ICal Alarms Fail Repeatedly

Since upgrading to Leopard (currently 10.5.7), iCal alarms have failed to appear several times. That is, they work for a while, then stop working. This didn't happen at first. But when it was clear iCal alarms were not working (I ran several tests) I called Apple. The expert had me delete a number of files (Cache folder and several plists) and restart the computer. Problem solved.
Or maybe not. About a week later alarms failed again. I called Apple again, and talked to two experts. The first had me restart the computer. An alarm popped up. Then she had me delete several things and try another test--no alarm. I restarted the computer again and an alarm popped up. A test in a new user account worked, so apparently the software is OK.
Next she passed me to expert #2. He had me make sure iCal and iCal Helper were in the list of startup items. He was certain this would solve the problem. 2 tests (iCal running, iCal not running) both produced alarms. Problem solved.
Or maybe not. Another week has passed and alarms failed again. Tried a test--failure. I restarted the computer and alarms DO work again. But why is that necessary when for years (in earlier versions) it wasn't?
I'm about to call Apple again. But does any expert not employed by Apple have any ideas?

Charles,
Hopefully, Apple will come up with a solution as I'm obviously not the only person having this problem.
I concur, but in order for Apple to be informed of this problem you should also Provide iCal Feedback.
;~)

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Daily Repeating iCal Alarm fails after 4/1/06. DST related?

On two separate machines I maintain, a repeating alarm stopped working after April 1, 2006. The machines were both running 10.4.3, but are in different locations. Each of them has a daily repeating alarm that is set to open an Automator action at 11:30pm daily. Neither machine had the iCal application actually running (they are automation machines...no user), and iCal application probably hadn't been run for some time.
I realized today (April 4) that the last time the event ran was April 1. I opened iCal on each machine, and each case the Automator action immediately ran (even though it was nowhere near 11:30pm).
Hopefully the alarm will work again now. I wonder if this has something to do with the DST change. Any thoughts on what might have happened? Anyone else experience unreliable alarms after the DST change?
PowerMac G5 Quad 2.5 Mac OS X (10.4.6) http://www.markandjo.com/markblog

Welcome to the discussions Jennifer.
It sounds like you have more serious problems than a missed alarm!
To establish whether your problems are user-based or system based, you could make a new user, log on as that user, and run iCal. Add a few events, set a few alarms, make an extra calendar or two (but don't subscribe to any) quit and restart iCal a couple of times and let us know how you get on.
AK

Ical alarm fails occasionally

Hello,
I set up daily alarms in iCal for things I have to do at exactly the same time everyday. However, once in a while, iCal will either fail to send the alarm or the alarm shows up several hours after the scheduled time. It happens sporadically and I have not found any correlations with other things with my Mac. Does anyone has any clue/solution to this?
Thanks!

Welcome to the discussions Jennifer.
It sounds like you have more serious problems than a missed alarm!
To establish whether your problems are user-based or system based, you could make a new user, log on as that user, and run iCal. Add a few events, set a few alarms, make an extra calendar or two (but don't subscribe to any) quit and restart iCal a couple of times and let us know how you get on.
AK

Changing the default Repeat Times list in iCal Alarms?

Has anyone ever figured out a way to change the default "repeat times" list on iCal Alarms?
[img]http://img.skitch.com/20091129-xe9qr7yt94d8e6bq5pp3nya574.jpg[/img]
I'd love to add a few to iCal's current offerings, like "4 hours" "8 hours" etc.

Dear Rich
Welcome to Apple Forums,
I'm not sure about either of these but it used to be that you could rook the finder into opening in which ever view you wanted by double clicking on your hard drive icon on your desk top changing it to the view you want and then resizing it slightly. If you then close it and reopen it it should open to list view again. Again i'm not sure that this still works but its better than nothing. Also there is a free program called Cocktail that might do it for you( i have an old version and there for the newer version might have it when might doesn't). I hope one of these two ideas works out for you.

