entourage 12.1.5 update password problems

[dirkvanfeen]

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

after the 12.1.5 update entourage lost all account passwords. the os x keychain is also empty after the update and entourage did not add the pass to the keychain.

need your help.

thanks dirk

 

[Diane Ross]

after the 12.1.5 update entourage lost all account passwords. the os x
keychain is also empty after the update and entourage did not add the pass to
the keychain.

need your help.

Did you restart after updating? Did you quit all applications when applying
the updater as directed?

 

[dirkvanfeen]

yes i did. i repaired disk permission and deleted the PRAM. know 2 person with the same problem.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

after the 12.1.5 update entourage lost all account passwords. the os x
keychain is also empty after the update and entourage did not add the
pass to the keychain.

Really??? I took a look in the updater itself (it's a regular mpkg that
can be opened in Pacifist) and I see nothing in there that could
directly interact with the keychains.
I wonder how the data was lost.
If you use Keychain Access there is nothing listed in there?? Can you
run the Keychain First Aid application from there??

That really seems weird.

COrentin

 

[Throski]

My problem appears to be that Entourage 12.1.5 can't seem to save any keys to my keychain (Mac OS X 10.5.5). The first thing I tried after applying the upgrade was rebooting. The password dialog for each account once again appeared each time I tried to get new mail for any account. So then I quit Entourage and opened my keychain, ran Keychain First Aid, which found nothing wrong, and deleted the existing Entourage items in my login keychain. I launched Entourage again, entered passwords with the save option selected, then quit and launched again. Passwords were still requested and no new items existed in my keychain. I then quit Entourage and removed my login.keychain file, logged out and in again, entered the passwords with save selected in Entourage, then logged out and back in. Still no new keychain items, still no problems reported in Keychain First Aid. I even repaired permissions system-wide and tried all this again with no different results. I then deleted and created one account (my Exchange account), and the problem still exists for that account as well as all others.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

I then quit Entourage and removed my login.keychain file,

You removed completely the login keychain file?????? Not good, not good
not good at all!!!!
The keychain is used by tons of apps (including the System itself)

I then deleted and created one
account (my Exchange account), and the problem still exists for that
account as well as all others.

I've never seen that before. There must be something seriously hosed on
your Mac.

At least, the entires should appear in the login keychain. That's really
not looking good at this point,


Corentin

 

[MarkJ]

Hi - I can add another sighting of this problem.

Upgraded from 12.1.4 to 12.1.5, performed a reboot, now I always get prompted by Entourage for my Exchange server password (despite checking the checkbox to 'Save password in my Mac OS keychain'.

I've run Keychain Access app's Keychain First Aid and verified the database - all appears fine (although I can't see anything that looks like my Exchange server).

Everything else is functioning fine - just Entourage that appears to have broken itself.

Tried to re-install the 12.1.5 update from the mpkg, however appears to stall when it's looking for a disk to install too...not sure what that's about...

 

[Bguzik]

Same issue here. Passwords are not saved to my keychain

 

[MarkJ]

OK - so here's an interesting observation.

If I go into Keychain Acces app and select one of my key entries (click 'Get Info') and the go to the Access Control tab and attempt to add other applications to the 'allowed list', I can add anything EXCEPT Entourage...so what characteristic of an application enables this functionality (the ability to be added to an access list) ???

 

[MarkJ]

Entourage appears to differ from the other Office applications in that it appears to be doing something with 'code signing' - there is a file:

Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources

....under the Entourage directory structure that isn't under any of the other Office applications directory structures.

From:

<http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2007/tn2206.html>

"Controls what applications can do with specific keychain items."

....sounds suspiciously what's happening to us - however, it's not the 'control' we want...

Anyone know more about this???

 

[MarkJ]

OK - looks like I'm making this discussion my own...

Anyhow, further information - checking the Entourage signature reveals that it is inconsistent with the code:

$ codesign -d /Applications/Microsoft\ Office\ 2008/Microsoft\ Entourage.app
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2008/Microsoft Entourage.app: code or signature modified

....suspect this is what prevents Entourage being added to a keychain access list...

