Closed Bug 162640 Opened 23 years ago Closed 22 years ago

an error occurred while creating a message compose window. Please try again. T

Categories

(MailNews Core :: Composition, defect)

Product:
MailNews Core
Component:
Composition
Platform:
x86
All
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
critical

Tracking

(Not tracked)

Status:
RESOLVED FIXED

People

(Reporter: randy, Assigned: mscott)

References

Details

(Keywords: fixed1.4.1, regression)

Attachments

(6 files)

subset of bad prefs.js, with bad info
1.49 KB, text/plain
Details
Screenshot of error message
11.15 KB, image/jpeg
Details
prefs file from affected user account
6.63 KB, text/plain
Details
Broken mail server prefs - only the relevant section
18.01 KB, text/plain
Details
patch
1.11 KB, patch
mkaply
: approval1.4.1+
Details | Diff | Splinter Review
an error occurred while creating a message compose window
37.18 KB, patch
Details | Diff | Splinter Review
Out of the blue I suddenly cannot send new mail messages or reply to mail I'm receiving. I get this error: an error occurred while creating a message compose window. Please try again. T I did not install a new version recently (i am using 1.1), nor did I install any other new software. Just let my machine running at work during the night and in the morning I had a ms error that Mozilla made a booboo and that they shut it down. First I tried reinstalling. No result. Then I tried removing everything mozilla and then reinstalling. Also no result. Strange? Could not find this bug listed yet... Only the same message but in a different scenario.
-->varada
Assignee: ducarroz → varada
Are your mail accounts all there? Are you able to receive mail properly? Is there any difference when you send from one account as opposed to another? Can you create new mail accounts and if so does the same problem happen there? There was a known bug (that has been fixed now) about losing the prefs.js and that could cause a lot of problems - can you see if this is the case(i.e. you lost some of your prefs as well)
I did have multiple accounts and two of them 'forgot' their password. I removed those after the described problem occurred to see if that would help. I added one again, no problem there. Yes I can receive mail, no problems, I just can't reply or compose. As for sending from one account or another, I can't test that for I only have one server I can use to send mail. as for my prefs file, it was still there (one of the first things I checked) and all my preferences seemed ok (except for those two passwords that is).
I'm getting this same completely out of the blue error message. I can also receive mail just fine. The difference is that my error message says: An error occurred while creating a message compose window. Please try again. R (note the R instead of the T).
I observed this bug today in the build 20020924 on Sparc/Solaris. I can't compose any message and I get the error message "An error occurred while creating a message compose window. Please try again." (Without the T on the next line.) I just installed a new version of Mozilla, but I left untouched my settings and profile.
I solved this problem in my case by removing my mail accounts and manually re-adding them.. Randy
Removing and readding accounts doesn't do it for me. I forgot to specify that I'm running under Linux, build 2002092421. I've tried running it under root in addition to my normal user account, with no dice. I suppose it's just a hopefully temporal nightly problem.
Seems fixed with build 2002092511
Same error using latest W2k build. Have un/re-installed. Have crested new profile and rebuilt maile accounts. All three accounts respond with same error.
I'm seeing this behavior with the latest nightly, 2003011405. Whenever I try to open a message composer window, either by replying, forwarding, or trying to compose a new message, I get the error: "An error occurred while creating a message compose window. Please try again.\n["
Build 2003011408 gives me the same behavior.
I am also seeing this on Mac OS X, Mozilla 2003011408. In my case, creating a new profile and immediately creating a mail message works (prior to setting up mail accounts; this also prompts the setup wizard). As soon as I configure my mail account (using IMAP, but I have not tried POP) I get the error message. Moreover the alert box has no focus and clicking on it does not bring it into focus so you cannot dismiss it. Switching to another window or application and then switching to the alert box will bring it into focus (during that time there is a "compose" item listed under the window menu along with an item with no name. Choosing the compose item brings the alert into focus.
This does NOT happen in 2003011308 on Mac OS X.
same troubles with: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.3b) Gecko/20030114 I can reproduce the problem with a new user (and a new account)
Looks like 20030114 had this problem temporarily 2003011505 is fine.
It's happening here with: Mozilla 1.3b Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; SunOS i86pc; en-US; rv:1.3b) Gecko/20030114 and it's running on: bash-2.05$ uname -a SunOS assdebuger 5.8 Generic_108529-11 i86pc i386 i86pc bash-2.05$ Can't create a new mail and can't post to a newsgroup.
Is this a duplicate of the bug 131384?
