How to sync Evolution contacts with PDA (Windows Mobile) in Ubuntu 9.10

#1 01-12-2010, 05:34 AM

Before you go any further, backup your contacts using freeware PIM Backup or any other software! The sync process described below sometimes deletes all your contacts,so make sure you can restore them.

Code:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following to the sources.list:

Code:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/synce/ubuntu karmic main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/synce/ubuntu karmic main

Then in the Terminal run

Code:

sudo apt-get update

Install synce-hal, librra-tools, librapi2-tools, multisync-tools opensync-plugin-synce, synce-sync-engine:

Code:

sudo apt-get install synce-hal librra-tools librapi2-tools

Code:

sudo apt-get install multisync-tools opensync-plugin-synce synce-sync-engine

Connect your PDA and verify connection:
Code:
```
synce-pls
```
List parnerships:
Code:
```
synce-list-partnerships
```
Delete old partnerships if needed:
Code:
```
synce-delete-partnership 1
```

List groups:

Code:

msynctool --listgroups

Delete old groups if needed:

Code:

msynctool --delgroup <group_name>

Then create a new parnership:
Code:
```
synce-create-partnership "UbuntuDesktop" "Contacts,Calendar,Tasks,Files"
```
I prefer not to use spaces in the name of a partnership to avoid problems.

Note that you can manage partnerships with GUI program as well. Just install synce-kpm:
Code:
```
sudo apt-get install synce-kpm
```
and run it
Code:
```
synce-kpm
```

Create a group

Code:

msynctool --addgroup UbuntuDesktop
msynctool --listgroups
msynctool --addmember UbuntuDesktop synce-opensync-plugin
msynctool --addmember UbuntuDesktop evo2-sync

Verify your group:

Code:

msynctool --showgroup UbuntuDesktop

Sync PDA with Evolution (I strongly recommend you to backup contacts in both PDA and Evolution before syncing!)
Code:
```
msynctool --sync UbuntuDesktop
```
This can take several minutes. Contacts will be synced with a local address book by default.

I have successfully synced the contacts of my Windows Mobile 6.1 PDA and Evolution in Ubuntu 9.10.

If syncing doesn't work for you, try to disable your firewall:

Code:

sudo ufw disable

But you should do this only if you are behind a router with a firewall. Otherwise open the individual ports used for Windows Mobile syncing: TCP 990, 999, 5678, 5721, 26675.

Related reading:
http://www.synce.org/moin/SynceInsta...u/ModernDevice

lkub · #2 03-11-2010, 02:54 AM

Many thanks for great instructions. Everything works fine except for the evo2 step. The response to this one is that "evo2 is not found" or something like that.

Is there any way to fix it?

The current result is that I'm able to connect my WM device, my laptop can see it, the WM device can see the laptop as well (and even to use laptop's Internet connection), but the sync fails.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks again!

#3 03-11-2010, 02:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lkub

Many thanks for great instructions. Everything works fine except for the evo2 step. The response to this one is that "evo2 is not found" or something like that.

Is there any way to fix it?

The current result is that I'm able to connect my WM device, my laptop can see it, the WM device can see the laptop as well (and even to use laptop's Internet connection), but the sync fails.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks again!

Do you have Evolution installed?

Also I recommend to use Google Sync which just uses MS Exchange.

lkub · #4 03-12-2010, 02:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stream Recorder

Do you have Evolution installed?

Also I recommend to use Google Sync which just uses MS Exchange.

Many thanks for your advice and for trying to help.

Yes, I do have Evolution installed and configured (as well as Thunderbird and Sunbird).

In the meantime, I've found and installed the Evolution plugin explicitly:

sudo apt-get install opensync-plugin-evolution

- That's in addition to the installation instructions you've provided.

That helped a bit - I can sync my files now. But as for calendar - still a no-go.

Your advice to sync via a server is quite good. That's exactly what I'm doing already (albeit I'm using a Zimbra server - that's what my employer is providing). What's the problem, then? Well, the problem is that the calendar stored on server (and accessed via CalDAV) is not "persistent" in all three calendars I have on Ubuntu (Evolution, Lightning, and Sunbird). So, as I long as I have Internet connection, everything is fine. But when I travel somewhere and don't have Internet connection, then my laptop has no access to the calendar. My WM device (which is HTC Wizard) does provide "persistent" access to my calendar and contacts, and I hoped that by syncing it to the laptop I'll get a "persistent" calendar on the laptop to use when I travel (and which would be also synced to the Wizard).

So, I used your instructions but modified them a bit:

synce-create-partnership "Laptop-Ubuntu" "Calendar,Files"

As you see, I'd like to sync just my calendar and my files. That's because contacts are quite stable but the calendar changes all the time.

So far, I only got my files synced but not the calendar.

Any ideas?..

Thanks again!

P. S. A different question: How do I safely disconnect my Wizard from the Ubuntu laptop - do you happen to know?...

#5 03-12-2010, 03:45 AM

Sorry, but I'm pretty new to Ubuntu and don't really know how to help you. The only thing I can suggest is to try MultiSync GUI.

I myself gave up syncing my PDA with Ubuntu. I just installed a virtual machine and now I sync my HTC mobile phone with Windows.

Next time I will just buy something more Linux friendly. Windows Mobile 7 is something I won't use anyway.

lkub · #6 03-13-2010, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stream Recorder

Sorry, but I'm pretty new to Ubuntu and don't really know how to help you. The only thing I can suggest is to try MultiSync GUI.

I myself gave up syncing my PDA with Ubuntu. I just installed a virtual machine and now I sync my HTC mobile phone with Windows.

Next time I will just buy something more Linux friendly. Windows Mobile 7 is something I won't use anyway.

Thanks. When you followed the process you described here on your own machine, were you able to sync your calendar (and contacts) to Evolution?