Can't send meeting invitations (En 12.1.3, Ex 2003)

[vatman]

This is happening to me after the 12.1.3 update. Not able to send meeting invites 2007, too?
USING EXCHANGE 2003

- Is your Entourage identity configured with only 1 account, or do you have more than one account?
MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS (ONE EXCHANGE AND ONE POP)

- If more than one, do you have more than one Exchange account configured for your identity, or just one, and other accounts are POP/IMAP/Hotmail?
ONE EXCHANGE ACCOUNT, A COUPLE OF IMAP AND POP

- Is the Drafts folder visible under your Exchange account?
DRAFTS FOLDER VISIBLE

- Does this happen for all Entourage-created meeting invites? Does it happen for meeting updates? Does it happen also for meeting responses?
I CAN RECEIVE INVITES, MESSAGES, ETC BUT I CANNOT SEND MEETING INVITES FROM ENTOURAGE

- Does it repro when the meeting has been created using other client (Outlook/OWA), synced to Entourage and then updated from there?
COULDN'T TEST THIS

 

[ferg2k]

- Does this repro on Exchange 2003 only, or has anyone seen this on Exchange
2007, too?




Only tried on Exchange Server 2003

- Is your Entourage identity configured with only 1 account, or do you
have more than one account?




1 only

- If more than one, do you have more than one Exchange account configured
for your identity, or just one, and other accounts are POP/IMAP/Hotmail?
- Is the Drafts folder visible under your Exchange account? - Does this
happen for all Entourage-created meeting invites? Does it happen for meeting
updates? Does it happen also for meeting responses?




All calendar-related emails.

- Does it repro when the meeting has been created using other client (Outlook/OWA),
synced to Entourage and then updated from there?




Yes.

 

[Frankie]

This is a critical bug - please provide daily reports.

1 account; exchange 2003; see draft folder; only happens if I invite someone to a meeting; happens 100% of the time. Does not happen using the same account via webmail or windows outlook. So it's an entourage bug.

I guess it is not possible to uninstall the update without a full cd install - since that question was not answered.

 

[BryanP]

Same exact problem here.

Exchange 2003
Only one identity and only one exchange account

error happens on every meeting invite.

please help...

 

[mbm]

Same problem here.. Embarrassing... no QA on releases anymore... Shame on me for trusting the update.

1 exchange account, 2003, see draft folder, 100% error rate (all stuck in my Outbox), happens only in Entourage after the update

 

[raveldc]

Thank you for reporting, we are looking into this issue. We'd appreciate if you could answer to the following questions:

- Does this repro on Exchange 2003 only, or has anyone seen this on Exchange 2007, too?

Exchange 2007, SP1 + rollup 3 applied

- Is your Entourage identity configured with only 1 account, or do you have more than one account?

One account only

- If more than one, do you have more than one Exchange account configured for your identity, or just one, and other accounts are POP/IMAP/Hotmail?
- Is the Drafts folder visible under your Exchange account?
Yes

- Does this happen for all Entourage-created meeting invites? Does it happen for meeting updates? Does it happen also for meeting responses?

Meeting invites, yes
Meeting updates, yes

- Does it repro when the meeting has been created using other client (Outlook/OWA), synced to Entourage and then updated from there?

OWA works for updating and scheduling meetings. Syncs fine from Exchange.

Any other information that you can provide would be very helpful.

Exchange 2007 infrastructure:

SSL: yes
Backend access allowed: no

 

[MikeTRose]

- Does this repro on Exchange 2003 only, or has anyone seen this on Exchange 2007, too?

I only have Ex2003 to test against, but as you see from the other respondents there are 2007 users having the same issue.

- Is your Entourage identity configured with only 1 account, or do you have more than one account?

1 acct

- If more than one, do you have more than one Exchange account configured for your identity, or just one, and other accounts are POP/IMAP/Hotmail?

Only one Exchange, others are IMAP and POP.

- Is the Drafts folder visible under your Exchange account?

Yep

- Does this happen for all Entourage-created meeting invites? Does it happen for meeting updates? Does it happen also for meeting responses?

Yes, don't know, yes.

- Does it repro when the meeting has been created using other client (Outlook/OWA), synced to Entourage and then updated from there?

Don't know.

 

[PoweredBySun]

PLEASE PROVIDE DAILY UPDATES.

Same problem started for me at the 12.1.3 update. Effects all Mac/entourage computers on the exchange server. This is a MAJOR issue for my company and if not corrected soon, we may be forced to find a non microsoft solution. Happens for New meeting notices, updates, and accepts. Responses all hang in the outbox and returns error -17997 message. Meanwhile directed all others at the company to reject the update.

What's the easiest way to undo the update?

 

[Frankie]

The invite message just sits in the outbox - unable to send.

Might have found a manual workaround...

