Lightning 1.9 released, please update your Provider for Google Calendar

As you likely noticed, Lightning 1.9 was recently released. Aside from the common issues during an update, the most reported problem was that calendars were no longer working. In almost all cases, the solution for this issue is to also update the Provider for Google Calendar to version 0.18. A function in Lightning was changed that was used by the Provider version 0.17, hence the update.

For an unknown reason, the addons manager did not find the update of the Provider for Google Calendar to version 0.18. We have mitigated this by blocking the older version of the extension on addons.mozilla.org, but we have yet to find the reason this has happened in the first place.

The next release is still a while away, but if you experience issues in a future update, please make sure you are using the latest version of all relevant extensions.

If you are having a different error, please check out the Error Console in the Tools menu and comment with any relevant messages by comment. Also, in the advanced config editor (Preferences → Advanced → General → Config Editor) there is a preference called “calendar.debug.log” and “calendar.debug.log.verbose” which you can set to true to get additional messages regarding your problem.

54 comments

  1. Lightning 2.0b1 will not install on TB 18.0b1. Can you correct this. The versions page indicates it should install.

  2. The calendar issue is not due to the Google extension update as I do not and never had this in the first place. When a reminder pops up, I cannot snooze or open the Event. The only way to remove the reminder (temporary) is to close the window. Also, I cannot edit any Event or a create a new one. Please fix this issue. Thanks.

  3. I’m using Thunderbird 17, Lightning 1.9 and Provider for Google Calendar 0.18. I had to wrestle to get my username/password to be accepted (had to retype the username so I’m guessing there is a leading/trailing space problem. After I got over that one, I’m not seeing any synchronisation between the calendars. I just get

    [calGoogleCalendar] Adding item https://www.google.com/calendar/feeds//private/full to queue

    [calCachedCalendar] Adding 0 items to

    [calCachedCalendar] Modifying 0 items in

    [calCachedCalendar] Deleting 0 items from

    [calCachedCalendar] sync in action/pending.

    Appearing in the error console occasionally

    • I eventually got this working. The problem appears to have been to do with Google’s two factor authentication. I added an application specific password for lightning to my Google account and that worked.

      I eventually settled on the standard CalDav option in Lightning (i.e. without the Google Provider plugin) with a URL like:

      https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/<calendar ID>/events

      Hope that helps someone else.

      • my reading of some faq tells me that CalDav only allows display of a single calendar in Tbird – is that your experience?

      • I too do not use Google Provider and just use straight CalDav. I was on TB 18 when this broke. My Google calendar is turned off. If I turn it on it immediately turns off.

        I find the following in the Error Console:

        CalDAV: Status 401 on initial PROPFIND for calendar Calendar

        So it appears to be a simple problem with the username/password but TB refuses to prompt me for the password. I’ve tried deleting and re-adding the calendar. Didn’t prompt. I went into Preferences: General: Security: Passwords and deleted all password related to Google. No dice.

        I was on the beta channel (TB 18 and Lightning 2.01b IIRC) so I uninstalled TB and switched to the stable channel. Installed from there. Same problem.

        Went to go back to the beta channel, hoping this was a bug that would be fixed and there was a new TB, 19! So I installed that and lo and behold Lightning 2.01b was said not to be compatible. So I went back to the stable channel (TB 17.0.2; Lightning 1.9).

        Then I moved my ~/.thunderbird aside and fired up TB and configured my Google calendar through CalDAV. It promptly prompted me for my username/password and worked.

        So how do I coax Thunderbird to prompt me for my Google Calendar username/password?

  4. I’m running TB 17, Lightning 1.9 and Provider for Google Calendars 0.18.
    I’m missing my accept, decline, etc. buttons.
    In Error Console, I get the following error when I click on a calendar invite:
    Timestamp: 12/12/12 8:16:27 AM
    Error: [Exception… “‘TypeError: this.mItipItem.targetCalendar is null’ when calling method: [nsIObserver::observe]” nsresult: “0x8057001c (NS_ERROR_XPC_JS_THREW_JS_OBJECT)” location: “JS frame :: file:///Users//Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/m4yacfpv.default/extensions/%7Be2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103%7D/components/lightningTextCalendarConverter.js :: lmcCTH :: line 264” data: no]
    Source File: file:///Users//Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/m4yacfpv.default/extensions/%7Be2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103%7D/components/lightningTextCalendarConverter.js
    Line: 264

    It hasn’t been working for a while, I just haven’t had time to look into it. I have to log into Google to accept or decline invites.

