Comments on: BlackBerry and SideKick Intellisync Issues

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:19:00 +0000

When I was running Office 2000, the synchronization was working fine. When I upgraded to Office 2007 and thus Outlook 2007, the sync stopped working. The log file had an error message in it #4198. When trying to upgrade the synchronization settings using the Desktop Manager, I got an error message “The file or database name associated with Microsoft Outlook is missing, invalid or points to a file of zero length.”

At first I wasn’t too concerned. I downloaded the most recent supported Desktop Manager and device software from the T-Mobile support web site http://www.t-mobile.com/bbupgrade/ This was Desktop Manager 4.0.1.9 and Device Software 4.1.0.377. Synchronization still didn’t work.
I did some Internet searches based on the error messages I had seen, and found this thread (among others). I tried resetting my synchronization settings to “None” (as recommended in RIM knowledgebase article KB-01808), but this did not work. I tried creating a new Outlook profile, which made some progress but still didn’t work. I also tried deleting the old Intellisync synchronization profile that was stored for my device – in my Windows XP install those files were in C:Documents and SettingsUsernameApplication DataResearch in MotionBlackBerryIntellisync. I just stopped the Desktop Manager and renamed the Intellisync directory. Still didn’t work. I also tried creating a new Outlook PST file with the new Outlook 2007 format, which appeared to make some progress but didn’t work completely. I could get the calendar to sync once, or the contacts to sync once, but not both and not consistently.

This thread directed me to software updates available from the BlackBerry support web site at http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/desktop/ . At this point the problem began to become more clear. Desktop Manager 4.0 and 4.1 do not support Outlook 2007. Desktop Manager 4.2 SP1 does show support for Outlook 2007. However, Desktop Manager 4.2 SP1 is not officially supported by T-Mobile, so install it at your own risk. BlackBerry documentation does show that Desktop Manager 4.2 SP1 supports the 7100 Series.

BlackBerry Support says to “Check with your service provider for the software version you should use with your BlackBerry device,” so I didn’t change my device software beyond the latest recommended by T-Mobile (4.1.0.377).

I did download and install Desktop Manager 4.2 SP1, and it appears to work fine. Calendar, Contacts and Notes appear to be sync’ing fine now and I have no problems. I did try making some test changes in both the handheld and Outlook address book and calendar, just to verify the two-way sync’ing is working.

Good luck all, hope this is helpful to you.

By: allanwisconsin

allanwisconsin — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 02:19:25 +0000

I was successful in getting the BlackBerry 7100 (7100t) to synchronize with Outlook 2007 running Windows XP and wanted to share my experience. Thanks, I was only successful due to the information available in this thread!

When I was running Office 2000, the synchronization was working fine. When I upgraded to Office 2007 and thus Outlook 2007, the sync stopped working. The log file had an error message in it #4198. When trying to upgrade the synchronization settings using the Desktop Manager, I got an error message “The file or database name associated with Microsoft Outlook is missing, invalid or points to a file of zero length.”

At first I wasn’t too concerned. I downloaded the most recent supported Desktop Manager and device software from the T-Mobile support web site http://www.t-mobile.com/bbupgrade/ This was Desktop Manager 4.0.1.9 and Device Software 4.1.0.377. Synchronization still didn’t work.
I did some Internet searches based on the error messages I had seen, and found this thread (among others). I tried resetting my synchronization settings to “None” (as recommended in RIM knowledgebase article KB-01808), but this did not work. I tried creating a new Outlook profile, which made some progress but still didn’t work. I also tried deleting the old Intellisync synchronization profile that was stored for my device – in my Windows XP install those files were in C:Documents and SettingsUsernameApplication DataResearch in MotionBlackBerryIntellisync. I just stopped the Desktop Manager and renamed the Intellisync directory. Still didn’t work. I also tried creating a new Outlook PST file with the new Outlook 2007 format, which appeared to make some progress but didn’t work completely. I could get the calendar to sync once, or the contacts to sync once, but not both and not consistently.

