When you sync your notebooks between computers – checking the dissect packages option – does that mean that the notebook syncs have to be done separately from all other folders you want to sync. I’m still on the fence about buying chronosync and appreciate any information that would make my decision easier. Thanks!

— Last edited 06:06AM, Oct 31, 2008

I use Chronosync to sync between work and home machines daily. I use the “Dissect Packages option” too. Most of the time this works well, particularly if you sync religiously before working on a notebook on a new machine. If you do make changes to your local copies on each machine and then sync, it’s not bad either, as long as the file differences are on separate pages. It’s not perfect in these situations though and can throw up problems. And it’s not a solution you can use without a thought.

If you look at the list of files it’s syncing, it does include files for different Notebook pages, but it’s also syncing various indexing files etc. and I’m guessing(?) that’s where the risk of corruption lies. So you do have to take a little care.

Chronosync is pretty good at giving you control over what you’re doing though. It gives you the option to ‘trial sync’ your files first, and if you’re going to use it for NB, I’d recommend this. It gives you a list of the files it’s going to change and a list of conflicts too, which will allow you to decide whether you want to continue. You can deselect files from the sync process before you proceed at this point and during the sync process you can select how to handle conflicts. Chronosync can run automatically in the background either to a schedule or when you mount a drive too, but I wouldn’t recommend this for NB. I think it’s best to know what it’s doing.

I have had notebooks get a bit slow and glitchy on a couple of occasions and I suspect this was down to sync issues. So I’ve learned to be aware of the number of conflicts the sync is throwing up and to do a bit of reviewing (and even restoring from back up) if needed. This doesn’t happen often and to my knowledge, I’ve never lost anything significant as a result of syncing between machines. As Eric says though, keep back ups!

It’s not the perfect solution (I don’t think there is a perfect solution) and it’s not going to be for everyone, but I’ve tried .Mac, iDisks and working directly from memory sticks, and Chronsync is the solution I’m happiest with so far.

samson11 – to answer your question, Chronosync works on a folder level, so you can set it up to sync any folder you like. You could set it up to sync your entire documents folder if you liked, but that would be a slow and unwieldy job. You’re best to create different sync jobs for different sets of folders; they can all be saved and scheduled differently, so it’s completely flexible.

One last point on Chronosync; if you want to run it on two machines, you have to buy two licenses. At $15 a license, I don’t consider that unreasonable, but in an age where multiple machines are commonplace, I’d have thought a two license deal would be a nice idea.

— Last edited 11:04AM, Oct 31, 2008

thanks to all the other posters here , i have just come back to the forums after a break from notebook , as a result of the v 3 offer.
Just to say that I used isync with Nb v2 small Notebooks mostly texts and it wasn’t worth the effort

As a user of Chronosync and NoteBook, let me add my few cents.

The config I use is to sync a Laptop (PB G4) and an Intel iMac. I do similar work on both machines, hence want the same files at hand. A couple of dirs on the desktop (work, proj and peter) are included in the sync. By limiting the secured storage to just these dirs, I force myself to get stuff off the desktop and into the real order.

The three dirs are not synced directly between the machines, instead it is done to a USB attached disc on the iMac. No old versions are kept on the machines, only on the USB disc.

The syncing is done frequently, every 30 minutes during working hours.

There are infrequent errors in the syncs, because of access problems, and sometimes because files appear to have different time stamps. I usually check what could be wrong, run a trial sync, to verify that the problem does not persist after selecting a course of action.

Syncing NoteBooks works well for me, both with and without dissecting packages. One note here should be that I am now testing a future version of CS and not the one currently shipped. (This is no secret, it is on the CS web page that a version 4 is in the works). I have had no problems relating to NoteBook and syncing with this new version.

I have a feature request, which someone with some applescript skill could help me with. Syncs are now done from a master machine, and in remote machines a small helper application is giving the master access to the files to be synced. This means that errors occurs when the remote machine is not there.

What is needed to avoid running (most of) the syncs is a little routine that checks for the remote machine (ping?, check for the remote routine?), and it should fail if the it does not find the machine. The sync process includes a pre-sync script, which has to end normally for the sync to take place. Voila!

So the conclusion, at least for this forum, of my experience with NB and next CS, is that they are a great combination, and allow one to work on two machines without much regard for where the data is kept. I do not work on two NoteBooks at the same time – on purpose I have only license, and it will remind me to close if I move over (actually save and close).

peter

This may sound stupid, however I am reading this and what popped into my head was,hey why not utilize the public drop box or share your folder etc via network !? like I said maybe I need a shot to the head !..lol just wondering !

Colin – if your two machines are always on a shared network, that would be fine. My two are remote though, and the only ‘shared network’ available is the internet. I tried iDisk & box.net for a while, but just found them way too slow. I also didn’t want to lose access to my notebooks on my laptop when I happen to be away from an internet connection.

Hi all – I am working through similar options to overcome this file mobility issue. I run a MacPro and have a MacBook Air (& iPhone hint hint) to run around with:
- iDisk too slow
- publishing html notebook doesn’t satisfy my interactive requirements on the other device.
- File/folder syncing still raises an issue as I sync To Dos to ical. This appears to recreate/duplicate the To Dos if I sync from the MacAir. This is understandable as I’m effectively running two ‘separate’ notebooks in NB’s eyes and asking both to sync to ical. Messy.

Any other suggestions to master this setup would greatly appreciated.

Otherwise love the app: I evaluated a dozen similar apps but responded best to NB. I’m giving Personal Brain a crack too for detailed strategic plans but notebook appeals for use in both work/home life. The interface and applemail address book and ical integration did it in the end.

Jen

Hello again, I see you are trying to do something that I have yet to attempt,I don’t have 2 computers to worry about and instaed of an iPhone I have a Nokia N-95-2 8G, so i will be having my own symbian software nightmare to contend with ..lol. Martin I guess what I meant is that you should be able to share remotely over the internet, provided you are able to obtain oor know both units IP number and set it up in advance. I do this with a trusted friend of mine to share files and we both have read/write priv. I will include some links (which I hope I can post ) that may be of help to you. Let me know if this helps you guys out !

see the following;http://whatismyip.com/

and;http://www.macworld.com/article/132002/2008/02/mobilemac2503.html

Hi all.

I use Dropbox. Check it out. It works perfectly for me. I save my .nb files to My Dropbox (local folder on both my macs, an imac and a Macbook). This keeps the 2 machines synced via Dropbox online. It’s free up to 2GB. If you need more space you have to upgrade your account to $99 per year for 50 GB. The interesting thing is that if you have a really big file and you make a change to it, Dropbox syncs incrementally. i.e. only part of the file that has changed is synced. That makes for fast syncs if you have big notebooks.

Check it out at: https://www.getdropbox.com

Hope this helps.

I had been using Foldershare for the same purpose, Thierry, but the recent “update” to Windows Live Sync means that my Tiger machine can’t play no more; I’m shifting to DropBox for this as we speak. I hope it works as transparently.

The only downside with this is ensuring I close the sync’d notebook each night/morning; so far I’ve only forgotten once.

I use PowerFolder for synching—works great.

http://powerfolder.com

Not free, but reasonably priced and I’ve had a very reliable experience with the synching.

I’m also a FORMER long-time FolderShare user who grew frustrated with its interface and limitations…

Good luck!

Hi Thierry

I’ve moved over to Dropbox too now and so far I’m really impressed. Good tip, thanks!