Using Google Calendar, Thunderbird and Lighting to full effect

[Brian96]

I had the same problem with getting lighting to work properly in TB. Like everyone else I couldn't add new calendars. I fixed it by getting Lightning v.5 from the repos or add/remove programs. Then I used the previous version of Provider v.2.1 that you can get by clicking on the version history for Provider and finding 0.2.1
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thu.../versions/4631
It's not the newest version but all is working now!

Perfect solution for me!

[veroloi]

When you click on the XML button a URL will be displayed (i’ve edited the whole strin below for security reasons) Copy this URL , and paste it into the Thunderbird Text box, then click on Next.

Thank you for the howTo, it is exactly what I was looking for, but after entering the URL and then username and password for the calendar I get this error:

[Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) [nsISimpleEnumerator.getNext]" nsresult: "0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE)" location: "JS frame :: file:///home/user/.mozilla-thunderbird/xxxxx.default/extensions/xxxxx/js/calGoogleUtils.js :: passwordManagerGet :: line 479" data: no]

Any idea what the problem could be?
Is it correct to enter my login password to google calendar or is there any other username/password?

I use thunderbird 2.0.0.12 and lightening 0.8 with Gutsy.

[Brian96]

I had the same problem with getting lighting to work properly in TB. Like everyone else I couldn't add new calendars. I fixed it by getting Lightning v.5 from the repos or add/remove programs. Then I used the previous version of Provider v.2.1 that you can get by clicking on the version history for Provider and finding 0.2.1
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thu.../versions/4631
It's not the newest version but all is working now!

WARNING!!!!

I installed Lightning 0.8 to see if they made any changes to the interface that I might like. Well, I didn't like it so I uninstalled it. But now when I try to start T-bird I get an error saying that the calendar data in my "profile was updated by a newer version of Lightning, and continuing will probably cause the information to be lost or corrupted" and it won't start.

Don't install 0.8 if you liked the old interface on 0.5!

[ctcarton]

WARNING!!!!

I installed Lightning 0.8 to see if they made any changes to the interface that I might like. Well, I didn't like it so I uninstalled it. But now when I try to start T-bird I get an error saying that the calendar data in my "profile was updated by a newer version of Lightning, and continuing will probably cause the information to be lost or corrupted" and it won't start.

Don't install 0.8 if you liked the old interface on 0.5!

You can wipe your calendar profile by deleting storage.sdb from the profile directory. As long as you're syncing to google you won't lose anything; it's just a minor inconvenience to re-configure it.

[LingLings]

What an amazing thread! I'm very grateful for such simple to follow instructions as I'm a total Noob who has experienced varying degrees of success of setting up and using Ubuntu. I now have Thunderbird 2.0.0.12 running with Lightning 0.8 / Provider for Google Calendar. Both mail and calendar are now perfectly synchronized. So a big thank you to original poster!

However I'm having trouble following the instructions to install GCalDaemon so that I can sync the Thunderbird Address book with my Gmail contacts. No doubt that I'm doing something basic wrong which tends to be the case at the moment. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I have downloaded the zip file into my download folder (i.e. it now appears in the panel that pops up in ubuntu with Open / Remove options) and it is also sitting on my desktop.

Here's what happens next...

paul@line-city:~$ sudo bash
root@line-city:~# cd /usr/local/sbin
root@line-city:/usr/local/sbin# sudo unzip /downloads/gcaldaemon-linux-1.0-beta16.zip
unzip:  cannot find or open /downloads/gcaldaemon-linux-1.0-beta16.zip, /downloads/gcaldaemon-linux-1.0-beta16.zip.zip or /downloads/gcaldaemon-linux-1.0-beta16.zip.ZIP.
root@line-city:/usr/local/sbin#

I have tried replacing "/downloads" in the path with "/home/paul/Desktop" but this makes no difference

Am I missing an obvious trick?

Any help will be gratefully received. Please give basic instructions if replying as I'm still finding my feet with the Terminal.

[MichaelRST]

Great thread - thanks!

For contact sync, I'm using a Thunderbird addon:
zindus thunderbird gmail contact sync

Only been using it a few days but it sems to work well. I like that it does two-way sync.

[Brian96]

Has anybody figured out how to get T-bird (and its add-ons) to save synced data for offline access?

[tomsa]

Hi all- this has really been a great thread in general! My personal problem at the moment is that I can't seem to get lightning to let me add more than one calendar from a single google account. I have my google calendar set up as four separate calendars so that everything is color coded for different people and to make for easy importing from our work MS computers for the wife and me. When I try to add a new calendar that is attached to my email account, thunderbird/lightning's password manager doesn't function properly, and I am asked for my password over and over- to the point of crashing the application. I always check the box to remember the password- is there something else that's really obvious that I'm missing, or is this a bigger problem than I realize? Many thanks.

[venik212]

I have installed Kubuntu 8.04 and Thunderbird 2. The very nice combination of Lightning and Provider for the Google Calendar no longer works. This is very disappointing, since that combination was truly useful.
I tried old versions of these extensions, but they failed.

Any ideas?

[in_rainbow]

I have installed Kubuntu 8.04 and Thunderbird 2. The very nice combination of Lightning and Provider for the Google Calendar no longer works. This is very disappointing, since that combination was truly useful.
I tried old versions of these extensions, but they failed.

Any ideas?

Ah damn. I have the same setup and was just about to set this up. Can anyone else confirm? Is there any workaround?