[privacyparanoid]

Love BlackBerry 10 OS and my Z10 (stl100-2) to bits! Have done for years now.

Over time I acquired multiple duplicates of various random contacts. This seemed to be caused by syncing via BB Link. Some contacts were repeated over a dozen times. So I decided to cleanse. I've been through perhaps 100 or more threads on Crackberry and the Blackberry official website trying to achieve contacts karma over the past 48 hours. There are 24 hours left in the weekend and I'm really hoping I can solve my problems before next week starts. 72 hours of complete dedication to this by a fairly tech savvy guy such as myself should do this.

Objective: remove duplicate contacts and have my BB synced my Mac's Contacts and iCal.
Problem: Missing contacts on restore

I made a full backup of my BB using link on my Mac 0S X Mountain Lion (being honest, it's a Hackintosh - but stable and powerful).

So at least I know I have a file which has ALL my apps, media, settings, contacts and calendars safe and sound. Now I can mess about right? Well, that's what I've been doing anyway.

In the process a few things have happened. My synced account was called Mach2. Using BB Link i renamed this to Hackintosh. I would like to know if renaming the sync account and the phone would cause any problems with the back up? It feels like it does.

Anyway, long story short, restoring from backup is causing me issues. I've attempted several partial backups from my main bbb file (selecting just Settings/Contacts/Calendars). The first time this worked fine. That's when I accidentally deleted Mach2 from the accounts under settings in the Contacts app.

So I tried it again. This time at least a few contacts were missing. I tried numerous other times with no joy. I've tried rebooting both my Mac and the phone numerous times, relaunching BB Link, I've also tried restoring using Sachesi.

I now notice that I'm seeing 3 sync accounts under settings in theContacts app. "Mach2" appears twice and my newly named "Hackintosh" also appears. The contacts however only show under one of the Mach2 accounts. The other sync accounts have no contacts. There are also a few dozen contacts showing under local contacts (when i hide all sync accounts from the contacts app).

Utterly confusing. I know BB Link is famously rubbish but today I learn how truly atrocious it is.

So�

Now I am doing a complete restore of my original backup file. Lets hope it goes well. i will update when it's finished.

If this fails to restore my missing contacts i'm going to reset my phone to factory settings and try again.

I want to avoid using iCloud, Gmail or any other cloud or 3rd party service to sort this out. i want to be able to just sync my contacts and calendars using BB Link. I might resort to setting a new Gmail account just for the purpose but want to avoid at all costs.

But maybe there is a magic app for me. Does anyone recommend a specific app for managing contacts that would suit my needs?

Finally just a note, my phone's device name was "BB". It seems BB (at least OS 10.3) doesn't like 2 character device names. So I tried renaming it to BlackBerry. However as I'm restoring from my backup, it reverts to BB after restore. I only mention this in case anyone thinks this might have something to do with the problem.

[privacyparanoid]

So after I did a complete restore from my backup file� many contacts are still missing.

I'm starting to worry they are gone forever� meaning some contacts were not backed up. Is this possible?

Going to try a factory reset and try restoring again now I think. Stay tuned.

[privacyparanoid]

OK , before a complete factory reset of my device I discovered something else I could do.

I can "Remove Device"… which makes Link forget the device. So I've done this. I then renamed my Mac to Mach2… maybe this will help jog it's memory as to my missing contacts - as this was the name of the sync account before my original backup.

So with those steps taken I'm now doing a complete restore. Or at least trying to. Not working so far as it claims I don't have enough space. Which is nonsense. Link keeps showing different amounts of space available on my BB all the time…

sigh.

[privacyparanoid]

ok gonna leave it for the night. i've tried another couple of restores and it looks like even more contacts have disappeared. still haven't done a factory reset. will hold fire on that for now.

At this stage I have 1 key question:

Can I in any way open my original backup file to examine if all my contacts were indeed backed up?

[privacyparanoid]

OK now I understand what is going on.

Doing a full BB Link backup of a device does not back up all contacts. I have doubts about this because I have read loads of threads stating that a full back up will back up all your contacts (and by some pretty prolific posters i might add). But from my past 72 hours of diving down rabbit holes, it seems contacts that are from synced desktops ("paired devices"?), are not part of the backup process. I'm wondering if the only contacts that are in fact backed up are "local contacts". Maybe some one can clarify.

Anyway, after doing a restore from Sachesi of my original backup file, and then syncing with my Mac's contacts, all my contacts are back (including all the multiple duplicates and duplicates of duplicates and more duplicates).

And I'm right back where I started.

I'm going to continue on my hunt for the holy grail. I'm going to look for a decent backup app as Link doesn't do what I want it to. I think ideally for now I want something sane, perhaps something that will make an unencrypted CSV. Recommendations appreciated.

I also want to sort out my "paired devices". I seem to have ghosts on my device. Are these related to BB Link or my device or both? What's the best way to start fresh in this regards. A best practices article would be great. Especially for people like me who refuse to use cloud solutions.

[Fistmaster]

I have the same iCloud problem since 2 years! Everythings is working fine with my iCliud Email on my BlackBerry! But on my Macbook, my contacts and calendar are missing! Since 2 years I am trying to sync my contacts/calendar on my Mac! It won't work.

BB Link is no help either.

I am thinking about to change my email service, so I can sync my email/calendar/contacts from my Mac to BB and the other way around. I checked nearly thousands of threads. No chance and I am very angry.

Will now look what fits my need, since iCloud sux big time. Maybe outlook, google or yahoo. Will see.

[maqh]

Hi
I am having the same issue, I did two backup one week interval. I then upgraded and did a factory reset, and restore the backup to get my contacts, but import only some of them. Most are missing, I was thinking that it might have sync the missing contacts with my address book - outlook express but the missing contacts are not there either. Any idea how I can get these contact back?