N91 - iSync — Success!

June 27th, 2006 · 23 Comments · gadgets and technology, software

While I really dig my N91, I’ve been frustrated that I have not able to have my full contact list because I could not add the phone to iSync. As you might imagine without your contact list dialing and caller ID might be a tad more challenging.

After much searching I was able to locate a few tips and a piece of software which I think finally did the trick, though nothing worked the first time and even after a few syncs there are some quirks.

If you are feeling brave, you can manually edit a file buried well within the iSync application package. It’s not hard, but there’s always risk when you hack / alter a how things came from the manufacturer.

Be sure you start, make sure iSync is not running or syncing in the background. If you’ve already paired your phone and tried to get this working, you might want to remove the pairing from both computer and phone and start fresh — a reboot might even help.

You’ll need to control-click on iSync to Show Package Contents. You’ll notice a new window opens and you can begin to explore… here’s the exact location you’ll need to end up:

/Applications/iSync.app/Contents/PlugIns/ApplePhoneConduit.syncdevice/Contents/PlugIns/PhoneModelsSync.phoneplugin/Contents/Resources/MetaClasses.plist

The MetaClasses file should be open in a text editor so you don’t mistakenly add any strange characters. I’m using TextWrangler. I suggest making a backup of the original before you rush to open and edit it. When you have the file open you’ll see it’s really just a massive XML file. I’ve inserted a piece of code for the N91 at line 3136 which is right after the section on the N-Gage and was the last Nokia phone listed. It seemed logical to me… your mileage may vary. Simply paste the following in and hit save:

com.nokia.N91

Identification

com.apple.cgmi+cgmm

Nokia+Nokia N91
Nokia+Nokia N91-1

com.apple.gmi+gmm

Nokia+Nokia N91
Nokia+Nokia N91-1

InheritsFrom

family.com.nokia.serie60v2.3

Services

ServiceName
com.apple.model
ServiceProperties

ModelIcon
NOKN91.tiff
ModelName
N91
If you’d like the actual Phone icon as indicated in the code, here it is (option+click to save it directly). UPDATE - I’ve also just posted my metaclasses.plist file (option+click to save) for people having trouble. I’d recommend you move yours to a safe location before replacing with mine.
I did this before I tried the plugin since this is essentially the same trick that allowed my N70 and N90 to work in iSync, but it did not seem to happen for me. I actually tried pairing my phone a few times to now avail and finally made the move to purchase the plugins…

For the easier and probably more mass recommendation, I’d suggest paying to purchase a copy of the iSync plugins from nova media. Installation is not complete for the N91 until you run the 2 other packages that appear in your Documents folder once the main piece is installed. There is no warning or suggestion to install these, but I found that things worked after I installed both. The installers (and the uninstaller for the plugins) are located within your ~/Documents folder.

/Users/*yourusername*/Documents/nova media phone plugins/SyncML-Version for Communicator+Smartphone /
/Users/*yourusername*/Documents/nova media phone plugins/Nokia-Agent-Version for Communicator+Smartphone/

A gentle warning — Nova media could definitely use a few lessons in customer support. For starters, they might want to try answering email to support. I know it’s the World Cup and they are in Germany, but perhaps an auto-responded would be nice if business has to shut down when games are on.

I spent some good time searching after failing a few times and discovered that there is a another application from nova media (Free, but not on their website anywhere!) called Sync Repair, that I think repairs permissions on the MetaClasses.plist. Once I ran this I was able to add the N91 and begin to Sync!

This was a considerable effort for me as there is no consistent way to get this to work until Apple natively supports the phone in iSync which as of today’s Mac OS X update to 10.4.7 (and iSync 2.3) is still not there. I hope you find this helpful - happy syncing!

Update — Nova Media has updated their plugin for iSync 2.3. So far it’s the same for me. Works mainly - with an error as noted above on some syncs.

