my addressbook and calendar over, finally.

[singerish]

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

Activity monitor shows "pcscd" (owned by root) using all available CPU, and it won't force quit (tried sudo kill, et al) even after pocketmac has been forced down and the USB cable unplugged. Google for pcscd tells me pcscd is the "PC/SC Smartcard Daemon"

I'm getting the same issue when I just try to sync (I'm not trying to upload anything). As I've been trying various options to get sync working, my fan kicks in, and a process using all the processor keeps me from even being able to shut the PowerBook down cleanly.

Another issue for me: when I plug in the BB and start PocketMac, the BB screen briefly says "connected to desktop." Then after I start to sync, I have to unplug and replug the BB to get the "connected" screen again and sync then continues.

I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling PocketMac, and even have set up a new user (and copied over my address book and ical data) to make any progress.

Any thoughts/suggestions?
TIA,
Doug
AlBook G4, BB 8100

[flar]

Using:
Aluminum Powerbook G4 1.25GHz, Mac OS 10.3.9
PocketMac 4.0 downloaded from blackberry.com tonight around 10pm
Blackberry 8100 Pearl running 4.2.0.42 system software

Synced:

• Address Book one way to blackberry
• iCal appointments one way to blackberry
• iCal tasks 2-way sync (had 2 tasks on BB, none in iCal before)

On the blackberry:

• Address book contacts look fine.
• Calendar on the blackberry are a subset of what I had on the Mac.
• Tasks on the BB has 3 new tasks that I deleted on the Mac a long time ago.

On the Mac:

• Address book is probably fine - haven't done an exhaustive check - I should have backed up the database before to be sure.
• iCal appointments on the Mac are completely and utterly mangled. Many old appointments are repeated every day until infinity. Lots of appointments are just gone now. Doing the BlackBerry Desktop Software restore of the database as described in the documentation made it worse. I had to reload my Calendars directory from a combination of a whole system backup I did 3 weeks ago and my sync'd iPod. Note that I had done a one way backup to the Blackberry so there is absolutely no reason it should have changed anything on the Mac's calendar.
• iCal tasks have the 2 tasks that I had created on the blackberry, and the 3 ancient tasks that appeared as new on the blackberry were not ressurected on the Mac.

Overall experience:
I'm glad my full contacts are on the phone now. I'm not sure I'm going to run this software again for a long time - too much chance to screw up vital data that I use every day on my Mac.

[wrecker06]

It says it can't connect on mine. Intel iMac core2duo. :(

[pspiegel]

i just installed ramble IM with pocketmac 4.. no problems.. installed really fast too!

[Chinasaur]

2.0Ghz ICD / OS X 10.4.8 / OS 4.1.0.248

I've been using since the Beta was released. My first sync, I deleted the PM store prior to syncing AND backed up my Calendar and Addy Book. I then overwrote the device (had kept Mac and BB in sync manually until then). All syncs since then have been flawless for these two programs. I did get a duplication in Notes (like 3.x) but I only need one backup of that and have now toggled that off.

Two way sync working fine. Other than Notes duplications, 4.0 is working acceptably for Addresses and Calendar..for me.

Luck.

[pipermalibu]

My only problem was a little with categories giving me multiple holidays, etc. But after deleting the extras, it cleaned up fine. I also have the duplication problem with Notes/Stickies. Other than that it is working really well.
I still wish would could do a Bluetooth sync. I sync with a MacBook Pro and hate having to carry even spooled USB. I am a minimalist when it comes to accessories and gadget size.

[heskech]

As with PocketMac version 3.x, PocketMac 4 crashes on my G5 Quad during sync of contacts. I have not tried sync'ing other information yet.

I have not yet tried to run PocketMac 4 on my Mac Mini, but since I have PocketMac 3.x running and syncing fine on that machine, I hope it will work.

