Tech Forum Archive

iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct URL

28 postsstarted by lukepatrickmoran 8,095 viewsoriginal topic

lukepatrickmoran
New Member
#1
I have lost all the events that come from my stake and ward calendar and all my subscriptions- as such i checked lds.org calendar - all seemed in order so i did a new sync and got a new URL and still not working- so now the only way i can see the events is to sign into lads.org instead of how i use to use my computer and smartphone through ical with the calendar linked to devices via iCloud, incidentally the iCloud is working fine- it is the lads calendar that is not working at all.. help pls

thanks
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#2

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

I did a quick check by pasting the URL into the browser and got a iCal file, so it seems to be working - now. But it's also late enough on a Utah workday that any failed server would have been reset.

Are you only using the URL in one place (the iCloud) and the refresh is set to longer than 9 minutes?
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lukepatrickmoran
New Member
#3

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

i have checked this morning and the calendar is now working on my computer but on my phone and the iPad the calendars (which is the same linked calendar all on iCloud) are not working- though i can edit the name in the computer and it will change on the devices- there are still no events displayed on the devices

the refresh rate on the computer is ever 15 mins- i don't know what is is on the devices- i would assume the same as its using the iCloud calendar ??
aebrown
Community Administrator
#4

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

lukepatrickmoran wrote:i have checked this morning and the calendar is now working on my computer but on my phone and the iPad the calendars (which is the same linked calendar all on iCloud) are not working- though i can edit the name in the computer and it will change on the devices- there are still no events displayed on the devices

the refresh rate on the computer is ever 15 mins- i don't know what is is on the devices- i would assume the same as its using the iCloud calendar ??
When you are using more than one device (and it sounds like you are using 3 devices), 15 minutes is way too fast. It's possible that everything is working completely correctly, and yet you get no data on your devices. Suppose that the computer refreshes at 1:00, 1:15, 1:30, etc. Then the phone tries at 1:03, 1:18, 1:33, etc., and the iPad tries at 1:06, 1:21, 1:36, etc. Then in each 15 minute interval, the computer is going to hit the sync URL successfully, then 3 minutes later the phone tries (and fails, because it's less than 9 minutes after the computer accessed the sync URL), then the iPad tries again 3 minutes after that (and fails, because it still hasn't been 9 minutes). Then at 1:15, the computer tries and succeeds, followed by the phone and iPad failing, in an endless cycle.

To make this reliable, you need to be able to control both the interval and the starting time. To give yourself a safety margin, you could have each device try at one-hour intervals, with the computer hitting the sync URL on the hour, the phone 20 minutes later, and the iPad 20 minutes after that. I don't know if you have that much control over the refresh settings, but doing 3 devices on overlapping 15 minute cycles just won't work.
Questions that can benefit the larger community should be asked in a public forum, not a private message.
lukepatrickmoran
New Member
#5

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

i have changed this setting of the ical on the computer this still has not changed anything :( i still can't get my calendar on the other devices
danielsbrown
New Member
#6

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

I'm having the same issues as lukepatrickmoran. I have lost the calendar in spite of issuing a new URL and setting all devices to check no more frequently than an hour. This has been an issue for other apple users attempting to sync to iCal. Can tech support provide any guidance to leaders on this issue? It's very unreliable.
danielsbrown
New Member
#7

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

If all my devices are receiving the lds calendar via iCloud as submitted by the calendar on my Apple desktop computer, the refresh rate on the devices is not pertinent, correct? So, how can I get the LDS.org server to feed the calendar to my desktop version. I have subscribed with a new URL, but it still is not showing in my calendar. I'm using Yosemite. Thanks so much for your help.

--
aebrown wrote:
lukepatrickmoran wrote:i have checked this morning and the calendar is now working on my computer but on my phone and the iPad the calendars (which is the same linked calendar all on iCloud) are not working- though i can edit the name in the computer and it will change on the devices- there are still no events displayed on the devices

the refresh rate on the computer is ever 15 mins- i don't know what is is on the devices- i would assume the same as its using the iCloud calendar ??
When you are using more than one device (and it sounds like you are using 3 devices), 15 minutes is way too fast. It's possible that everything is working completely correctly, and yet you get no data on your devices. Suppose that the computer refreshes at 1:00, 1:15, 1:30, etc. Then the phone tries at 1:03, 1:18, 1:33, etc., and the iPad tries at 1:06, 1:21, 1:36, etc. Then in each 15 minute interval, the computer is going to hit the sync URL successfully, then 3 minutes later the phone tries (and fails, because it's less than 9 minutes after the computer accessed the sync URL), then the iPad tries again 3 minutes after that (and fails, because it still hasn't been 9 minutes). Then at 1:15, the computer tries and succeeds, followed by the phone and iPad failing, in an endless cycle.

