Office Reminders Not Displaying

[Camross]

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

My calendar reminders from Entourage 2008 have stopped showing up. I get the Office Reminder in the Dock but no window to Dismiss or Snooze. I tested this behavior in a second Identity and it is the same. Choosing Bring All To Front in the Window menu has no effect.

Thanks

 

[Diane Ross]

My calendar reminders from Entourage 2008 have stopped showing up. I get the
Office Reminder in the Dock but no window to Dismiss or Snooze. I tested this
behavior in a second Identity and it is the same. Choosing Bring All To Front
in the Window menu has no effect.

Let's be sure it's not off screen. Reset the screen resolution so you can
check. If it is off screen, drag it back and reset to your normal
resolution.

Next, open Office Reminders. Select the icon in the Dock. Under Windows in
the Menu bar, select Zoom. Does this make the window large enough to see?

"/Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Office/Microsoft Office Reminders.app"

If that doesn't work, Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in
Accounts. Switch to the New User by logging out/in or use Fast User
Switching. Test the problem there. No need to enter account info to test
this. Just open Entourage and test reminders.

Let me know what you find.

--
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>

 

[Camross]

Hi and thanks Diane.

First, I rebuilt my Entourage database last night and the problem persists.

The reminder isn't on part of the desktop real estate. I changed the resolution and I used Expose but the reminder window isn't visible.

Zoom, same result.

When I switched to a new test user account, reminders do appear and work like they used to.

Thanks
Cameron

 

[Diane Ross]

When I switched to a new test user account, reminders do appear and work like
they used to.

Then it's preferences. Start with the Microsoft ones, but it could be
another .plist file. See this page for how to test your User's folder. Steps
#2,#3 are the ones you want to start with now.

Troubleshooting Your User Account for a Problem

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

 

[Camross]

Hi Diane

OK, I removed the specific MS preferences with no result.

Then I removed all plist files from ~/Library/Preferences and that didn't change things either.

I kept working through the list of other folders as recommended on the entourage.mvps.org page. I only had the following sub-folders to test: ~/Library/Caches, ~/Library/Input Methods, ~/Library/PreferencePanes, and ~/Library/Application Support.

I also removed the files in ~/Documents/Microsoft User Data and from my Desktop, still no results.

Finally I took all files out of /Library/Caches and re-tested, still nothing.

I don't have any haxies on my computer.

I don't think it's a bad message/notification that won't load. Each time I re-start Entourage I'm creating a new calendar entry to generate the notification. I can see the number of alerts that Office Reminders is referencing by the icon in the Dock (only one each time).

As I mentioned earlier, I've already re-built my Entourage DB (step 7).

I really appreciate your help on this. Hopefully we'll find a resolution.

Cameron Ross

 

[Diane Ross]

I really appreciate your help on this. Hopefully we'll find a resolution.

There are some preferences that are in the database. Evidently rebuild did
not reset this. We can confirm by creating a new Identity and see if the
problem goes away.

Just to be clear.... You mentioned

new test user account

A User is created in System Preferences.
An Identity is created in Entourage to store your mail.

So we are testing in a new Entourage Identity in your regular User's account
to verify if it's your database that contains the problem.

If this is the case you have to manually move to a new Identity. Use the
..rge method. It's the quickest.

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>

--
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>

 

[Camross]

I just want to be sure I understand...

I have created a new (empty) Entourage Identity (Test ID) under the same OS X User account - this has the same problem of no reminder notification.

I have also created a new OS X User account and tested Entourage - that does exhibit the correct reminder notification.

The next step is to move all my Entourage data from my Main Identity to the Test ID and check the behavior? This will all be done in my existing User account?

Thanks
Cameron

 

[Diane Ross]

I have created a new (empty) Entourage Identity (Test ID) under the same OS X
User account - this has the same problem of no reminder notification.

Hmmm...if we eliminated the Identity and the preferences as well as caches
this should have indicated where the problem was located.

You indicated:

Then I removed all plist files from ~/Library/Preferences and that didn't
change things either.

Did you do the log out/in between removing the files to check?

I have also created a new OS X User account and tested Entourage - that does
exhibit the correct reminder notification.

The next step is to move all my Entourage data from my Main Identity to the
Test ID and check the behavior? This will all be done in my existing User
account?

If the new blank Identity in your current User showed no reminders, moving
over your data will not change that behavior. Let's double check your
Identity. Move it to Shared. Switch to your new test OSX User account. Drag
(it actually copies) and open your Identity. Set to work offline so you
don't download. Do you still see the correct behavior as you did with the
new Entourage Identity? If yes, then it is not your database so it has to be
in your User's account.

You might need to download the combo updater from Apple and run it again
rather than using Software Update. Doing so overwrites potentially
problem-causing files. Combo updaters will install on the same version as
they¹re applying‹no need to roll back or do a clean install. It's good
medicine and has been known to fix odd problems like this. At least, it's an
easy fix to try.

Leopard:

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>

BTW, how big is your Identity?

 

[Camross]

Yes I did logout/login after each change. I repeated this process:

-Moved the contents of the folder to a scratch folder on the desktop
-Turned off Reminders in Entourage
-Quit Entourage
-Logged out/in
-Started Entourage
-Turned on Reminders when prompted
-Created a calendar entry that triggered a Reminder
-Switched focus to the Office Reminders application
-Checked for the Reminder window with the Bring All to Front command and with Expose
-When that didn't work, I returned the files to their original location and logged out/back in.

I will try the Shared ID test and re-post. If that doesn't work I'll check the Combo updater.

My Identity is 2.46 GB.

 

[Camross]

I guess we've determined it's not the Identity DB...I just used my Test User Account and copied over the Shared Main Identity. The Reminders work just fine over there.

