You are on page 1of 24

Setup and Troubleshooting for Mac OS X

Windows XP & Windows Vista

1
1
Introduction

• Mobile Me calls should not be transferred


to Tier 2
• CSATS and Mobile Me
• Scope of Support

2
Mobile Me
iPhone & iPod Touch

3
3
Mobile Me
iPhone & iPod Touch

1. Sync your iPhone or iPod touch with iTunes


▪ Download and install the latest version of iTunes.
▪ Make sure you’re using the latest version of iPhone or iPod touch software (2.1). To check for updates, connect
your iPhone or iPod touch to your computer, go to the iTunes summary tab and click “Check for Update.”

4
4
Mobile Me
iPhone & iPod Touch
If you have a new iPhone or iPod touch, skip to step 2. Otherwise, follow these steps to sync with iTunes:
▪ With your iPhone or iPod touch still connected to your computer, go to the iTunes Info tab. Click the checkboxes to sync your
contacts, calendars, and bookmarks and choose the applications you use to manage each (such as Outlook and Internet Explorer).
▪ Click Apply, then click Sync.
▪ Make sure that the contacts, calendars, and bookmarks from your iPhone or iPod touch are now on your PC. Open the applications
you chose in the iTunes Info section to check the contents.

5
5
Mobile Me
iPhone & iPod Touch

2. Sync Your Data with MobileMe


▪ Download and install the latest version of
MobileMe Control Panel.
▪ From the Windows Start menu, open Control Panel and choose
MobileMe. MobileMe is located in Network and Internet on
Windows Vista and in Network and Internet Connections on
Windows XP. After opening the MobileMe Control Panel, log in
with your member name and password.
▪ Click the Sync tab. Click the “Sync with MobileMe” checkbox and
select a sync interval. For the most frequent updates, choose
Automatically, which syncs with MobileMe every 15 minutes.*
▪ Click the checkboxes for Contacts, Calendars, and Bookmarks.
Use the pull-down menus to choose the applications you
specified in iTunes (such as Outlook and Internet Explorer).
▪ Click the Sync Now button.
▪ Make sure that your contacts and calendars are now in
MobileMe. Go to www.me.com, log in, and check Contacts and
Calendar.

Note: If you use Microsoft Outlook in conjunction with Microsoft


Exchange Server, MobileMe will not sync your contacts or calendars
with Outlook. You may still access your Exchange data over the air
using your iPhone or iPod touch.

6
6
Mobile Me
iPhone & iPod Touch

3. Set Up MobileMe on Your iPhone or iPod touch



On your iPhone or iPod touch Home screen, tap Settings.

Make sure Fetch New Data is set to Push.

Tap “Mail, Contacts, Calendars.”

If you’ve already set up a .Mac or MobileMe account,
select your account and skip the next step. If you haven’t
set up an account, tap Add Account, enter your MobileMe
account information, and tap Save.
▪ Choose the data you would like synced over the air to
your device and tap Save. Important: When you tap the
Sync button, MobileMe overwrites any existing
contacts, calendars, and bookmarks on your iPhone or
iPod touch. To avoid losing data, make sure that you
have completed steps 2 and 3 above.

You’re done! Your email, contacts, calendars, and bookmarks


will now stay in sync between your iPhone or iPod touch, your
PC, and on the web at me.com.

7
7
Mobile Me
Mac OS X Setup

8
8
Mobile Me
Mac OS X
Get the Latest Software
Make sure you’re using the latest version of Mac OS
X Leopard (10.5.5) or Tiger (10.4.11). To check for
updates, choose Software Update from the Apple
menu.

Sign in to MobileMe on your Mac


Open System Preferences, choose MobileMe, and
sign in with your MobileMe username and password.
If you see the .Mac logo instead of the MobileMe
logo, select .Mac and sign in.  Follow onscreen
instructions if any appear.

Set Up MobileMe Sync


1. Open System Preferences and verify that you
are signed into MobileMe on your Mac.
2. Click the Sync tab. Click the “Synchronize with
MobileMe” checkbox and select a sync interval.
For the most frequent updates, choose
Automatically, which syncs with MobileMe every
15 minutes.*
3. Click the checkboxes to sync your contacts,
calendars, and bookmarks with MobileMe.
4. Click the Sync Now button.
5. To make sure your data has synced, go to
www.me.com, log in, and check Contacts and
Calendar.

9
9
Mobile Me
Mac OS X

Set Up Mail
If you are using Mac OS X Leopard and have not used Mail on this computer before, your MobileMe Mail account will be
configured for you automatically.

