Using Bento for iPhone and iPod touch

calavarez:

Thank you for your post.

Temporarily, change to an Ad Hoc wireless network on your Mac and iPhone.  That is, on your Mac, go into System Preferences, click on Network and click on AirPort (Snow Leopard) or Wi-Fi (Lion).  In the pop-up next to Network Name, change this from your current Wi-Fi network to "Create Network...".  When prompted for a name, enter "test" (without quotes) and assign it any channel other than the default 11 (in case of channel conflict).  I typically select channel 1 or channel 10.  Click OK, and after a few seconds, AirPort/Wi-Fi should display "Self-Assigned IP".

Next, go to your iPhone, tap Settings, tap Wi-Fi, and select the newly listed "test" network.

Launch Bento for Mac and Bento for iPhone.  On the iPhone, tap the Sync icon and tap "Sync Now".  If you had difficulty with the previous network on your iPhone, then this should send the data over to the Mac.  However, if the settings in Bento for iPhone have become damaged, then the sync will fail again.

If the sync fails, then you will have to reset the sync.  When the new sync is created, the database file from the iPhone is copied to a Backup folder on the Mac, and the Mac database file overwrites what is on the iPhone.  To get the iPhone data back, do the following:

1. Quit Bento for Mac.

2. Rename your current bento.bentodb file to mac.bentodb.  This safeguards your existing data.

3. In the same folder with mac.bentodb, there is a Backup folder preceded by the name of your iPhone.  For example, "calvarez iPhone Backup".  Open that folder, find the most recent file (they files are all date-stamped), rename the file to bento.bentodb, and move the file up one level so it now resides in the same folder with mac.bentodb.

4. Launch Bento for Mac.  The data that existed on your iPhone will now appear.  Export the Library in question to a Template file, and be sure to check the option to include data.

5. Quit Bento.

6. Rename bento.bentodb to oldiphone.bentodb, and rename mac.bentodb to bento.bentodb

7. Launch Bento.

8. Pull down the File menu and select Import -> Template

9. Select the Template file that you exported in step #4.

You now have your existing data from the Mac, plus the data from the iPhone in a new Library.

Let me know if you need clarification for any of the above steps.

TSGal
FileMaker, Inc.

Jerry Haukedal:

Thank you for your post.

If syncing with your iPad works but not with the iPod touch, let's first assume Bento for iPhone is not installed properly.  Remove Bento for iPhone from your iPod touch, connect your iPod touch to the Mac, launch iTunes, and move over a fresh copy of Bento for iPhone.  Launch Bento for iPhone, remove all Libraries except Address Book, and then create a new sync to move the data from the Mac to the iPod touch.

If this also fails, then perhaps the network settings on the iPod touch are damaged.  Create an Ad Hoc network to bypass the original network.  That is:

1. On the Mac, go into System Preferences, click on Network, and click on AirPort.

2. Next to Network Name, click the pop-up and change it from your current Wi-Fi network to "Create Network...".

3. For the Network Name, enter "test" (without quotes), and select any channel other than the default 11.  I typically select channel 1 or channel 10.

4. Click OK, and after a few seconds, AirPort should display "Self-Assigned IP".

5. On the iPod touch home screen, tap Settings, tap Wi-Fi, and select the newly listed "test" network.

6. Go into Bento for Mac and Bento for iPad, and try syncing again.  If this works, then switch back to your old network and try again.  If this doesn't work, let me know what messages appear on the Mac and iPod touch during the sync process.  This will help narrow the possible causes.

TSGal
FileMaker, Inc.

Greg Welch:

Thank you for your post.

If the Mac says the syncing is complete, then all the data has been moved over to the iPhone, but it appears the iPhone is unable to finish processing.the information.  There could be several reasons why this is failing, but it doesn't appear to be a network problem.

Let's take some simple steps.  First, reboot the iPhone.  This will close out all apps and clear out any possible memory issues.  Once the iPhone has rebooted, launch Bento for iPhone and try syncing again.  If this still fails, remove Bento for iPhone from your iPhone, connect your iPhone to the Mac, launch iTunes, and move over a fresh copy of Bento for iPhone.  Launch Bento for iPhone and try to sync again.

If this still fails, then there could be something in the bento.bentodb file that Bento for iPhone is having difficulty processing, and I would like to see the file.  Check your Inbox at the top of this page for instructions where to send the file.

TSGal
FileMaker, Inc.

Greg Welch:

I just returned to my desk, and I see the screen shots were already sent to you, and your follow-up message was forwarded to me.

Follow the steps I just laid out above.

1. Reboot the iPhone.

2. Remove Bento for iPhone from your iPhone.

3. Connect to iTunes and redownload another copy of Bento for iPhone.  Since Apple keeps track of your purchases, you will not be charged again.

4. Move the new Bento for iPhone onto your iPhone.

5. If there are any other wireless devices in your vicinity, please turn them off.

6. Launch Bento for iPhone, and try to create a new sync.

TSGal
FileMaker, Inc.

In reference to instructions in post dated 10/24/11 by calavarez:

"1. Quit Bento for Mac.

"2. Rename your current bento.bentodb file to mac.bentodb.  This safeguards your existing data.

"3. In the same folder with mac.bentodb, there is a Backup folder preceded by the name of your iPhone.  For example, "calvarez iPhone Backup".  Open that folder, find the most recent file (they files are all date-stamped), rename the file to bento.bentodb, and move the file up one level so it now resides in the same folder with mac.bentodb."

The 10/24/11 post was all well and good except for one part:  I could not find bento.bentodb anywhere on my computer using the Mac search engine. Luckily I stumbled upon it in Library/Application Support/Bento.  So far I felt lucky.  Then it says in the same folder with mac.bentodb I'd find a Backup folder for my iPhone.  Well, I could not find that, either.  Was that for the newly created mac.bentodb, or is there one someplace else,which I'm  unable to find??  Please offer a specific path.  I have no idea where to find this other folder. I've been working on this problem for several hours now.

I had followed instructions step by step, and got far enough that I now have deleted important records and can't figure out how to retrieve them.  I hope you have some other suggestion for finding the backup of my iPhone data base.  Could it be under some other name, or hidden someplace?

Please help!

Thanks.