Entourage (2008) hangs when I try to quit

[esbandido1]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel
Email Client: Exchange

If I leave Entourage open for a few hours, when I try to quit the thing just hangs. Checking Activity Monitor shows that Entourage is using up to 99% of my CPU when it hangs. I can force quit it but I'd really like to figure out this problem. As this is the e-mail app I use for work it's not very useful for me if I can't keep it open while working.

If I open it and close it within minutes this rarely happens.

I trashed everything Office 2008 off of my machine; identities, fonts, apps, pref files, etc. I then reinstalled and the problem came back within a day.

It seems that if I trash the 'com.microsoft.netlib.crls' file from my user/library/caches folder every day or so, then that does seem to ward off the problem.

Also, what's weird is the problem only seems to happen at work. This happens when plugged in with ethernet or connected wirelessly. I cannot seem to replicate the problem when I'm at home or working at various offsite locations I need to be at.

There are plenty of similar machines around my office and none of them have this problem.

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

If I leave Entourage open for a few hours, when I try to quit the
thing just hangs. Checking Activity Monitor shows that Entourage is
using up to 99% of my CPU when it hangs. I can force quit it but I'd
really like to figure out this problem. As this is the e-mail app I
use for work it's not very useful for me if I can't keep it open
while working.

If I open it and close it within minutes this rarely happens.

I suggest using the Entourage menu --> Switch Identity... command to
create a new identity and set up your Exchange account again. Does the
problem persist in the new identity?

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
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[Sue Donum]

I suggest using the Entourage menu --> Switch Identity... command to
create a new identity and set up your Exchange account again. Does the
problem persist in the new identity?

Slightly OT, William: Does creating a new Identity in this manner in any way
address the kinds of problems I've been experiencing (i.e., "broken"
rules)...and, as long as I'm asking, does it help diagnose other kinds of
problems, such as repeated database corruption, requiring repeated rebuilds?

 

[esbandido1]

I suggest using the Entourage menu --> Switch Identity... command to
create a new identity and set up your Exchange account again. Does the
problem persist in the new identity?

--

bill

Entourage Help Page
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Bill,

I trashed my old identity and used a new one and the problem still came back. Do you have any other ideas or suggestions?

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

Slightly OT, William: Does creating a new Identity in this manner in any way
address the kinds of problems I've been experiencing (i.e., "broken"
rules)...and, as long as I'm asking, does it help diagnose other kinds of
problems, such as repeated database corruption, requiring repeated rebuilds?

This is a troubleshooting technique.

Creating a new identity practically starts you with an empty Database
with new preferences. Because the OP is using Exchange, his mail will
resync to Entourage from the server.

First, this assumes nothing is wrong with the Entourage application
itself. Or rather it assumes problem is not being caused by a bug. Bugs
will appear for a large number of folks, not just one person.

If the problem occurs in the new identity then we can assume nothing is
wrong with Entourage or the Database but rather a problem message,
preference or maybe the Mac OS X system itself.

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk>
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/meck>

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

I trashed my old identity and used a new one and the problem still
came back. Do you have any other ideas or suggestions?

I hope you didn't *really* trash your old identity! If the problem
appears in the new identity then your old identity is probably just fine.

Since this problem occurs in a new identity then Entourage and your
Database are probably just fine. You may have some corrupt preferences
or you may have a mail item, contact or calendar item that is corrupt
and causing problems. You may have a conflicting application running at
the same time.

Now, let's take this one step further in our troubleshooting. This is
only meant for troubleshooting and not a permanent solution.

Go to Apple menu --> System Preferences... --> Accounts and create a new
Mac OS X user account.

Log out or use Fast User Switching to change to the new account. Launch
Entourage and set up your Exchange account again.

Does the problem follow?

If so, then you have something within your account causing problems.

If the problem does not follow then you may have damaged preferences or
a conflicting process running that's causing the problem.

Either way, we can troubleshoot those ideas if necessary.

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk>
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/meck>

 

[esbandido1]

I hope you didn't *really* trash your old identity! If the problem
appears in the new identity then your old identity is probably just fine.

Since this problem occurs in a new identity then Entourage and your
Database are probably just fine. You may have some corrupt preferences
or you may have a mail item, contact or calendar item that is corrupt
and causing problems. You may have a conflicting application running at
the same time.

