.Mac synchronization problems -- more fixes

We've covered issues with .Mac (dot-Mac) synchronization -- particularly incomplete syncs -- on numerous occasions. Despite previous workarounds and apparent improvements from Apple, the issues continue.

One MacFixIt reader writes:

"While my G5 syncs with .Mac with no problems my PowerBook is struggling to sync with .mac showing the error message 'Unable to log in to the .Mac synchronization server, .mac login failed'.

"I have tried all the suggestions i have found (with the exception of reinstalling the OS: sounds like a PC solution to me) including deleting / replacing various pref files, unregistering and re-registering the PowerBook from the sync list, fixing permissions, tweaking key-chain settings, etc."

Fixes

Delete isync.adminarchive file One solution that has proved widely effective but has only temporary beneficial effects involves deleting the following file:

~/Library/Application Support/SyncServices/Local/isync.adminarchive

Then resetting Sync History in iSync's preferences and performing a restart.

Delete .plist files Some users have reported success with a previously published solution that involves deleting the following files:

• ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.isync.plist
• ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.isync.registry.plist
• ~/Library/Caches/dotmacsyncclient
• ~/Library/Caches/dotMacTranslator
• ~/Library/Caches/dotMacPrefTool

Unregister all computers Some users have been able to eliminate synchronization problems by unregistering all synchronized computers then re-registering them one-by-one.

This can be accomplished by the following process:

1. Enter the .Mac pane in System Preferences then navigate to the "Advanced" pane and unregister each system
2. In the same pane, re-register the computer that has current data (the one you would like to propagate to other systems) then click "Reset Sync Data..."
3. Now move on to the other systems. After re-registering each system, go to the "Sync" pane in the .Mac preference pane and select "Synchronize with .Mac Automatically". Also, after registering each computer, click the "Reset Sync Data" button to synchronize data from .Mac to each computer

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

Previous coverage:

• .Mac sync issues: Errors in logs, incomplete synchronizations; fix

Resources