iCal won't let me NOT enter a time for event

Joined
May 8, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro OS 10.6.2
Help! I've used iCal with no problem for years. Now, on my new MacBook Pro w/Snow Leopard it's suddenly doing weird things. I'm not using Mobile Me or any synchs or links. After using iCal on the new laptop without any problem, I am suddenly no longer able to click on a date in month view and enter an event with no time associated with it. It automatically enters the current duration (if it's 9:30, it gives me a choice of 10:00-11:00 and if I don't select a time, then automatically enters "10:00 am" before my event title). The only way around this is to check "all day" for all events, which is a mess.

Advice? If I should uninstall iCal and reinstall, how do I do it?

Many thanks.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
7,295
Reaction score
301
Points
83
Location
Wisconsin
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini (Late 2014) 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 Memory: 8GB 1600MHz DDR3
Why is "all day" a problem? All my events are set up that way, and with a time for the message. I don't know a way around it, so I doubt that reinstalling is going to change anything.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2010
Messages
31
Reaction score
0
Points
6
I have kind of the same problem as vicmly so I was thinking I should add to this thread instead of making a new one.

Not sure if this is the same reason vicmly disklikes the "all day" checkbox but the reason I do not like it is because a lot of the time I forget to click it when adding an event.

I think the problem may be solved it there is a way to automatically have the all day box checked by default. I've looked through the settings but didn't see anything. Is there a way for it to be checked by default?
 
OP
V
Joined
May 8, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro OS 10.6.2
Thanks for your reply, toMACsh. "All day" is a problem for me because these events are not "all day"; I would have to take the extra step of checking the "all day" box; the "all day" solid bar appears, which makes the date in monthly view look crowded; I can no longer just enter "Dentist 2:00" (without having to enter duration) and be done with it. And, it was working the correct way just a few weeks ago. I'm hoping to simply get back to the way it was functioning without having to grin and bear it.



Why is "all day" a problem? All my events are set up that way, and with a time for the message. I don't know a way around it, so I doubt that reinstalling is going to change anything.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
7,295
Reaction score
301
Points
83
Location
Wisconsin
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini (Late 2014) 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 Memory: 8GB 1600MHz DDR3
Thanks for your reply, toMACsh. "All day" is a problem for me because these events are not "all day"; I would have to take the extra step of checking the "all day" box; the "all day" solid bar appears, which makes the date in monthly view look crowded; I can no longer just enter "Dentist 2:00" (without having to enter duration) and be done with it.
Still confused here. I just did what you said you can't do. Also tried one without "all day" checked. Time appears for the latter, but no end time was needed. No time appears if "all day" is checked. (not an onerous "extra step" really) I can put a time in the Event description. I get a bar with rounded ends with "all day" and squared off if it's not checked. No 'crowding" at all. ???

Sorry I'm not helping, but I use iCal everyday, and don't really understand the problem you have with it. Feel free to ignore this post if someone else provides the solution you're looking for.
 
OP
V
Joined
May 8, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro OS 10.6.2
Maybe it's simpler to ask how to uninstall and reinstall iCal. Any advice on that?

Like you, toMACsh, I use iCal multiple times a day. Suddenly I can't do what I have been able to do for several years. This tells me something is wrong. I could take several extra steps, but I will probably just move to google calendar if I can't fix this. I work in monthly view most of the time, so maybe that's the difference, toMACsh. Thanks for trying.


Still confused here. I just did what you said you can't do. Also tried one without "all day" checked. Time appears for the latter, but no end time was needed. No time appears if "all day" is checked. (not an onerous "extra step" really) I can put a time in the Event description. I get a bar with rounded ends with "all day" and squared off if it's not checked. No 'crowding" at all. ???

Sorry I'm not helping, but I use iCal everyday, and don't really understand the problem you have with it. Feel free to ignore this post if someone else provides the solution you're looking for.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
7,295
Reaction score
301
Points
83
Location
Wisconsin
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini (Late 2014) 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 Memory: 8GB 1600MHz DDR3
I wouldn't go that far, yet anyway.

Go down this path
HD/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iCal.plist
Move that plist file to your Desktop.
Now open iCal. This will make a new default plist file.
Test it out. Is it better? Back to "normal"?
If so, Trash that file from the Desktop.

If not, try using iCal after logging in under a different user account. If you only have one, make a second one!

And, if step one made things worse, you can put that plist file back where it came from. It will ask you if you want to overwrite the one it just made. You should do this if you changed a bunch of preferences. That will restore your changes.

This approach is trying to ferret out corrupt preferences or other things in your account, if that's the problem. We weren't getting anywhere looking for an answer within iCal.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2011
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Solved (at least for me)

OK, had the same exact problem. iCal would not let me edit the time for an event. After a couple of hours of trying many different things, including restarting the app, restarting the Mac, deleting the .plist., etc., I have finally solved the problem, which I was able to duplicate (Yeah!). Time Machine was locked up. I had to physically turn off the offending external drive (not normally recommended, but nothing else would eject the volume). iCal now works perfect as it always has before. As a test, when I turn that external drive back on and Time Machine begins its work, then iCal reverts back to not allowing editing of events. So now I need to determine what the problem is with that particular external drive and/or Time Machine, but for now, I'm happy!
 
Joined
Jun 5, 2014
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
all day event problem

When I choose "all day event" my event is deleted. I've checked preferences and the icalendar help. Help says "Don’t enter any time information: Calendar makes it an all-day event." But ical automatically enters a one hour time -you can't NOT enter time information. I'm trying to print a calendar with events (all day ones) but get "9 am" on every day.
Any suggestions?

I just noticed that my post has a time of 10:24 pm. I it is actually 5:30 on my computer-MacAir. I checked my time pref and they seem correct.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Apr 26, 2015
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
The fact is, it's poorly designed. I've noticed as these things (iTunes, iCal, etc) get "smarter" they actually get more limiting and harder to use.

I would like to write the time in front of what I'm doing at that time but the program won't let you do this.. This quick visual helps me take a quick glance at the calendar and see what I have going on. But Mac is making everything "smarter" (dumber).

Also, I might want to type "4pm?" because something hasn't been firmed up yet... Again, Apple won't let you type a time in the box. Frustrating when simple stuff like that is designed out of the equation.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top