If you have been using Mac OS X Mail on this computer prior to setting up your MobileMe account, follow these quick
instructions to set up MobileMe Mail on your Mac.
1. Open Mac OS X Mail.
2. Choose Preferences from the Mail menu and select Accounts.
3. Click the + button in the lower left corner.
4. Enter the name you would like others to see when you send email, and your me.com address and password. (If
you have a mac.com address, you may use it instead). Make sure the box next to "Automatically set up account" is
checked. When you’re finished, click Create. Your MobileMe Mail is now set up on your Mac.
If you are using Mac OS X Tiger, please visit this page for additional instructions.

iDisk, Gallery, and iWeb publishing


When you sign in to MobileMe on your Mac, iDisk, Gallery, and iWeb publishing are set up automatically as follows:
▪ iDisk automatically appears in the Finder so you can access it right from your desktop.
▪ Photo and movie sharing via your MobileMe Gallery is automatically enabled in iPhoto '08, iMovie '08, and
Aperture 2.
▪ iWeb’s one-click publishing feature is automatically configured for your MobileMe account.

10
10
Mobile Me
Mac OS X

Additional Sync Options


In addition to your contacts, calendars and bookmarks, MobileMe makes it easy to synchronize a variety of Mac OS X
settings across multiple Mac computers.

You can set up MobileMe to sync Dashboard widget preferences, Dock items, most application and system preferences,
and Mail notes when you’re using Mac OS X Leopard. In Mac OS X Tiger, you can set up Mac-to-Mac sync for keychains
as well as Mail accounts and Mail rules, signatures, and Smart Mailboxes.

When you set up MobileMe, just click the checkboxes next to the items you want to synchronize across your Mac
computers. You can modify these settings at any time.

11
11
Mobile Me
Windows XP/Vista Setup

12
12
Mobile Me
Windows XP/Vista

Set Up Sync
If you already set up your iPhone or iPod touch with a PC, sync is set
up on that PC. To set up another PC, follow these instructions.

1. Download and install the latest version of iTunes. iTunes is required


to set up MobileMe on your PC.
2. Download and install the latest version of MobileMe Control Panel
for Windows.
3. From the Windows Start menu, open Control Panel and choose
MobileMe. MobileMe is located in Network and Internet on Windows
Vista. After opening the MobileMe Control Panel, log in with your
member name and password.
4. Click the Sync tab. Click the “Sync with MobileMe” checkbox and
select a sync interval. For the most frequent updates, choose
Automatically, which syncs with MobileMe every 15 minutes.*
5. Select the checkboxes to sync your contacts, calendars, and
bookmarks, and choose which applications to sync with from the
pop-down menus.
6. Click the Sync Now button.
7. To make sure your data has synced, go to www.me.com, log in, and
check Contacts and Calendar.
Note: If you use Microsoft Outlook in conjunction with Microsoft Exchange
Server, MobileMe will not sync your contacts or calendars with Outlook.
You may still access your Exchange data over the air using your iPhone or
iPod touch.

13
13
Mobile Me
Windows XP/Vista

Set Up Mail on Your PC


You can access your MobileMe email on the web by logging in to www.me.com. The Mail application at me.com looks and feels just like a
desktop application.

If you’d like, you can also set up your desktop email client to work with MobileMe email. If you already know how to set up an email
account in Outlook, Outlook Express, or Windows Mail, use these settings:
Account type (incoming email server type): IMAP

Incoming mail server: mail.me.com

Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.me.com

Authentication: Outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication.

14
14
Mobile Me
Windows XP/Vista

iDisk
You can access your MobileMe iDisk on the web
by logging into www.me.com with your MobileMe
username and password and selecting iDisk. With
the iDisk web application you can upload files,
organize files in folders, and download files.

To share files with others, you can move them


into the Public folder on your iDisk. To get the
URL for your Public folder and set sharing
permissions, go to the iDisk tab in MobileMe
Control Panel.

15
15
Mobile Me
Troubleshooting Syncing

16
16
Mobile Me
Troubleshooting Syncing (Mac)
Verify your settings

Open the MobileMe pane (or .Mac in Mac OS X 10.4.11) in System Preferences by choosing System Preferences from the
Apple menu.  Click MobileMe, then the Sync tab.  Make sure that you are syncing the information types you expect.

Confirm that a sync is not already occurring

If a sync is already occurring the synchronize with MobileMe checkbox will be grayed out.  Make sure there is not an open
sync alert dialogue and wait for the sync to complete.

Check online for your calendars or contacts


If your calendars or contacts do not sync as expected, check MobileMe Calendar or MobileMe Contacts.  If the data is
correct there, your data is on the MobileMe servers.  If this is the case, resync the data on your computer with data from
MobileMe.

1. Open MobileMe System Preferences.


Note: In Mac OS X v10.4 you will see .Mac in System Preferences, rather than MobileMe.
 
