Unable to write or update application data

[BESadmin]

Unable to write or update application data (Updated)

Doc ID : KB00729
Last Modified : 2007-01-11
Document Type : Support

Environment

• BlackBerry® Desktop Software 2.1 through 4.1
• BlackBerry device
• BlackBerry Device Software 4.2
• IBM® Lotus Notes®
• Microsoft® Outlook®
• Microsoft Outlook Express
• Microsoft Windows® 2000
• Microsoft Windows XP

Problem

When synchronizing organizer data between the BlackBerry device and the computer, the following error appears:

Unable to write or update application data.

Cause

Summary of Causes

1. An Outlook contact does not contain information in one or more fields.
2. The BlackBerry device does not have enough space to synchronize organizer data.
3. Invalid characters exist in the Name or Address fields of contacts.
4. BlackBerry device database or information is corrupt.
5. Intellisync cannot translate some Outlook data.
6. The Lotus Notes address book database is corrupt.

Resolution

Complete the appropriate resolution.

Cause 1
A contact in Outlook does not contain information in one or all of the following fields:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Company Name

To verify as to whether this is the cause, check if contacts have empty First Name, Last Name, or Company Name fields.

1. In the Outlook Contacts pane, select the Phone List radio button from the upper-left Current View menu.
2. Then, in Current View, click Customize Current View.
3. The Customize View: Phone List dialog box will open. Click the Fields button.
   The Show Fields window then opens (shown in the graphic below).
4. Select First Name in the Available fields list on the left.
5. Add First Name to the Show these fields in this order list on the right.
6. First Name should then appear in Show these fields in this order.
   Note: To add the Last Name and Company Name fields simultaneously, press and hold the Shift key while selecting Last Name and Company Name.
   
7. Drag First Name to the position underneath Icon (i.e., second from the top).
8. Click OK twice.
9. To arrange the Contacts list by first name, click the First Name column in the title bar.

Some address books are too large to search manually. To enable advanced logging, see KB01451.

Note: The address book in Outlook Express displays blank contacts as entries with the name Unknown.

Resolution 1
Make sure that each contact entry has information in the First Name field.

1. In Outlook, go to the Contacts pane.
2. Sort the contacts by Category to easily identify entries without first names.
3. Type information in empty First Name fields. Alternatively, delete entries without a first name.

Resolution 2
Perform the following in Outlook 2003:

1. Click Contacts to view your list of contacts.
2. Click Options.
3. Select Advanced Find.
4. Go to the Advanced tab.
5. Select First Name from Frequently-used fields list.
6. Change the Condition to (IS EMPTY) and click Add To List button.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for Last Name.
8. Click the Find Now button.

Workaround
In BlackBerry Device Software 4.0, contacts with blank fields always appear at the top of the contact list as [No Name]. If you are using BlackBerry Device Software 4.1, you can synchronize to a BlackBerry device with BlackBerry Device Software 4.0 to identify the contact with the blank fields. Delete the contact, then back up and restore the organizer data to the original BlackBerry device.

Cause 2
The BlackBerry device does not have enough storage space to synchronize organizer data with the computer.

Resolution
To increase the amount of available storage space on the BlackBerry device, complete the following tasks.

Note: Back up the data on your BlackBerry device with the Backup and Restore tool in BlackBerry Desktop Manager before proceeding.

Use Intellisync to reduce the range of days on the calendar
Reducing the calendar date range restricts the number of appointments or events reconciled with the BlackBerry device. You can choose to reconcile:

• all items
• future items only
• items that fall between a range of days.

Reducing the range of days should create more available storage space on the BlackBerry device.

1. Connect the BlackBerry device to the computer.
2. In BlackBerry Desktop Manager, open Intellisync.
3. Click Configure PIM and select Calendar.
4. From the Configure drop-down menu, select Advanced Settings.
5. On the Date Range tab, reduce the range of days.

Use the Application Loader tool to remove applications

1. Connect the BlackBerry device to the computer.
2. In BlackBerry Desktop Manager, open Application Loader. The Application Loader Wizard opens.
3. Click Next.
4. Type your password and click Next.
5. Clear the check boxes for the applications you want to remove from the BlackBerry device, and click Next.
6. Click Finish. The applications are removed from the BlackBerry device.

Cause 3
Invalid characters (for example, +, $ or %) exist in the Name or Address fields of contacts. Some address books are too large to search manually. To enable advanced logging, see KB01451.

Resolution
Make sure that no invalid characters appear in the Name or Address fields of the BlackBerry device address book entries.

1. On the BlackBerry device, click Address Book and select the entries with invalid characters.
2. Remove any symbols or invalid characters from the Name and Address fields.

Cause 4
BlackBerry device database or information is corrupt.

Resolution
Clear the corrupt database.

