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May 06iSync and new Nokia devices: hack or NovaMedia?
As soon as I got my E61 (3 weeks ago), I immediately started happy hacking iSync’s MetaClasses.plist file.
I copied the definition for N90 and changed the name.
Then I created an icon from a web image.
Then I synched my calendar and contacts.
I spent a few hours enjoying this easy almost out-of-the-box compatibility (but come on… out of the box is not satisfying for all the hackers around) between my mac and my new device.
A few hours later (almost 2 after I had attended a meeting) an alarm went on, telling me I had a meeting (the one I had just left).
I thought my head was just playing tricks on me, and I’m just getting too old to manage scheduling the right time for my appointments.
The only thing that got me thinking was that I usually create events on iCal, and choose the option “20 minutes before”.
I had to start testing thoroughly.
I created a new event at 4.00 PM, set the alarm to go on 15 minutes before, and synched.
On my phone the appointment time was all right, but the alarm was 2 hours later than it was supposed to be.
After trying to activate TimeZone support in iCal, and tried the various Time Zone options (amsterdam/europe, UTC/GMT, Floating and other…) I was about to give up.
Then I realized that amsterdam is GMT+2 on summer, which was exactly the amount of hours the alarm was postponed.
It was time to try with a different time setting on the device.
I chose different time zones and every time the alarm time got shifted exactly the amount of hours difference from GMT.
There’s 3 things you blame for this kind of issues.
In order:
- iCal
- iSync
- Nokia’s software
Needless to say none of them was responsible (at least not directly), and I had to put the blame on myself first.
I started looking around on the web, but as you may know this device (the whole E series) is not very diffused.
One day Michael Hale pointed me to the NovaMedia plugin. I pointed to the website and felt pretty annoyed by the fact you have to buy the plugin on a trust basis.
They say the plugin works with E61, but you cannot try it.
There’s a reason why you can’t try it.
This reason is that it’s very easy to hack it.
Essentially what the guys did was study and analize the syncML specs, then make a plugin that aligns the sync data properly in order to be transferred to the device.
I’m not here telling you how to hack it, but if you check the content of the plugin (once you’ve bought it) /Library/PhonePlugins/novamedia.phoneplugin/Contents/Resources you’ll see a few configuration files, which are just extended versions of the before mentioned MetaClasses.plist.
In these files you can see the phone definition and if you check the inheritsFrom node, you can see that it reads information from another portion of the file.
What I can tell you is that I edited this file in order to show my E61 icon instead of the NovaMedia one (no offense, guys, but that icon is ugly. Plus I want to see the E61 in iSync).
After all the waste of time trying to hack iSync properly (as novamedia did), I can honestly tell you that these 10 dollars are really well spent (as you can read on the website).
Install the software, the device works.
Can it be any easier?
Of course we’ll all be annoyed when Apple will supporte these devices, but be sure it won’t happen anytime soon.
BUY THE PLUGIN AND HAVE FUN
u.
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May 29th, 2006 at 11:51 pm
Can you tell me (a person will pretty much no programming knowledge) how to change the icon? I like the other one too
May 30th, 2006 at 12:15 am
check the latest article for an explanation on how to change the icon.
http://www.randomtype.com/?p=137
June 28th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
Thanks for the icon and tip, mine is now chnged…
Pity Mac OS 10.4.7 does not yet support the Nokia E61 out of the box, but great NovaMedia makes a plugin and updated it with in a few hours of the OS update coming out.
Regards.
July 5th, 2006 at 11:58 pm
I purchased the nova plugin and I have the same problem with ical and the syncing times.
July 6th, 2006 at 12:02 am
brett, you might still have the hacked metaClasses.plist file.
if you do have an entry for your device in the plist, just remove it, so the novamedia descriptors will kick in.
only thing I can think of as I had the same problem when I first bought it.
September 9th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R.