2. If you have Mac OS X v10.5, click Sync and then click Advanced. 
If you have Mac OS X v10.4.11, just click Advanced.
 
3. Click Reset Sync Data.
4. Choose the affected data, and make sure the arrow is pointing from MobileMe toward your computer.
5. Click Replace.

If your data on MobileMe is not the most current data from your computer, resync your data on MobileMe with the data
from your computer.

17
17
Mobile Me
Troubleshooting Syncing (Mac)
Create a new Mac OS X user

Because MobileMe Syncing on Mac OS X is user-specific, creating a new user is a great troubleshooting step that can
help you identify your issue.  After creating a new user, try syncing your data using that new user.  Next follow one of
these two steps:

If you are able to sync your MobileMe account in a new Mac OS X user, log back in to the affected Mac OS X user and
troubleshoot your keychain.  If your keychain is working as expected, reset your SyncServices folder and try syncing
again.

If you are unable to sync your MobileMe account using a new Mac OS X user, try this:

▪ If you are syncing multiple types of data, try syncing just one data type until you isolate the issue down to a
specific data type
▪ Repair permissions
▪ If you have a firewall or many devices in your network setup, try simplifying your connection to the internet and
then syncing again.  If you have a portable computer, take your computer to a location with a different network and
try again

Apple Internal Comments


Creating a new Mac OS X user account is recommended only as an isolation step.  If it resolves the issue, troubleshoot
the original user.  Do not suggest that a customer simply migrate to the new user account to resolve the issue.

18
18
Mobile Me
Troubleshooting Syncing on the
iPhone
Important: It is recommended that you make a backup copy of your data before proceeding with troubleshooting. Not backing up your
data properly or following these instructions may result in data loss. For assistance with backing up the data on your iPhone or iPod
touch, please see this article. To back up the data on your computer, visit this article for more information.

1. Make sure you are able to connect to the Internet.  Open Safari, and browse to http://www.apple.com.  MobileMe requires an
Internet connection to sync.  (A 3G or WiFi connection is recommended during setup or when following many of the steps below;
they may require several minutes via an EDGE connection).

2. Verify in your iPhone settings that your MobileMe address is entered in all lowercase letters. MobileMe member names must be
entered in all lowercase letters in order to sync with MobileMe. (This does not apply to your account password, which can be a mix
of upper- and lowercase characters.)
▪ From the home screen, tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and then tap your MobileMe account.
▪ Tap Account Info and check the Address field.
▪ If your MobileMe address is typed in uppercase (MEMBERNAME@me.com) or mixed case letters (MemberName@me.com), tap
the field to edit it. Erase the current member name and then type it again in all lowercase letters.

3. Exit the application by pressing the Home button on your iPhone or iPod touch, and then go back into the application.  For
example, if it appears that your calendar data is not syncing, leave Calendar, then from the home screen, go back into Calendar.

4. Verify the settings on your device.  From the home screen, tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and then tap your MobileMe
account.  Confirm that the sliders for the data type you are trying to sync are set to "On".

5. Confirm that a sync is not already occurring.  If a sync is occurring, the activity spinner (in the status bar) will display while looking
at Safari Bookmarks (if Bookmarks are currently syncing), Calendar (if calendars are currently syncing), or Contacts (if contacts are
currently syncing).  If a sync is occuring, wait for the sync to complete, and then see if your data is up-to-date.  

19
19
Mobile Me
Troubleshooting Syncing on the
iPhone
6. Try syncing Contacts/Calendars manually.  From the home screen, tap Settings > Fetch New Data > Advanced.  Select your
MobileMe account with the "Contacts/Calendars" label, and change from Push to Manual.  Go back to Contacts or Calendars, and
wait for the sync to complete.  If this resolves your issue, your device was not automatically syncing as expected.  Turn your
iPhone or iPod touch off and on again, and then change back from Manual to Push.

7. Restart your iPhone or iPod touch: Hold the power button until "slide to power off" appears.  Slide to power off.  After it is off,
press the power button to turn it back on.

8. Turn syncing off for the affected data.

▪ From the home screen, tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and then tap your MobileMe account.  Move the slider for
the data type that is causing issues.
▪ Wait for confirmation that that data type has been disabled, then press Home.
▪ Confirm that the data has been deleted on your phone, and then turn syncing for that data type back on.

9. Delete and recreate the account on your iPhone or iPod touch: From the home screen, tap Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars,
and then tap your MobileMe account.  Tap Delete Account.  On the Mail, Contacts, and Calendars screen, tap Add Account >
MobileMe, and set up your account again.