    • This sounds much like a known issue. I will release a fixed version soon.

    • I seem to be facing the same issue as well. Snippet of which :

      Error: this.mItemInfoCache[aItem.id] is undefined

      This was sync’ed up with another calender and I could delete the event externally but not from thunderbird. A synchronize also did not seem to delete the event after.

      Doug, did you try this to check if it worked for you ?

  5. works for me on on Linux using thunderbird 18.0~b1+build1-0ubuntu0.12.04.1~mtn1 and lightning-2.0b1-sm+tb-linux.xpi

  6. I’m on Thunderbird 17.0, Lightning 1.9, Provider for Google 0.18 on Windows 7.

    Ever since I did the upgrade, my lightning calendar will be up for a while and then it disappears. It I restart TB, the calendar will be back, but then disappears again.

    I’ve been using TB and Lightning for years, this is the first time I’ve had a problem.

    I re-installed TB, Lightning, etc. but that didn’t help.

    I looked thru the error console, but didn’t see anything that looked calendar related or corresponded with the disappearance timeframe.

    My workaround has been restarting TB periodically to have my calendar for a bit. Otherwise, I’ve resorted to using the web-based google calendar.

    I’ve been hoping that this will be fixed in the next release. (but what if it it isn’t?) Is this happening to other folks?

    It’s working fine on my Windows 8 netbook.

    Thanks! Vicki

    • I got this in the (verbose) error console:
      —————–
      [calGoogleCalendar] Error getting items:
      [Exception… “” nsresult: “0xc1f30001 (NS_ERROR_NOT_INITIALIZED)” location: “JS frame :: resource://calendar/modules/calUtils.jsm -> file:///C:/Users/XXXX/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/XXXXX.default/extensions/XXXXXXXXX/js/calGoogleCalendar.js :: cGC_getItems_response :: line 836” data: no]

      • Philipp Kewisch

        I’m not sure where this is coming from. The code referenced just passes on the error from the network code of the Mozilla platform. If you want to help find out where the problem is, please downgrade step by step (i.e Tb16/Lightning1.8/compatible Provider version) until you find the first version where it works again.

        I bet this is some sort of API change that went unnoticed.

  7. Lightning 1.9 can no longer add multi-day all day events. When you set the End date, the Start date automatically updates to the same value. If you change the Start date, then the End date automatically changes to the End date.

    • Philipp Kewisch

      Please check out the chain icon next to the start/end date. Maybe you accidentally locked the duration of the event by clicking on the icon.

  8. I use thunderbird ver 17.0 with Lightening ver 1.9
    OS : windows 7 (64 bit)

    i am unable to edit the calendar event created some time back(before the upgrade of TB and Lightening).

    Though i delete the event, but it never deleted, rather i never got any error mesg.

    deletion of the event is important for me.. as there are many stake holders invited for the event which is no more required.

    when i checked in the error console: found the following error mesg.
    ===================================
    Timestamp: 1/4/2013 5:10:39 PM
    Error: this.mItemInfoCache[aNewItem.id] is undefined
    Source File: file:///C:/Users/snarikim.ST-IDC/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/v963yg85.default/extensions/%7Be2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103%7D/components/calDavCalendar.js
    Line: 660
    ==================================
    as i need to delete the calendar event, i thought i will remove the “invitee list” from the event. i had edited the calendar and removed all the attendees list and saved the event.
    but even i open the event i still see all the invitees list.

    i never got any error for this.
    when i checked in the error console. here is the info.
    ===================================
    Timestamp: 1/4/2013 5:10:00 PM
    Error: this.mItemInfoCache[aItem.id] is undefined
    Source File: file:///C:/Users/snarikim.ST-IDC/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/v963yg85.default/extensions/%7Be2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103%7D/components/calDavCalendar.js
    Line: 792
    ====================================

    • Philipp Kewisch

      I’m sorry this is happening. I’ve been trying to hunt down the reason for this bug since quite some time, but I haven’t found out why its happening.

