Outlook rejecting Sandy's calender link.

Still waiting for help. I have not been contacted through the site and nobody seems to be able to solve this problem here, either. Nobody has given any indication of even trying to help.

Still waiting

I'm with you Kb. I am new to Sandy and I am really impressed so far, but i really need to be able to sync it up with my Google Calendar.

Kb, can you give some more information about your problem? Which feed are you using? The one starting with webcal:// or the one starting with http:// ? Are you using the private calendar feed or the password protected one? Have you tried downloading the entire *.ics file to your computer just to see if the link works? (Right click the calendar links at the bottom of any Sandy page and choose "Save As". The links are "subscribe" and "download".)

The private calendar address is the one with all those random letters in it. (Ex: http://iwantsandy.com/sdfHyt8lmd8830n... ) The shorter version (http://iwantsandy.com/list.ics ) is password protected. Outlook is capable of subscribing to a password protected feed, but it's an extra thing that might have gone wrong.

Here's a really good idea. (Assuming that you're using the private calendar address.) After you've checked out if you can download the *.ics file, go to your settings page and disable and then re-enable your private calendar address. The address will change (all those random letters) and you'll have to subscribe Outlook to the new feed. See if that works. (http://iwantsandy.com/settings#calend... )

The download does not work. Outlook says the Subscribe link is not valid. This problem is recent, I subscribed without an issue for a long time. Google is not accepting the private URL I thought if I could run Sandy through Google, I could then sync Google to Outlook. This did not work.

Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate it.

Just tried to add the URL to Google Calenders--will not work. Can not download, Outlook says the Url is not valid, and will not download. I think something is wrong with the link. Help Please. I need my calender back. I love Sandy--but this just is not going to work.

Does Sandy have tech support--I am happy to make a donations towards it--the product is so good---but not being able to get help when "3 employees are here and listening" is not so good. Thanks to @Kevin for at least trying

Gosh it looks like I am having a conversation with myself. Still, can't get link to work with either Google or Outlook. So nada on my calender. This is a big problem. Nobody from Sandy support has answered my help e-mail, one kind soul did offer a possible solution here. Sandy is free, but I would rather pay for an application that included some tech help when you needed it. Unfortunately, Sandy and I might have to part ways. How sad it that.

Well, I have tried everything. Even looked at the Sandy blog which has not been updated since Feb. I don't think there are any human Sandy people and I certainly don't think 3 people are hear and listening on this site. I see questions without answers from months ago. I am wasting my time but I have time to waste for about 48 more hours and then Good Bye Sandy.

Great News. I have determined for sure--that the my calender link is not workng---Now what would be really really good news is if someone from SANDY would tell me they would fix it for me.

For anyone else's information: Kb has started a new topic that is essentially a duplicate of this one: http://getsatisfaction.com/iwantsandy...

Eric, thank you. But my calender just stopped syncing with Outlook or Google. The link appears to have "broken" in the last five day. The post you are referring to does not explain why Sandy employees do not respond to help tickets. I need to look for other options. Complaining is not getting my calender up and running. Its dumb to put this much faith in anything you don't pay for...when companies offer something for free--accountability is what is lost.

Kb, I'm sorry that you're still experiencing a problem. Unfortunately, I can't help you much because you didn't provide much information. I don't see many specifics beyond that you tried it with Google Calendar and Outlook and that both programs said the feed was invalid. I have no idea what else you tried. Or what the errors were. I'd like to help you, but at the moment I can't.

I gave you some suggestions, did you try them? What were the results? Did you try downloading the *.ics file? (Did the browser say the link was invalid too?) The answer might help pinpoint just what type of error you're experiencing. Regardless of the cause of the error, I really thought that unsubscribing, then changing your private address, then resubscribing was sure to work. I hear it usually does. Did you try this?

I've had this same problem for several days (maybe a couple of weeks) and assumed you guys were tweaking/fixing something.

I'm using the private feed with iCal on a Mac. Originally it synched just fine, but lately iCal has been giving an error message: "Request to the server http://my%40domain.com@iwantsandy.com/list.ics failed."

I reset the private feed, but received the same error.

I tried to download the file to test the link but also get an error: "The calendar file is unreadable. No events have been added..."

