I'm in Sync hell

[Eli]

Hi,

I am in sync hell right now.

I use a motorola droid for a phone so I use google contacts.
I have a 3G iPad which I have been syncing via USB (to my iMac) until....
I got a MobileMe account today and have been messing with the sync in there.

I've got my contacts all messed up now. The main mistake I made was to sync my Google contacts to my iPad. It caused about 200 duplicates. I manually fixed all of my Google contacts, so that is done.

My iPad still has a ton of duplicates. Here's the question. In iTunes>iPad>Info tab , under the Advanced section at the bottom there is the "Replace information on this iPad:" option. I tried selecting contacts so that I could just overwrite all of the contacts on the iPad with the contacts from my Address Book on my iMac....but it won't work......why? The point of this feature is to delete existing contacts and start fresh , right? Am I missing something?

I have a feeling that I just need to suck it up and manually edit all of this. Oh well, I have a head cold right now so at least I will have something to do while lying in bed.

Moral of the story might be: don't sync Google contacts !!!!

 

[USBill]

Can't you just remove the mailbox(es) and add them back? I would assume it can be done without iTunes being involved and you would just download the fixed contacts over the air.

I don't use MobileMe...

 

[john]

Dude, I think you nailed it when you said don’t use Google contacts. Google is good at lots of things. Contacts, not so much.

I manage my contacts between outlook/itunes. Then I let Google manage syncing my calendar, they're good at that. Well, they could be MUCH better with ical/calDAV syncing, but hey it hobbles along.

Sorry I cant be much help in helping you to back out of the mess!

 

[Eli]

I got it all straightened out....Manually...

The question I still have is why did replace option not work in the Advanced area of the Info tab? I would have been all set if I could have just overwritten the existing contact with exactly what was in my iMac address book...?

Eli

 

[gbpmi]

iTunes>"nameofyouriPad>Info> then scroll to bottom and look under Advanced. There is an option to replace various info on the iPad at the next sync only.

HTH

 

[lindalouden]

fixed same problem

I was having the same problem and came across the fix. Go into the setting on ipad and tap on "mail,contacts,cal". Click on Accounts were you set up your contact. tap to turn off Contacts. A message will come up warning you that you will loose all contacts; do you want to delete? click Delete. Click Done. WAIT a few minutes to give it time to clear. Presto! All contacts are gone. Make sure your contacts are fixed the way you want them on your computer before syncing again with itunes.

 

[Kingsmuse]

Syncing contacts from anywhere to an iPad is a nightmare.

 

[leonjanzen]

same problem with Yahoo contacts

I have experienced the same problem syncing Yahoo contacts with my iPad, where it would create hundreds of duplicates (I don't use a MobileMe account).

I cleaned up my contacts in Yahoo, deleted all the contacts from the iPad, and then synced with "Replace information on this iPad" checked, but the duplicates still all came back.

After cleaning up my list again, I found a place in Yahoo contacts where it was storing my deleted contacts and I permanently deleted all the duplicates, and tried syncing again, and they still all came back.

Finally I cleaned up my contacts again, permanently deleted the duplicates, deleted all contacts from the iPad, and waited a couple of weeks to make sure those duplicates had cleared out of any caches where they existed. When I synced again (with "Replace information on this iPad" checked), the duplicates and old contacts still all came back, so now I don't sync my contacts with my iPad anymore.

 

[lindalouden]

Google Sync works for me

I dont use MobilMe after finding out you can do the same thing free using a google account. Setting your computer/devices up so that it excepts the Google Sync (Found the directions online). I keep my Contacts button turned off under the Exchange Account on my ipad just to make sure i don't get multiples. Then if I've added a bunch of new contacts I'll enable it when I'm syncing through Itunes. BUT Iv'e never let it stay on to see if I'll get multiples. Why use it you ask? because it also syncs my calendar and emails. Because I spent hours clearing everything up and out of my ipad I haven't been brave enough to leave it on and let it do its thing yet. I don't add contacts all that often so it hasn't been important enough to test it yet. Check it out by googling Google Sync.