Now, let's take this one step further in our troubleshooting. This is
only meant for troubleshooting and not a permanent solution.

Go to Apple menu --> System Preferences... --> Accounts and create a new
Mac OS X user account.

Log out or use Fast User Switching to change to the new account. Launch
Entourage and set up your Exchange account again.

Does the problem follow?

If so, then you have something within your account causing problems.

If the problem does not follow then you may have damaged preferences or
a conflicting process running that's causing the problem.

Either way, we can troubleshoot those ideas if necessary.

--

bill

Entourage Help Page
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YouTalk
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Thanks. I've set up Entourage in the new account and will see how it goes.

Unfortunately, the problem only occurs at work so I won't have any sense of a difference until next week. I'll make sure to post what happens.

 

[Sue Donum]

This is a troubleshooting technique.

Creating a new identity practically starts you with an empty Database
with new preferences. Because the OP is using Exchange, his mail will
resync to Entourage from the server.

First, this assumes nothing is wrong with the Entourage application
itself. Or rather it assumes problem is not being caused by a bug. Bugs
will appear for a large number of folks, not just one person.

If the problem occurs in the new identity then we can assume nothing is
wrong with Entourage or the Database but rather a problem message,
preference or maybe the Mac OS X system itself.

So, using it for diagnosing problems with a POP account would likely end up
"losing" messages, right?

 

[Diane Ross]

such as repeated database corruption, requiring repeated rebuilds?

If you are getting repeated database corruption and a rebuild does not fix
the problem, then moving to a new Identity should clear up your problems. If
you still experience problems in the new Identity we need to look at your
individual setup and use of Entourage.

I do a lot of testing that crashes Entourage and I probably don't do more
than one rebuild per year.

So, using it for diagnosing problems with a POP account would likely end up
"losing" messages, right?

No, because the problems are in your current Identity. I would set your POP
account to leave on server for testing purposes.

Steps to help determine where the problem is located.

1) you can eliminate your Identity by creating a new Identity in Entourage
and see if you experience the same problem.

2) if a new Identity still exhibits the same issues, then create a new User
in System Preferences and test Entourage there. If the problem is in your
User's account, then log out/in with Shift key down to disable any startup
items. Test. If the problem still exists, it's most likely a preference file
that's corrupt. See these pages for help:

3) If the problems still exist in the new User, it's a problem with your
base OS files. If running the Apple combo does not fix, then you might need
to do an "Archive & Install".

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/troubleshoot/combo.html>

--
Diane
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk>
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/entouragehelp>

 

[esbandido1]

I hope you didn't *really* trash your old identity! If the problem
appears in the new identity then your old identity is probably just fine.

Since this problem occurs in a new identity then Entourage and your
Database are probably just fine. You may have some corrupt preferences
or you may have a mail item, contact or calendar item that is corrupt
and causing problems. You may have a conflicting application running at
the same time.

Now, let's take this one step further in our troubleshooting. This is
only meant for troubleshooting and not a permanent solution.

Go to Apple menu --> System Preferences... --> Accounts and create a new
Mac OS X user account.

Log out or use Fast User Switching to change to the new account. Launch
Entourage and set up your Exchange account again.

Does the problem follow?

If so, then you have something within your account causing problems.

If the problem does not follow then you may have damaged preferences or
a conflicting process running that's causing the problem.

Either way, we can troubleshoot those ideas if necessary.

--

bill

Entourage Help Page
Entourage Help Blog
YouTalk
Twitter: follow

Okay, the problem followed me when using Entourage under a new user.

So I guess that means there's something wrong with or in my account?

What can I do to figure out what is causing this? Could it be an older message? A calendar event? I do know approximately when the problem started (early November) does that help isolate anything?

Please help and advise.

 

[Diane Ross]

So I guess that means there's something wrong with or in my account?

Doubtful this will fix your problem, but it's good medicine regardless.

Download and run the latest Apple combo updater. No need to roll back to
run.

Mac OS X 10.5.6 Combo Update
(For both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs )
<http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/macosx_updates/macosx1056combou
pdate.html>

What can I do to figure out what is causing this? Could it be an older
message? A calendar event? I do know approximately when the problem started
(early November) does that help isolate anything?