1. Connect the BlackBerry device to the computer and open BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
2. Open Backup and Restore and click Advanced.
3. Select the database of the application on which the error occurred and click Clear. For instructions on how to determine the corrupt application, see KB03069.

Cause 5
Intellisync is unable to translate some Outlook data. Even though contact information appears properly in Outlook, exporting it will show that that the information is corrupt.

Resolution 1
Export the contacts, correct them, and import them back into Outlook.

1. Open Microsoft Outlook.
2. In Contacts, click File>Import and Export.
3. In the window that appears, select Export to a file and click Next.
4. In the list of applications, select Microsoft Excel and click Next. Follow the prompts to save the file to the hard disk. When the export is complete, open the file in Microsoft Excel®. In the Excel spreadsheet, contacts that have empty cells for First Name, Last Name, and Company are corrupt.
5. Remove the blank entries or type information in them.
6. In the Outlook Contacts, click File>Import and Export.
7. In the window that appears, select Import from another program or file and click Next.
8. In the list of applications, select Microsoft Excel and click Next. Follow the prompts to import the file.
9. In BlackBerry Desktop Manager, synchronize the contacts.

Resolution 2
Remove the contact that is causing the issue.

1. Enable advanced logging for Intellisync. To enable advanced logging, see KB01451.
2. In the tif.log file, search for lines similar to the following:

   RejectOutcome, ec=4019

   CloseFileTemporarily/NO-OP

   TIFTerminate

   -------- ILLOG_close

   The log lines indicate that synchronization stopped at a specific contact.
3. Delete the contact that is causing the error.

Resolution 3

1. In Outlook, go to File>Import/Export.
2. Click Next>Export to a file>Next>Comma Separated Values (Windows)>Next.
3. Select the Contacts folder, click Next, and save the file name with .CSV file extension.
4. In Outlook Express, go to File>Import>Other Address Book>Text File (Comma Separated Values).
5. Locate the file saved in step 3.
6. In BlackBerry Desktop Manager, change the Translator for the Address Book to Microsoft Outlook Express.
7. Perform a synchronization.

Cause 6
The Lotus Notes address book database is corrupt.

Resolution
Complete the following steps:

1. Create a new Address Book database in Lotus Notes.
   • In Lotus Notes, go to File>Database>New.
   • Select Local for the Server field.
   • In Title, select Backup Address Book
   • Type backupNames.nsf for the filename.
   • Select Personal Address Book for the Template.
2. Copy and paste all address book entries from the Names.nsf file to the backupNames.nsf file.
3. Reconfigure Address Book PIM synchronization to synchronize with backupNames.nsf.

Additional Information

If the above procedures do not resolve the issue, delete and restore BlackBerry device data and applications.

To erase BlackBerry device data and applications

1. Back up the BlackBerry device using the Backup and Restore tool.
2. Erase all BlackBerry device data and applications. For instructions, see KB02318.

To restore BlackBerry device data and applications

1. Connect the BlackBerry device to the computer and open BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
2. Open Backup and Restore.
3. Click Restore and select the backup file that you created before deleting your BlackBerry device data and applications.
4. Click Open. This restores the BlackBerry device applications and data.

If using Lotus Notes, upgrade to BlackBerry Desktop Manager 4.2 Hotfix 1.
To add the First, Last and Company name fields in ACT!®:

1. Click Contact List on the left side.
2. Click View>Add columns.
3. Add the column titles you need.
4. The newly added columns are appended to the end of the column list. Scroll to the right and drag them over to the left.

The rest is done as it is when working with Outlook. See Cause 1, Resolutions 1 and 2.

[BESadmin]

UPDATED - 22 March 2007

Unable to write or update application data

Doc ID : KB00729
Last Modified : 2007-03-22
Document Type : Support

Environment

• BlackBerry® Desktop Software 2.1 through 4.1
• BlackBerry device
• BlackBerry Device Software 4.2
• Sage Software ACT!®
• IBM® Lotus Notes®
• Microsoft® Outlook®
• Microsoft Outlook Express
• Microsoft Windows® 2000
• Microsoft Windows XP
• SDR99354
• SDR86120

Problem

When synchronizing organizer data (such as contacts, calendar entries, tasks and memos) between the BlackBerry device and the computer, the following error appears:
Unable to write or update application data.

Cause

Summary of Causes

1. A contact in Outlook, Lotus Notes, or Lotus Organizer does not contain information in one or more fields.
2. The BlackBerry device does not have enough memory to synchronize organizer data.
3. Invalid characters exist in the Name or Address fields of contacts.
4. The application database is corrupt on the BlackBerry device.
5. BlackBerry Desktop Manager cannot translate some of the data in Outlook.
6. The Lotus Notes address book database is corrupt.
7. A contact in ACT! does not contain information in one or more fields.

[BESadmin]

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