ICal Alarm - Pass Event data to AppleScript?

Is there a way that a script called by an iCal alarm can be passed event data as parameters?

This is a quick one I knocked up a while back to see if it was possible. The problem is that iCal doesn't tell the script what event triggered it, so you have to go looking ...
click here to open this script in your editor<pre style="font-family: 'Monaco', 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; overflow:auto; color: #222; background: #DDD; padding: 0.2em; font-size: 10px; width:400px">(*
called from iCal as on alarm, will speak the title of the alarm event
won't work for repeating events
AK ITCarlow Nov 2004
set Now to current date
-- Adjust FuzzSeconds to suit; if too big, close events will speak several times
set FuzzSeconds to 15
tell application "iCal"
set MyEvents to every event of every calendar where ((start date of it) ≥ (current date))
repeat with ThisEvent in MyEvents --scan the list looking for events that have triggered us
try
set MinutesBefore to (trigger interval of open file alarm of ThisEvent) as number
set TriggerInt to (Now - ((start date of ThisEvent) + 60 * MinutesBefore)) --notionally 0 for firing event
if (TriggerInt < FuzzSeconds) and (TriggerInt > (-FuzzSeconds)) then
say (summary of ThisEvent as text) & " at " & (start date of ThisEvent as text)
--could say other fields too eg location, description ...
end if
end try
end repeat
end tell
</pre>
AK

ICal Alarms not working in iPod

Around six months ago iCal alarms stopped working on my iPod.
They do not even show up when I view a To Do or Event on my iPod. This happened all of a sudden and I have never changed any settings other than installing standard updates. I cannot recall if it was around the same time as an update. I use iCal 2.0.5 (1069). I was using a 60G iPod when this occurred. My new 80G has the same problem.
Any ideas? I have searched everywhere(!) to no avail.
I am very keen to get this feature back. Any suggestions most welcome. Thanks in advance!
(This is my first post/question on here. I apologise if I have posted in the wrong place or asked a stupid question.)

Believe me when I saw I have tried everything! I am not technically minded though I have covered all bases. I am just anxious to get this great feature back. It just seems strange that I am the only one with issues. This happened with my 60G then right through to now. I am actually on my second 80G as the first's battery failed after a month.
Is it an issue with my Power Book? I seriously have not change any settings - EVER. Except for the standard updates.
Thanks again for your quick reply Anyone got any ideas?!

ICal Import Failed Multiple validation errors occurred.

I am trying to move my old iCal calendars that used to sync fine to the new ones to sync to mobile me
I exported each calendar but when I try to import each I get
iCal Import Failed Multiple validation errors occurred.
It occurs whether or not I choose to keep or remove unsafe alarms.
I have deleted iCal caches etc.

i'm having this problem as well. (in addition to duplicate calendars of the ones i was able to manually import.) any help would be greatly appreciated.
/rant on
this isn't really the way i had hoped to spend my saturday night, i'm really disappointed that ical didn't sync intuitively to mobileme--isn't that why i pay for a subscription?
/rant off.

ICal alarms won't Open File

I created two Automator actions, one to mount a server and one to eject the server. Both actions work fine in the Finder. I saved them both as iCal plug-ins to run the same time every day. While the server is mounted Backup runs and backs up my Mac to the server.
The problem is the Mount Server plug-in doesn't work, only the Eject Server plug-in, so when I come in to work each morning, Backup is waiting for the server. Then I have to mount it and wait 20+ minutes for Backup to run before I can get to work.
Can anyone think of why this particular plug-in isn't working? When I go to ~/Library/Workflows/Applications/iCal/Mount Backup.app and simply double click the Automator action it works fine. It's iCal that's acting flaky. I've also tried an AppleScript that mounts the server, but that didn't work either. (ejecting still works fine)
I'm stumped. Any help/clues would be appreciated. I'm running 10.4.5 on a Dual 1.8 GHz G5 with 3 GB RAM.

