Entourage keeps crashing-won't even open anymore

[Emile_Nucho]

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

Well, it is now happening to me. As of today, Entourage started crashing and giving me error reports. It first, it did not crash repeatedly, but as the day went on, it crashed more times until it just will not even allow me to go beyond the error report window. Yesterday, it happened once.

Coincidentally (or not?) yesterday, I downloaded a security update that came through from Apple.

I have copied and pasted two of the error reports details, so, if anyone can help me and needs those, please let me know. As of now, I have no access to my email.

Help!

Emile

 

[Diane Ross]

Well, it is now happening to me. As of today, Entourage started crashing and
giving me error reports. It first, it did not crash repeatedly, but as the day
went on, it crashed more times until it just will not even allow me to go
beyond the error report window. Yesterday, it happened once.

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.

3) If the problems still exist in the new User, it's a problem with your
Office install or your base OS files.

Coincidentally (or not?) yesterday, I downloaded a security update that came
through from Apple.

Do your crash logs show either of these?

Crashed Module Name: JavaScriptCore
Crashed Module Version: unknown
Crashed Module Offset: 0x0000382c
Blame Module Name: JavaScriptCore
Blame Module Version: unknown

Crashed Module Name: WebCore
Crashed Module Version: unknown
Crashed Module Offset: 0x0000c070
Blame Module Name: WebCore
Blame Module Version: unknown

If yes, you are hit by a bug that has no known fix.

<http://tinyurl.com/nrt45r>

Do you have a backup that you can revert to that was made before you
installed the security update?

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
system updates that so bad.

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/>

 

[Emile_Nucho]

Hi Diane and thanks for answering. Since I wrote in Mactopia, I have been able to open Entourage and use it and then, all of a sudden the error thing shows and it freezes. Usually, shutting down the notebook and re-starting helps, but not always.

Please see below for my answers to specific questions you have asked: (I am erasing some of the unnecessary parts of the conversation, so it makes it easier for you to go through this)

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.

3) If the problems still exist in the new User, it's a problem with your
Office install or your base OS files.

Do your crash logs show either of these?

One of my crash logs shows the following:

Crashed Module Name: libSystem.B.dylib
Crashed Module Version: unknown
Crashed Module Offset: 0x0000b4ee
Blame Module Name: libSystem.B.dylib
Blame Module Version: unknown
Blame Module Offset: 0x0000b4ee

and the other shows:

Crashed Module Name: libSystem.B.dylib
Crashed Module Version: unknown
Crashed Module Offset: 0x0000b4ee
Blame Module Name: libSystem.B.dylib
Blame Module Version: unknown
Blame Module Offset: 0x0000b4ee

What do you think? They do not read exactly like the examples you sent.

Crashed Module Name: JavaScriptCore
Crashed Module Version: unknown
Crashed Module Offset: 0x0000382c
Blame Module Name: JavaScriptCore
Blame Module Version: unknown

Crashed Module Name: WebCore
Crashed Module Version: unknown
Crashed Module Offset: 0x0000c070
Blame Module Name: WebCore
Blame Module Version: unknown

If yes, you are hit by a bug that has no known fix.

<http://tinyurl.com/nrt45r&gt <http://tinyurl.com/nrt45r&gt>;

I did what the above site recommended. I will see in the next day or so, whether it has helped or not. I have not changed or renewed my identity yet. Just want to see whether "tinyurl.com" will result in.

Do you have a backup that you can revert to that was made before you installed the security update?

No. Unfortunatley, I do not have a pre-security update backup. In any case, I do not really know how to do a backup of Entourage itself (if that is possible in any case)

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
system updates that so bad.

Thanks for this (SuperDuper). I will check it out, but all I have is a single partition, so that should be a bit of a problem.

Emile

 

[Diane Ross]

One of my crash logs shows the following:

Crashed Module Name: libSystem.B.dylib
Crashed Module Version: unknown
Crashed Module Offset: 0x0000b4ee
Blame Module Name: libSystem.B.dylib
Blame Module Version: unknown
Blame Module Offset: 0x0000b4ee

and the other shows:

Crashed Module Name: libSystem.B.dylib
Crashed Module Version: unknown
Crashed Module Offset: 0x0000b4ee
Blame Module Name: libSystem.B.dylib
Blame Module Version: unknown
Blame Module Offset: 0x0000b4ee

What do you think? They do not read exactly like the examples you sent.

