Periodic sync still broken

[AlphaElwedritsch]

Issue still exist
Stock pixel OS, pixel 7a and 6a
App version 2.2.7

I'm back on 2.2.5 on both of my two devices.
It's the latest version that works

Tried everything, but 2.2.6 and 2.2.7 is broken and unusable

[sunkup]

I assume you have read through #489 .

Maybe doing this #489 (reply in thread) helps already?

If not can you provide us with logs recorded via adb?

[AlphaElwedritsch]

#489 doesn't help.
How do I get logs and provide it privately and secure?

[sunkup]

Unfortunately you can not share logs from within ICSx5. You will have to

• install adb on your PC: https://developer.android.com/tools/adb
• enable usb-debugging in the developer settings: https://developer.android.com/tools/adb#Enabling
• connect the phone to your PC via USB cable
• open a terminal and run adb logcat to see the live log of your device
• set the sync interval in ICSx5 to 15 min
• wait around 20 minutes (or longer if you believe that is necessary)
• copy the log from the terminal

You can either send the logs to play@bitfire.at, mentioning this discussion or remove any sensitive information from the logs and respond here. You can also use the DAVx5 support form

[devvv4ever]

Can you try to install DAVx⁵ please, set it up with any CalDAV server and sync a calendar? Does the scheduled background sync work in this environment?

[AlphaElwedritsch]

My setup:

DAVx5 to sync my calendars (CalDAV) and contacts (CardDAV) from my managed nextcloud instance.
ICSx5 to sync my calendar abos (Webcal) from my managed nextcloud instance.

Etar calendar app to use all these calendars on my android device.

It worked for years.
DAVx5 is still working and syncing without issues. I doublechecked it.
it is only ICSx5 that no longer syncs periodically and reliably since 2.2.6
back to 2.2.5 and the issues gone and everything is working as the last years.

And I can confirm it on two devices (mine and my wifes)

[Frmd-git]

Sand is true for me running GrapheneOS

[ZoraItIs]

I have the same issue with
App Version 2.2.7
Pixel 7a and Pixel 8a
Both running on GrapheneOS Build 2025031400

But I already had the issue on older Builds

The App has permission for unrestricted Batterie Usage and "Manage app if unused" is disabled.

The App only syncs manually.

[ZoraItIs]

I switched now with both phones back to app version 2.2.5 and the auto sync is working again. Is it possible to transform this "discussion" into an "issue"?

[Frmd-git]

Do we need to open a new one? Or can someone re-open the old, closed one?

It's this one: #520

[AlphaElwedritsch]

In the past I had grapheneOS on my 7a and iodeOS on the 6a
No problem on both.
Now, I have stock pixel OS back on both.
No problems with previous Versions of icsx5.
problem began with 2.2.6

Actually I am on 2.2.5 and have no issues at all

[Frmd-git]

How come this issue has been closed when it's still not solved?

[AlphaElwedritsch]

I don't really know
I've opened issue #520 but it has simply been closed and moved here.
I also don't know whether the developers take this seriously. Or doesn't even see it as an issue.
I'm a bit disappointed about the seriousness.

It has now been confirmed several times that there are problems from 2.2.6 onwards and that everything was fine with 2.2.5 before that.

[sunkup]

And we are looking into them as far as possible. The issue has been closed because we were able to reproduce it on our own GrapheneOS device and fixed it there.

I am sorry to hear you are still experiencing this problem, but we can't help you without you recording some logs and sending them to us.

We have not received logs from you yet. Please see my earlier comment on how to record them: #528 (reply in thread)

[sunkup]

Clear instructions on how to reproduce the problem are also very helpful. Here is what I have tried on my own GrapheneOS Pixel 8a Android 15 (latest software update).

1. I set the sync interval in ICSx5 to 15 minutes
2. connected adb and piped the logcat output to a file
3. close ICSx5 so it's not in the foreground
4. let it sit in the background for 5 hours

Now analysing the log I do see the DeadObjectException which caused the sync to fail in the past (See #495), but since our fix in #503 the sync simply retries and always succeeds on second try.

If you have deeper insights as to why the periodic sync is not working on your devices we are very happy to hear from you and analyse your logs.

[sunkup]

@AlphaElwedritsch Since you are saying that 2.2.5 works for you I analysed the changes we made once more. Version 2.2.6 has an updated version of ical4android which I suspect could be the cause. We can try to verify this by downgrading ical4android.

Since everything works fine on my end I can't verify this myself though. Would you be up for installing a development version I send to you? Again you can contact us on play@bitfire.at and mention this issue.

[AlphaElwedritsch]

Hi @sunkup
Thank you very much for your answer and explanations.
I am definitely ready to install a developer version and ready to support where I can.
Please send me the version and I will test it later today. I will be away for the next 2-3 hours, but then I will be happy to do it immediately.
I can also test 2.2.7 again later and collect the logs via adb and make them available.
But I would start with the developer version first.
OK?
Thanks again

I will send you a Ping-Mail to play@bitfire.at that you have my mail contact you can send me the development file via mail.

[AlphaElwedritsch]

So, i received the development version from @sunkup .
I've had to de-install 2.2.5 to be able to install 2.2.7 development. Update was not possible.
I've set sync interval to 15 minutes.
Seems to work. Tested it for around two hours. Synced every 15 minutes.
Actually I've installed 2.2.7 original to cross check if it is not syncing as expected. Also 15 minutes sync interval

[sunkup]

Thank you. I skimmed the updates in ical4android and have no idea yet, as to why this causes the periodic sync to fail in ICSx5, but not in DAVx5 which also uses the latest version of ical4android (883954c).

This is good news though - or at least something we can delve into more now.

