Backup Assistant says "No New Data" even when new entries made in my Droid X

[DKGerman]

I have my Droid X set up for a nightly backup.  Every night it runs & then says "No New Data".  I have intentionally added new contacts to my phone contact list to see if it is backed up & it is not.  Does anyone have any idea what I am missing here?  How is this a backup if it doesn't find & store the new information?

[bearone21]

it won't duplicate what's in gmail contacts

[Tidbits]

DKGerman wrote:

I have my Droid X set up for a nightly backup.  Every night it runs & then says "No New Data".  I have intentionally added new contacts to my phone contact list to see if it is backed up & it is not.  Does anyone have any idea what I am missing here?  How is this a backup if it doesn't find & store the new information?

It will NOT back up Google contacts. You entry may be saved on Google contacts and not on the device itself.

[vzw_customer_support]

Hi DKGerman!

I know safegaurding your contacts are extremely important! Our other community members bring up a great point! If these contacts are saved as Google contacts, then they won't be backed up to our Assistant program. You can login at google.com/contacts to see your recently synced contacts there. Keep me posted!

Thanks,
AdamE_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

[bearone21]

the contacts link is no good for me

[DKGerman]

So, the contacts are not backed up to google either.  Additionally, every time I enter a new contact it asks me where I want to store the new contact.  My choices are Google, Backup Assistant, or Corporate Sync.  I always choose Backup Assistant but still they are not there.  I would happily back up all to Google & give up on this whole Backup Assistant mess, but not sure how to get all the existing onto Google.  Seems really unfortunate & counter-productive to have to go through all this hassle!  My previous (not Smart) phone seemed much more brilliant by comparison.  I ran a nightly sync to Verizon & it sent my contact list to my online account. Simple & Smart.  This "Smart" phone seems pretty stupid by conparison... lol.  If someone can give me information about how to backup all my contacts to Google I will give up on Verizon Backup. If someone can give me information about how to backup realiably to my Verizon backup I will give up on Google.  I just need something that actually works..

[bearone21]

i was able to select google as backup & don't get asked "where to", every time.

[DKGerman]

Yes, I can do that from now on, but I don't know how to backup my entire contact list to Google at this time....

[Wildman]

1. Log into Verizon Backup Assistant
2. Click on Export to CSV
3. Save File as (or Rename to) Contacts (it should already be converted to CSV so including .csv is redundant)
4. Log into Gmail/Google Voice
5. Click on Contacts
6. Click on Import
7. Browse for the Contacts (.csv) file
8. Click Import

9. Disable BA by going to Settings / Applications . Manage Applications / All Tab / Sync Service / Clear All

All contacts on your device should sync to Google if they are not in the BA backup...   Now I do say should because no software is perfect.

[DKGerman]

But my contacts in my phone havent backed up to my Verizon online.  How is exporting the online contact list going to capture that info?  I don't understand...

[bearone21]

they won't, what is it that you don't understand? 

they're backed up up if you export the gmail csv file, like wildman suggested & import the file into another program like b a, a different email account, hotmail, excite, yahoo, ad nauseum.... & there's your backup.

i have the gmail & account as well as ba & the contact list in yahoo is a duplicate of gmail

[DKGerman]

Here's what I am trying to fix.... most of my contacts are NOT backed up to either location.  They are not in my Google contacts & are not backed up to my Verzon Backup assistant either.  I can't seem to get my entire contact list backed up to 1 location.  Most are ONLY in my phone.  I will be happy to do whatever it takes to get them all to one location or the other, but can't seem to figure out how.  The instructions I have been given here seem to rest on the assumption that all my contacts are in one remote location or the other. Since this is not the case, I need to figure out how to get them all out there somewhere before I can merge them to anywhere...

[Wildman]

That usually happens when BA and gMail both try to sync the data at the same time...  Disable BA and then restart and try backing up with gMail and all numbers on the device should sync fine...

Settings / Applications / Manage Applications / Backup Assistance Plus / Clear Data....   THIS WONT DELETE ANY INFO FROM PHONE OR Backup Assistance, Just disable it..

Try this and please report back.

[DKGerman]

Even though the warning message says "All of this application's date will be deleted permanently. This includes all files, settings, accounts, databases and so on"?  This won't delete contacts I have selected to be stored in Backup Assistant when entering?

[Wildman]

The contact data to BA is on the website and it wont effect the web, all it does is remove the log in information for the application to communicate with BA site, all you have to do is put login information again in the application to reconnect the app, you can also go to the Verizon BA site to see your data.

If you are worring about this all you have to do iis log into site and export data from site like I posted earlier and then if anything gets effected you have a backup...  And to go deeper if you are still worried download MyBackup from Market and backup all of the devices personal data and you will be cover there also..

I understand your concerns but I am sure It wont erase the data from BA site, I have done it plenty of times and also I have instructed others in the past that never had any issues..

[DKGerman]

Ok. So I went ahead and did just as you said.  I cleared all data on the My Backup.  Then I tried to sync to GMail & it still doesnt work. It says it has synced but no new contacts have been stored in Gmail.  I will Go to Market & look for MyBackup now...

[Wildman]

This is because you told your phone to syn them with BA not Google...   If you go into your contacts on your device that hasnt been synced with gMail, in the contact info area there will be a icon to indicate if you are synced with BA or gMail.

Since you have been saving the files and telling the phone to sync with BA that is where those contacts went but if you selected gmail it would go to gmail,,

The only way is to merge all the contacts data with the instructions I gave you earlier...  There isnt a method to do this other than how I instructed you.

[DKGerman]

So what you are telling me is that any contacts originally saved to sync with Backup Assistant can never be synced to GMail?  And any to GMail will never sync to BA?  My original question was "how do I sync all contacts in my phone to one place"  & why won't the new contacts I add on phone & choose to store as BA get saved to BA online.   Sounds like we have been talking circles this whole time.

My original issue was that I am adding new contacts to phone, selecting BA as where to store, but they are NOT BEING SYNCED TO BA ONLINE.  We are not talking about the ones already saved to GMail.  I am back to my original question... why won't the new ones sync to BA online?

[Wildman]

You are misreading my point completely, you cant sync both at the same time , this is why you have the option of where you want the data to go...   If some of the contacts synced with BA and some with Google you have to change the location of that contact, usually under the contacts edit option you can change this but you usually have to do this one contact at a time but if it synced any of them to BA you can merge the contacts into gmail.

Most users resolve this with a hard reset but if you dont have all your contacts saved somewhere you will loose some of them...  This has been a situation that a number of users had when the Droid X first hit the scene and the solution I gave you was always the simplest solution.   I am not knowing why it nots working for you when other has used this method with success.

Its at the point that you need to log into gMail (Google) and BA (Backup Assistance Pro) and verify what contacts you have backed up and where they are backed up to and then work on merging them into one account..

Message was edited by: Wildman Forever

[DKGerman]

Ok. you are right. I was misunderstanding you.  The part I was missing is that its possible to edit the contact in my phone to be stored at a different place than originally set up.  I now get the fact that I need to open each individually & change the ones not currently defaulted to Google. Once all are changed I should be able to sync.  Time consuming but at least a solution.  Thank you.

[Wildman]

I think I may have found a easier way to unlink contacts from BA and switch to Google..

Under Settings / Accounts and Syncs try selecting BA from list and remove the check next to the contacts option and then go to Google account settings and make sure contacts are checked and I believe the device may ask for a location to sync again to and this time select Gmail..

I just tested on ICS on S3 and this worked but keep in mind this could be a Samsung option...  its worth a try still in my opinion.