 

[Diane Ross]

I just pinged my contact at MSFT and will get back as soon as I hear
something. In the mean time, let's go over some troubleshooting tips.

Make sure you Keychain is not locked. Check the lock icon at the top left of
the Keychain window.

--------Apply combo updater--------
1) 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. Test after
restarting.

Leopard:

Mac OS X 10.5.5 Combo Update
(For both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs )
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1055comboupdate.html>

Tiger:

Mac OS X 10.4.11 Combo Update (PPC)
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx10411comboupdateppc.html>

Mac OS X 10.4.11 Combo Update (Intel)

<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx10411updateintel.html>

-------- Steps to help determine where the problem is located.---------

I've listed 3 normal steps to troubleshoot, however for this problem with
the keychain, I would do #2 (test in a new User's account) first. This will
determine if you can save to a keychain.

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.

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".

----------Reinstall Office and update-----------

This is not normally something I would recommend, but if your Office files
are munged, this might resolve the situation.

1) Quit all Microsoft applications (Easy way: log out/in with Shift key down
to disable any startup items.)
2) Drag the Microsoft Office 2008 folder to the Trash. (located in root
Application folder)
3) Empty Trash.
4) Reinstall Office 2008 from your original installation disk. (be sure all
applications are quit when installing and updating)
Restart
5) Update (you will either need to apply the 12.1.0 SP1 or 12.1.5 updater)
Restart (restarting before you launch any app is important!)
6) Run Repair Permissions in Disk Utility.

I'm anxious to hear reports of your testing. It's usually a user that will
discover the fix to an odd problem like this.

 

[Diane Ross]

Hi Mark, I received a reply back one the code sign issue.

<quote>
we do NOT do code signing. That file comes from Apple, he has some feature
on that adds code signing (like Parental Controls or Firewall
settings).</quote>

BTW, if you'll access this newsgroup via Entourage's newsreader, you'll get
replies back in a more timely manner. The Mactopia interface to the
newsgroup is horrible IMHO. We've been lobbying almost a year now for
improvements.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/support_options/subnews.html>

 

[Diane Ross]

When you post back on this problem, please include the following:

What version of OS installed?
What type of account(s)? How many? (POP, IMAP, Exchange)

Example:

OSX 10.5.5
1 IMAP
5 POP
1 Exchange
1 Hotmail

1) When you installed, did you quit all applications including hidden ones?
2) Did you restart after installing?
3) Did you test in a new User? (Go to System Preferences --> Create a New 4)
User in Accounts. Switch to the New User by logging out/in or use Fast User
Switching. Test Office there.)
5) Did you check to see if your Keychain is locked?
6) Have you tried running the latest Apple combo updater?
7) Do you have Parental Controls set?
8) Check your Firewall settings.

The developer is monitoring this thread and the more info we have the easier
it will be to track down a solution.

Thanks!!

 

[MarkJ]

Thanks for the feedback Diane - my comments embedded...

I just pinged my contact at MSFT and will get back as soon as I hear
something. In the mean time, let's go over some troubleshooting tips.

Make sure you Keychain is not locked. Check the lock icon at the top left of
the Keychain window.

'login' keychain is permanently unlocked - all other keychains,
including "Microsoft_Intermediate_Certificates" and
"Microsoft_Entity_Certificates", along with System and System Roots, are
permanently locked (unless I unlock them manually).

Am assuming this is correct?

--------Apply combo updater--------
1) 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. Test after
restarting.

I hear what you're saying - however downloading and installing a 600MB
update seems a bit of a 'sledgehammer' approach - will try some of the
troubleshooting first. (Am concerned that overlaying the same Mac OSX
update may cause more problems than it fixes).