Is there any way to archive your older mail on the server for testing? If it
is a corrupt message, this would verify where the problem is located. If
this works, you would then have to test the mail itself. I would start by
adding messages back in small batches to see if you can isolate the problem.

Optimize Entourage to better work with Exchange

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2008/03/optimize_entourage_to_better_work_wi
th_exchange.html>

<http://tinyurl.com/56ea7k>

--
Diane
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>

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

Okay, the problem followed me when using Entourage under a new user.

So I guess that means there's something wrong with or in my account?

What can I do to figure out what is causing this? Could it be an
older message? A calendar event? I do know approximately when the
problem started (early November) does that help isolate anything?

Knowing this is half the battle.

Diane's advice sounds like a good next step. Especially, about checking
your Exchange connection. I didn't ask this before.

Are you connecting to a back-end server (direct) or are you connecting
to a front-end server (OWA)?

Whenever possible you should connect to your back-end server. The link
she's provided will explain the difference between both.

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk>
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/meck>

 

[esbandido1]

Thank you William and Diane.

So far I've run the 10.5.6 combo updater and deleted all my older messages anywhere within my account. There isn't anything older than a few weeks old now. I didn't really need them anyway so I just took the plunge.

I'll look through the link on optimizing Entourage with Exchange. I have no idea about the front-end/back-end server deal, do I need to ask our IT/administrator about that or is there a way to look that up?

 

[esbandido1]

Ok, looks like we're using a back-end server if that helps.

 

[esbandido1]

One last thing, I looked through my account settings and my LDAP server was blank. I put in the same information that my co-workers have. As this problem only happens when I'm at work and never at home I wonder if that's relevant.

 

[esbandido1]

Bad news.

At the end of the day I quit Entourage and the same issue persists.

I've trashed all my older messages. I've installed the 10.5.6 update. I've entered the correct LDAP information. This occurs when connecting to a (direct) back-end server.

What else can I do? Please help. This is driving me batty!

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

Bad news.

At the end of the day I quit Entourage and the same issue persists.

I've trashed all my older messages. I've installed the 10.5.6 update.
I've entered the correct LDAP information. This occurs when
connecting to a (direct) back-end server.

What else can I do? Please help. This is driving me batty!

The absence of an LDAP server isn't the problem here. If that's empty
you simply won't be able to use your company address book.

Since the problem is following you to a new identity under a new Mac OS
X account then you may have an item coming from your server that's
causing Entourage problems. That's not always easy to find. Or you may
have Mac OS X system problems.

Do you have access to the same version of Entourage on another Mac?
Maybe a co-worker's machine? If you can set up Entourage there and test
it then we could determine if the problem is indeed in your Exchange
account information or with your own machine.

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk>
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/meck>

 

[esbandido1]

I don't have access to another machine, unfortunately.

The problem started almost immediately after upgrading to Office 2008 from Office 2004. I wiped my hard drive clean and reinstalled my system soon after, as well as reinstalling Office 2008. This was also around the time I had my logic board replaced, twice, and had the problem with each one so I suspect it is not a hardware issue.

The problem only occurs when I'm using the network in my office. If I keep Entourage open for hours at a time anywhere else, I've never been able to replicate it. I've scoured as much of the internet as I could and haven't really found anyone else with the issue.

I suppose I'm running out of options, but just hope there's something else I can try. I may try to just wipe my hard drive clean and start over one more time, if that's my only remaining option. But I don't have any problems with any other app so I'm reluctant to do it just to try and fix this Entourage issue.

 

[esbandido1]

Any other suggestions? Anyone? Can someone give me an idea how to figure out if something coming from my server is giving me problems?

 

[Diane Ross]

Any other suggestions? Anyone? Can someone give me an idea how to figure out
if something coming from my server is giving me problems?

Have you tested in a new User?

Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Accounts. Switch to the
New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching. Open Entourage and
enter your account info. Let your Exchange account sync back up.

If it works in the new User then there are problems in your old User's
folder. Considering you hd physical problems and now I suspect issues with
your User's folder, I urge you to backup your data. If your computer goes
kerplunk you might loose everything.

Let me know what happens in the new User.

--
Diane
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>