      To get your calendar back into a working state, please unsubscribe and then resubscribe to the calendar. Your deletions will then work as expected.

  9. Greetings,
    Thank you for a very nice program.

    I am using Thunderbird 17, Lightning 1.9, and just added Provider for Google 0.18 (this is on Windows 7).

    We have a shared calendar that my access to has been broken for quite some time and am now just trying to address the issue.

    My XP system has the same arrangement and it’s working fine.

    On the Windows 7 system, the TB error consoles says:
    Error parsing ICS 215333568
    Then says Parsing ICS succeeded from https://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/%5Bblah%5D
    [calFilterProperties] Applying filter:
    start: 0
    end: 0
    status: 15
    due: 15
    category: null

  10. Using Lightning 2.0b1 with TB 18beta1 on Linux x64. When I delete entries in a calendar then export the calendar for import on another computer, the deleted entries continue to show up after the import. However, new entries in the source are properly imported. Is this a known problem? Thanks. John

  11. Apologies if this is a duplicate as I’m not seeing it posted.

    We have Thunderbird 17, lightning 1.9, Provider for Google Calendars 0.18 on Windows 7. which is not working.

    Windows XP works fine.

    Error console debug messages are:

    Timestamp: 1/8/2013 4:04:08 PM
    Error: Error Parsing ICS: 2152333568

    [calICSCalendar] Parsing ICS succeeded for https://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/%5Bblah%5Dgroup.calendar.google.com/private-%5Bblah%5D/basic

    [calFilterProperties] Applying filter:
    start: 0
    end: 0
    status: 15
    due: 15
    category: null

    Thanks for any assistance, I am out of ideas.

  12. Lightning version web page shows beta TB at 19.01b and Lightning 2.1b1 but the links don’t lead me to these versions.

  13. I’m on Mac OS 10.6.8 – thunderbird 17.0.2 and lightning 1.9. I’m experience a strange memory leak now with Thunderbird with this configuration. I use IMAP settings for GMAIL and have followed all instructions. Been using Thunderbird for several years now and this has never happened until now. memory climbs to over 900mb and gets very slow, when I restart it goes down to 275mb or so. Without lightning enabled, memory stays down in the 150mb range. Anyone else having this problem?

  14. Hello,
    I’m using Thunderbird 17.0.2 + Lightning 1.9 + Provider for google calendar 0.18 and I cannot see the Accept, Decline, etc. buttons.

    • Please make sure all calendars are configured with an email address that matches the email you receive invitations on. Also note that Google Calendars are not really made for accepting invitations on.

  15. You seem to be pushing forward too much!!

    Still seeing problems with this version.

    We now have TB17.0.2, Lightning 1.9 + Provider for Google Calendar 0.18.

    Now when calendar gets loaded with events from before the update these events can’t be modified for some reason. We get MOFIFICATION FAILED. Calendar is not read only. Credentials are saved.
    Events are reoccuring. You can’t slide event up/dn, change one instance of occuring event. Not sure why is
    doing that.

    Downgrade to TB16 L1.8 Provider GCAL 0.17??
    seems to be the only option.

  16. Hi: where can I download Lightning 2.1b1?

  17. I eventually found a version of Lightning that works with Thunderbird 19 beta:

    https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/calendar/lightning/tinderbox-builds/comm-beta-win32/1357996868/

    It’s quite unimpressive that thousands of people are left without a functioning calendar for days after a beta is released.