[AlphaElwedritsch]

Update

At the moment I'm using the original 2.2.7.
Sync interval set to 15 minutes. -> Does not work

What I am doing now:

1. I run the original 2.2.7 with adb logcat and check the log in the terminal to see if a sync happens every 15 minutes.
2. If not then I switch back to the 2.2.7 developer version and look at the logs there.

[AlphaElwedritsch]

Update

1. I run the original 2.2.7 with adb logcat and check the log in the terminal to see if a sync happens every 15 minutes.

Unsuccessful. Get no : Calendar sync successful, ETag=AAABiQ2T_6EAAAGVyIyWgw, lastModified=null every 15 minutes. Only when I open ICSx5 manually. Then a sync will be done. But not if ICSx5 is running in background

2. If not then I switch back to the 2.2.7 developer version and look at the logs there.

Success
Getting every 15 minutes the info of a successful sync

03-24 17:45:08.155  8447  8476 I icsx5   : Calendar sync successful, ETag=AAABiQ2T_6EAAAGVyIyWgw, lastModified=null
03-24 18:01:58.538  9071  9105 I icsx5   : Calendar sync successful, ETag=AAABiQ2T_6EAAAGVyIyWgw, lastModified=null

@sunkup Do you need Logs?
Which one? From which version?

The updated version of ical4android seems really to be the problem

[sunkup]

We might have identified the problematic change now, but it would still be very helpful to see your logs for the original 2.2.7 version where the background sync does not work.

I expect they will contain some DeadObjectExceptions. We see those too, but the sync, as mentioned, works again after a retry. It would be very helpful to know why retrying does not work on your device.

Please send the logs directly to the email address I used to respond to you.

[sunkup]

This is a far stretch but maybe the background sync fails for you and not for us, because you are synchronizing a different icalendar. I don't see why it would work in foreground and not in background, but just to be sure I would like to try synchronizing with your calendar too. If it is public please just add the ics address here. If not you may send it (possibly with credentials) in the email.

[AlphaElwedritsch]

I've switched back to original 2.2.7

Normally, I sync my calendar via DAVx5 and my wifes WebCal calendar.
Both are calendars on mailbox.org. (Mine is shared to my wife and vice versa)

I would like to try synchronizing with your calendar too. If it is public please just add the ics address here. If not you may send it (possibly with credentials) in the email.
Now for testing I've added a second WebCal calendar to ICSx5
But my wifes calendar is to personal for synchronize sharing.

I will send you the log file I've created via mail.

[sunkup]

That is quite alright. Thank you.

Are you sure you installed the original 2.2.7 version? In the logs you sent, I can't see any DeadObjectExceptions and it looks like the sync succeeds every 15 minutes - as you said can be seen by the Calendar sync successful, ETag=[...], lastModified=[...] log statements being present.

[AlphaElwedritsch]

Yes, I'm sure but also surprised.
Don't know what happens and why.
I will do more research tomorrow.

[AlphaElwedritsch]

So, to be really sure again, I uninstalled the app, deleted the cache and data and reinstalled and configured the original 2.2.7.
I set the sync interval to 15 minutes and connected the phone to the laptop for 2 hours and pulled the adb logs.
ICSx5 synchronizes every 15-20 minutes. Not to the minute, but after 25 minutes at the latest.

I don't know why it suddenly works with the original 2.2.7.
Before that it didn't work at all. I can swear by it.
What's different now? Has the back and forth had any effect? Is there possibly a different ical4android on my device now?
I don't know....

mkl@mkl-solus ~ $ adb logcat | grep 'Calendar sync successful'
03-26 09:27:17.377 14290 14319 I icsx5   : Calendar sync successful, ETag=AAABiQ2T_6EAAAGVzpHxtw, lastModified=null
03-26 09:52:52.170 14551 14582 I icsx5   : Calendar sync successful, ETag=AAABiQ2T_6EAAAGVzpHxtw, lastModified=null
03-26 10:09:10.036 14551 14582 I icsx5   : Calendar sync successful, ETag=AAABiQ2T_6EAAAGVzpHxtw, lastModified=null
03-26 10:26:53.940 14551 14582 I icsx5   : Calendar sync successful, ETag=AAABiQ2T_6EAAAGVzpHxtw, lastModified=null
03-26 10:50:54.021 14551 14582 I icsx5   : Calendar sync successful, ETag=AAABiQ2T_6EAAAGVzpHxtw, lastModified=null
03-26 11:10:56.582 14551 14582 I icsx5   : Calendar sync successful, ETag=AAABiQ2T_6EAAAGVzpHxtw, lastModified=null

[sunkup]

Haha, nice! I believe you. We did see the DeadObjectExceptions disappear on the older ical4android version, while it came back on the newer ones. I cross checked with a coworker. So there may have been something going on, but I don't know either.

Since it seems to only be an issue with GrapheneOS devices, maybe it's something related to their system changes. I am thinking of their way of app optimization and other tweaks, but that's just speculation really.

By now, I think it's something the GraphenOS developers will need to fix. Logs would be good in any case though. So if you or other users in this thread are able to log the sync failures, we can continue investigation and forward to them.

Anyways, for now let's just hope it continues to work. 👍

[AlphaElwedritsch]

Remember, I used GOS a while ago.
But for a few month now, I'm using stock Pixel OS.
All that I mentioned and figured out is related to pixel OS

[sunkup]

Ah, yes true. Until now it seems that only pixel devices (Stock OS or GOS) are affected though.

[AlphaElwedritsch]

That could well be

[AlphaElwedritsch]

I will close it here, because at the moment it works for me with 2.2.7. why ever, but it does... ;)
Thanks @sunkup for your work and help. Know to appreciate it...

[Frmd-git]

So, after re-installation it works for you now? It doesn't work for me yet...

[AlphaElwedritsch]

So far it works