Snow Leopard has introduced new sync issues with Entourage Calendar events. Let us know if these options help or if you have found a solution that you would like to share.
Entourage-to-iCal time zone synchronization problems
Snow Leopard users are experiencing compatibility problem between iCal and Entourage. When syncing with iCal the calendar times will change to be off by a number of hours (depending on the time zone) from when they were originally created.
Entourage and ICal Calendar don't sync anymore after upgrade to Snow Leopard
After upgrading to Snow Leopard, Entourage 2008 and iCal calendar events stopped syncing. Contacts and notes are OK, but calendar events just sync one way iCal > Entourage 2008.
Options to fix
Users with incorrect times will need to do both fixes.
Fix for time zone issues:
- If you are using Entourage 2004, you might have to update to Entourage 2008 to resolve the time zone issue.
- If you are using Entourage 2008, verify that you are updated to 12.2.1
- Enabled time zones in iCal (iCal>Preferences>Advanced) View image
In iCal preferences, there is a check box for "turn on time zone support." If you leave it unchecked, iCal will automatically adjust to your current time zone and move the events forward/back by the appropriate number of hours.
If you check "turn on time zone support" a drop-down menu will appear at the upper right of the iCal page allowing you to select the time zone you wish to view. In this mode, iCal does not automatically move the events unless you select a new time zone manually. - Enabled time zones in Entourage (Entourage>Preferences>General preferences>Calendar) View image
Fix for sync and time zone issues:
- Deleting the following Preferences (quit iCal and Entourage before deleting):
- User>Library>Calenders>Calender Cache
- User>Library>Preferences>com.apple.iCal.plist
- User>Library>Preferences>com.microsoft.entourage.syncservices12.plist
- Re-start your computer
- Re-start iCal. It will tell you that it is rebuilding the cache.
- Re-start Entourage
Note: Cache files are temporary receptacles for data that help OS X and its applications work faster. Occasionally caches become corrupted, impacting the performance and stability of your Mac. Deleting caches won't hurt anything.
Dealing with duplicates
Some users have found that selecting only one item at a time to sync in Entourage Sync Services preferences has helped with duplicates. View image
If you do get dupes, clean them up with one of the remove duplicate scripts then give every event and contact a category even if it's a generic category like "current". All duplicates will have the category "none" assigned. Sorting by "none" you can easily delete all dupes if it happens again.
If you aren't familiar with using scripts, see Using AppleScripts with Entourage.
Backups are critical
I suggest you backup your calendar events and contacts as individual items in case you need to restore after a bad sync.
- Open Entourage
- Under File in the menu bar, select Export
- Select Items to an Entourage Archive
- Select All items
- Backup your Contacts and Calendar events separately
To automate this and for more info see these articles:
Backup Your Contacts
Backup individual items
Recommended Links:
Comments (9)
Thank you for this tip.
My problem may be related, but not exactly. I have been running Entourage 2008 on Mac now running Snow Leopard, and it has been syncing automatically with Outlook 2003 which runs on Exchange Server 2003.
This has been great for a year or more, but the syncing no longer happens. The Outlook syncs perfectly with the iphone, so I suspect its an Entourage issue.
Can you suggest something? (I have updated the software as suggested)
Has it worked at all since you updated to Snow Leopard?
If this is an Exchange account, select "Synchronize Now".
http://www.entourage.mvps.org/Images/sync/sync_now.gif
I've noticed as well that ever since i updated to Snow Leopard, my iCal sync between my Entourage (exchange 2003) is creating doubles for EVERYTHING. No matter what i've tried i've been unable to get rid of the doubles so i just gave up and removed the synching between the 2 calendars.
Adi
All data is actually synced to a database called the Truth. If the Truth is full of duplicates, it could just be repopulating the bad data over and over. You need to reset Sync Services.
Reset sync services and start fresh? (Warning this erases data!!!)
See this article for help creating a primary source to reset Sync Services.
Sync Services still causing problems for some users after SP1
I give up. It's as if there's a joint plan by Apple and Microsoft to ensure that no one ever uses Entourage 2008 for anything. Well, it's worked on me. Wasted untold hours dicking around with duplicates and non-syncing calendars. Thanks, guys.
Being former military, I use the 24 hour time scheme in my calendar(s). My MacBook Pro is set to use the 24 hour format, ICal displays the 24 hour format, Entourage 2008 displays the 24 hour format ONLY in the information dialog box about the appointment NOT on the calendar proper.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to correct this problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Sincerely,
Noel F. Nash
See if the suggestions in this article will help.
Correct Time displays in Entourage calendar by adjusting the correct System Preferences
Correct Time displays in Entourage calendar by adjusting the correct System Preferences
We are running Entourage 2008 on a Macbook Pro and connecting to a 2003 Exchange server with no problems at all, sending and receiving mails perfectly. Only problem is the client has been updating the local Entourage calendar and now we enabled calendar sharing so other Outlook based PC's can see his calendar on the network - which also works perfectly I must say. Only problem is it's sharing his Exchange Calendar in Entourage and not the local one and the local calendar is not "syncing" or updating all the content to the Exchange Calendar, so in theory none of the other staff can see his events and entries - what could the problem be - I've read endless amounts of forums and posts - but still haven't found a set solution! PLEASE HELP! Really running out of ideas here :( Thanks in advance.
Switch to the Calendar view and twiddle open the disclosure triangles for On My Computer and your Exchange account. Select the All Events view. You can drag and drop from there.