Can't bluetooth contacts from Mac to Cellphone...

June 20, 2007 6:20 AM

Problems syncing (bluetooth) Razr (cellphone) with Mac.

So I got a Razr yesterday. I sync'd it to my Mac to get all my contacts. It worked! However, it added an entry for everyone in my phonebook and another entry for everyone in my phonebook with an email address, a fax/work number, etc. So I ended up with 3 entries for each person.

I went back into isync and unchecked the "fax" and "email" boxes so it should just send phone numbers. I then checked the box that said "erase info on device before syncing".

Then I sync'd again.

It erased all the data and sent over only 1 contact from my address book (the one I'd added earlier in the night).

It seems to think that other info is still on the phone but it ain't.

I tried multiple times. I deleted the device from isync and re-added it. I deleted the device from osx's bluetooth section and re-added it. Nothing works. I even renamed the device after deleting it and then re-added it. Nada.

How do I tell my computer to send the data to the phone?

posted by Manhasset to computers & internet (12 comments total)

Is the information saving to both the SIM card and the phone's memory?
posted by banannafish at 6:27 AM on June 20, 2007

Just in the phone I think. However, it deleted all the data from the Sim.
posted by Manhasset at 6:44 AM on June 20, 2007

What cell company do you use? I have a verizon razr and had to download a modded version of isync to make it work correctly.
posted by frieze at 7:04 AM on June 20, 2007

I'm in Canada and use Fido.

However, it already sync'd once and worked fine so I don't think that's an issue.
posted by Manhasset at 7:10 AM on June 20, 2007

-Make sure you have closed Addressbook (just in case)
-Open iSync
-Choose in the menu Devices -> Remove device to remove your phone from iSync
-Choose in the menu Devices -> Add device to ad your phone to iSync again
-There now is a pop-up "For first sync:"
-Select "Erase data on device and sync"
-Click "More Options"-button and set appropriate check-boxes
-Sync

That should do it.
posted by maremare at 7:30 AM on June 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

maremare, thanks, I will try that (just charging battery now) but I'm pretty sure those are the steps I followed multiple times last night and it just keeps syncing that one address.
posted by Manhasset at 7:42 AM on June 20, 2007

Arrgh! Fuck. I just noticed it has deleted all the phone numbers from my address book on my computer! Holy crap! WTF?

All the names are there but the data's gone!
posted by Manhasset at 8:00 AM on June 20, 2007

AddressBook makes automatic backups. Locate them in ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook

And if you have an iPod that you've synced before, you can get your old adresses from there.

There in a file called 'iSync.vcf' in your contacts folder. If you double click either file (make backups and see what is the latest version!) Addressbook will offer you to import the addresses.

Good luck!
posted by maremare at 8:08 AM on June 20, 2007

you could also do it manually by exporting your address book into a vcf file, then sending it via bluetooth file transfer in os x directly to your phone..

your problem with the multiple contact thing i think is a problem with the motorola os -- perhaps its changed, but several years ago could not have multiple #s for 1 person -- my phone book was always clogged liked that... it drove me crazy and i've used sony's ever since.
posted by modernnomad at 8:18 AM on June 20, 2007

maremare, can you give me the full steps for getting the info off my ipod? If I lose that data I'm screwed.

Won't my computer sync to my ipod as soon as I plug it in and blank all the data from it because the file on the computer is newer than the ipod?
posted by Manhasset at 8:30 AM on June 20, 2007

Just quite iTunes prior to connecting your iPod and then immediately quit iTunes when it reloads. There is a couple of seconds delay before it starts the sync process.

I think there is even a key that if held down during load will stop the syncing but I can't find it and just quiting works OK. If you're really paranoid you can zip the iTunes application before you connect, and delete the unzipped version.
posted by maremare at 9:57 AM on June 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

Thanks maremare, it worked!
posted by Manhasset at 8:53 PM on June 20, 2007