Sync Issues - Exchange 2010 Contacts & Truncated contact notes

stripeyuk · Dec 14, 2013

Hi
Had a browse of old posts and a few others have posted about different issues, but I have 1 issue and 1 question!

my issue is that my S4 (GT19505) on unrooted android 4.2.2 fails to sync (some/all?) NEW contacts created on the phone back to exchange, but also not all new exchange contacts reach the S4, and when they do it can take a while (24hrs). Some updates by the phone (ie attach a new phone number to a contact) don't push back to exchange either. I have all the sync settings done correctly (have a Note10.1 that works fine, and HTC one X - so know my way around the basics!) I also have an iPhone 3Gs linked to the same account and that works fine with new contacts and updates both ways, no delays. I don't use google (lots of threads on issues with them!) or any other apps for any contacts/email, purely exchange 2010. It's only the S4 with Sync Issues all the other devices work just fine.

I don't want to have to delete the account and recreate it, as there are un sync'd changes that I'd have to manually check each contact to figure out what was missing, on 500+ contacts that's some time ... and it might just continue/recur and I'd be no better off ...

My question is related, in that part of this was noticed because contact notes were being cut off/short, and I needed to verify which device was causing this. Sadly due to the sync issues with the S4 I can't seem to be sure if it also causes the notes to get truncated?
the iphone (on iOS 6.1.3) does not truncate even when over 10k chrs,
the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (GT-N8020 - Android 4.1.1) does chop at about 1,000chrs, even if just adding a phone number to the contact,
the HTC One X (4.2.2) at 5,122 chrs

Does anyone know if the S4 truncates notes?
Is this issue documented, is it an android issue or manufacturer one? In that does v4.1.1 impose the limit at 1k verse 4.2.2 at 5k chrs, in which case the s4 would be the same?

Are there any know plans to fix this?

Would anyone recommend other tools:
Fieldston Software - gSyncit - Sync Outlook and Google Calendars, Contacts, Notes and Tasks
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...singsync&hl=en
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....nitroid&hl=en
Sync calendar, contacts, tasks and notes to Android, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry - CompanionLink

Or would using Google resolve any of this without creating even more issues?!

Thanks

Rukbat · Dec 14, 2013

stripeyuk said:
I have all the sync settings done correctly (have a Note10.1 that works fine, and HTC one X
...
I don't use google (lots of threads on issues with them!) or any other apps for any contacts/email, purely exchange 2010.

So the difference is probably either the email client in each case, or the setup in the email client.

Are you using the same version of the same email client in all 3 devices (IOW, did you create an apk on the Note, then install it on the S4) and are all the settings in both identical?

Or are you using the default email client in each device (which gives us at least 3 large pieces of software to research to figure out what may be causing the problems, and which no one here is probably going to want to do - it could take weeks.) Even slightly different versions of the same email client may have differences in the way they handle Exchange, and that might be the cause of your problem. (Exchange really has to be set up to work flawlessly with Android, and most Exchange administrators who know that - and most of them don't - won't bother to redo their servers to accommodate one or two phones. If you get something that works with your server, save the apk and the settings, and don't use anything else on any Android device.)

stripeyuk · Dec 14, 2013

I don't think the other devices bear any significance, other than to show that the Exchange server is working as it should. So I think you have mis-understood me completely! Sorry...

The issue is purely with the S4, which seems to be delaying/not all syncing contacts and having tested further, calendar (both ways). Emails seem to be fine and not affected, not checked tasks, as I don't use them at all.

In terms of setup, the account was configured as an "exchange active sync" by hand, with the settings needed, by the fact that the emails are working, and that the contacts / appointments sync'd to start with shows that this is correctly done.

The problem I think is recent (in that the phone worked fine when it was new - it sync'd the contacts to start with), but it's hard to be sure, as you don't often check a contact has arrived on your desktop, or that a new number has been added, mainly as I don't often create or edit them on the S4.

I've had the phone 8months or so, but only noticed ONE contact had an issue with the contact notes field, that made me look further and then noticed other bits were not syncing as they should, compared to the other devices which behaved as expected, in a timely fashion.

So any pointers / ideas on why the S4 is behaving oddly, know issues/bugs ... or even ideas on how best to resolve it (without checking each contact record by hand - 580 records!) gratefully received.

