Fixing my sync icon

[lilnate]

Ive been searching and ive read a few sync icon solutions for the gingerbread leak problem. They all say wipe the data.

I do plan on doing this cause its starting to get kind of annoying. What exactly do i need to do in order not to lose anything that i have? Exactly what does the whip do?

Any backup suggestions or necessary steps to make sure i dont mess up that you would suggest for me?

thanks.

 

[ottscay]

Your data wipe will do what it sounds like - it will erase everything on your phone, and you will have to sign into it much like you did the first day you bought the phone. Your contacts will get reimported from Gmail (and/or the Verizon backup service). Your paid apps will still be paid for and available in the market, but you'll have to go into "my apps" and download them. If you use a media sync program (I use DoubeTwist with AirSync) you'll have to sign back in but then all of your media (photos and videos) will get repopulated.

If you don't use a media or image backup, you'll want to back up your stuff with DropBox (or similar cloud storage solution) or pull the SD card and just transfer them to your computer in a card reader.

Any customization's you've done (like your background, or if you use an alternative launcher) will have to be set up again.

Most of this sounds more timing consuming that it really is in practice, but two things are fairly obnoxious and there's no easy workaround: 1) you will lose the data in your apps. So the high scores in your games, the login passwords in your apps, your previous text messages, etc., will all be lost. 2) Free apps don't currently get stored anywhere. You could join appbrain and make a backup there, or you could just make a list of the free apps you have (or heck, just trust that if they're really important you'll eventually remember to download them).

Without getting into much more advanced hackery you just have to live with those last two items. It's not a big deal to me, and I make a habit of wiping the phone after a major OS upgrade whether it's OTA or something else (like the current one). I think there are some SMS archival apps you could use if the content of your text messages are really valuable, and as I said, using a photo and media sync program can automated that part of recovery, much like your contacts are backed up automatically.

Either way it's a bit scary the first time you do it, but with a little prep you won't lost anything important, and you should be ready for the things you will lose. Good luck, and have fun! (really, it can be fun - it's often a good time to re-evaluate how your phone is set up, what apps you "really need", etc.).

Edit: I should really mention this as it happened to me: If you use Google 2-Step authentication to protect your accounts (if you don't know what this is, don't worry about it) be sure to turn it off before you wipe to make everything easier to set back up. You can still get around it even if you don't (trust me...) but it's a bit more of a pain in the butt, and may give you temporary chest pains

 

[lilnate]

I appreciate the in-depth post you took time to create for me, i really do appreciate the help. I should have mentioned that i am rooted, as that is kind of a big thing probably. If i use titanium backup will this help me keep all my apps or my data or anything?


Thanks again.

 

[newskate9]

STOP!!!!!

I've done something that I think works - I found the idea on another forum. For starters, GB, rooted, all working fine - except that goofy sync icon.

Tried a bunch of stuff before wiping. Someone mentioned it was contact syncing. OK. So I have bloatfreezer. I went in, and froze the contactsync from running. Instantly, the icon disappeared. This program best I can tell, is BLUR related, not GOOGLE related.

I was told this would not work and that syncing would not work, etc. BUT, I've checked both ways, multiple times and have had this solution since I GB'd over a week ago. I sync perfectly, both ways, instantly. I've seen NO downside to this solution.

IF someone knows different, or what I'm not seeing, let me know. Otherwise, were I you - and I was - I'd give this a try before doing the ole wipe and go.

 

[ottscay]

I appreciate the in-depth post you took time to create for me, i really do appreciate the help. I should have mentioned that i am rooted, as that is kind of a big thing probably. If i use titanium backup will this help me keep all my apps or my data or anything?

Ah, then yes, I'd think you could save your data and offload the backup zip file to a dkestop or dropbox, and then reimport it after your wipe.

 

[Jashley73]

STOP!!!!!

I've done something that I think works - I found the idea on another forum. For starters, GB, rooted, all working fine - except that goofy sync icon.

Tried a bunch of stuff before wiping. Someone mentioned it was contact syncing. OK. So I have bloatfreezer. I went in, and froze the contactsync from running. Instantly, the icon disappeared. This program best I can tell, is BLUR related, not GOOGLE related.....

I did this as well, and it fixed the sync icon instantly... Thanks for the tip!

 

[Sailmaker]

I think it is the calendar sync. The sync icon being on ran my battery down in just a few hours. I went to settings/accounts/gmail account and unchecked Sync Calendar. Backed out of settings, pulled battery for good measure, rebooted phone, went back to settings/accounts/gmail account and checked Sync Calendar again. That stopped the constant syncing and my battery life returned to normal.
FWIW, I tried the complete data wipe and that only temporarily fixed the problem as the sync icon came back on shortly after I completed the data wipe & added back in all the apps. It ran for a day & a half so I figured it wasn't really syncing anything.
Sooo, temporarily turning off calendar sync seemed to work for me.

 

[Rocko]

WIPE!!!!!!!!!! What is the big deal?

 

[WAldenIV]

Most of this sounds more timing consuming that it really is in practice, but two things are fairly obnoxious and there's no easy workaround: 1) you will lose the data in your apps. So the high scores in your games, the login passwords in your apps, your previous text messages, etc., will all be lost. 2) Free apps don't currently get stored anywhere. You could join appbrain and make a backup there, or you could just make a list of the free apps you have (or heck, just trust that if they're really important you'll eventually remember to download them).

That is terribly inaccurate. There are several options to backup data and applications including Titanium Backup and My Backup.

 

[robocp4]

I GOT RID OF THE SYNC ICON FINALLY.........


After some serious searching, the solution that worked for me (and others) was to uninstall yahoo mail (tip also said corporate synch but I am not running that app); reboot the phone; and then add the yahoo and other deleted accounts. This worked flawlessly and had a huge positive impact on battery life. Haven't seen the synch icon on the top menu bar since the reboot.


The sync icon will definitely stay longer than 24 hours if you have yahoo or corporate synch accounts on the phone. At least Motorola is not suggesting a factory reset on the phone--this is the most popular suggestion on the other boards! Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!