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

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.

1. sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

   Add the following to the sources.list:
   

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

2. Then in the Terminal run
   

   sudo apt-get update

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

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

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

3. Connect your PDA and verify connection:
   

   synce-pls

4. List parnerships:
   

   synce-list-partnerships

   Delete old partnerships if needed:
   

   synce-delete-partnership 1

5. List groups:
   

   msynctool --listgroups

   Delete old groups if needed:
   

   msynctool --delgroup <group_name>

6. Then create a new parnership:
   

   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:
   

   sudo apt-get install synce-kpm

   and run it
   

   synce-kpm

7. Create a group
   

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

   Verify your group:
   

   msynctool --showgroup UbuntuDesktop

8. Sync PDA with Evolution (I strongly recommend you to backup contacts in both PDA and Evolution before syncing!)
   

   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:

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]

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!

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]

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?...

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]

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?

Originally Posted by lkub

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

May be it is not good, but I just disconnect the wire.

Originally Posted by lkub

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

The first time I tried to sync, all my contacts were deleted.

Then I managed to sync my contacts, but if I'm not mistaken, the calendar wasn't synced.

[lkub]

Many thanks for info - that's useful.

May I make a suggestion: It would be useful if you'd mention what worked and what didn't when you post your instructions in the future. This would be very helpful to those who (like myself) follow the instructions, discover that something doesn't work (like calendar sync), think they made a mistake in their process, and try to find that mistake when in fact some issues might be inherent to the software used.

Many thanks again.

I've tried to sync again. Previously I was using Windows Mobile 6.0 and Windows Mobile 6.1. And now my HTC PDA uses Windows Mobile 6.5.

Created a new partnership

synce-create-partnership "UbuntuDesktop" "Contacts,Calendar"

Then synced all my contact with Evolution (empty calendar, empty contacts list) and they were successfully transferred from my Windows Mobile to Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala.

Then I added another contact, synced again and it was working. I played even more, and synchronization was always successful. I wish I didn't have to spend days to find out how it works

Some tutorials suggest to "Enable advanced network functionality" on a PDA, others suggest to disable it. I tried both options and it was working for me whether the advanced network functionality was enabled or not.

[lkub]

That's interesting - thank you. My HTC Wizard is also running WM6.5 but things are more difficult. It sounds like you're using exactly the same Ubuntu set-up as before, just syncing with WM6.5, right?

The only difference I can see in my set-up is that I have a web calendar set up on the Ubuntu side. Do you think it can interfere, even though there is a local Evolution calendar there?

In any case, I'll give it another shot but it will probably be with the next version of Ubuntu, Lucid. I screwed up my current Karmic (while trying to delete Cairo-Dock) and it starts only without GUI now. I tried to restore the GUI but failed. So, I'll probably just install Lucid when it's available and will try the sync again.

Thanks again.

Originally Posted by Stream Recorder

I've tried to sync again. Previously I was using Windows Mobile 6.0 and Windows Mobile 6.1. And now my HTC PDA uses Windows Mobile 6.5.

Created a new partnership

synce-create-partnership "UbuntuDesktop" "Contacts,Calendar"

Then synced all my contact with Evolution (empty calendar, empty contacts list) and they were successfully transferred from my Windows Mobile to Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala.

Then I added another contact, synced again and it was working. I played even more, and synchronization was always successful. I wish I didn't have to spend days to find out how it works

Some tutorials suggest to "Enable advanced network functionality" on a PDA, others suggest to disable it. I tried both options and it was working for me whether the advanced network functionality was enabled or not.