Entourage 2008 crash on startup

[Conrad]

Environment: Entourage 12.2.4 on OS X 10.6.3. 96GB free disk space.
Entourage DB size: 873MB.

I was using Entourage, happily doing Normal Stuff, and it suddenly
quit, saying there was corruption. I then ran the MS DB Utility and I
repaired and compressed the data file. Ran Entourage again and got
the startup error, "Entourage cannot access your data..." I decided
to check the HD for errors and indeed, the drive needed repair, so I
did that, and also a Repair Permissions. Restarted and was still
getting the "Entourage cannot access your data..." with the MS DB
Utility saying my DB file was fine. I then did another "Rebuild
database" operation. Now I do not get the previous error anymore, but
instead get a crash on startup, with the following top of the error
log:


Error Signature:
Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS
Date/Time: 2010-05-07 13:42:45 -0400
Application Name: Microsoft Entourage
Application Bundle ID: com.microsoft.Entourage
Application Signature: OPIM
Application Version: 12.2.4.100205
Crashed Module Name: EntourageCore
Crashed Module Version: unknown
Crashed Module Offset: 0x00129581
Blame Module Name: EntourageCore
Blame Module Version: unknown
Blame Module Offset: 0x00129581
Application LCID: 1033
Extra app info: Reg=en Loc=0x0409


Thread 0 crashed:

# 1 0x01580581 in _MyStrCmp + 0x0000002F (EntourageCore +
0x00129581)
# 2 0x01585305 in UString::Compare(char const*, char const*,
unsigned char, unsigned char, short) + 0x00000045 (EntourageCore +
0x0012e305)
# 3 0x021cf957 in LArray::FetchInsertIndexOf(void const*, unsigned
long) const + 0x000000B9 (PowerPlantCore + 0x00006957)
# 4 0x021cfe58 in LArray::InsertItemsAt(unsigned long, long, void
const*, unsigned long) + 0x0000006C (PowerPlantCore + 0x00006e58)
# 5 0x021cff3f in LArray::AddItem(void const*, unsigned long) +
0x00000037 (PowerPlantCore + 0x00006f3f)
# 6 0x001c832d in __mh_execute_header + 0x001C732D (Microsoft
Entourage + 0x001c732d)
# 7 0x001c840c in __mh_execute_header + 0x001C740C (Microsoft
Entourage + 0x001c740c)
# 8 0x001c8469 in __mh_execute_header + 0x001C7469 (Microsoft
Entourage + 0x001c7469)
....



So I'm pretty stuck at this point. What is the next step here? Is
the Entourage installation corrupt? Can I reinstall SP2 or something
like that? Thanks for any assistance.

-Conrad

 

[Diane Ross]

I was using Entourage, happily doing Normal Stuff, and it suddenly
quit, saying there was corruption. I then ran the MS DB Utility and I
repaired and compressed the data file. Ran Entourage again and got
the startup error, "Entourage cannot access your data..." I decided
to check the HD for errors and indeed, the drive needed repair, so I
did that, and also a Repair Permissions. Restarted and was still
getting the "Entourage cannot access your data..." with the MS DB
Utility saying my DB file was fine. I then did another "Rebuild
database" operation. Now I do not get the previous error anymore, but
instead get a crash on startup, with the following top of the error
log:

Normally re-installing does not fix problems, but since you had drive
problems, it might take a re-install of Office and possibly the system.
Let's first try to get you a working database. It's small so it shouldn't
take too long.

1) Try exporting all items as Entourage archive (.rge) file . File >
Export...
2) I'm guessing you will get an error that one or more items did not export.
3) Now try exporting each item at a time as Entourage archive (.rge) file .
This way you'll know where the corruption is located. Usually it's messages,
but with drive problems it could be in one or all items.
4) If it's messages, use the export as MBOX files script. This script will
fail on the folder with corruption. You will then have to divide the folder
into sections until you find the corruption. Often it's one message could be
dozens.
5) Once you get all your data out, import into a new Identity. For details
see

How to manually move your data. (when import fails and/or you need to move
to a new Identity same version or revert to an older version)

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/install/manual_install.html>

Export folders as MBOX files (includes subfolders)
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/downloads/scripts/jolly/Make_MBOX.zip>

Hope this helps!
--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://tinyurl.com/bzcrjy> <-- Entourage mailing list
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/entouragehelp>

 

[Conrad]

Normally re-installing does not fix problems, but since you had drive
problems, it might take a re-install of Office and possibly the system.
Let's first try to get you a working database. It's small so it shouldn't
take too long.

1) Try exporting all items as Entourage archive (.rge) file . File >
Export...

As I mentioned, I cannot start Entourage, so I cannot do any Export.

Also, I just spent several hours exporting my identity to a new one a
couple months ago, and it was extremely painful. I hope I don't have
to do that again.

 

[Diane Ross]

As I mentioned, I cannot start Entourage, so I cannot do any Export.

Move your Identity to the desktop and see if Entourage will open in a new
Identity. If yes, then the application is OK. This would indicate your
database is hosed.

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://tinyurl.com/bzcrjy> <-- Entourage mailing list
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/entouragehelp>

 

[Conrad]

Move your Identity to the desktop and see if Entourage will open in a new
Identity.

Nope - same error as above.

 

[Diane Ross]

Nope - same error as above.

Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Accounts. Switch to the
New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching. Does Entourage open
in a new Identity in this new User's account? If no, then your problems are
at the system level.

 

[Conrad]

What you forgot to mention (as I eventually discovered) was that
moving an identity out of ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2008
Identities/ does not necessarily cause Entourage to "forget" it - the
Microsoft Database Daemon process needed to be killed as well. Only
took me about 2 days of troubleshooting/reinstalling/restoring from
backup to figure that out.

And I have discovered that even though the Microsoft Database Utility
may rebuild an identity and and verify it and declare it Just Fine And
Dandy, that is no guarantee that it actually is so.

 

[Diane Ross]

And I have discovered that even though the Microsoft Database Utility
may rebuild an identity and and verify it and declare it Just Fine And
Dandy, that is no guarantee that it actually is so.

Using File > Export as .rge file is a better way to verify your database and
you get a backup in the process.

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://tinyurl.com/bzcrjy> <-- Entourage mailing list
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/entouragehelp>