Sorry, I'm a long time "end user." The terminal makes me nervous. But I did end up fixing the problem.
I was setting the iCal alarm to open at a specific time during an all day event. (i.e. all day event, alarm set for 7:00 pm) That wasn't working. When Automator created the event it set it as a timed event with an untimed alarm (i.e. 7:00 pm to 7:00 pm, alarm set to 0 minutes before) which makes less sense to me, but it works so what do I know. I adjusted the repeat schedule to my liking and all is well.
Incidentally, the AppleScript that mounted the server was essentially "double-clicking" an alias of the server. The Automator action was mounting it based on it's IP address on the network. I'm sure they work about the same way, but the AppleScript still doesn't work in iCal. I think it's because Automator uses magic.

Strange behavior for iCal alarms

To run an AppleScript from an iCal alarm you do the following:
In Automator, create a Calendar Alarm
Select Utilities from the library pane
Select & drag Run AppleScript into the workflow area
Copy/paste an AppleScript into the Run AppleScript box
Save the newly created Calendar Alarm with name (e.g. ArchNew)
This will open the Automator Calendar in iCal
Edit the Date/Time/Repeat/...... as you want as shown in the example below
The resulting AppleScript will be stored here
/Users/<user_acct>/Library/Workflows/Applications/Calendar/ArchNew.app
Now the problem
If at a later time you want to modify the AppleScript ArchNew.app using the AppleScript Editor, it will break the binding between the iCal alarm and the AppleScript ArchNew.app
The only way I've been able to do this is delete the file
/Users/<user_acct>/Library/Workflows/Applications/Calendar/ArchNew.app
and then go back to #1 above and repeat the whole process with the modified AppleScript.
Does anyone know why the simple approach of directly editing and saving the changes to the AppleScript ArchNew.app doesn't work?

You still haven't provided your 4 digit Oracle version or the TABLE and INDEX DDL.
Your 'problem' could be nothing more than DEFERRED SEGMENT creation where Oracle doesn't allocate space until the first data is added for that segment.
See 'Understanding Deferred Segment Creation' in the DBA Guide
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E11882_01/server.112/e25494/tables002.htm#CHDGJAGB
>
Understand Deferred Segment Creation
Beginning with Oracle Database 11g Release 2, when you create heap-organized tables in a locally managed tablespace, the database defers table segment creation until the first row is inserted.
In addition, segment creation is deferred for any LOB columns of the table, any indexes created implicitly as part of table creation, and any indexes subsequently explicitly created on the table.
Note:
In Release 11.2.0.1, deferred segment creation is not supported for partitioned tables. This restriction is removed in release 11.2.0.2 and later.
>
That is why it is MANDATORY that posters provide their 4 digit Oracle versions. There are too many features that depend on the version being used.

Ical alarm keeps trying to open file from old location

I have an iCal alarm to open an accounts file each day.
I moved the file to another folder,
and selected the new location iniCal.
It always gives me this:
Could not open file because 'Old/Path/to/File' could not be found.
When I look at the alarm section in the iCal event, there is a list of files.
When I choose the file (with the same file name) in the NEW folder, this list of files doesnt seem to update.
Is there of forcing iCal to open my new file path?
or a way of taking the OLD file out of this list?
Thank you for your help
Frazer

I just found how to removed the old files from my list
in the terminal I type:
open library/preferences/com.apple.iCal.plist
and then delete the entries under PersistentMenu
Would still love to hear a more user friendly way to do this.
And a way to just get iCal to open the new file path, or how best to report this bug to apple

How prevent iCal ALARM reminders popping up when not wanted?