20
20
Mobile Me
Troubleshooting Syncing
(Windows)
Isolate your affected data

If the new user account's data syncs properly, then it is likely that the issue is related to the data in your original user, and
you should try to find the affected item(s). While Apple cannot provide you with specific instructions for troubleshooting
your data in Windows, here is some general information to help you get started: Split-half troubleshooting can be a useful
method for managing large sets of data. If an issue occurs with only half of the data, the other half of the set probably does
not contain the source of the issues, and you have cut the amount of data to test in half. When you use this approach, you
isolate the data into smaller and more manageable sets until you find the source of the issue.

Important: To help avoid data loss, make a backup copy of your data before proceeding with troubleshooting. For
assistance with backing up your data, refer to the built-in help for the application or visit the application's support website.
For help with Microsoft products, visit: http://support.microsoft.com.

After you have verified that your data is backed up and stored it in a safe place, you can troubleshoot with this general
split-half technique:

1. Export the data to your desktop.


2. Delete half of your affected data from the application.
3. Try to sync.
4. If the issue does not occur, you have isolated the issue to the data you deleted. Reimport your data from the file on
the desktop and then repeat Step 2 by deleting the half you just tested.

If the issue occurs, you have isolated the issue to this remaining set of data. Repeat Step 2 by deleting half of the data
currently in your application.
Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 until only one piece of data remains. After you have identified the item that prevents a successful
sync, reimport all of your original data. Next, find and delete the piece of data that you identified as the source of the issu
from the reimported data.
If the above steps do not resolve your issue, please contact MobileMe Support for further assistance.

21
21
Mobile Me
Troubleshooting Syncing
From http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1155

When Automatically is selected in the MobileMe (.Mac) System Preference or Control Panel, the expected behavior is as follows,
depending on where the change of your data is occurring.

Changes made on your computer

▪ Mac OS X 10.5.4: Changes made on your computer will sync to MobileMe every 15 minutes
▪ Mac OS X 10.4.11: Changes made on your computer will sync to MobileMe every hour
▪ Windows (iTunes 7.7): Changes made on your computer will sync to MobileMe every 15 minutes

Changes synced to the MobileMe "cloud" from another computer, www.me.com, or an iPhone/iPod touch

▪ Mac OS X 10.5.4: Changes on MobileMe should sync to your computer automatically (generally within a minute of saving the
change).  If the changes do not appear automatically due to a network configuration, your computer will sync every 15 minutes. 
(See Additional Information below)
▪ Mac OS X 10.4.11: Changes on MobileMe should sync to your computer automatically (generally within a minute of saving the
change).  If the changes do not appear automatically due to a network configuration, your computer will sync every hour. (See
Additional Information below)
▪ Windows (iTunes 7.7): Changes on MobileMe will sync to your computer every 15 minutes
Note: You can always manually sync data with MobileMe if you wish (in MobileMe preferences, in System Preferences, in Mac OS X 10.5.4
or later; in .Mac preferences in Mac OS X 10.4.11; or, the MobileMe control panel in Microsoft Windows).

Additional Information
Some network configurations may prevent automatic sync in Mac OS X from detecting changes on MobileMe. In those instances, your
computer will sync with MobileMe every 15 minutes (1 hour for Mac OS X 10.4.11). Generally, if your network works with Back to My
Mac, automatic syncing will function as described above. You can quickly determine if your network supports Back to My Mac by using
the Back to My Mac diagnostic messages in the Back to My Mac section of MobileMe preferences.
22
22
Links & References

Downloads
Mobile Me Control Panel for Windows
The MobileMe Control Panel is required to set up sync on your Windows PC. It also enables you to manage your MobileMe iDisk for online file storage and
sharing.
SOP
CP248
SOP: MobileMe Scope of Support for Phone Agents

Online Web Tools
Mobile Me Website
MobileMe's web interface
Mobile Me - PC Setup
If you already set up your iPhone or iPod touch with a PC, sync is set up on that PC. To set up another PC, follow these instructions.
Mobile Me - Mac Setup
Make sure you are using the latest version of Mac OS X Leopard (10.5.5) or Tiger (10.4.11). To check for updates, choose Software Update from the Apple
menu.

KB Articles
HT2627
MobileMe: Finding MobileMe syncing logs in Mac OS X
HT2483
MobileMe: Syncing with Microsoft Outlook and Exchange
BN280
Updated MobileMe Guidelines for iPhone Agents
TS1679
MobileMe Troubleshooting Syncing on Mac OSX, Windows, or on the iPhone
TS1669
MobileMe Troubleshooting Push Mail iPhone
BN274
MobileMe Technical and Administrative Issues
TS1672
MobileMe Troubleshooting iPhone or iPod touch sync issues
HT2108
MobileMe Use WiFi or 3G when syncing for the first time

23
23
The End!

24
24

You might also like