This doesn't seem to be depdendant on the prefs. I tried copying a prefs.js file of a fresh new profile, and then creating a mail account thru the wizard. Afterwards, I can open a Compose window -- UNTIL I RESTART MOZILLA - then the problem returns. The new profile I created doesn't have the problem. Can the Mozilla developers add some more clues to this error message? As it is now, it's totally unclear -- is it something in the RDF files? Something in the component cache?
I am having the exact same problem with the 1.3b so it appears that this problem i still around. I am using the RH8 RPMS with gtk2/xft
I had this problem using 2003022508 build. Then I switch back to 2003022408 build (rename 0225 build folder and change my 0204 folder back) the problem does not appear.
This has just started happening to me on 1.4a
I'm taking the liberty of confirming this. The error message is generated when an exception is caught at line 1380 of mozilla/mailnews/compose/resources/content/MsgComposeCommands.js, but I have no idea how to debug this. Can someone give me a clue? How do I see the output generated by the dump function at line 1381?
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Ever confirmed: true
Same here, build 2003022408 works fine, the latest builds don't. This is a blocker for me, since I am no longer able to write or reply to emails. I am using multiple identities, maybe this is the cause?
The fix for bug 195085 seems to have triggered this bug for me. If I back out the changes to mailnews/compose/resources/content/MsgComposeCommands.js, the problem disappears.
Depends on: 195085
OS: Windows XP → All
This started for me also with 20030301, since then I have tried deleting the mozilla.org folder and re-installing, with no result. I am running winxp/amd/512mb, 4GB free on C drive
Same problem here with build 2003031714 winXP It worked perfectly yesterday and I didn't change anything in my profile. The only unusual thing related to mail I did yesterday was deleting a news server account I no longer use. My prefs.js is still there, I tried deleting chrome directory, xul.mfl, panacea.dat all rdf files in my profile as well as registry.dat without any success. I use multiple pop accounts and my SMTP hasn't changed. I can receive my pop mail without any problem. This is really weird :-( I also uninstalled/reinstalled the build without success. I tried with a new profile and it works.
Ok, I fixed the problem. the suppression of the newsgroup account yesterday did not suppress the account in the prefs.js file and caused the problem. It seems similar to the problem in bug 131384 (actually, this bug gave me the idea of checking all references to accounts)
WFM after editing pref.js by hand - removed a superfluous account.
Installed moz 1.4a and received this error on any message create. After tracking down this bug entry, manually edited prefs.js, finally figured out what was wrong (a mail.account.accountX entry referring to a non-existant mail.server.serverY and a truncated mail.identity.idZ), removed the data, and things worked. However, this would be very bad if a non-tech ran into this (and some non-techs are using Mozilla). IMO, there needs to be a mechanism to parse the prefs.js for nonsense entries and comment them out. If I had C++ experience, I would code it myself, but I don't (nor a compiler, but that can be fixed by getting Gnu).
I'm seeing the same error message when I try to compose a mail message. It doesn't matter what method I use to try to compose a message (keyboard shortcut, web link, button). I have two accounts, one pop, one imap. I'm running Linux Mandrake 9.0 (and recently upgraded to 9.1; same problem). I was running 1.4a, problem goes away if I load 1.3 (no change in configuration). I receive email without problems.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.4b) Gecko/20030507 Reproducable: Always I ran into this problem today simply installing 1.4 beta into a new directory not changing anything. I use multiple mail accounts and IMAP; also I'm still able to get messages. It doesn't matter what method I use to try to compose a message (keyboard shortcut, web link, button). I'm a non-tech :-( - so I now try to install 1.3.1 to fix.
An complete de- and re-installation of Mozilla 1.4 beta, including an manual delete of the folder, solved the problem for me. I guess it was caused by copying files from the Mozilla 1.4 alpha-folder to the (new) folder of Mozilla 1.4 beta. So by now I recommend to "re-install" all plugins, skins etc. by their original files (saved on the harddisk) and to do NOT simply copy them from the old folders.
After installing 1.4a to 1.4b ( 2003050714 ) i had te same problem, could not compose a new e-mail. or edit a e-mail as new. Hope there will be a more easy solution.. hate to reinstall my whole Mozilla again.
I installed Mozilla 1.4 RC1 Build ID: 2003052908 last night, and this morning I tried to send an email and I'm getting this error message. I installed over Mozilla 1.3
Do not install "over" previous versions of mozilla. Uninstall the old version, and make sure the directory that mozilla was installed to has been removed.
I've been getting this since 1.4 beta. I'm dead in the water with all my mail, can't send a single one. This is the worse showstopper bug in Mozilla since 1.0 (at least for me). Could someone explain clearly how prefs.js needs to be fixed?