To make this reliable, you need to be able to control both the interval and the starting time. To give yourself a safety margin, you could have each device try at one-hour intervals, with the computer hitting the sync URL on the hour, the phone 20 minutes later, and the iPad 20 minutes after that. I don't know if you have that much control over the refresh settings, but doing 3 devices on overlapping 15 minute cycles just won't work.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#8

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

danielsbrown wrote:If all my devices are receiving the lds calendar via iCloud as submitted by the calendar on my Apple desktop computer, the refresh rate on the devices is not pertinent, correct?
I don't know Apple well enough to know. Are you putting in the URL in only one place?

Is the sync happening on your desktop, or is it happening in the iCloud and only inputted via the desktop?
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cboling
New Member
#9

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

I think the calendar server is having a problem.

I just tried to view my lds.org calendar in Thunderbird (It's always there, but I keep it invisible most of the time) and nothing showed up, so I used wget to retrieve the file:
and this is the document I got:
<html><body><center><h1><b>Not Available</b></h1><i>This page is unavailable. Error code: 2-1919</i></center></body></html>
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#10

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

It's working OK for me now. Note that if you run into the 9 minute throttle, you won't get anything. I think there's supposed to be a http error code, but I don't think most browsers pass that on.
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clivesidney
New Member
#11

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

Hello all

I am getting exactly the same problem.

I have issued a new sync code, and I can't sync on any of my devices. I have a Mac desktop, a Mac laptop, an iPad and an iPhone, and none of them can see my calendar now. For some reason I lost this on the phone some time ago, but now I can't get to the calendar on anything.

I have tried iCloud syncing, where only iCloud syncs with the LDS server, and then passes out the data to all the other devices, but no luck either.

If I try to view in a browser I get a blank screen (no error message or anything) and just as a test I even tried syncing with Google calendar, but that can't get the data either, and gives an error message.

Any other thoughts anyone?

C.
clivesidney
New Member
#12

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

A quick update - Google calendar has just accepted the URL (before it would not even accept it as a valid calendar and would return an error) but it seems the data stream is blank, as there are no events at all (I know there are events on my LDS calendar, as I do most of the ward updating. . .)

I am only using Google calendar as a test to see if the problem was confined to Apple devices, but ultimately I want to have this all working on my Apple stuff.

C.
aebrown
Community Administrator
#13

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

clivesidney wrote:A quick update - Google calendar has just accepted the URL (before it would not even accept it as a valid calendar and would return an error) but it seems the data stream is blank, as there are no events at all (I know there are events on my LDS calendar, as I do most of the ward updating. . .)
I don't have any ideas on your previous post (I'm not an Apple user), but this problem you mention here sounds exactly like the expected behavior if you (or any of your devices or applications) access the URL less than 9 minutes after the last access. There is a 9-minute throttle in place for all accesses to your sync URL.
Questions that can benefit the larger community should be asked in a public forum, not a private message.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#14

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

aebrown wrote:There is a 9-minute throttle in place for all accesses to your sync URL.
And resetting the URL doesn't reset the timer - so it's really any thing that syncs to your account.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

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patrickscullin
New Member
#15

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

I too was not getting the calendar to sync on my phone, ipad and computer. I readjusted the update setting on my desktop calendar to "once a day" and got the calendar to appear on my desktop ical but it made no difference on my phone or my ipad. All my calendars were synced through iCal as well.

I finally got it to work on my ipad and my iphone. This is what I had to do on my IOS devices:
1. In icloud settings, disconnect ical and delete data from phone.
2. Shut down phone. (Every other time I tried doing this without an IOS device restart it wouldn't work.)
3. Restart phone and reactivate icloud ical subscription. After a few minutes it should update.
clivesidney
New Member
#16

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

Hi Patrick - what do you mean "disconnect iCal and delete data from phone"?

I had a look and I am not sure exactly what you mean, and I am worried I will delete my other entries…

Also, presumably iCal on the mac has to be synched first using iCloud?

Can you please do a step-by-step for this?

This system with LDS calendars and iCloud is soooo complicated!

C.
tleish
New Member
#17

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

Same issue here with iCal for Google Calendar. Google calender fails to import iCal URL and generates "Settings Error: Could not fetch the url.".

