Outlook 2003 - "There was an error loading this item.."

[MorganConlon]

Hi All,

I've got an installation of EV 8.0 running on Windows 2003 server against and Exchange 2003 server.  All servers and items are fully patched and up to date and built on vanilla virutal machines.

The archiving process has archived my users' email correctly and it appears in the vault in the Vault Store as it should. 

When the user, using Outlook 2003 SP3 double clicks an item which is in the archive, the item opens but the body is missing and the item says in the top margin -  "There was an error loading this item --some functionality may not be available"

I've re-installed the client side forms, no luck.  Cleared the forms cache - no luck.  There was a post about not using .DVS as a format and to use.EML instead, but I can't find that entry in the Policies configuration panels in the Administration MMC.

This seems like a bug in the system that has been there for various versions of EV.  Does anyone know what the solution is?  Any help or tips are gratefully received.

[TonySterling]

 Do you happen to have the /3GB switch in the boot.ini?  If so, remove it and reboot the server and try again.

If that doesn't work can you try accessing archived items via the web search?

Regards,

[Liam_Finn1]

Are their any event logs when this error is generated?

Have you tried finding the item in Search.asp and see if you can read it there and also extract the complete item?

If you can find it in Search and you can retrieve it then the item is good and chances are it is an issue client side.

post any event errors so we can help

[MorganConlon]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for your prompt reply.  I'm not using the 3GB switch presently - I can't reboot the machine as it's in production, but I'll keep the idea in reserve.

I enabled the client side logging in Outlook 2003 (CTRL+SHIFT+Click the EV Icons), set the logging to max and closed Outlook.  I opened Outlook again and tried the shortcut.  Same problem. 

Interestingly, in the log, it refers to the email in question as a long URL from the vault.  Cut and paste that into a browser and voila, the email opens perfectly in Outlook - exactly as the day it was written.

In the log however, the shortcut is referred to with this message ...

05/03/2009 14:01:08.288[ 988]: CShortcutItem::Display...Return Last Failed error: 0x80004005
05/03/2009 14:01:08.295[ 988]: ~CShortcutItem::Display: 0x80004005

Having logged the user in on another machine using Outlook 2007, all the same conditions are the case.

It seems to me the Outlook EV Client / client side forms are at fault here and don't present the email.  I am fairly sure the vault is OK based on the email recovery mentioned earlier.  The only anomaly I noticed was that the URL when downloaded says it will download a .msg file and not a .dvs file - maybe a moot point but significant if there was a reg key governing message format.

It's not a local workstation rights issue, it just seems that the local forms for the EV client don't load the inbound email when it's opened.  The email is available and is openable by the user just not via forms.  You can also search for emails in Archive Explorer and that works fine, just opening them gives the same problem.

When you go to the Archive Explorer and click an item, you get "Could not show the item.  Please try again; if it still fails, contact your Enterprise Vault administrator. The server did not send a complete item"

All help and anything, no matter how whacky, is gratefully received!

Cheers,

Morgan

[MorganConlon]

Hi Liam,

Thanks for your prompt reply.

There are no events in the EV logs in Event Viewer.

When I go to http://vault.domain.co.uk/EnterpriseVault and click search and search an item, it comes up and when clicked, it displays the content of the email first time out.  No errors there at all - very smooth action!

All help and anything, no matter how whacky, is gratefully received!

Thanks in advance,

Morgan

[Paul_Grimshaw]

0x80004005 is a MAPI error and you can see a list of MAPI error codes here:-

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/238119

So as you can see your error is MAPI_CALL_FAILED

As a test can you do the following:-

1. Pick a user that has this problem

2. Open the mailbox policy on the vault server for this user

3. Select the Advanced tab and then Outlook from the List settings from drop down list

4. Find the Setting called Download format and I am going to presume that this is set to DVS File

5. If it is then change this setting to MSG file

6. Run a synchronisation against just this one user which will sync this policy setting to the users mailbox

7. Restart outlook as this user and try to retrieve the item again. Does it now work?

This would not be a permanent solution but will indicate to us where the issue lies.

[MorganConlon]

Thanks for the information on the MAPI call failure.  I did the steps but cannot find the Download format setting in the policies area, either at desktop or mailbox policy level - odd because that was one solution that has appeared to work for other users using older versions (i.e. < E.V. v8.0)  All the other settings are there, but not the download format. 

If you know what registry key this refers to, I could always do a manaul fix on the basis that Symantec will probably fix it later and roll the services over and see if that's a go'er.

[TonySterling]

In EV 8 this is not an option.  I believe it always downloads as msg now due to the changes in regards to SIS.

regards, 

[MorganConlon]

If you don't want to know the solution to this problem, I suggest you look away now.

Ugh!  Well, after Symantec Support (SE) had an extensive look at this problem, it seems the answer is now available.  The problem seems to be with using SQL 2005 Express.  SE tried the setup using Express and got the same problem as me and then rolled back and installed SQL 2005 Standard Edition and it worked fine, so I think that's where the problem lies.  In short, we have to upgrade to SQL 2005 to get it to work.  Shame.  There is obviously something crippled under the hood.

Thanks though for all the help from Symantec Support who were dogged in pursuit of the answer and to the boarders who put in so many practical suggestions on how to fix it, that was all sincerely appreciated.  Bye!

[Wayne_Humphrey · Accepted solution]

Well, strictly speaking it is not supported.

Please see the Compatibility Charts:
ftp://exftpp.symantec.com/pub/support/products/Exchange_Mailbox_Archiving_Unit/276547.pdf

[MichelZ]

Just for completeness: SQL 2005 is not supported according to the Compatibility Guide: ftp://exftpp.symantec.com/pub/support/products/Exchange_Mailbox_Archiving_Unit/276547.pdf So never do this in a live system ;) Thanks for posting the solution Morgan!

[MichelZ]

Hehe... I was too late, Wayne! One point for you... ;)