Just started getting this same error dialog after upgrading to mozilla-win32-1.4b on a fully patched up Win98SE machine. Multiple accounts used, will try cleaning prefs.js.
This is the prefs file from a Mozilla account using win32-1.4b on WIndows 98 SE, fully patched. It will not allow the creation of a Compose window, showing the same dialog mentioned above.
The original reporter had a profile corruption issue due to a crash. Nearly every comment since then has described a problem due to installing a new version of Mozilla over top of an existing installation. That is bug 200419 , not this one. Resolving as WFM, since the reporter is not having this problem anymore.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 22 years ago
Resolution: --- → WORKSFORME
I can't believe a crucial bug like this get swept under the table. if Mozilla wants to make it anywhere, any time it's supposed to handle the case of users upgrading to new versions without corrupting their setups. This solution (or lack of it) sucks, plain and simple, I'm appalled this is the response of the Mozilla team....in the meantime I still can't send a single piece of email from Mozilla...and I presume I am expected to redo the setups for all the 8 different email accounts I have setup all over again, etc, etc...? Sorry...it's not resolved...it does not work for me...and I'm appalled you do not seem to be interested in fixing the worst bug in Mail & News since 2-3 years (yes, I've been using Mozilla since the pre-1.0 days). And this has nothing to do with bug 200419...my Mozilla 1.4a never crashed during install and I still have this issue! So how come it has anything to do with 200419?
I mean bug 200651 The bug linked to in my previous comment was a typo.
Comment #40, I had this problem with 1.4a and 1.4b, so I re-installed 1.3 both times. But when 1.4rc1 came out, I took the not pleasant task of deleting the mail-related settings from prefs.js and then re-setting up my e-mail and newsgroup accounts. This is a problem with upgrading. I always uninstall previous versions and delete everything in the program folder except for plug-ins and my splash screen. This is indeed a real issue, not user incompetence. Comment #41, you are right. I mean, we can't expect Mozilla to always behave, being that it's for testers. But the thing that concerns me is that this bug is going unfixed and 1.4 is going to become the stable branch, meaning that Netscape users that upgrade to the 1.4-based version are likely going to have this problem too. Netscape is supposed to be for end-users but, in my opinion, this bug is just too much of a blocker for anyone other than us testers to contend with.
I think the view from the floor is "Fix it" and I can't help but agree I'm afraid. If it is a case of prioritising work, how about we look at the impact to user of this fault. They upgrade the thing and it stops them sending mail. Bit of a show stopper for a mail client I'd say. I'm not really sure that suggesting that we should dump all our setting and start from scratch is really a runner either. I understand that this is a beta version and therefore a bit ragged at times, but the idea of a beta is to be grooming it for the general user. Well the general user sure ain't going to like this one. How does one get a bug reopened around here. It may have a workaround, and a rather untidy one at that, but that isn't resolved it's relieved at best.
Go nuts
Status: RESOLVED → REOPENED
Resolution: WORKSFORME → ---
" ... But the thing that concerns me is that this bug is going unfixed and 1.4 is going to become the stable branch, meaning that Netscape users that upgrade to the 1.4-based version are likely going to have this problem too. Netscape is supposed to be for end-users but, in my opinion, this bug is just too much of a blocker for anyone other than us testers to contend with." That's it in fact. And then at worst case we have a new Netscape 6.0 which is rather unusable ;) Just my 2 cents BEING an kind of a "normal" end-user...
Flags: blocking1.5a+
Flags: blocking1.4.x+
this is a big-big problem, 'cause i cannot compose any mail with 1.4 final version. when will this bug fixed?
skerl: you cannot set (+) blocking flags, only request them (?).
Flags: blocking1.5a+
Flags: blocking1.4.x+
Ok, so I'm requesting the blocking flags. The email client is totally useless for me and a lot of other people. Since more than a month I'm not able to send any email. I cannot understand, that a bug that blocks a lot of users from sending emails, isn't a blocking bug. Please don't force me to switch to Outlook!
Flags: blocking1.5a?
Flags: blocking1.4.x?
Composing email in 1.4 final was working fine until just now. I fixed the bug by downgrading to 1.3. This is the second time I've downgraded. I had this problem in one of the RC builds, and I thought it was fixed, but I was wrong. I generally compose email by clicking the "compose" button in the mail client. Just now, for the first time since I've installed 1.4 final, I clicked on an "A" tag with a mailto: url, and then the bug appeared, then immediatly trying to click on the compose button in the mail client, the same error occurs. That's all I can think of that I've done differently lately.