  18. Thanks guys, its working again with Lighting 1.9!!!

  19. G’day All,

    I have a Lightning and Google calendar communications problem I’m hoping someone can help me resolve. It’s all worked beautifully for years, but now…

    Ubuntu 12.04 (precise) Kernel 3.2.0-36-generic-pae
    Thunderbird 17.02
    Lightning 1.9
    Google Provider 1.8

    Having recently “upgraded” to Ubuntu 12.04, I began experiencing problems between Lightning and Google Calendars. I can no longer switch any of my G.cals on, and am not asked for any password authentication.
    I tried deleting a recreating a G.cal link and received the following:

    Error code : 0x804b000a
    Description: [Exception… “[xpconnect wrapped nsIURI]” nsresult: “0x804b000a (NS_ERROR_MALFORMED_URI)” location: “JS frame :: resource://calendar/modules/calUtils.jsm -> file:///usr/share/mozilla/extensions/%7B3550f703-e582-4d05-9a08-453d09bdfdc6%7D/%7Ba62ef8ec-5fdc-40c2-873c-223b8a6925cc%7D/js/calGoogleCalendar.js :: :: line 227” data: no]

    I’ve disabled and re-enabled Google Provider 1.8 with no effect.

    I also tried following the Google calendar instructions for creating a CalDAV link but the login details popup at step 6 never popped up, so I couldn’t provide username and password details.

    Please help….

    Cheers,
    Phil

    • Update and resolution.

      I deleted and recreated my calendar in Lightning once again, but this time instead of using the address of my account as it was when it last worked, I copied the XML address from my GCal on the settings page.
      This then worked fine.
      It seems there have been some addressing changes over time that have finally caught up with me.

      I hope this helps some one else out.
      Thanks for all the fantastic work Philipp!

      Cheers,
      Phil

  20. Hi,
    TB17 with L1.9 and GoogleCal 0.18 faisl to manage reminders.

    found errors at the verbose log:
    *** Warnung: getAttributeNodeNS() sollte nicht mehr verwendet werden. Verwenden Sie stattdessen getAttributeNS().
    Quelldatei: resource://calendar/modules/calXMLUtils.jsm
    Zeile: 32

    *** Warnung: Das ownerDocument-Attribut auf Attributen sollte nicht mehr verwendet werden.
    Quelldatei: resource://calendar/modules/calXMLUtils.jsm
    Zeile: 32

    Changing an entry shows no error although the new reminder is lost! Ol dreminder still works.

    [calGoogleCalendar] Logging calIEvent:
    id:(foo)
    editurl:(foo)
    created:2012/11/12 12:36:36 Europe/Berlin isDate=0 nativeTime=1352720196000000
    updated:2012/11/12 12:36:36 Europe/Berlin isDate=0 nativeTime=1352720196000000
    title:(foo)
    content:(foo)
    transparency:OPAQUE
    status:CONFIRMED
    startTime:2013/01/29 07:45:00 Europe/Berlin isDate=0 nativeTime=1359441900000000
    endTime:2013/01/29 08:45:00 Europe/Berlin isDate=0 nativeTime=1359445500000000
    location:null
    privacy:DEFAULT
    sequence:0
    alarmLastAck:null
    snoozeTime:null
    isOccurrence: false
    Organizer:
    ID: mailto:(foo)
    Name: (foo)
    Rsvp: FALSE
    Is Organizer: yes
    Role: null
    Status: null
    Attendees:
    recurrence: no
    alarms: no

    Is this caused by a config problem?

    Regards

  21. Hello

    I found a bug with caldav calendar.
    When we add several calendar caldav, only the first works, the following fail to synchronize.
    The only case where it works for others, it is the username and password is the same for all caldav calendars.

    Is this normal?

    thank you

  22. When will we see a version of lightning that work with TB19??

  23. I’m having a similar problem. Lightning 1.9, TB 17.0.2, using CalDAV to access my Google Calendar. I don’t have the Provider add-on. Everything was working well until very recently, my Google calendar became disabled. When I go to Properties and switch it back on, it immediately turns off again, throwing these messages in the error console:

    CalDAV: send:

    CalDAV: Status 401 on initial PROPFIND for calendar

    Other Google calendars are exhibiting the same problem. Non-Google calendars are still working fine.

  24. Ligthning seems to have problems with notifications in .ics-files which are either imported or opened as such. Though I am able to save the event properly in the calendar, Lightning doesn’t trigger the pre-setted notification on time.

  25. I’m using Lightning 1.9 with Google CalDAV.

    It is working great except for one thing: When I open the calendar on Monday, reminders for past events that already occurred over the weekend (when I didn’t use the computer) pop up and after clicking “Dismiss” the reminders pop up again (and again and again).

    However, if I instead click “Details” and then select “Reminder: None”, the reminders stop.

