[ZBoater_wn]

I just learned something new today, so excuse me if I am late to the party and this has been discussed ad nauseum here, but I searched and couldnt find anything. This comes from my friends over at the Brighthand forums.

As you know hotsync-related resets can many times be traced back to a corrupt PIM database. I have read repeatedly about dBscan from Pimlico software to check the calendar entries, but nothing for contacts, tasks and memos.

Well, what I just learned is that the Palm Desktop has an option under Tools - Options - Tools to check for corruption in any of the PIM databases.

"But I don't use the Palm Desktop!" you say. Neither do I, but I find it interesting that PalmOne saw fit to include that as a built in option for their PIM data manager.

I would imagine that one option is to export the data from outlook, import it into the PalmDesktop, run the corruption check, and then export again into Outlook. I would imagine PalmOne would prefer you switch from Outlook to Palm Desktop, but there is a fat chance of THAT happening any time soon.

This may be old news to most, but to me I just learned something new. That makes today a good day.

[jamespaulritter]

Thats good info, thanks.

[MarkY]

I often find deleted entries in any PIM application can cause problems. You can use dbscan in that case and it will scan tasks, memos, and contacts and remove problem items. On the next sync you just change it to handheld overwrites desktop.

[Insertion]

I often find deleted entries in any PIM application can cause problems. You can use dbscan in that case and it will scan tasks, memos, and contacts and remove problem items. On the next sync you just change it to handheld overwrites desktop.

You beat me to it!! I do the same.

Anyways, I don't use Desktop so it's nice to see someone post these things. Hey you never when it may come in handy.

[ZBoater_wn]

I often find deleted entries in any PIM application can cause problems. You can use dbscan in that case and it will scan tasks, memos, and contacts and remove problem items. On the next sync you just change it to handheld overwrites desktop.

dbscan (if we are talking about the utility that comes with DateBk5) only scans the calendar.

http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/utilities.htm

"dbScan. dbScan is a utility program that performs an integrity check on the Datebook database. "

[TheTreoGuy]

dbscan (if we are talking about the utility that comes with DateBk5) only scans the calendar.

http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/utilities.htm

"dbScan. dbScan is a utility program that performs an integrity check on the Datebook database. "

Actually I think dbscan is supposed to check contacts and memo/todo as well, but with my use of it I keep getting a soft reset everytime it finds a problem with my appointments/calendar so I can't fix my calendar. I can't sync to my computer to try the suggestion above because my db has deleted file problems so now what?

[alokeprasad]

I think dbscan schecks them all. Datebk5 interface accesses calendar and tasks. Not sure about memos and contacts, although it does show items from those databases in the datebk5 UI.

Good info on the Palm Desktop. I didn't know that.

[swieder]

I ran dbscan, which takes forever with the new database structures, and found no errors. I hotsynced with handhelp overwritting the desktop. The result was NO change.

Hotsyncing with synchronization of my contacts causes a reboot when the Hotsync is done.

This stinks! Any other suggestions?

[jamespaulritter]

If i ever get a reset in the last second of a sync I delete the saved preference file off the handheld and the desktop but I always save a copy just in case it dosent fix the problem.

[ZBoater_wn]

I ran dbscan, which takes forever with the new database structures, and found no errors. I hotsynced with handhelp overwritting the desktop. The result was NO change.

Hotsyncing with synchronization of my contacts causes a reboot when the Hotsync is done.

This stinks! Any other suggestions?

Like I said, dBscan only scans the calendar. That is what the description of the app in the developer's website says. I would export your contacts and import them into the Palm Desktop, then from the Palm Desktop choose Tools - Options - Tools and Check for database corruption. See if it finds any. Then reimport the contacts into Outlook and try resyncing.

[bklech]

If you have the problem where running the menu item "Remove All Deleted Records" in dbScan causes a reset, you've got a terribly corrupted situation that can't be resolved through standard channels (and for me at least, is ALWAYS in the CalendarDB-PDat.pdb file) and almost certainly means that syncing with the desktop to try and use their tools won't work, either. I've fought with this a number or times and keep finding better and less difficult work arounds.

My current best solution is to go to DateBk5, and using the Beam Category feature beam all items from all categories to another device (before you start, you need to have the same categories in the same order!). Then, delete the DatabookDB.pdb (if you aren't already using deletepims.prc, also from PimlicoSoftware) and CalendarDB-PDat, and then reset!