No problems with 1.3.1 on my 98 machine or my xp-pro I8200. Loaded 1.4 final on my 98 machine and it works fine. Loaded it on my xp laptop (new directory) and I get the "error occurred while creating a message compose window" message. Did multiple remove and reinstalls - no luck. Put 1.3.1 back on the xp machine.
Hi all it observed the sabe havior, upgraded from mozilla-1.3-r2 to 1.4 at gentoo. Do I really have to reset and d/l all my few GB mailboxes??? eek
*** Bug 212085 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Considering this bug in 1.4 (Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; WinNT4.0; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624) creating a new profile helped (even with the overwriting installation). However I would also tend to marking this bug as a blocker.
well, varada ain't going to fix it, that's for sure. the theory (at least in bugs #195230 and bug #195085) was that bad prefs (account settings) lead to this problem. the fix for bug #195085 should have addressed this, but sounds like there is still a problem.
Assignee: varada → sspitzer
Status: REOPENED → NEW
not a blocker, but I need to figure out what state (of account settings, in prefs) is leading to this, so I can make the compose js (or C++) more robust.
Marking as "not a blocker" (comment 56). We've shipped with this before, and while it's serious, we're not going to hold the release for it.
Flags: blocking1.5a? → blocking1.5a-
Wow, what an altitude.. I mean, an email client that cannot send emails... What’s next, loosing browsing ability in the browser? Best statement of all is: we had this bug in a shipped release so we don’t need to fix this for the next release. Being a software developer, I should told my boss that we don’t need to fix *shipped* bugs. We could save a lot of money and time... But the question that remains using this point of view is: do we ever need to fix *any* bug in the future?
Astonishing - We've shipped with this before, so we can do so again? And how many potential users are you going to lose each time? You'll either risk creating an island of users sticking with 1.3 or get a percentage migrating back to outlook. Personally, I spent about 4 hours figuring out the prefs settings, isolating this to the area of account prefs, then creating a new profile and manually move across all the settings and accounts I wanted to keep. If I was non-technical I would only have the choice to stick with 1.3 or go back to another mail client. Each time this happens a user is less likely to risk trying future versions, just in case he finds he can't migrate back to 1.3 Given that these faulty settings were working in 1.3, (however damaged or irrational they might appear), at the very least a new profile, copy and sanitisation should be offered at install. If I was using the nightly builds I'd understand the point of view to live with it - when it has occured through using the "public" releases When it is not a bug that can be harvested via talkback, and bugzilla is not exactly friendly for non-techies, one wonders how many people silently met this bug, decided Mozilla was useless and went elsewhere. As others have said a mail client being able to send mail is fairly fundamental after all.
Flags: blocking1.5a- → blocking1.5a?
Time to install a validating parser on all these prefs? XML suuure is nice for that kind of structured data... I'm a little frustrated with js anyhow. Maybe we could break prefs into multiple XML files so any corruption or inconsistencies could be localized to a subset of prefs and replaced with best guess or backup documents?
still occurs with Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; WinNT4.0; en-US; rv:1.5b) Gecko/20030717
For those of us who are stuck dead in the water...could someone finally post a step-by-step guide to manually cleaning up the prefs.js file, so that Mozilla Mail is usable again? I've tried deleting stuff in it myself, but alas the error still is happening...
type about:config into the URL box, then scroll down to the mail.* settings - you'll find all the settings changed from default values are in bold. In my case I managed to pin it down to some sort of inconsistencies in mail.account.* mail.identity.* I haven't spent much time looking at what was wrong, but there were far too many of them - I have three servers set up and local folders, yet there were entries for 1 through 16. Moz 1.3 was quite happy with whatever mess it was in, which is the irritating thing. Once I had imported across to a new profile I had four sets of entries in sensible order. 1.3 only showed 4 sets of data in mail account preferences window, yet underlying this was much messier. It should therefore be possible to automate the cleanup. Profile settings - Reinstalling with a new profile and a little messing around and I'm back running with all my important settings. You'll find http://www.gemal.dk/mozilla/files.html is an excellent help in this regard, for instance telling you which files your passwords are saved to. The only bit that was a pain was switching back and forth between profiles on a trial and error basis, manually creating the e-mail accounts in the new profiles, quit mozilla, copy in the mail files, restart. Hopefully this gives you something to go on - if you're going down this route TAKE A COPY FIRST! I've attached a file with the relevant broken settings from my own system.
