[ClaraT]

Can somebody please tell me why the h____ Entourage is such a pain? Here's the deal--
I am now getting the error message about "authentication failed, yada, yada" on my earthlink acct.

I DID NOT have this problem before on Earthlink--yes, on another acct. I did and just didn't use it with Entourage.

I haven't used Entourage in over a month, now today I can neither send or receive.

From their useless website: Can anybody translate what the friggin bottomline is?

"SYMPTOMS
When you try to send or to receive e-mail messages in Microsoft Entourage 2004 for Mac, you may receive an error message that is similar to one of the following:

Error message 1
Authentication failed because Entourage doesn't support any of the available authentication methods.
Error message 2
Mail could not be received at this time. The server for account "xxxxx" returned the error "command not implemented." Your username/password or security settings may be incorrect. Would you like to try re-entering your password?

CAUSE
This problem occurs when the Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3) server or the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server uses NTLM version 1 authentication. Entourage 2004 for Mac no longer supports NTLM version 1 authentication.

Note Earlier versions of MSN, The Microsoft Network, POP3 servers or SMTP servers may still use NTLM version 1 authentication.

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

MORE INFORMATION
For more information about how to migrate an earlier MSN account to a Hotmail account, visit the following Microsoft Web site, and then download Microsoft MSN Messenger for Mac:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx"

Does this gibberish mean they did something and now we can't use Entourage for email?

Uuugggh!!

clarat



For additional information about how to set up a Hotmail account in Microsoft Entourage, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
272573 How to set up Entourage to send and receive Hotmail

[selowitch]

I strongly suggest subscribing to the usenet newsgroup microsoft.public.mac.office.entourage -- it's incredibly helpful. Also, try this website: http://www.entourage.mvps.org.

The error message you mention is probably discussed here.

Both are superb resources that have made Entourage so much better for me to use, and they even are helpful to novices.

If you prefer books, this one is excellent, too: Office 2004 for Mac: The Missing Manual.

[selowitch]

oops.

[nica]

Just use something else, why bother with it if it's not working for you?

[selowitch]

Originally posted by nica:
Just use something else, why bother with it if it's not working for you?

I think if this person is bothering to post to this forum, she is obviously willing to at least try to solve her problem before switching programs. Almost any question that gets asked on MacNN could be greeted with a response like yours, "Why bother?" But then, it wouldn't be a very helpful forum, now would it?

Let's try to encourage a solution, not a surrender.

Besides, Entourage has a very rich feature set that is not easily duplicated elsewhere. Where else can you find one application that does e-mail, newsgroups, contacts (with Palm Sync, I might add), calendar, notes & memos all under one roof, plus limited compatibility with Exchange and very good AppleScript support?

Entourage is worth the effort. Besides, ClaraT probably spent a lot of money on it and wants to get her money's worth.

[selowitch]

Gah. Sorry. Admin, delete this post, please.

[Moose]

Originally posted by selowitch:
Besides, Entourage has a very rich feature set that is not easily duplicated elsewhere. Where else can you find one application that does e-mail, newsgroups, contacts (with Palm Sync, I might add), calendar, notes & memos all under one roof, plus limited compatibility with Exchange and very good AppleScript support?

I have Mail for mail, Unison for newsgroups, Address Book (and the underlying framework) for contacts, iCal for calendar, and stickies for notes and memos. Each of these applications performs, in my opinion, its respective task better than Entourage handles them all as a group. For my money, the only reason to use Entourage is its Exchange support which is still pretty hobbled by what Exchange puts out through OWA.

Also, the error that she's getting isn't caused by the issue raised in the KB article, as I really doubt that Earthlink uses NTLM auth for POP. I'd have her check to make sure her password is correct. If the OP didn't access that account (which seems to be the case, hard to tell as the post isn't really clear) for a month, the password may have expired, or Earthlink might have temporarily locked it or something.

Without knowing more, it's hard to say.

(I do use Entourage for my Exchange e-mail at work.)

[selowitch]

Originally posted by Moose:
I have Mail for mail, Unison for newsgroups, Address Book (and the underlying framework) for contacts, iCal for calendar, and stickies for notes and memos. Each of these applications performs, in my opinion, its respective task better than Entourage handles them all as a group.

