- You are using Dynamics CRM 2011 or 4.0 Outlook Client
- You cannot go offline and the offline process fails at "Waiting for offline database initialization" with error " '.', hexadecimal value 0x00, is an invalid character, Line x, Position x".
- None of the rollups fix the problem
SOLUTION THAT WORKED FOR ME:
Remove offline filter for reports and try going offline again. To do this, in Outlook click CRM --> Offline Filters. Click the "Returned Type" column header to sort the list by entity, then delete any offline filters for the reports entity.
If this works, go online and add back the offline filter for reports, then try going offline again. It should still work but if not, it could be that one particular report is stopping the offline process. Review your reports and consider deleting any that that you have recently uploaded to CRM (if you don't already have a copy, make sure you download a copy of the report first!)
The above solution was found with assistance from here: http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en/crm/thread/e97c6cb4-62f9-4aee-85ed-c80008ca245a
OTHER POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:
If this works, go online and add back the offline filter for reports, then try going offline again. It should still work but if not, it could be that one particular report is stopping the offline process. Review your reports and consider deleting any that that you have recently uploaded to CRM (if you don't already have a copy, make sure you download a copy of the report first!)
The above solution was found with assistance from here: http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en/crm/thread/e97c6cb4-62f9-4aee-85ed-c80008ca245a
OTHER POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:
- If removing reports from offline filters does not work, it could be another entity stopping the process
- Check the MSSQL$CRM service per http://www.workyoustupidthing.com/2011/11/dynamics-crm-2011-cannot-go-offline.html
- If this doesn't work, call Microsoft Support, as it could be some hitherto unknown thing that will commit you to an insane asylum if you try to figure it out alone.
