Extra Pepperoni

I have a lot of trouble with iSync (to my Treo) and .Mac sync. A few weeks ago, it was generating bogus complaints and bloating ~/Library/Application Support/SyncServices (up to 9gb in a single HotSync, which ran the PowerBook’s hard disk out of space). I eventually cleared that one.

I had to abort a HotSync a couple days ago. Yesterday, Palm syncs (which I do twice per day or more, to get fresh plucker content) stopped updating my calendar. I cleared iSync’s state, cleared .Mac’s state, completely erased my Treo (scary, when the master data on the PowerBook might have been [and in the end actually was] corrupt), yada yada yada. I got different (related) errors, but nothing actually did the trick, until I backed up my data from iCal and reloaded it (luckily, this apparently blew away the corruption). Even this was fraught. I tested by loading it on another system — trying to make sure the export was good, as I didn’t trust the source. But when I attempted to open the iCal backup on the other system, iCal just spun and spun but never seemed to get anywhere. Eventually I realized it was calculating the disk size on the iCal backup. iCal backups are actually packages (folders), and it was taking much longer than it should have to total up the size of the folder, during which iCal was unresponsive (I actually force quit it a few times before I figured out what was going on).

Lesson for Apple is (aside from please fix synching in Leopard!!!): when complaining about a database synchronization error, identify the database you’re complaining about! The iSync conduit was spewing errors about updating a specific record number. Of course, I have no reference for what that record number means. Had it mentioned that this was a problem in the iCal database, not the Palm DB or the “Truth database” (on iDisk), I could have saved hours and skipped erasing the Treo.

Another bug, just confirmed and reported. In the .Mac sync reconciliation dialog, I can’t activate the “default” (blue throbbing) button with Return/Enter; it gets passed through to the window behind the dialog, although I can change the dialog’s pop-up menu from the keyboard.

As it turned out, i started this posting prematurely last month. iSync was still corrupted. I had to wipe my Palm a couple more times, delete all my .Mac sync clients a couple more times, and even enable synching from iCal’s & Address Book’s preferences because System Preferences:.Mac:Sync wasn’t usable — it would just spin forever, never letting me actually click on the check-boxes to enable synching or specific types of data.

A week later, that part of System Preferences works again, and I have no idea why.

I also don’t know how much longer it will continue to work. I was very intrigued by SyncTogether, until I discovered it just uses the same Sync Services infrastructure that keeps breaking so badly on me. I basically pay $100/year for .Mac sync, since I don’t use their promo software and I run a more reliable mail server myself (on Apple hardware and software, no less!), so I’d love to find a cheaper alternative, but it’s not clear if SyncTogether would really be cheaper (depends on upgrade schedule and pricing, and how many machines, and would require me to poke additional holes in my firewall). Unless and until Apple’s syching gets stable, it doesn’t make sense to invest more in it than I already am. Additionally, I don’t know how soon Mark/Space will have Leopard support.

We just got a Canon imageRUNNER 2880i copier in the Super-Tent (the old copier died, and this one’s smarter). It has an Ethernet connection and a phone line, so can be used as a smart fax machine & scanner, and accessed via email.

Sounds great! I’d love to be able to send & receive faxes from my desk, and it’s half as far from my desk as our primary printer (oscar, as in “The Grouch”). Amy had desktop faxing with RightFAX at Debevoise, and it was quite convenient.

I tried to print, using the generic PS driver. Instead of a 2-page document, I got 34 pages of PostScript code — this is what happens when the printer treats a PostScript job as an ASCII lpd job, but it’s annoying and wasteful.

So I went to Canon’s download page http://www.usa.canon.com/html/download/irc2880.htm; spent 10 minutes figuring out which versions were current and which were old; and then grabbed their current PPD, Mac PS driver, Mac UFR II driver, and Mac Fax driver (in BinHex format — how quaint!). I have no idea what “UFR II” is, and their documentation provides no clues, but I guess it’s their private page rendering language, since it appears to be a peer of their PS driver).

I installed all four drivers (they wanted me to reboot 2-3 times during the process — I declined), and tried to print. Bang! Application quits. I tried again. Bang! I could kill any application (including Safari, BBEdit, TextEdit, and Console) by simply attempting to print — instead of a print dialog, the application vanished in a puff of invisible smoke.

So I uninstalled all 4 drivers (they did provide an uninstaller). I rebooted. I tried again, still no joy. I sent a bug report to Apple, but I assume this is Canon’s fault. Apple should program defensively — counting on printer drivers to behave properly is just begging for trouble — but really, this looks like Canon’s problem.

I deleted all the printing prefs I could find, and even moved aside the Canon drivers & PPDs (presumably from the Tiger installation, since Apple provides a set of Canon drivers on the DVD), but no joy.

I sent a note to Canon’s tech support department, and got back a response saying “We value you as a Canon customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you.” It also said “You will want to contact your dealer/reseller for any technical or hardware support on this unit.”

Well, no. If I wanted to contact our reseller, I would have done so. I want to contact Canon, whose name is on the stupid thing, and whose driver is crashing my Mac — I can’t even print to the HP any more. But despite claiming they want to help me, they refused, point blank. Feh!

The only bright spot is that after an Archive & Install and large raft of patches from Apple (since the Mac Pro came with 10.4.8), I can print again — at least to the HP LaserJet. I was afraid whatever was causing the crashes would be carried along with the Archive & Install, but fortunately it wasn’t. In an hour I was back in business, and I was able to do other work while the computer crunched on the reinstall.

The fly in Apple’s A&I ointment is that it disabled sshd! Remote Desktop & Personal File Sharing were still active, but I had to manually re-enable the “Remote Login” service. Predictably, I discovered this when I was elsewhere and needed access to my Mac.