Sorry again for any confusion, and look forward to any replies

PS, I'm a newbie here, but been in technology for 4 decades, and maybe your initial response to new users might be a little more sympathetic ? Unless you want to scare them off !

stripeyuk · Dec 15, 2013

Ok, well after looking at everything, I decided that the best solution was to uninstall an App called "Tango", as it seemed to 'mess' with contacts directly, and I only use it with 1 person, so switching back to Skype (plus Tango sends/shares lots of personal info, location, and keeps changing it's access rights and doing stuff when you're not looking - I'm sure some people love it, but for me, it's a belts and braces get rid of anything that might have 'contributed' to this issue).

Found my un-sync'd contacts and emailed them to myself, then deleted the Exchange active-sync account. Checked what was left, found google had managed to sync some stuff, cleared that up too!

RE-created the account on the S4 - only need the email and password, as it finds the server and sets itself up automatically (I guess it did that previously).

All is now working, after about 5mins the data had been re-populated and it sync's new changes instantly. But I will monitor from time to time to check that new contacts or added numbers etc do sync. My best guess is that some index or other data became corrupt. Just one of those things (or had I been tango'd?!).

On the Truncating Notes Issue, the S4 (realised that it's running Android 4.3) does chop a note but only if edited, at 1001 chrs. However unlike others, it seems to only truncate the note if you actually edit the note field, so adding a phone number or removing one, leaves the note field intact!

To summaries other devices behaviour with the Contact record Notes Field:
- iPhone 3GS (on iOS 6.1.3) truncates at 32,777 chrs (so pretty big notes!)
- Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (GT-N8020 - Android 4.1.1) chops at about 1,000chrs, even if just adding a phone number to the contact - so not even editing the notes field
- HTC One X (4.2.2) at 5,122 chrs (when editing any part of the contact)

I hope this might help someone in the future if they have similar problems ...

cheers

Ynotbuyit · Feb 28, 2014

Does anyone know if the S4 truncates notes?
Is this issue documented, is it an android issue or manufacturer one? In that does v4.1.1 impose the limit at 1k verse 4.2.2 at 5k chrs, in which case the s4 would be the same?
Are there any know plans to fix this?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sorry that this is not a fix, but it confirms what you are thinking:

I own an S4 ver 4.4.2 (recently soft updated from 4..2.2). Your truncated notes appears to be coming from a limitation in the size of the "Notes" field IN THE PHONE (Google is not the problem). It's definitely the phone. I know 2 other S4 users that have the same issue. My personal experiment/proof is as follows: In my Outlook I pasted 4kb of text into a contact's notes field and then synced it with Google. All the text was visually AOkay in all 3 places (Outlook, Google, & my S4). As soon as opened that noted field in my phone and then chose to "save" it the phone would truncate the text to appx 951 bytes (not kilobytes,,, yessss bytes). After the fact Google auto-syncs with my phone and then truncate the Google notes field for that contact". Then you know the rest,,, your Outlook notes field is next in line for disaster. I really don't think an external app or a Samsung software update will fix this. It appears to be more of a firmware issue. WE (meaning myself, you, and anyone else who reads this) need to push this issue onto Samsung whereas they need to offer a firmware update that expands the space in the "Notes" field.

Polish Prince · Oct 20, 2014

Android L Preview... Nexus 5.... No more note field truncation.

RazzMaTazz · Oct 20, 2014

Interesting. I use an old LG Optimus S Android v2.3 synced with Hotmail servers (which are essentially Exchange servers) and the synchronization limit for the notes field on Android is 1024 characters. (E.g. If my Outlook contact has 2000 characters in the note field, only 1024 of it will get sent to the phone but the full 2000 remain in Outlook. I don't think I've tried manually inputting more than 1024 on the phone to see if it syncs back to Outlook via Hotmail.

If you ever have sync problems again you may want to consider going into Settings->Applications-> Manage Applications-> All. Then scroll down to the "contacts storage" app and delete the data. It will automatically repopulate the data (hopefully correctly).

Also, I you enter a contact on the phone, be sure to enter it as a "Corporate" contact under your corporate account. It sounds like you probably did that, but just wanted to be sure because it's easy to accidentally store it as a "Google" contact.

aatayyab · Dec 22, 2019

It is December 22, 2019 and I am still finding this issue (of google contact notes field truncating data in a phone set) with another Android phone set i.e. Oppo A1k. There used to be a work-around app;

Contact Editor Free (For lengthy contact notes) by DMFS GMBH
https://apkpure.com/contact-editor-free/org.dmfs.android.contacts

But this is no more available on Google Play store. Do you guys have found any other solution to this? There seems an issue with the technological interaction (communication) between Google Contacts team and the mobile phone manufacturers.

Sync Issues - Exchange 2010 Contacts & Truncated contact notes

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