I also added the feed to Google Calendar. As above, it worked for a while. Has not worked for a while. Google doesn't give me any error message. I know it's not working because updated to-dos and appointments do not change and new ones do not appear.

Thanks Austin for describing the problem so much better than I did. I have tried everything you tried and received the same results. I thought it was a problem with outlook but other internet calenders seem to sync fine.

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I'm using the private feed with iCal on a Outlook. Originally it synched just fine, but lately iCal has been giving an error message: "Request to the server http://my%40domain.com@iwantsandy.com/list.ics failed."

I reset the private feed, but received the same error.

I tried to download the file to test the link but also get an error: "The calendar file is unreadable. No events have been added..."

I also added the feed to Google Calendar. As above, it worked for a while. Has not worked for a while. Google doesn't give me any error message. I know it's not working because updated to-dos and appointments do not change and new ones do not appear.

This problem continues. Does anyone from Sandy care to comment? Is it being worked on? Can we expect the problem to be resolved? It would be very helpful if one of Sandy's helpers would respond.

I'll do what I can to help out. I don't know everything, but I thought a number of things in your description was odd. So I have more questions.

Kb, it doesn't help to copy what Austin wrote. It just makes it more confusing.. Can you provide some specific detail about the problem you're experiencing? I know that you don't use iCal, and I doubt that the URL error code is the same as Austin's. "my%40domain.com@iwantsandy.com/list.ics"

The "http://my%40domain.com@iwantsandy.com/list.ics " error message looks odd. Can you provide some more detail on that? Did both of you actually receive the string "my%40domain.com", or did you edit that string (I understand if you don't want to post your username and password, but is that what it was?) I thought you were using the private feed. The error message looks like you're NOT using the private calendar feed, but are instead using the password-protected feed. I expect the private feed to contain a string of random characters. Something like "iwantsandy.com/sjhd8g0983ilkdjfoierndljk/list.ics".

When you tried to download the list.ics file, I think that the file was sent to a calendar program to be opened. iCal or Microsoft Outlook. Don't do this. Save the file to disk and open it with a text editor. What happened is that the calendar program tried to parse the file, and found an error. Unfortunately, the iCal error message doesn't tell me what was actually in the file that was downloaded. It would be better to save the *.ics file to disk and open it with a text editor. What is in the file? Is it an actual *.ics file with an internal mistake, (making the file invalid) or did the server have an error and refused to give you an *.ics file at all. Maybe it gave you a server error, that was saved with the extension *.ics . What did the error say?

Kevin,

You're correct, the original feed was authenticated and stopped working. After switching to the private feed, it still doesn't work.

In Safari, the download error says: "0 bytes of ? -- file doesn't exist".

Firefox downloads a file that contains one space character and nothing else. " "

The private feed link is: webcal://iwantsandy.com/[secret code]/list.ics
The download link is: http://iwantsandy.com/[secret code]/list.ics

Kevin,
In Outlook the message is "Can not verify or add the calender to Outook mail make sure the following calender link is valid" When I try to download to link the message is that the web site can not display the page. The download link and subscribe line is http://iwantsandy.com/[secret code]/list.ics .

Google Calender accepts the link, adds the calender but it is not updated.

The problem began occurring 9 days ago, prior to that it all worked like a charm.

My operating system is Vista. I use Outlook 2007. I am using the latest version of Goggle calender.

I am using Austin descriptions of the problem because frankly I don't have a lot of skill at describing these types of problems.and Austin it seems does.It seems that he is having a similar problem as mine. If you check Twitter you will see that other Sandy users are also having this problem Free programs are great but I would in this case be happy to pay for some human support.

Thank you for trying to help.

Katybeth

Btw, I did not edit anything. For gosh sake, I don't even know how to ask you for support properly much less edit the link. I have no idea what it means to save something to disk and open it to a text editor, and wonder why I would need to do this now, when everything was working fine 10 days ago.

Austin's description was very informative. The file was 0 bytes, or maybe a single space character. Also, he switched from a password protected feed to a private feed. That might be important.

