1336432 - Almost impossible to write a new email (system unresponsive) while many new messages to be synchronised from IMAP server

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Thunderbird :: Untriaged, defect)

Description

[Alex Finch]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:51.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/51.0
Build ID: 20170125094131

Steps to reproduce:

Connected to my work  imap server which I hadn't connected to for  a while.


Actual results:

Became very unresponsive, basically unusable until all downloads are complete which can take a long time.


Expected results:

Responded normally, prioritising user interface response over downloading.

Comment 1

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

> I hadn't connected to for  a while.
A while is how many days?

How many message would you expect were downloaded? (or put differently, what is your average daily mail count?)

What is your AV software?

Do you have *server* side filters?

Comment 2

[Alex Finch]

 (In reply to Wayne Mery (:wsmwk, NI for questions) from comment #1)
> > I hadn't connected to for  a while.
> A while is how many days?
> 
> How many message would you expect were downloaded? (or put differently, what
> is your average daily mail count?)
> 
> What is your AV software?
> 
> Do you have *server* side filters?

I get ~50 work emails  a day , so after a few days it could be several hundred to download. I have no third party AV software , just windows defender at home.

Comment 3

[Alex Finch]

I didn't mean to change the status , how do I change it back ?

Comment 4

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

(In reply to Alex Finch from comment #3)
> I didn't mean to change the status , how do I change it back ?

Pick edit, then change status to unconfirmed (which I have done)

> A while is how many days?
a few is how many?

(rephrasing my earlier question) Do you have *server* side filters OR filters on your work Thunderbird which move mail from your Inbox?

Comment 5

[Alex Finch]

I have filters in thunderbird which move emails from my Inbox to other mailboxes.

Comment 6

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Please don't cherry pick questions. I will respond when you have answered all questions

Comment 7

[Alex Finch]

(In reply to Wayne Mery (:wsmwk, NI for questions) from comment #6)
> Please don't cherry pick questions. I will respond when you have answered
> all questions

Sorry thought I had.

>A while is how many days?

Maybe a week, I don't remember exactly as it is some time since I posted this bugzilla.

>How many message would you expect were downloaded? (or put differently, what is
your average daily mail count?)

I get ~50 work emails  a day so after a few days it could be several hundred to download.

> What is your AV software?

 I have no third party AV software , just windows defender at home.

> Do you have *server* side filters OR filters on your work Thunderbird which move mail from your Inbox?

I have filters in thunderbird which move emails from my Inbox to other mailboxes.

Comment 8

[Walt Scheper]

Thunderbird Daily is showing these same symptoms of unresponsive during the download/sync with IMAP server when composing new email.  Problem is so severe that keystrokes can be queued and then consumed by the main window when apparently the composition window loses focus to the main window.

This occurs three or four times a day. I receive 400 or more emails a day although most are delivered during the evening and early morning as scheduled jobs complete and issue email status. These are filtered with perhaps 375 going to one of 50 folders based on subject and from. There are an equivalent number of filters to folders.  

I am running Version: 55.0a1  Build ID: 20170504030245.  

Problem occurs with normal channel version of Thunderbird as well. Problem occurs with addons disabled.

Comment 9

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Alex, sorry to be so picky earlier. I perhaps lost track.

Do you see the same problem when using version 52?
In tools | Filters is filter log UNCHECKED?

If you still see a problem, start *Windows'* safe mode with networking enabled
- win10 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12376/windows-10-start-your-pc-in-safe-mode
Still In Windows safe mode, start thunderbird in safe mode
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/safe-mode-thunderbird

Does problem go away?

- If no, then cause is either: bug in Thunderbird, in your Thunderbird profile, or your mail provider. Please post into bug the contents of Help | Troubleshooting | copy text to clipboard (but delete everything starting at "Important Modified Preferences")

- If problem did go away, (still in Windows safe mode) ... start Thunderbird normally
     -- If problem is still gone, then cause is a program loaded during windows startup.  Possibilities include: antivirus SW, virus/malware, background downloads such as program updates
     -- If problem came back, then cause is likely a Thunderbird addon - eliminate them by disabling each one at a time in Tools | addons | extensions and restarting

Comment 10

[Alex Finch]

I tried the test in safe mode yesterday and that did not seem to help. However it is hard to do much testing as the problem only exists while there are a significant number of emails on my work system which have not been downloaded, so I need to wait a few days between tests so there are a large number of emails waiting to download. I tried just now and there was no problem.

Comment 11

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Alex, 
Is version 52 any different?
If it is no better, see https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Testing:Memory_Usage_Problems

Comment 12

[Alex Finch]

Not really, untill it has finished downloading emails the GUI is extremely sluggish and unresponsive.

Comment 13

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Please attach a file to this bug report, the contents of Help | Troubleshooting

Comment 14

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

(In reply to Alex Finch from comment #10)
> I tried the test in safe mode yesterday and that did not seem to help.
> However it is hard to do much testing as the problem only exists while there
> are a significant number of emails on my work system which have not been
> downloaded, so I need to wait a few days between tests so there are a large
> number of emails waiting to download. I tried just now and there was no
> problem.

Alex, we still need your troubleshooting details per comment 9.  Also, how big is global-messages-db.sqlite?

Comment 15

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

Please see https://wiki.mozilla.org/Thunderbird:Testing:Memory_Usage_Problems for a list of items to check