And if you're happy with that collection of apps, then that's great for you. Our friend, ClaraT, however, has already made the investment in Entourage and doesn't appear to need advice on other apps right now -- she'd probably prefer to make the one she has work properly.

Now that you mention it, I think Mail.app would be fine if it didn't keep choking on perfectly good e-mail server settings and if it didn't take your acccount offline every time there's a hiccup. Then there's the issue of your .mbox files suddenly disappearing on you. For right now, I've ditched Mail.app in favor of Thunderbird. TB works great and I really like it, except for its lack of AddressBook.app integration. I'm hoping that, with the advent of Panther, I'll be able to access the Address Book via the built-in LDAP server. Wish me luck on that.

Stickies are no good for notes and memos for me because they don't have separate title fields, priority ranking, completion dates, nor the ability to Sync to a Palm device.

I agree that iCal is pretty good, better in fact that Entourage's calendar and even Sunbird as currently constituted.

But let's help ClaraT with Entourage without further digression!

[Moose]

Originally posted by selowitch:
But let's help ClaraT with Entourage without further digression!

You'll note that I tried to, but ClaraT did not provide much in the way of information with which to troubleshoot other than an irrelevant KB article.

[selowitch]

Originally posted by Moose:
You'll note that I tried to, but ClaraT did not provide much in the way of information with which to troubleshoot other than an irrelevant KB article.

That was odd. I wonder if she'll come back?

[ClaraT]

Originally posted by selowitch:
That was odd. I wonder if she'll come back?

Well. . .hellooooo!!! I'm baaaccccck!

Whoa! Thanks alot for the lively discussion and points of concern and suggestions. Appreciate your advocating on my behalf during my absence, Selowitch. You summed it
up it nicely.

Entourage has some great features that I've come to rely on ie. managing projects, looking up addresses, attaching emails to those projects, syncing with Palm, exporting to Address Book and Calendar--lots of great things.

Because I had not used Entourage in about a month and left it in working order I was just exasperated with feeling had by Microsoft. The last time I used it I was able to send and receive email with my earthlink account without any problem. I haven't changed anything in my Earthlink account or in Entourage.

Moose, I don't think it could be that the password has expired because then wouldn't that also affect my being able to use my Mac Mail account where I also have the same eathlink.net address and the same password? No problems there at alll.

I even used the set-up wizard in Entourage and duplicated the settings from Mac Mail to Entourage.

I had this problem when I first purchased Office 2004 when I tried a different email address which I use for a small organization I work with and Entourage would not send the mail out--in yes, but not out. I gave up on that one.

So my frustration is absolutely what Selowitch said, I spent the money on the program, I'd like it to work. I can't bill to Microsoft my hourly rate for the hours I put in trying to a) figure out what the problem is, b) research and read their unfriendly techno user double talk and c) the loss of productivity.

It's just so aggravating. But as long as there are freindly, supportive people on this forum to share the ups, downs and solutions with it does make it less so.

Thank you all for your contribution. If I figure out the mystery I'll let you know.

clarat (clarity, that's all I'm asking for)

[Macola]

Have you tried to create a new identity, set up the account again, and then see if it works?

[selowitch]

Sometimes Entourage chokes if the mail server does not require password authentication but is supplied one in the settings. Try setting the account as if a password is not required and see if that works.

[ClaraT]

Originally posted by selowitch:
Sometimes Entourage chokes if the mail server does not require password authentication but is supplied one in the settings. Try setting the account as if a password is not required and see if that works.

I solved the problem!!! and with much thanks to you.

Earthlink support sent me to this link:

http://kb.earthlink.net/case.asp?article=7923

I hope this will help someone else who is using Earthlink. If I hadn't have gotten so
damn fired up with Microsoft and stayed a little calmer I might have thought of going
to Earthlink sooner.

But isn't that what this forum is about--a bit of venting, a bit of poking around, a bit
of "hang in there".

So thanks again for sharing your ideas--that's what led me to remembering that Earthlink might be a resource.

"Never mind."

clarat