It is my G5 Quad that seems to be having problems and I am very disappointed that Blackberry/PocketMac has not fixed the issue with this software. Even if it's a specific problem with my data, I expect the software to produce log information that will help me troubleshoot the problem. My suspicion is it's an issue related to how PocketMac performs on a single CPU machine vs. a multiple CPU machine. To begin to rule out this being a specific problem with my G5 Quad and to give more focus to the multi-CPU theory, I will test tonight on a Mac Pro.

I am interested to hear what machines you are running for those reporting crashes.

My configuration is:
G5 Quad
OS 10.4.8
4 Gb RAM

[dmavdm]

I thought this would be easy, but when I try to install an app (gcalsync.cod), the open file dialogue shows the .cod file grayed out, so I can't select it. I've searched for support at PocketMac and RIM and found almost nothing resembling a user manual and only a few FAQs, none of which mention this.

What am I missing here? Thanks for the help!

[hughaston]

has to be .alx

[Postalrecon]

Originally Posted by hughaston

has to be .alx

it would be nice if i could even install those

[anthonymoody]

From tech support - here's a way to tell pocketmac NOT to prompt you every time to resolve conflicts. It picks the "later" event as the defining one. Just make sure your time and timezones are consistent b/t the Mac and the BB:


"There is a prompt, this is in our Advanced Preference: MacintoshHD/Library/PocketMacBB/Advanced Prefs/ *Please be extra careful what is selected here, these options can result in unexpected data loss."

Good luck,
TM

[Postalrecon]

Originally Posted by anthonymoody

From tech support - here's a way to tell pocketmac NOT to prompt you every time to resolve conflicts. It picks the "later" event as the defining one. Just make sure your time and timezones are consistent b/t the Mac and the BB:


"There is a prompt, this is in our Advanced Preference: MacintoshHD/Library/PocketMacBB/Advanced Prefs/ *Please be extra careful what is selected here, these options can result in unexpected data loss."

Good luck,
TM

so how does this help me install programs?

[anthonymoody]

Sorry - I was answering a Q from earlier in the thread about the "issue" where PM requires you to tell it how to resolve conflicts.

However, it would appear that what I described has been eliminated from 4.0. I'd been using 3.x previously and used this method to have PM use a time stamp to figure out how to resolve conflicts all by itself (like every other sync tool on the market)...

I'm checking with support to see if this option is still buried in there somewhere...

TM

[rambo47]

When I first installed this I tried to run it without restarting my Mac. It hung and then crashed. After restarting my Mac (like they recommend - D'oh!) it worked just like the Beta4, which was smooth. Don't forget to restart and perhaps do a permission repair as well.

[Postalrecon]

ive done all of that, restart and what not, but how do i edit permissions, it looks like my pocketmac keeps looking for a media card

[mr_kitty]

after reading a related thread on apple's developer forums (i still can't post links but if you go to.... http : / / lists . apple . com / archives / Apple-cdsa / 2006 / Sep / msg00015 . html ) it would appear that there is a bit of a device issue with pcscd and the blackberry pearl that is preventing the Application Uploader from working.

afaik, pcscd's job is to hang out until a pc card or smart card device is attached and then determine which drivers to use to mount it. when an "unknown" usb device is attached, it launches and attacks it with all it's known protocols and such until it finds a match.

from the behavior, it would seem like the internal memory of the bb 8100 is being seen as an "unknown usb device" and if you don't have a media card inserted -- as soon as you fire the application uploader -- pcscd is all over it and doesn't relent. ever.

if you have a sd micro media card in the phone, it senses that and decides the device is a sd micro card reader and goes away -- after it's blocked PM's ability to sync or communicate with the phone's internal memory!!

so the short of it is that 8100's aren't going to be able to sync when the media card is installed, and the application uploader isn't going to work at all with it.

from what i've read there are several bugs that have conspired to bring this to reality. the first is that RIM's hardware usb controller is seen as "unknown" by pcscd (this HAS to be the case, because otherwise it would ignore it the internal memory if no media card was installed), the second is that pcscd doesn't time out or quit (and you can't even sudo kill it), and finally.... well, i really wish someone would have tested this before it went to market. even a readme documentation would have helped. :/