Downloading the Combo Updater as I type...

 

[Diane Ross]

-Checked for the Reminder window with the Bring All to Front command and with
Expose

Go to System Preferences --> Open Display and reset screen resolution. I
believe you need to check the highest possible to show things that might be
off screen. This would verify that Expose is showing everything.

My Identity is 2.46 GB.

That's a very good size. At least you could burn it if you ever need to send
it in for testing.

I'm just bumfuzzled over why the new Identity didn't work in your User
account and removing preferences didn't fix the problem. This just doesn't
seem like using the hammer of doing an "Archive & Install" is warranted.

 

[Camross]

Yeah...I couldn't agree more

I just went through the Combo Update install, restarted...still the same problem.

I'm using an external monitor and the highest resolution is what I'm using 1920x1200. I'm going to send this and then play around with using the laptop on its own vs. with the monitor.

Maybe we should both give it a rest and see if we come up with a new idea. I can't say how appreciative I am of you helping me with this all weekend.

Cam

 

[Diane Ross]

I'm using an external monitor and the highest resolution is what I'm using
1920x1200. I'm going to send this and then play around with using the laptop
on its own vs. with the monitor.

Ah, a new piece of info. I have an external monitor and have it set as my
main monitor. In your System Preferences, do you have the menu bar set on
the external? I have no problems with the reminder window.

 

[Camross]

I'm using the external as my main/only monitor. Last night I tried it in dual monitor mode to see if I could find the Reminder notification, but nothing. I used the laptop on its own for a while, same problem. I even rotated the display by 90 and 270 to see if that would reveal something.

I've also been using this setup for a few months and everything's been working fine. It was just on Friday that the Reminders stopped appearing.

Cam

 

[Camross]

I'm not sure how involved this is...what if I created a new User Account and just moved all my current-User data/preferences over to that account? I'm not familiar enough with all the internal workings of OSX to know how big a project that is, but it looks like it will get me up and running.

The one thing that approach would not do is actually solve the problem. I guess it could crop up again. And you won't know exactly how to solve it if it shows up for someone else.

Cam

 

[Diane Ross]

I'm not sure how involved this is...what if I created a new User Account and
just moved all my current-User data/preferences over to that account? I'm not
familiar enough with all the internal workings of OSX to know how big a
project that is, but it looks like it will get me up and running.

It's not exactly an easy thing to do. A lot has to do with permissions.
Moving over your Documents folder shouldn't be a problem, but your
~/Library/Preferences might be another matter.

You could see if Migration Assistant will do this. That would probably be
the easiest way, but what if you brought over the problems doing this. I
would tend toward setting it as you go by entering registration. No need to
install applications as they are already installed. If you do have
applications in your User folder, just drag them to a subfolder of the root
Application folder, then move them to the new User if desired.

A couple of links that might help. A search didn't find what I would call a
How-to knowledge base article.

<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1708727>

<http://forums.macworld.com/thread/70445>

Someone familiar with the Terminal could probably tell you how to do this
using a command. I just did a quick Google search and found this link:

The one thing that approach would not do is actually solve the problem. I
guess it could crop up again. And you won't know exactly how to solve it if it
shows up for someone else.

I know what you mean. I hate to not know what happened. I'll report it, but
I know it will end up way down on the list since it's rare.

 

[Camross]

Further curiosities...

I just noticed that my Entourage calendar events do not show up in iCal. Anything new that I add to my Entourage calendar doesn't make it across. Interestingly, they do show up on my iPhone. Now that's really odd, right? Because the iP is syncing with iCal not Entourage. The final oddity is that if I add an event to iCal, it does appear in Entourage. But if I delete it or move it in Entourage, the change is not reflected in iCal (it does however change on the phone).

I've done some basic troubleshooting - removing the Entourage calendar from iCal, turning off sync services in Entourage, starting it all back up again to re-create the Entourage calendar, repaired permissions, etc. but still no iCal entries.

I was hoping to at least rely on iCal reminders while I'm still sorting out the original problem.

Cam

 

[Diane Ross]

I just noticed that my Entourage calendar events do not show up in iCal.
Anything new that I add to my Entourage calendar doesn't make it across.
Interestingly, they do show up on my iPhone. Now that's really odd, right?
Because the iP is syncing with iCal not Entourage. The final oddity is that if
I add an event to iCal, it does appear in Entourage. But if I delete it or
move it in Entourage, the change is not reflected in iCal (it does however
change on the phone).

I've done some basic troubleshooting - removing the Entourage calendar from
iCal, turning off sync services in Entourage, starting it all back up again to
re-create the Entourage calendar, repaired permissions, etc. but still no iCal
entries.

Entourage and iCal actually sync up to the "Truth." It sounds like your iCal
Entourage calendar has problems.

See this page for some suggestions. #2 might be the answer, but you might
need to do #1 and delete files.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/syncservices/ical.html>

Worth reading to understand Sync Services:

Basics of how Sync Services Works by Andy Ruff MacBU Program Management

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/syncservices/basics.html>

Everything you wanted to know about syncing. The Truth, The Whole Truth, and
Nothing But The Truth. Entourage Help Blog author William Smith

³Why does syncing play Gossip with my contacts?³

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2007/07/why_does_the_syncing_play_goss.html>

<http://tinyurl.com/34qkrv>

 

[jplev]

I am having the exact same issue. The icon shows in the dock, but no pop-ups for the appointments themselves. This started perhaps within the last week or so. Please advise on a fix for this.

 

[Diane Ross]

I am having the exact same issue. The icon shows in the dock, but no pop-ups
for the appointments themselves. This started perhaps within the last week or
so. Please advise on a fix for this.

Please don't add your issue to an existing thread. Did you try any of the
suggestions given? What were the results?