Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

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periodic
Posts: 178
Joined: October 13th, 2006, 10:13 pm

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by periodic »

I uninstalled all add ons, uninstalled tbird, rebooted, installed tbird 68.0, installed gcontactsync 3.1.7. It still syncs nothing.
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WaltS48
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Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by WaltS48 »

mozillallizom wrote:I uninstalled all add ons, uninstalled tbird, rebooted, installed tbird 68.0, installed gcontactsync 3.1.7. It still syncs nothing.
Contact the extensions author or file a bug on their GitHub page as suggested in the blog?

http://www.pirules.org/blog/?p=490
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periodic
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Joined: October 13th, 2006, 10:13 pm

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by periodic »

The author and I had a couple of exchanges about this issue and he did suggest some things but nothing worked. Since 4-6 months I've not heard back from him re what else to try.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by tanstaafl »

I still don't understand your statement that you don't want to use any of the alternatives such as CardBook because they don't sync labels, but gContactSync does.

What do labels have to do with contacts? Gmail labels are currently treated as mail folders, but eventually will be treated as a attribute of messages.
periodic
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Joined: October 13th, 2006, 10:13 pm

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by periodic »

gmail contacts have labels and gcontactsync works with those. CardBook didn't seem to. I use labels to organize contacts by company etc.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by tanstaafl »

Ok, you are talking about google contact labels, not gmail labels. Last time I used CardBook I did not have Google Contacts. I'll try again and see if maybe I can find a way for it to sync labels.
JYLD
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Joined: July 18th, 2019, 9:59 am

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by JYLD »

mozillallizom wrote:I uninstalled all add ons, uninstalled tbird, rebooted, installed tbird 68.0, installed gcontactsync 3.1.7. It still syncs nothing.
When you uninstalled TB did you then manually delete your entire profile? When TB uninstalls it still leaves a lot of profile info and setup on your hard disk. When you reinstall TB it will find that profile and incorporate the info it finds there.

You should try uninstalling TB again. Then manually delete the entire profile left on your hard disk. Another alternative would be to install TB on a computer that has never had TB installed and then install gcontactsync and see if it works.
periodic
Posts: 178
Joined: October 13th, 2006, 10:13 pm

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by periodic »

Yes I left the profile intact. I'm hesitant to completely remove the data files and profile bits because I have a decent number of email accounts in use. #1 if I perform the export routine (forget what it's called) that allows one to migrate to a new pc easily, that would take care of the config aspect. But would it possibly reproduce the problem? #2 if I copy the data files for the largest email account before I did a profile toss, could I reattach to those data file? If I could that would save the substantial download of all of the emails.
JYLD
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Joined: July 18th, 2019, 9:59 am

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by JYLD »

You could try this. Uninstall TB. Then go to the TB profile that remains and rename it. The profile for example might be at c:\users\..............\Thunderbird\Profiles\.......\
Rename Thunderbird to OLDTB and just to be super safe rename Profiles OLDProfiles.

Then reboot and reinstall TB. Connect the new TB to your gmail account. Make sure that is working properly (sending, receiving, syncing). Then install gContactSync as your first and only addin. If that works then there is a corruption in your old profile setup. If it doesn't I'm afraid I'm out of ideas. My suspicion is that when you gContactSync offered to sync those 3k contacts and you told it not, that is when the corruption happened. If it offers to sync 3k contacts again, SAY YES. It could be all the labels you use in contacts is throwing gContactSync off or gContactSync is merely trying to create a TB address book sub-group for every label you use. That might cause 500 contacts to turn into 3k contacts because of all the double counting.
periodic
Posts: 178
Joined: October 13th, 2006, 10:13 pm

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by periodic »

I think I will pass on that experiment. I'm going to reformat this pc and move it to windows 10 in the coming months and at that time I'll the fresh install of thunderbird will be a good starting point. One question about that - is there a thunderbird migration routine which only migrates the email settings, and is it likely that a profile corruption would be carried with a migration of that type? I just remembered that at least one of the migration techniques (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/mo ... w-computer) that I've used recently for other pcs does move kind of the whole wad to the new pc. For the reformat and windows 10 install of thunderbird I'm planning on now, I'd be glad enough if I could just export/import my email settings (accounts and all of the details related to accounts like signatures etc). Is there a tool that does just that? 90% sure that there used to be and I've used it, but not sure it's still a viable route.
periodic
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Joined: October 13th, 2006, 10:13 pm

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by periodic »

BTW, I have now made the experiment of installing thunderbird for these email accounts on a separate pc, and gcontactsync performs normally there. One reason not to try too much more with my main workstation, which will be formatted soon, is to reduce the risk of messing up the contact list that google has.
JYLD
Posts: 305
Joined: July 18th, 2019, 9:59 am

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by JYLD »

I think you have shown that there is a corruption in your workstation TB profile, as I suspected.

To port settings to a new installation, I use the addon "MozBackup". Install that addon to your workstation TB. Next exit TB and fire up MozBackup. Tell MozBackup to do an account settings only backup. As a safeguard, run MozBackup tell it to backup everything but emails and save that backup under a different name from the settings only backup.

Once you have a fresh install of TB, install the MozBackup addon. Then exit TB. Fire up MozBackup and do a restore of the settings only backup. That should set up your email accounts and any preferences adjustments you made. Next manually install the other addons you use like gcontactsync.
periodic
Posts: 178
Joined: October 13th, 2006, 10:13 pm

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by periodic »

Good enough, thanks everyone for your help.
periodic
Posts: 178
Joined: October 13th, 2006, 10:13 pm

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by periodic »

I have reformatted that pc and have a new installation of thunderbird 68.2.1 on it. The first time around I moved my profile over to the new pc, but found that gcontactsync still failed (as JYLD would have predicted), so I removed thunderbird, the profile, then reinstalled tbird and started each email account from scratch. Gcontactsync now works better than it did; it does sync down from gmail.

However there are no labels for the contacts visible, and I have not been able to sync any changes up to gmail.

For each account in gcontactsync, we have the ability to choose "Groups and Contacts to Syncronize". The default is "My Contacts" which is what I would think is appropriate, but other options are "All groups and contacts" and "Only contacts (no groups)". I'm pretty sure that "groups" means labels. "All groups and contacts" brings in all contacts and the lables. "My Contacts" does not.

I'd be posting this on the support forum for gcontactsync, but the forum seems to be broken.

I have spent so many hours on this and it still doesn't work. I will reiterate, I wish thunderbird would add sync to gmail contacts to the core product. Net, the issues with contacts and contact extensions mean that thunderbird, while critical to my daily workflow, is the most time wasting program I use by a wide margin.

I do totally appreciate the support I've had here, this is one of the best online communties. However I am getting to the point where I have to consider the time factor. I may I have found a viable alternative and will experiment with it.
JYLD
Posts: 305
Joined: July 18th, 2019, 9:59 am

Re: Google Contact and gContactSync don't work so...?

Post by JYLD »

mozillallizom wrote:"All groups and contacts" and "Only contacts (no groups)". I'm pretty sure that "groups" means labels. "All groups and contacts" brings in all contacts and the lables. "My Contacts" does not.
So use All groups and contacts. What is the problem with that. Lots of people don't use groups(labels) in the contacts at all. You do. That's why the All Groups and Contacts is there as a choice.
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