Steps to Reproduce:
  • 1. "Generate New Sync URLs" from LDS.org calendar
    2. Add url to google calendar
    3. "Settings Error: Could not fetch the url."
If I attempt to add the same calendar url a 2nd time to google calendar, I do not get the error... but I don't get any events either. If I generate a new LDS.org calendar, google displays the same error as above.

wget of the url indicates that the iCal URL is not available.

Code: 

$ wget -qO- http://www.lds.org/church-calendar/services/lucrs/ical/subscribe/...
<html><body><center><h1><b>Not Available</b></h1><i>This page is unavailable.  Error code: 2-1919</i></center></body></html>
In contrast, if I use the same wget command with Apples US Holidays iCal URL I get:

Code: 

$ wget -qO- http://files.apple.com/calendars/US32Holidays.ics
BEGIN:VCALENDAR
METHOD:PUBLISH
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Apple Inc.//iPhoto//EN
X-WR-CALNAME:US Holidays
...
So, clearly something is wrong with the server.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#18

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

tleish wrote:So, clearly something is wrong with the server.
Seems to be working OK for me. Keep in mind that there is a 9-minute throttle. You can only use your sync once every 9 minutes. Changing the URL doesn't reset the timer. If you have a number of devices, then it becomes that much more complex to make sure they don't bump into each other.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
tleish
New Member
#19

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

Perhaps testing with wget is the wrong approach, but it's still not working in Google Calendar.

I hadn't tried to sync since yesterday afternoon. Tried to add the URL again this morning on my google calendar, but still get "Settings Error: Could not fetch the url.".
Google_Calendar.png
Google_Calendar.png (11.94 KiB) Viewed 2592 times
After failing in google, I tried using wget again. It worked the first time (but failed the 2nd with the 9 minute delay).

Code: 

$ wget -qO- http://www.lds.org/church-calendar/services/lucrs/ical/subscribe/...
BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints//LDS Calendar 2.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
...
So regardless of wget or the 9 minute delay , it's still producing an error in google calendar.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#20

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

I tried pasting it into another Google calendar and it seemed to work for me as it pulled in events. Do you have anything else using that URL? Otherwise this may be account dependent.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

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tleish
New Member
#21

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

russellhltn wrote:Do you have anything else using that URL?
This gave me a clue that my spouse was using the same URL on her google calendar. It hadn't occurred to me that only one of us could use it.

Working now,

Thanks
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#22

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

tleish wrote:This gave me a clue that my spouse was using the same URL on her google calendar.
Odd. My experience has been that Google only updates once every 24 hours. It shouldn't be an issue. But I suppose that if both of you are using it, one may update right after the other leading one to have a problem.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
clivesidney
New Member
#23

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

Thank you all so much - I have it working now on iCloud (it was the nine minute thing - so now I only have iCloud using the sync, and everything else getting it from there).

Another question - in my LDS calendar I have several ward calendars and a stake calendar which I can select or deselect in the online (LDS.org) version of the calendar, but even when I deselect there they still all come to iCloud. There are so many stake reminders that I don't want in my iCloud calendar but they all seem to come through and I can't stop them.

Any suggestions about this please?

C.
lajackson
Community Moderators
#24

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

You receive everything to which you are subscribed, whether or not you have selected it for viewing online.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
#25

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

clivesidney wrote:I have several ward calendars and a stake calendar which I can select or deselect in the online (LDS.org) version of the calendar, but even when I deselect there they still all come to iCloud.
Those checkboxes only affect the display. You have to change your subscription to remove them from the sync. (And when you do that, you no longer have the option to display them.)
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
clivesidney
New Member
#26

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

So how can I remove them from my subscription? I have looked everywhere and can't find how to. I am on our ward bishopric, and it looks to me that I am stuck with them - unless there is a non-obvious way of removing the stake subscription.

C.
eblood66
Senior Member
#27

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

clivesidney wrote:So how can I remove them from my subscription? I have looked everywhere and can't find how to. I am on our ward bishopric, and it looks to me that I am stuck with them - unless there is a non-obvious way of removing the stake subscription.

C.
On the left hand side of the screen, immediately above the "Churchwide Calendars" there is a small button with two right arrows on it. Click that button and the left hand panel will expand and provide you options to subscribe and unsubscribe from calendars.
clivesidney
New Member
#28

Re: iCal not importing to computer or phone despite correct

Thank you soooooo much for that - now it is all working as I want it.

Best wishes,

C.