So, it looks like the calendar feed isn't working. Not the items *in* the feed, but the feed itself. The server isn't retuning anything at all. The thing is, most people's calendar feeds are working correctly. So, a server error isn't likely. Whatever the root problem is, it's only affecting about two accounts.

I'm guessing here, but the problem could be 1) user error, 2) a problem with that particular feed ID or URL, 3) a problem with your account. 4) something else. It's possible that something caused your private URL to change or reset or become invalid, etc. In Austin's case, something might have caused his password protected feed to not authenticate, resulting in the server returning 0 bytes. (Austin, did you change your password or email account recently? Edit any other settings? When you saved the settings, it might have caused things to need to be authenticated again, and then for some reason, it couldn't authenticate.)

The first thing to do is to cancel all subscriptions and start everything all over again. Have Sandy set up a new private URL for you. I suggest that both of you (Austin, Kb) change your private address again. Yes, one more time. And this time be *extremely* meticulous and thorough.

1) Remove all Sandy calendar feeds from Outlook and/or iCal and from anywhere else. (i.e. unsubscribe) Then close the application completely. Open the application again and make sure that the subscription is gone. Close it again.
2) Reset the Sandy private calendar feed. (Go to http://iwantsandy.com/settings#calend... , click on "No", click on "Save", then log out of Sandy. You might even want to close your browser here, just to be sure. Then log in again and make sure that Sandy has the private calendar feed turned off.
2b) Create a new calendar feed. Log back into Sandy, then go to the settings page and click on "Yes", then "Save". Don't make any other changes to any settings. Make sure that the link is different from the previous one. (that the series of random letters are different.) Right click on the "subscribe" link and copy the link URL to your clipboard. Log out of Sandy and possibly close your browser. Log in again. Check to make sure that the private URL is "On" and is the same as the one that's in your clipboard.
3) Open up your calendar application and add a new subscription. Paste the URL from your clipboard into the application. Some applications might need you to change the "webcal://" to "http://". See if everything works. You might want to close your application and start it again. Make sure that the subscription URL is the same as the one in your clipboard.

Ok, I will try all of the above. No I am not behind a firewall or Proxy. More people may be having this problem than you think--check twitter--a number or people reported the same problem when I asked for help. Perhaps they went to Sandy's "On Line" contact for help?

regarding the download the error message is as follows:

This error (HTTP 500 Internal Server Error) means that the website you are visiting had a server problem which prevented the webpage from displaying.

No luck. I even changed me default from Outlook to my Window calender. When I do this I receive a 500 server error

Ok, I even subscribed to 30 boxes and it rejected the link. The link it broken. Even I can figure out that what is going on has nothing to do with my computer. The problem is internal. Austin, I hope you had better luck..

If Rael is hosting a town meeting, I will be there with link in hand.

Kevin,

I followed the instructions exactly, and still nothing. Same errors as before.

Well, I'm out of ideas. Have you tried emailing help@iwantsandy.com?

Kevin,

Thank you for trying--my first stop was to e-mail help@iwantsandy.com They did not respond to multiple attemps.

Maybe this should be another post but does anyone have any idea how to get an answer from Sandy's helpers, help@iwantsandy.com ? I have tried for 10 days.

I haven't heard back from help, either. :-(

Kind of sucks. They used to be really good about answering questions here and via email.

On a lark, I tried the authenticated feed again, but got another error in iCal.

I used the username and password I use to sign in to the website and this address: webcal://iwantsandy.com/list.ics

I feel your pain Austin. I have not heard back either and have sent multiple e-mails. Do we just keep this conversation going. I have tried everything I can think of ---including facing the learning curve of trying new stuff---and yet I can not even get an e-mail of response from a real Sandy person. Have you ever been to a town hall meeting?

I've got the iwantsandy subscription working in GCal, although it is slow to update. I also have it working in 30boxes.

You should try a new iwantsandy account to see if it's account related. Otherwise it must be user error.

I wasn't all that amused. I picked the tongue hanging out face and pressed it for awhile. Amused was only the most fitting of them.

You're not understanding why I would suggest to try a different Sandy account. You would do it to see if it's just your original account.

PS: I hope my status isn't misleading this time.

I will try a new Sandy account and report back.

Calender working like a charm! Austin, I hope you have the same luck!!