Sometimes I don't want to see my alarm box popping up to remind me of things.
Suddenly, & frequently, the pesky iCal Alarm box pops up in the middle of the screen with another preset alarm reminder, insisting on my immediate attention. Like when I'm watching a video on my mac.
Then I've got to get up and move it out of the way, but as soon as I touch it, the video which I've set to full screen shrinks to small & I've got to click it to big again. This is just one of the inconveniences.
Please, how can I set the iCal alarm to give it a rest for a while and save those reminders for later
I've made lots of iCal alarms to remind me of things throughout the day. so these interruptions are a constant problem.
Q#2: Why doesn't my ALARM BOX show active the Yellow Button so I could relegate it to the side Dock? Or even the Green Button, so I could enlarge it when I want to see all my open reminders without scrolling?
Instead, My ical ALARM BOX only has the Red button, which closes it out and loses all those reminders therein until it's their time again.
Oh, dear, I don't think anybody can solve this problem.
Or
can
you?

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How can I get iCal alarm to sync with my iPhone 4?

My iCal alarm won't sync with my iPhone 4 if I add the event using iCal on my Mac. I find that if I set an alarm on iCal, I only get an alert on my computer. If I add an event on my iPhone, I get a pop up alarm on both the phone and the computer. I want to be able to add an event on my computer and get an alert on both devices. Is this option even possible?

Turn up the alert volume all the way in Sounds. Lock it so you can't change it with the buttons.

Ical alarm default email is incorrect, how do I change it to match "my card" in address book.

When I create a new event in Ical the default email that appears in the ical alarm drop down menu is incorrect. I have changed My Card in Address Book to match my new email address but ical still wants to use the old email address. I have also completely deleted the old email account from Mail too. Does anyone have a solution to this problem?

If you've updated the account to have the correct email email address on the other devices tap on the old id id in Settings > iTunes & App Store and log out of it and then log back in with the updated version of the account so as to 'refresh' the account on them.

HT2488 How do I create an iCal Alarm to delay send an e-mail in my Drafts folder of Mail?

I've learned how to use iCal Alarm to schedule sending an e-mail. However, all of the instructions I read say that I have to type the e-mail inside the automator's "New Mail Message". Is there a way to type the message in Mail, save it in drafts, and then create an iCal Alarm to schedule sending it?
I got as far as "Get Specified Mail Items" --> "Display Mail Messages". This sequence displayed a message in Drafts. What next to get it to send that message it displayed? I tried adding "Send Outgoing Message" to the sequence with no success. And I tried adding "New Mail Message" --> "Send Outgoing Message" to the sequence with no success.
Sometimes there will be several e-mails I want to delay send (some that I started earlier in the day, saved in Drafts and finished up in the wee hours of the morning) and it seems a waste to have to create a new iCal Alarm for each.
Thank you!

I've learned how to use iCal Alarm to schedule sending an e-mail. However, all of the instructions I read say that I have to type the e-mail inside the automator's "New Mail Message". Is there a way to type the message in Mail, save it in drafts, and then create an iCal Alarm to schedule sending it?
I got as far as "Get Specified Mail Items" --> "Display Mail Messages". This sequence displayed a message in Drafts. What next to get it to send that message it displayed? I tried adding "Send Outgoing Message" to the sequence with no success. And I tried adding "New Mail Message" --> "Send Outgoing Message" to the sequence with no success.
Sometimes there will be several e-mails I want to delay send (some that I started earlier in the day, saved in Drafts and finished up in the wee hours of the morning) and it seems a waste to have to create a new iCal Alarm for each.
Thank you!

Why are iCal alarms coming up with a black rectangle?

Why are iCal alarms coming up with a black rectangle? I'm running 10.3.9 and iCal v. 1.5.2. This started after I did software updates this week.
iMac Mac OS X (10.3.9)

I solved it in my case by going to System Preferences>Internet & Network>QuickTime>Advanced, then clicking the checkbox to Enable Flash. I also had to quit and restart iCal.
I think the Quicktime715 update that recently came out had something to do with it.
It seems that the black box is supposed to be a movie of a vibrating alarm clock, and apparently that movie uses Flash.
I hope this fix works for you too.

ICal Alarms Fail Repeatedly

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