This is a different issue.

1) download the Apple combo updater and run it.

Mac OS X 10.5.8 Combo Update (For both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs )
<http://support.apple.com/downloads/Mac_OS_X_10_5_8_Combo_Update>

2) If you still have the problem after this, you might need to do an
"Archive & Install". It's not as bad as it sounds.

Thanks for this (SuperDuper). I will check it out, but all I have is a single
partition, so that should be a bit of a problem.

If you have the room, with Leopard, you can create a partition without
erasing data.

I do not really know how to do a backup of Entourage itself (if that is
possible in any case)

Lots of ways to backup, but you a place to backup. If you don't have an
external drive, you can use DropBox (it's free up to 2GB) and get 50GB for
$9.99/month. Click on this link to get started. We both get extra free space
for using a referral.

<https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTU3MTI2MTk>

Lots of ways to backup listed here:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/articles/backup_articles.html>

 

[Emile_Nucho]

Thanks Diane,

I am just now downloading the Apple Combo. I shall see how that goes. If well, I will let you know. If not, I will let you know but also follow the next steps you have suggested.

Thanks again.

Emile

 

[Emile_Nucho]

Hello Diane,

Here what has been happening:

1. I discovered that I already have 10.5.8, so I did not bother downloading is

2. I uninstalled all of Office (except for the file called Identities)

3. I re-installed Office and downloaded all the updates, etc. available

4. It turned out that Entourage was empty, so I replicated the identity stuff and tried to import the Identities folder.

5. The import procedure seems to have worked and the system told me so, but I see nothing nowhere.

What have I done wrong, do you think.

Thanks

Emile

 

[Diane Ross]

1. I discovered that I already have 10.5.8, so I did not bother downloading is

The combo runs over itself and refreshes files.

2. I uninstalled all of Office (except for the file called Identities)

You needed the Main Identity folder in this location. (named Main by
default)

~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2008 Identities/your identity

3. I re-installed Office and downloaded all the updates, etc. available

4. It turned out that Entourage was empty, so I replicated the identity stuff
and tried to import the Identities folder.

You don't import, you just copy back to the Office 2008 Identities folder.
Use Switch Identity to select the correct Identity.

5. The import procedure seems to have worked and the system told me so, but I
see nothing nowhere.

You lost me on the details here.

 

[Emile_Nucho]

Good morning,

OK. It worked doing it through switch identity. However, I must have done something really wrong because I have lost everything from early June to date.

Also, I did a really dumb thing and downloaded my mail (which I get from our campus server), but forgot to tell Entourage NOT to delete the messages on the server once downloaded. So, in this, I lost everything for the last week or so. Oh well.

Does anyone know of a file recovery software available to try to recover the files?

Best.

Emile

 

[Diane Ross]

Before we start with trying to recover files, we need to determine what's
really going on with your files. I sent you a reply off list.

 

[Emile_Nucho]

Thanks again for all the help, despite the fact that what I lost was not retrievable. But now, I have run into another problem.

Since I have switched to my new identity, Entourage Junk Mail manager is incapable of catching any junk. Before the change of identity it was working perfectl. I have designated ach piece of junk mail as Junk and followed the junk mail instructions and have tried every setting available, nothing is working. It is not catching a single piece of junk mail.

Any ideas, please?

Emile

 

[Diane Ross]

Since I have switched to my new identity, Entourage Junk Mail manager is
incapable of catching any junk. Before the change of identity it was working
perfectl. I have designated ach piece of junk mail as Junk and followed the
junk mail instructions and have tried every setting available, nothing is
working. It is not catching a single piece of junk mail.

Did you remember to bring over your Address Book? The JMF never assigns
messages from contacts in your Address Book to the Junk category.

What setting is the Junk Mail Filter set?