1. Setup and send out your meeting invite as normal
2. Go to the outbox folder and find the meeting invite.
3. Move the message from the outbox folder to drafts folder
4. Open message and send.
It will now send.... But I am unable to confirm the receipt. Feedback?

 

[Diane Ross]

What's the easiest way to undo the update?

The only way to revert is to use "Remove Office" and re-install. If you have
backup, you can restore.

Future options:

1) Archive (zip) your Office folder before updating
2) Use SuperDuper! Feature called Sandbox (see below)
3) Use Time Machine to restore
4) Create a backup using software like CCC or SuperDuper!

We've discussed using SuperDuper!(backup software) before, but this is an
excellent time to remind users about a feature it has that protects you from
updates that go bad. It copies applications like Office in the root
application folder. I keep most of my other non-Apple applications in the
User's folder. These are not copied over.

One of the options in SuperDuper! is to create what the author calls a
"Sandbox". It's used to revert to pre-update state of your OS. Here's a
description of how this option works:

A Sandbox is a bootable copy of your system, stored on another hard drive or
partition, that shares your personal documents and data with the original.
With SuperDuper!, you actually use the Sandbox as your startup volume. You
can safely install any system updates, drivers or programs in the Sandbox,
without worrying about what might happen to your system. If anything goes
wrong, you can simply start up from the original system. SuperDuper! has
preserved it in its original, pre-disaster state but all your new and
changed personal documents are totally up to date. Within minutes, you're up
and running again without having to go through a difficult and
time-consuming restore process.

SuperDuper! Is $27.95. I¹m not affiliated with the product. Just a satisfied
user. <http://www.shirt-pocket.com/>

 

[Leigh McMullen]

Same issue here... no idea what version of exchange were using, only one account and identity set up in entourage.

 

[Eric_Westby]

Darn -- just devastated to hear this wasn't properly tested before it was released. Well, here's hoping an emergency fix follows shortly.

 

[Andy_Ruff]

Hey folks,

We (Microsoft) are aware there's an issue with the 12.1.3 update that impacts users who have configured IMAP or POP accounts in conjunction with their Microsoft Exchange Server account. The MacBU is working to address the issue and will share an update on the ETA as soon as possible.

-Andy

 

[jon]

Andy,

Do you guys have a work around in the meantime? Were dyin' here...

-J

Hey folks,





We (Microsoft) are aware there's an issue with the 12.1.3 update that
impacts users who have configured IMAP or POP accounts in conjunction
with their Microsoft Exchange Server account. The MacBU is working to
address the issue and will share an update on the ETA as soon as possible.





-Andy

 

[Brian Cave]

Couple of notes:
1. Issue is not limited to having another account beyond your exchange account as I am having this problem with Exchange 2003 and only my exchange account programmed in.
2. Time Machine is your friend, I successfully reverted back to my previous version by deleting then restoring the Microsoft Office 2008 folder along with the /Library/Application Support/Microsoft folder. Meeting planners are now back up and running and I didn't have to restore a backup of my folders, just the software.

 

[Ash Savage]

Hi All,

As Frankie mentioned earlier, we have tested and confirmed that dragging
the message from the outbox to the drafts folder and sending from there can
be used as a temporary workaround. More information will be available soon.

Ash Savage - Microsoft

 

[Jacek_Suliga]

Another workaround could be recreating your identity from scratch and creating the Exchange account(s) first, BEFORE any non-Exchange accounts.

Please bear with us, official information and recommendation should follow soon. Thank you for all the reports which helped us repro and identify the issue.

Jacek Suliga, MacBU Entourage

 

[ABrom]

Frankie's workaround may work for sending invites, but it doesn't seem to work for responding to invites.

 

[Chris Watson]

Frankie's workaround may work for sending invites, but it doesn't seem to work
for responding to invites.

Are you sure the response isn't being sent, even if it looks like it didn't?
The workaround seems to be working except that the message moves from the
Drafts folder back into the Outbox. However, the response was apparently
sent.

Definitely odd but better than nothing.

 

[MikeTRose]

For a quick summary of this issue you can visit the Entourage Help Blog:

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>

Kudos to Will for all his hard work on supporting Entourage users, and thanks to Jacek, Ash and Andy for quick & official responses to an emerging issue. It means something to see the MS product team on a support forum, and I for one appreciate it.

What's worrisome about this particular bug, though, is the fact that it slipped through -- I wonder which team (Mac BU or Exchange) is responsible for the testing suite for Exchange functionality on Entourage builds, and whether there is a structural blind spot that resulted in no test being performed for calendar invites with an Exchange + POP/IMAP configuration.

Pre-release use of Entourage 12.1.3 inside the MacBU should have revealed the bug... but chances are, Microsoft policy forbids using Entourage to access secondary accounts outside the Exchange forest, exactly the configuration that triggers the issue. :-(

This is all armchair speculation, of course, but whenever such a showstopping, reproducible and obvious issue makes it into a point release, it's worth asking questions about the underlying processes that caused it to fly underneath the radar.