From the Phone app, with the Show Calendar Item enabled, enter the Calendar application by tapping the space that would ordinarily show the next item, but now says something like "No Items In Calendar". (If it doesn't say that, you've still got a Calendar daatabase somewhere that needs deleted.) This is all to create a fresh blank calendar daatabase. Then you can just beam over the DatebookDB.pdb from the device that received your earlier beam. (It's faster than beaming the records back individually.)

And then a hotsync with Handheld overwrites Desktop. That results in everything being happy again for me.

[markc]

Hotsyncing with synchronization of my contacts causes a reboot when the Hotsync is done.

This stinks! Any other suggestions?

IIRC, I solved a corrupt address db problem on a Tungsten T just by resorting the list. On a Treo 650 the equivalent would be Options>Preferences and then change 'List By:' from 'Last Name, First Name' to 'Company, Last Name' or vice versa.

[TheTreoGuy]

If you have the problem where running the menu item "Remove All Deleted Records" in dbScan causes a reset, you've got a terribly corrupted situation that can't be resolved through standard channels (and for me at least, is ALWAYS in the CalendarDB-PDat.pdb file) and almost certainly means that syncing with the desktop to try and use their tools won't work, either. I've fought with this a number or times and keep finding better and less difficult work arounds.

My current best solution is to go to DateBk5, and using the Beam Category feature beam all items from all categories to another device (before you start, you need to have the same categories in the same order!). Then, delete the DatabookDB.pdb (if you aren't already using deletepims.prc, also from PimlicoSoftware) and CalendarDB-PDat, and then reset!

From the Phone app, with the Show Calendar Item enabled, enter the Calendar application by tapping the space that would ordinarily show the next item, but now says something like "No Items In Calendar". (If it doesn't say that, you've still got a Calendar daatabase somewhere that needs deleted.) This is all to create a fresh blank calendar daatabase. Then you can just beam over the DatebookDB.pdb from the device that received your earlier beam. (It's faster than beaming the records back individually.)

And then a hotsync with Handheld overwrites Desktop. That results in everything being happy again for me.

First problem, I don't have Datebk5. Second problem,what other device do you mean for beaming? I have to buy another treo and Datebk5 to fix this? That's an expensive fix.

[jorang]

You dont need to have DB5 to use dBscan. All 3rd party PIM-apps (as far as I know) uses the native db, and the dBscan app will scan your record no matter if you use DB5 or not...

[ZBoater_wn]

First problem, I don't have Datebk5. Second problem,what other device do you mean for beaming? I have to buy another treo and Datebk5 to fix this? That's an expensive fix.

You can download dbscan from the Pimlico website for free.

[jamespaulritter]

here it is

[bklech]

First problem, I don't have Datebk5. Second problem,what other device do you mean for beaming? I have to buy another treo and Datebk5 to fix this? That's an expensive fix.

You can downlaod and run a trial of DateBK5 for free, even if you've expired the trial period the features you want will still work. And in my case, I've got an old PalmVx that I use as the second device.

[TheTreoGuy]

here it is

Just to clarify, I do have dbscan but I don't use Datebk5. I also don't have an extra device so no go on that choice. Any other help? I can't just delete my calendar db and lose all my appointments I've had in there and have in there. There has to be some way to fix this without losing everything. Mustn't there?

[ZBoater_wn]

Just to clarify, I do have dbscan but I don't use Datebk5. I also don't have an extra device so no go on that choice. Any other help? I can't just delete my calendar db and lose all my appointments I've had in there and have in there. There has to be some way to fix this without losing everything. Mustn't there?

So, did you run dBscan yet? dBscan will scan your calendar database whether you have DateBk5 or not. Load the dbscan.prc file and run it. It will check your calendar db for corruption and fix it.

The other thing you want to try is exporting your calendar data to a file and importing it into the Palm Desktop. That way you can use the Palm Desktops feature to clean up corruption. Once fixed, export it and reimport it into Outlook.

[TheTreoGuy]

So, did you run dBscan yet? dBscan will scan your calendar database whether you have DateBk5 or not. Load the dbscan.prc file and run it. It will check your calendar db for corruption and fix it.

The other thing you want to try is exporting your calendar data to a file and importing it into the Palm Desktop. That way you can use the Palm Desktops feature to clean up corruption. Once fixed, export it and reimport it into Outlook.

I think we're going in circles here unless I'm misunderstanding you. I have dbscan. I used it. It resets every single time I use it so it doesn't clean up the bad appointments/calendar entries. I can't sync it (because of the bad entries) so I don't know what to do now. How do I "export" my data to a file if all my data is only on my Treo and I can't sync to my computer?

I feel we're close...thanks...just a little more help and maybe it will be solved!