*** Bug 213259 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
This is a minimalist list of prefs from Matt's prefs file: user_pref("mail.account.account1.identities", "id1"); user_pref("mail.account.account1.server", "server1"); user_pref("mail.account.account2.identities", "id2"); user_pref("mail.accountmanager.accounts", "account1,account2"); user_pref("mail.server.server1.hostname", "news.mozilla.org"); user_pref("mail.server.server1.type", "nntp"); The problem is that account4 exists, but has no server. In Matt's original prefs, server4-9 did not exist, but were referenced in accounts4-9. This seems to be the same thing as Brendt (comment 29). Andrew Meredith might have a different problem...
Attached patch patch — — Splinter Review
this fixes the minimalist pref list as well as Matt's full-blown prefs. I was able to open compose with Andrew Meredith's prefs even without this patch.
Attachment #128134 - Flags: review?(sspitzer)
this is a regression from bug 191011
Keywords: regression
I had this problem starting with 1.4 final too. After cleaning up mail.account.account*.*, mail.accountmanager.accounts with no longer existing server* and id* entries in prefs.js it worked for me again. But this is a highly annoying bug and should be a showstopper! Very bad!
mozilla1.5a released. unsetting blocking request.
Flags: blocking1.5a?
I hope that someone is sane enough to set the blocking flag for 1.5b I’m afraid I already know the answer: the bug was in 1.5a so we don’t need to fix it for 1.5b.... :-(
Flags: blocking1.5b?
we should try for 1.5b... if there is any possible way for folks to help out in debugging or isolating this problem that would really help...
Flags: blocking1.5b? → blocking1.5b+
> if there is any possible way for folks to help out in debugging or isolating > this problem that would really help... the problem is already debugged and isolated. review-love is the missing ingredient
what identity is chosen for the message if we run this new patch which falls out of Fill In Idnetity if the server entry in prefs is bogus?
Comment on attachment 128134 [details] [diff] [review] patch mscott, this function is to fill in the From: drop-down; the previous code required a server for each identity but used try/catch so ignoring corrupt accounts... the current code does no checking, so if a corrupt account has no server (even Local Folders has a server with no identities) then it fails... nothing here affects the preselected identity. (r=me if you want it.)
Thanks Neil. Let's treat this as r=neil sr=mscott I can check this in.
Assignee: sspitzer → scott
fixed for thunderbird and seamonkey mail.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 22 years ago → 22 years ago
Resolution: --- → FIXED
Attachment #128134 - Flags: review?(sspitzer)
Comment on attachment 128134 [details] [diff] [review] patch this patch fixes a bug that prevents people from composing mail (through no fault of their own) virtually no risk.
Attachment #128134 - Flags: approval1.4.x?
Comment on attachment 128134 [details] [diff] [review] patch a=mkaply
Attachment #128134 - Flags: approval1.4.x? → approval1.4.x+
Please add fixed1.4.1 keyword when checked in.
Flags: blocking1.4.x? → blocking1.4.x+
Keywords: fixed1.4.1
*** Bug 217869 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Blocks: 224532
I use thunderbird 0.6 and i got the famous "an error occurred while creating a message compose window". This is my first use of thunderbird. I've checked the prefs.js file for consistency. I've also recreated the profile. But i still got this message when trying to compose a message. A mail application that can't send message is not useful ... Damien
Product: MailNews → Core
(In reply to comment #29) > Created an attachment (id=121256) [edit] > subset of bad prefs.js, with bad info > > Installed moz 1.4a and received this error on any message create. After > tracking down this bug entry, manually edited prefs.js, finally figured out > what was wrong (a mail.account.accountX entry referring to a non-existant > mail.server.serverY and a truncated mail.identity.idZ), removed the data, and > things worked. I got rid of old accounts. ids, and servers, and it still doesn't work! 1. What does "remove the data" mean? 2. Does the Local Account need an id? 3. I don't have an account1, and thunderbird keeps trying to create a reference to account1 in mail.accountmanager.account! I renamed my last account, account8, to account1 globally, I also did global replacements to make sure I had contiguous "account"s, "id"s, and "server"s in prefs.js. (I.e., the numbering of these went from 1 to n (by 1) with no missing numbers) Now thunderbird is mostly happy. If I double-click on a message in my main drafts folder, the message doesn't open up in an edit window, as it's supposed to do. (a) If I right-click the message and select "Edit as new...", then I can edit. (b) If I double-click a template in my Local Folder, then the message is copied to an edit window.
Product: Core → MailNews Core
See Also: → https://launchpad.net/bugs/35212
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