This thread directed me to software updates available from the BlackBerry support web site at http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/desktop/ . At this point the problem began to become more clear. Desktop Manager 4.0 and 4.1 do not support Outlook 2007. Desktop Manager 4.2 SP1 does show support for Outlook 2007. However, Desktop Manager 4.2 SP1 is not officially supported by T-Mobile, so install it at your own risk. BlackBerry documentation does show that Desktop Manager 4.2 SP1 supports the 7100 Series.

BlackBerry Support says to “Check with your service provider for the software version you should use with your BlackBerry device,” so I didn’t change my device software beyond the latest recommended by T-Mobile (4.1.0.377).

I did download and install Desktop Manager 4.2 SP1, and it appears to work fine. Calendar, Contacts and Notes appear to be sync’ing fine now and I have no problems. I did try making some test changes in both the handheld and Outlook address book and calendar, just to verify the two-way sync’ing is working.

Good luck all, hope this is helpful to you.

By: Jan McConnell

Jan McConnell — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 06:59:08 +0000

Thanks for these posts…they gave me an idea to try and all I had to do was create a 97-2003 pst file in Outlook 2007, run sync in compatibility mode for XP/sp2 (right click desktop icon, go to properties, select compatibility tab) and sync worked great for me.

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:02:35 +0000

Everyone – thank you. I was going bananas trying to sort out this issue, and of course the Blackberry site was no help. I must have installed and uninstalled Desktop Manager 4.1 about ten times, and it even started talking to me in Turkish (go figure). So…. I did what Cindy suggested and downloaded 4.2SP1 and works like a charm. (For those interested, I am running Windows XP and Outlook 2007).

By: aashique

aashique — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 05:36:22 +0000

I Had Installed IntelliSync on Server and i am able to recieve and send mails on both direction with GroupWise 7.0
But Now as Intellisync does not support many other devices i am trying to installed Blackberry server on the Same Server Were Intellisync is Installed.
I am Afraid whether this may cause problem with my existing setup.Please Suggest me Some

By: Tom Markiewicz

Tom Markiewicz — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 23:06:39 +0000

@JD you’re very welcome, glad I could help

By: JD

JD — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:23:40 +0000

Thank you Tom for posting this suggestion, it worked for me as well. I was receiving the error “The file for database name associated with MS Outlook is missing, invalid or points to a file of zero length” when trying to sync via Intellisync Lite and Outlook for my BB 7250. All I did was go into Control Panel and Mail and setup a new Profile, subsequently deleted it, then went back to Intellisync and amazingly it started allowing me to browse and select Outlook stuff to sync. Many thanks again, JD

By: Rayza

Rayza — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 04:58:00 +0000

All I Had To Do Was Set Up At Least One Entry In Order For THe Software to find the missing or deleted files….. wow…. what a pain in the arse

By: DJ Chief

DJ Chief — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 04:19:36 +0000

Hit that link the last guy talked about. That worked for me. Thanks!

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 21:03:37 +0000

I had been fighting this same problem (except I’m not using PST files — everything is stored on the Exchange server). The problem I had was that when I would go into Configure PIM, the first App that I would try to configure to sync with Outlook (it did not matter which one I chose first) it would sync fine with no problem. Afterwards I could not configure any others without getting the error message above (The file for database name associated with MS Outlook is missing…).

I found this page and was in the process of downloading 4.2SP1 in hopes that it too would resolve my problem. While it was downloading, I decided to try something different. I opened up the Desktop Manager, went to “Configure PIM”, chose “Address Book”, configured it to sync with Outlook, and then closed Desktop Manager all the way down. I reopened it, went back to “Configure PIM” and then chose the “Calendar”, synced it with Outlook, closed Desktop Manager down, and so on. This worked beautifully. I still don’t know why this resolved the issue, but it did. Maybe it will help others too.