When all else fails: Delete Workspace Folder

There has been a lot of conversation here about various errors that were attributable to the Workspace folder being corrupted or other wise compromised.

The simple “delete the workspace folder” suggestion is usually a good one, but at one customer we found there was an issue with getting it to rebuild.

This customer has executables locally, but data lives on a network drive (which is a supported configuration).

However, the directory= line in the users’ notes.ini used a UNC rather than a drive mapping, so the line read something like directory=server01\notesdata\username.

Turns out, Notes was NOT happy rebuilding the \workspace directory with a UNC, but was completely happy to do it if we replaced it with a mapped drive.

So, my instructions to the support desk were as follows:

  1. Through TaskManager, make sure that none of the Notes executables are still running: nlnotes.exe, notes.exe, notes2.exe, nsd,exe. If they are, close them

  2. Through Windows Explorer, map the user’s “X” drive to their NotesData directory (\server01\notesdata<username>). Check “Reconnect at logon.”

  3. Navigate to their NotesData directory and:

    a) Delete the Workspace folder

    b) Edit Notes.ini. Change the line that says “Directory=\server01\notesdata<username>” to "Directory=X:" Save and close Notes.ini.

  4. Close Windows Explorer.

  5. Launch Notes.

It should launch without a problem. Total time: <10 minutes.

Not sure why the UNC versus mapped drive should matter at all, but in our case, it made all the difference - and allowed us to avoid spending 90 minutes with a full uninstall and re-install each time …

Just wanted to pass that along …

  • Rob

Subject: Still an issue in Notes

Specifically on Citrix environments (didn’t test with regular Notes install) you still see the same issue with the standard client. A UNC path in the Directory parameter of notes.ini will not build or rebuild the workspace and the standard client will fail to start (splash screen and done). This issue does not occur if you start the basic client.

Subject: Current version is 8.5.1FP3

Didn’t specify my release…

Subject: SPR # AAGO8Y2CW4

IBM is tracking this problem as SPR # AAGO8Y2CW4. This is an enhancement request as currently UNC pathnames are not supported as of this technote: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21472690

Subject: 8.5.2 and VMWare

I’m seeing this issue with 8.5.2 client in a VMWare client environment - Basic will run through setup to completion, but standard will sit with “Loading” on the splash screen forever. If you map a drive, it works but that’s not practical for our environment.Is there any word on this being fixed (UNC mappings for data with Standard client) any time soon?