Technorati Tags: iSync, N-Series, N70, N90, N91, Nokia, Sync

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23 responses so far ↓

1 Lawrence Tan // Jun 30, 2006 at 8:01 am

I would really appreciate if you can share you metalclass.plist, somehow the original blog sample does not work with lot of missing “/” and i am not skill in xml to fix it. Thanks very much.
2 Jonathan Greene // Jun 30, 2006 at 8:55 am

Just updated the post with the link!
3 Lawrence Tan // Jul 1, 2006 at 10:44 pm

Hi Jonathan, Thanks so much. Cheers
4 Lawrence Tan // Jul 1, 2006 at 11:02 pm

Btw, tried out your plist and it works wonderfully now with my Macbook with the latest MacOS X 10.4.7.
5 Jonathan Greene // Jul 2, 2006 at 6:50 am

Glad it worked! Have fun!
6 Steve // Jul 13, 2006 at 6:37 am

Thanks for your great efforts with this!
7 Tuukka Koski // Aug 3, 2006 at 4:41 am

Thank You very much Jonathan. Things worked out….
8 Peter // Aug 4, 2006 at 11:42 pm

Hey Jonathan, thanks for posting your plist. I had tried to update mine and it would not work, based on code listed on other sites. Downloaded your plist and it works liek a charm. 10.4.6 on a 17″ PB. Appreciate you taking the time to help out fellow Mac users.
9 Jonathan Greene // Aug 5, 2006 at 7:25 am

My pleasure everyone!
10 Nokia N91 Blog // Sep 14, 2006 at 3:24 pm

Jonathan tells us how to use iSync with the N91 and in essence other Nseries phones. Posted by Andy Abramson at 07:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
11 Darragh // Oct 6, 2006 at 3:33 pm

Thank you for the plist. Got my isync, MBP & N91 all in harmony. Nice.
12 Nseries WOM World » Blog Archive » N91 sync with Mac // Nov 6, 2006 at 4:18 pm

[...] Have a read here. [...]
13 dananimal // Nov 16, 2006 at 7:52 am

Does anyone have any idea if this might work for 6288?

If I reproduce the xml nodes relating to the Nokia 6280 and edit them to refer to the 6288 would you think that would work?

Thanks for the notes on Nova media I’m a little hesitant to buy their product straight away now.

;D
14 Jonathan Greene // Nov 16, 2006 at 8:36 am

I’d try this excellent plugin which seems to get everything working —

http://www.mactomster.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=45
15 walkah | striving towards mediocrity // Dec 2, 2006 at 1:19 am

I ran into a couple “gotchas” while getting it all set up - I think mostly from being so hip and bleeding edge it hurts. Namely, this phone is not natively supported by apple’s isync (which I can’t really live without these days), however, these instructions worked beautifully (complete with little n91 image :). The other tricky bit was I initially installed ShoZu on the hard drive - which the music syncing tool does not like at all - however, installing on the phone’s memory cured that.
16 Matt // Jan 5, 2007 at 10:26 pm

Thanks for this. I was able to replace with N80 and got it working perfectly. Had I not got it working, I would have returned this phone.

Matt
17 Jonathan Greene // Jan 6, 2007 at 1:09 am

no problem at all … enjoy!
18 simon // Feb 7, 2007 at 6:43 am

I have tried everything here. Copied over the plist, unpaired, repaired etc etc. And every time I open ISync, I still get a message that the N91 is not supported. Any suggestions??
19 Jonathan Greene // Feb 7, 2007 at 6:57 am

Best thing to do is to start fresh. Un-pair the phone and your computer and begin again.

I’d try the plugin route —

http://www.mactomster.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=45
20 DPD - iSync The Nokia 6288 // Mar 31, 2007 at 11:29 am

[...] a while for different tutorials on how to get things flowing with a couple of false starts I found this post on atmaspheric | endeavors that showed me a path to enlightenment. The control click on iSync proved invaluable, and opened up [...]
21 Nokia and iSync - Philippine Macintosh Users Group // Apr 10, 2007 at 1:37 am

[...] so… here is the website where I got it… http://n91mac.wordpress.com/2006/05/…our-nokia-n91/ http://www.atmasphere.net/wp/archive…-isync-success Macbook Core 2 Duo 1GB [...]
22 E61 vs M600 - Vilken lirar b�st med mac? - Page 2 - 99.se // Jun 13, 2007 at 4:50 pm

[...] M�ste ha syncst�d, mitt liv crashar tragiskt nog utan det… pr�vat att googla lite? http://www.atmasphere.net/wp/archive…-isync-success http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p…60509170202873 finns bra mycket mer info om du bara s�ker [...]
23 big boobed teens // Feb 28, 2008 at 6:54 pm

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