Hey! My Box.net-Shared iCal Calendars Stopped Working
Just a follow-up to a recent, popular post. I recently noticed that my iCal calendars — the ones I share via my Box.net account — stopped publishing, displaying a warning badge over the broadcast icon.
WTF: My Calendar Share Stopped Working!
(click image for larger view)
So I tried seeing if I could still connect to Box.net via the web. Yup. Good to go. Next I checked to see if I could still connect via the Finder and WebDAV. Nope. No go. Just sits and spins. There's the problem: No WebDAV, no calendar share. (I. Can't seem. To stop. Talking in. Short. Truncated. Sentences.)
Connecting to https://www.box.net: Or Not
(click image for larger view)
After having no luck Googling a solution, I decided I'd try to figure things out myself. And after some poking around I found the problem. And solution. The problem is the "s". See it? The one after the "http"? There in the "Connecting To Server" dialog. There you go. That's the culprit. That "s" means you're attempting to connect using a variation on the http protocol (called https, if you can believe) that transmits over a different port (port 443) than that of standard http (port 80), and that uses an additional encryption layer for security. Seems Box.net has stopped using the protocol for WebDAV communications, and is, at least for now, using standard http. Removing the "s" from my calendar shares fixed them right up.
Best way I know to do that is to select the published calendar, choose "Change Location..." from the "Calendar" pull-down menu, and in the field marked "Base URL:" change the "http" in the URL to "https". Hit publish, and everything should be right as rain.
Fixed: Ahh! That's Better!
(click image for larger view)
I'm not sure why the good folks at Box.net decided to change the connection protocol for WebDAV, nor why they failed to inform anyone (as far as I could tell, anyway). WebDAV support is a beta feature at Box.net, apparently, so I suppose we should expect some changes from time to time. Either way I'm sure glad they haven't pulled the service altogether. Hard to get too mad when the price is so nice.
UPDATE:
About five minutes after posting this article I got a comment from someone named Aaron who appears to work at Box.net. Aaron wrote:
That was last night. I'm still having some weirdness, but I have to admit to being far too tired to really do any serious investigating. Thus far, I'm unable to connect to Box.net with the Finder using https or http. Neither seems to work. Oddly, publishing via iCal using http does work, but still not with https. Strange. Not a big deal. Just strange. That's about all I've energy to try. Mainly I wanted to just point out that the Box.net folks seem to really be committed to the whole WebDAV thing, and that's great. And they appear to be listening, which is also great. Thanks, Box.net folks. And thanks, Aaron.
Now off to bed with me.
UPDATE 2:
Not sure when this started working properly, but publishing calendars via the https protocol is functioning normally again. Yay!
(Updated Sept. 4, 2006, 6:30 PM)
Filed Under: Internet Applications MacOSX Server
WTF: My Calendar Share Stopped Working!
(click image for larger view)
So I tried seeing if I could still connect to Box.net via the web. Yup. Good to go. Next I checked to see if I could still connect via the Finder and WebDAV. Nope. No go. Just sits and spins. There's the problem: No WebDAV, no calendar share. (I. Can't seem. To stop. Talking in. Short. Truncated. Sentences.)
Connecting to https://www.box.net: Or Not
(click image for larger view)
After having no luck Googling a solution, I decided I'd try to figure things out myself. And after some poking around I found the problem. And solution. The problem is the "s". See it? The one after the "http"? There in the "Connecting To Server" dialog. There you go. That's the culprit. That "s" means you're attempting to connect using a variation on the http protocol (called https, if you can believe) that transmits over a different port (port 443) than that of standard http (port 80), and that uses an additional encryption layer for security. Seems Box.net has stopped using the protocol for WebDAV communications, and is, at least for now, using standard http. Removing the "s" from my calendar shares fixed them right up.
Best way I know to do that is to select the published calendar, choose "Change Location..." from the "Calendar" pull-down menu, and in the field marked "Base URL:" change the "http" in the URL to "https". Hit publish, and everything should be right as rain.
Fixed: Ahh! That's Better!
(click image for larger view)
I'm not sure why the good folks at Box.net decided to change the connection protocol for WebDAV, nor why they failed to inform anyone (as far as I could tell, anyway). WebDAV support is a beta feature at Box.net, apparently, so I suppose we should expect some changes from time to time. Either way I'm sure glad they haven't pulled the service altogether. Hard to get too mad when the price is so nice.
UPDATE:
About five minutes after posting this article I got a comment from someone named Aaron who appears to work at Box.net. Aaron wrote:
"Sorry for the scare. Dav should be back to normal in the next few hours."
That was last night. I'm still having some weirdness, but I have to admit to being far too tired to really do any serious investigating. Thus far, I'm unable to connect to Box.net with the Finder using https or http. Neither seems to work. Oddly, publishing via iCal using http does work, but still not with https. Strange. Not a big deal. Just strange. That's about all I've energy to try. Mainly I wanted to just point out that the Box.net folks seem to really be committed to the whole WebDAV thing, and that's great. And they appear to be listening, which is also great. Thanks, Box.net folks. And thanks, Aaron.
Now off to bed with me.
UPDATE 2:
Not sure when this started working properly, but publishing calendars via the https protocol is functioning normally again. Yay!
(Updated Sept. 4, 2006, 6:30 PM)
Filed Under: Internet Applications MacOSX Server
Labels: Applications, Internet, MacOSX, Server
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 at 6:26 PM.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
12:22 AMSorry for the scare. Dav should be back to normal in the next few hours.
- Aaron
12:30 AM
Hey, wow. That was fast.
Thanks for the comment, Aaron. I'll update the post in the morning. I'm beat.
-systemsboy
10:17 AM
As long as you are communicating with them, why not mention to them their wejqlmkjbdav problem with spaces and other characters in the path or file name.
4:14 PM
Hi, I'm going to post your blog for BlogDay2006....
bye
1:27 PM
Anonymous,
Actually, I'm not communicating with them. They communicated with me. I posted. They commented. They contact me when they want. I have no say in it. It's like being crazy and hearing voices. No control over the situation.
Andrea,
Thanks! What's BlogDay2006? Oh, wait. Here it is:
http://blogday.org/
-systemsboy
10:03 AM
Thanks a lot for this excellent discussion. I've just discovered Box.net, after their WebDav breakdown, and only now finally can appreciate their excellent service.
cheers for the info!
1:14 PM
Yay!
It's working again, but https seems to be pretty unreliable. The standard http protocol seems to work fine though.
-systemsboy
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