 

[Emile_Nucho]

My address book is there and it is OK, but that is just it: none of the junk mail is in my address book and none of the new stuff has appeared in my address book (because I don´t answer them anyway)

My setting is on High, but, as i said in the message, I have tried medium and Exclusive and it is catching nothing. Not once has it sent any junk mail to the junk folder so I have had to do it manually. If new mail comes were to come from the same source, it appears in the Inbox and does not get routed to the Junk folder. I have to do it manually again, and again.

Emile

 

[Diane Ross]

I'm not sure what is happening. Do you have any rules or Mailing List
Manager rules? If yes, disable them all and see if the Junk Mail Filter
works.

This might have been reported before, but right now it's not ringing any
bells for me so I suspect that it's something in your setup.

 

[Emile_Nucho]

Diane,

Below you will find the text of the message you sent me on this site (it appears) but which has only appeared as a copy in Hotmail. My answer is between the lines of your message:

I'm not sure what is happening. Do you have any rules YES I DO. WHEN I CLICKED OPNE RULES, THERE WAS AN ITEM THAT SAID SIMPLY "UNTITLED". I UNCHECKED THE BOX

or Mailing List Manager rules? YES, I DO. I HAD FOUR CATEGORIES THAT HAD CHECK MARKS IN THEIR BOXES.

If yes, disable them all and see if the Junk Mail Filter works. IT DID NOT SEEM TO HELP, BUT WHAT I DID DO WAS THE FOLLOWING: I WENT TO "MESSAGE">APPLY RULE AND CLICKED ON "ALL RULES". A SMALL WINDOW APPEARED AND THE SYTEME PROCEEDED O APPLY THE RULES TO ABOUT 184 ITEMS. AFTER DOING SO, I CLOSED ENTOURAGE, RE-STARTED IT AND DOWNLOADED MAIL. THERE WAS ONLY ONE ITEM AND IT WAS CORRECTLY RECOGNIZED AS JUNK AND WAS DIVERTED TO THE "JUNK" FOLDER.

This might have been reported before, but right now it's not ringing any
bells for me so I suspect that it's something in your setup.

I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED. AND THANKS AGAIN.

EMILE

 

[Diane Ross]

THERE WAS ONLY ONE ITEM AND IT WAS CORRECTLY RECOGNIZED AS JUNK AND WAS
DIVERTED TO THE "JUNK" FOLDER.

A Mailing List Manager rule is easy to create when marking a message as
junk. If the rule gets corrupted or some setting is incorrectly set, then
all messages caught by it will be incorrectly filed. The Mailing List
Manager runs before regular rules.

Often a rules file will get reset if there is a crash. Checking the folder
destinations and resetting can resolve that issue. It's the MLM rule that's
the general culprit since it runs first.

----Rule Basics----

There are 3 different kind of rules in Entourage:

Mailing List Manager (MLM)
Junk Mail Filter
Rules (custom rules you create)

They run in the order listed above. The custom rules also run in the order
they are listed. (top runs first)

1) POP Rules act on a message ONLY when it first arrives in the Inbox (On My
Computer), NOT when it arrives in any other folder. Once it's moved to
another folder it won't be seen by rules.

2) IMAP Rules are meant to act on a message ONLY when it first arrives in
the IMAP INBOX, not when moved to another IMAP folder.

3) Exchange Rules act on a message ONLY when it first arrives in the
Exchange Inbox.

Each type of account has it's own rules. Click on the correct tab to check
your rules. (Mail (POP), Mail (IMAP) Mal (Windows Live Hotmail) Mail
(Exchange), News, Outgoing)

See "Using Rules with Entourage" for help and examples:

<http://entourage.mvps.org/rules/index.html>

 

[Emile_Nucho]

This morning, I got to work and downloaded my mail. There were 6 messages to download. Five of them were deemed to be junk and were shunted to the JM folder. And yes, they WERE junk. The one message that stayed in the Inbox was a "good" message.

So, I have no idea why applying all rules in Message>Apply Rule>All Rules worked, but it seems to be working perfectly.

Take care.

Emile

 

[Diane Ross]

Glad it's fixed now. It's like something was unstuck when the rule was run.
Did you enable your rules again?