Leopard:

Mac OS X 10.5.5 Combo Update
(For both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs )
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1055comboupdate.html>

Tiger:

Mac OS X 10.4.11 Combo Update (PPC)
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx10411comboupdateppc.html>

Mac OS X 10.4.11 Combo Update (Intel)

<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx10411updateintel.html>

-------- Steps to help determine where the problem is located.---------

I've listed 3 normal steps to troubleshoot, however for this problem with
the keychain, I would do #2 (test in a new User's account) first. This will
determine if you can save to a keychain.

Will perform some of the testing you suggest below and feed back...thanks.

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.

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".

----------Reinstall Office and update-----------

Again - not too keen to put myself through this sort of pain...am hoping
there's a more precise fix.

 

[MarkJ]

Hi Mark, I received a reply back one the code sign issue.

<quote>
we do NOT do code signing. That file comes from Apple, he has some feature
on that adds code signing (like Parental Controls or Firewall
settings).</quote>

BTW, if you'll access this newsgroup via Entourage's newsreader, you'll get
replies back in a more timely manner. The Mactopia interface to the
newsgroup is horrible IMHO. We've been lobbying almost a year now for
improvements.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/support_options/subnews.html>

OK - well - if I do have "some feature" on that auto-signs applications,
I don't know about it !

Also - why only Entourage? Why not Word, Excel, Powerpoint?

This doesn't seem to make sense.

Is there an easy way to 'unsign' Entourage?

(Didn't realise Mactopia was just an interface into Microsoft's news
server - if nothing else, discovery of this news server has been worth
the pain !!! Thanks)

 

[Throski]

I deleted my login keychain just so I could more readily demonstrate that it appears to be only Entourage that is not able to save keys to the keychain. I don't see any logic to the approach of troubleshooting this as a system issue when only one application suffers from the problem.

I haven't so far seen in this forum any reason to believe that people who haven't been affected by the problem aren't simply using Entourage keys that were generated by earlier versions of the application.

If you aren't having this issue, either delete all your Entourage keys from your default keychain, or replace your default keychain with a fresh empty one an try to add Entourage account passwords to it under 12.1.5. If you are successful, then we can consider other troubleshooting steps.

 

[Diane Ross]

'login' keychain is permanently unlocked - all other keychains,
including "Microsoft_Intermediate_Certificates" and
"Microsoft_Entity_Certificates", along with System and System Roots, are
permanently locked (unless I unlock them manually).

Am assuming this is correct?

I'm not sure about the certificates. When I select the login keychain, and
click on certificates, they don't indicate they are locked. My System
keychain and System Roots is locked.

I hear what you're saying - however downloading and installing a 600MB
update seems a bit of a 'sledgehammer' approach - will try some of the
troubleshooting first. (Am concerned that overlaying the same Mac OSX
update may cause more problems than it fixes).

The combo has never done harm AFAIK. It's probably the easiest fix you can
try. I hear you that doing a reinstall of Office is a PITB. Go for the combo
and let me know.

 

[Diane Ross]

Fix posted on the Entourage Talk list:

<quote>
I finally gave up and deleted the Office 2008 folder & copied over an older
version (12.1.1) of Office 2008 I had on a backup hard drive. Then I
followed Diane's instructions to startup with the Shift key down to disable
all applications (including the hidden ones). Then I ran the 12.1.5 updater.
Then I restarted the computer.

Upon opening Entourage, it asked for the password for each email account. I
entered the info and checked the box to save the info in Keychain. I then
quit and re-opened Entourage. Voila! I doesn't ask for the password anymore.
I used Keychain Access to check the entries and the passwords are now in the
Keychain. (After I had reset the Keychain it remained empty no matter how
many times I entered the passwords in Entourage.) All is working well again.

This is the fix that worked for me. Good luck.

Jim

</quote>

Let me know if this works.

 

[Throski]

That's pretty close to the strategy I used except that I used Remove Office from Additional Tools to completely uninstall Office, then reinstalled from the original release, then ran the 12.1. 0 update (I tried 12.1.5 before 12.1.0, but no appropriate version of Office was located by the 12.1.5 updater) then 12.1.5. Thanks.