    So the correct functionality is sort of there, but it isn’t working when I just hit the “Dismiss” button the way it should.

  26. I have problems to get Lightning 1.9 (Thunderbird 17) to work with te Baikal CalDAV server. More details are here: https://github.com/jeromeschneider/Baikal/issues/69
    Part 2 and 3 of that seem to be more on the Lightning side.

  27. Joseph Cardana

    None of my Events are showing.
    Thunderbird 17.0.4

    I have my calendars on the same computer but in a shared network folder.

    [calICSCalendar] Error occurred opening channel: [Exception… “Component returned failure code: 0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) [nsIChannel.asyncOpen]” nsresult: “0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE)” location: “JS frame :: file:///C:/Users/Joseph%20H.%20Cardana/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/flf7cfb8.default/extensions/%7Be2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103%7D/components/calICSCalendar.js :: calICSCalendar_doRefresh :: line 194” data: no]

  28. TbESR 17.0.4 + Ltn 1.9.1 = Ltn 1.9.1 Disabled!
    Quite bad in corporate deployement.
    Anybody else concerned? Any hints?
    (Couple with SOGo integrator and connector 17.0.3)

    • TbESR 17.0.4 + Ltn 1.9.1 = Ltn 1.9.1 Disabled!
      Need to download separetly Ltn extension and installed it manually to make it works again. :)

  29. Hi, i am becoming crazy to make Lightning work as it did until 2 days ago. Til then i was able to Accept an Outlook invitation in TB and it appeared on Google Calendar (the Provider is also installed). 2 days ago the Accept, tentative etc buttons desappeared. To get them back I have to create a Local calendar but invitations goes now always in this Local Calendar and not to the one synch’ed with Google. How can I link Lightning to a specific Calendar (not the Local)?

    TIA,

    Prez

  30. I have Thunderbird 17.0.4 installed on my dual-boot Windows XP, OS X machine, sharing a profile. I installed Lightning 1.9.1. However, whenever I install the Windows version of Lightning on the Windows partition, it shows up as disabled when I try to use Thunderbird/Lightning from the OS X partition. And when I install the mac version of Lightning, it shows up as disabled when I use Thunderbird/Lightning from the Windows side. To make it all work I have to constantly reinstall the OS-specific Lightning add-on each time I try to use the other operating system. Am I missing something here or is there a work-around I can use?

  31. John Mulligan

    I am usiing Lightning 17.0 and have a problem with an attached calendar (.ics) file getting deleted/re-created, losing all of my events. The .ics file is on a network share and we do not know when it happens until things just disappear. The events show on my screen but if I check the file size it is zero. Any suggestions?

  32. My solution which worked at me is very simple.
    The issue is related to the fact that there is no email address associated to the calendar.
    Wanna fix it?
    Go to Calendar view and edit Properties (Right click on Calendar (Home – located on the left) -> Properties)
    Choose the right email address in order to associate it with your Calendar.
    Save changes and done.

  33. Kevin Carpenter

    I’m using Lightning 1.9.1 under Thunderbird 17.0.5. I have a dozen or so e-mail accounts managed by TB. Sending “work” mails from “other” accounts has always been a thorn for me but I just figured out one of the plants growing those thorns: Lightening.

    Apparently whenever I Accept a calendar invite, the sender is receiving a message that one of my other accounts has accepted the event invitation. This confused them, and makes me look sloppy.

    Is there a way to force Lightening to use the e-mail account the calendar invite was received on for the response message?

  34. richard tomkins

    Windows 7 64 bit
    Thunderbird 17.0.5
    Lightning 1.91
    Provider for Google 0.18

    I am unable to make an event entry into Google calendar for May 1, 2013. I can make a local calendar entry. I have tried different times and May 1, is no good, but May 2 works, and April 30 works.

  35. I installed the Lightning and Google functions to use my Google Calendar but no where can I find out where to enter my Google account information to access my online calendar?

  36. […] Lightning 1.9 released, please update your Provider for … – You seem to be pushing forward too much!! Still seeing problems with this version. We now have TB17.0.2, Lightning 1.9 + Provider for Google Calendar 0.18. […]