[dgmolenaar]

Hi there,

I am trying to sync my Entourage calendar with my blackberry 8700 using pocketmac. This is semi-succesful: some events are synced but some are not.

Pocketmac Syncmanager hangs while at the bottom it says " Blackberry - synchronizing data"

After I cancel the hanging sync I get the following message:

Error encountered: -1 in dateWithLongDateString:ConvertLongDateTimeToCFAbso luteTime
[02:14:31.376] Synchronization cancelled. Some data may not have been synchronized.

I have no clue what to do with this. I'm on a blackberry business server (sync with work) and I switch my blackberry offline while syncing with the mac

anyone an idea?

thanks! David

[PocketMacAnne]

Hi!

I can help with this, or at least get you started with some general information. And if what I say here doesn't get you all the way there, I invite you to work personally with our support team for free in our web-based support area at pocketmac.net/support DOT htm (sorry, can't quite post URLs just yet!)

With Entourage users, we recommend that you do a tiny bit of database maintenance if you have any problems syncing whatsoever. Entourage needs a little extra TLC sometimes due to its database structure. If there are any corrupted records, or if Entourage index (sorting) enries are "old," it may need database maintenance. Here's what we recommend:

1. Make sure Entourage is current, and if you are in North America or do business with North America, that you have the latest Daylight Savings Time updates installed. I'm using version 11.3.3 on my system. If you are in 11.2.x, make sure it's at least 11.2.3; earlier versions can't sync properly due to an Entourage bug.

2. Quit Entourage, and then hold down the Option key, and restart Entourage while holding down the Option key. That will shift you into Database Maintenance mode.

3. Choose Rebuild Database. What that will do is make a backup of Entourage, and it will run a rebuild procedure that will usually clean up any corrupted records.

4. After the rebuild is done, quit the Maintenance program, and restart Entourage normally.

5. Open your Calendar. In the Views area in the left margin of your screen, select "All Events." That will display your events on the right side of your screen in list format.

6. Sort the list on the Date column so the oldest events are listing at the top. Click on the Date column heading until the arrow points up. Scroll down the list and look at the items. Make sure the newest stuff is at the bottom, and then scroll all the way back up to the top entries.

7. Look for blank items, items with the date of 11/30/99 (that date seems to show up on items that have been previously deleted and then resurrected by Entourage's rebuild procedure), and anything that looks like total garbage. Delete any bad entries you see there.

8. Repeat the rebuid, and the calendar viewing, until all the bad stuff is gone, and only valid entries remain.

9. Now, since all your past sync attempts failed, most users would be advised to set PocketMac Preferences in Entourage to completely write over your BlackBerry. In your case, though, you are also syncing with BES, so that won't be the best option for you. You can clean up the PocketMac sync history files, but that can cause some duplication if you've synced before. So, let's save that for a more detailed approach with our support team's guidance. [So for you personally, don't use this information from the general file yet.]

10. Try that sync again, and whatever you do, don't quit in the middle. What sometimes happens is that big databases take longer than you expect to sync, and even though the program is working in a background process, the Mac may display "Not responding" if you view the application status on the screen. But don't believe that. Just wait it out. If PocketMac has a problem, it will pop an actual error message. The first sync almost ALWAYS takes the longest because it has to move and compare the most data.

Start it before lunch and let it work while you are out on a lunch break. Or any time you can be without your BlackBerry for a time.

11. At the very end, if it experienced errors, PocketMac will report that. If you get that message, we would love to help you personally diagnose the problem in your system. If you could go to the Help screen and run the System Report, PocketMac will put a PMSystemReport.txt file on your desktop.

Then, you can add that to a support request in our FREE web-based support system, (forgive me that I can't yet post complete URLs) here:

pocketmac.net/support DOT htm, in the Web Support area.

In general: we recommend you run that Entourage rebuild at least weekly, especially if you are using it very actively. The side benefit to keeping the indexes updated (and running/syncing cleanly) is that you also get a backup copy of the database. Backups = good!

Thanks for letting me share a few thoughts on Entourage syncing. I hope it's helpful!

[mr_kitty]

why is the pocketmac team answering user issues in third-party forums, but ignoring any emails sent to them directly?

[JSanders]

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

why is the pocketmac team answering user issues in third-party forums, but ignoring any emails sent to them directly?

Pretty kind of them, eh?

[zentient]

Originally Posted by JSanders

Pretty kind of them, eh?

I agree: well done, Anne. I don't have any issues yet, but I hope to soon be a happy user of BB, Mac and PocketMac. However, I just thought I'd say it was great you took the time to post such a thorough piece of help.

[PocketMacAnne]

Originally Posted by mr_kitty

why is the pocketmac team answering user issues in third-party forums, but ignoring any emails sent to them directly?

PocketMac support doesn't use email for support, there is a web-based support system. We get ... and respond to ... dozens of questions every day. I'm not sure what email address you were using before, but support is delivered on time, usually within 1 business day. We invite users to visit support directly at pocketmac.net/support.htm.

I'm actually visiting these boards specifically to reach out to people who were chatting in the boards rather than working with support directly. There are some FAQ type questions that can be answered here, where people seem to be looking.

Partly to dispel a lot of myths and rumors, partly to get the word out more broadly that even though PocketMac no longer controls when updates and patches are released, a lot of issues have already been addressed in the next update.

Some people told us they thought we didn't care or weren't doing anything about the people who were having difficulties. So, we thought it would be useful to join the conversation and give real answers.

Hope that helps!

[PocketMacAnne]

Originally Posted by zentient

I agree: well done, Anne. I don't have any issues yet, but I hope to soon be a happy user of BB, Mac and PocketMac. However, I just thought I'd say it was great you took the time to post such a thorough piece of help.

Thanks! We truly do want to be of help, whether it's in our web-based service with individual users directly, or in a more public forum.

We love our BlackBerries. I love my Pearl...I get current pictures of my grandson on that lovely handheld. So, I'm quite enthusiastic to come out and talk about the BlackBerry and all we can do with them.

Thanks!