1157598 - unable to edit account settings

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Thunderbird :: Account Manager, defect)

Description

[Len]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:25.3) Gecko/20150323 Firefox/31.9 PaleMoon/25.3.1
Build ID: 20150323170640

Steps to reproduce:

Click on account settings The "account settings" window opens with the bottom truncated account selected. It says:
"The following is a special account. There are no identities associated with it."
It has only 2 entries: junk settings and disk space.
Clicking on ANYTHING in the left settings box tree brings up 2 error message windows.


Actual results:

The first window says:
"The Local Directory path "C:\Users\Len\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\dlcdrtl6.default\Mail\Local Folders" is not suitable for message storage. Please choose another directory."

Clicking OK in the window brings up another message window with the message:

 "An account with this name already exists. Please enter a different account name." 

Clicking OK in the settings window brings up the same 2 windows. Clicking cancel or "X" is the only way to close the window




Expected results:

I need to be able to select accounts, change server settings, security settings, smtp server or anything else in account settings. This happens with addons disabled as well.

I just discovered this doesn't happen when I access account settings in a "write" window. The "account settings" window opens with the top account selected , not the bottom "special account".

Comment 1

[:aceman]

Try Tools->Options->Advanced->Config editor. Search for "root". Paste the values of all "mail.root.*" preferences here.

Then search for ".directory" and look for preferences in the form "mail.server.serverX.directory*".
See if there aren't 2 accounts (servers) that point to the same folder on your disk. Or one being a subfolder of another one.

Comment 2

[Len]

Thanks for the quick reply. I hope this is what you asked for:

I have 2 profiles now though The "\dz20a4if.default\Mail"  profile folder is not a real profile. It has the one folder in it "Mail" which is empty  I think it appeared a couple of years ago.

I've never tried to set up another profile, though I have mover the default to new computers with MozBackup. I've been on this one for a couple of years now.  Thanks for all the help:

mail.root.imap-rel;[ProfD]ImapMail

mail.root.none;C:\Documents and Settings\len\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\dz20a4if.default\Mail

mail.root.none-rel;[ProfD]../../../../../../../Documents and Settings/len/Application Data/Thunderbird/Profiles/dz20a4if.default/Mail

mail.root.pop3-rel;[ProfD]Mail

I have 12 (5+1 and 5+1) mail.serverX.directory entries. 5 of;
mail.server.server1.directory;C:\Users\Len\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\dlcdrtl6.default\Mail\Local Folders
the last:
mail.server.server6.directory;C:\Documents and Settings\len\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\dlcdrtl6.default\Mail\smart mailboxes-1

and 5 of:
mail.server.server1.directory-rel;[ProfD]Mail/Local Folder

with the lest:
mail.server.server6.directory-rel;[ProfD]../../../../../../../Documents and Settings/len/Application Data/Thunderbird/Profiles/dlcdrtl6.default/Mail/smart mailboxes-1

 I think these two accounts are the same>

mail.server.server6.directory;C:\Documents and Settings\len\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\dlcdrtl6.default\Mail\smart mailboxes-1

mail.server.server6.directory-rel;[ProfD]../../../../../../../Documents and Settings/len/Application Data/Thunderbird/Profiles/dlcdrtl6.default/Mail/smart mailboxes-1

I'm thinking that I can search for "dz20a4if" and delete those entries, but since it's been working fine with it for years I would like confirmation. 
Thank you for all the help,
Len

Comment 3

[:aceman]

You seem to be on Windows 7. In that case the paths should start with C:\Users. Or have you also moved "C:\Documents and Settings\len\Application Data" to the new machine?

Comment 4

[Len]

Thanks for the help. I am on win7 64bit. I deleted the base My Documents folder "C:\Documents and Settings\Len\My Documents" and copied my old "My Documents" folder to the same place, but nothing else from settings. I used MozBackup to move Thunderbird. I'm not sure if I installed Thunderbird before or after running MozBackup. I think after. I didn't touch anything else in the "documents and Settings" folder. I reinstalled the programs I wanted on the new machine.

Windows explorer shows the full path as "C:|users\Len\Documents and settings\" then App data or my documents or the other folders. I remember having this problem a few months ago, but it resolved itself after an update, now it's back.

Thanks,
Len

Comment 5

[:aceman]

And where exactly is your TB profile located? You can check it in help->troubleshooting information->profile folder->show folder.

Comment 6

[Len]

My profile folders are in:

"C:|users\Len\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\" 

There are 2 profiles in the  profiles folder:
dlcdrtl6.default which is the one that I store everything and 
dz20a4if.default which only has an empty mail folder in it.

Now that I'm looking at it again, the "C:\documents and settings folder is not accessible.
Access is denied"

Going from windows XP to win7 might have introduced path errors, though everything has been working.

The path you just referenced doesn't exist:

"help->troubleshooting information->profile folder->show folder"

When I go to "help->troubleshooting information-" Thunderbird opens a new tab with information under the following entries:

Application Basics
Mail and News Accounts
Crash Reports
Extensions
Important Modified Preferences
Graphics
Javascript
Accessibility
Library Versions

Nothing on a profile folder. It has options to "copy text to clipboard" and "send via email" 

Thanks for the help. I hope this is what you want. I can paste the Troubleshooting information here or email if you prefer. User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:31.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/31.6.0

Thanks,
Len

Comment 7

[Len]

I haven't heard anything from you for 3 weeks and just updated to 31.7. Account settings is still not working when accessed from the message window. It would be nice if this is fixed. Since I can still access the settings from the write window it's not a big problem. I'm just worried that a future up[date will eliminate that workaround as well. I've had problems with the Google and Yahoo smtp servers being offline on occasion. Switching the default server in account settings fixes this immediately and easily.
Thanks for the help,
Len

Comment 8

[:aceman]

OK, so if there is no C:\documents and settings folder anymore on your Win 7 machine (there shouldn't be if you haven't explicitly created it), you need to delete the old paths in the preferences:
- delete "mail.root.none"
- delete "mail.root.none-rel"
- delete "mail.server.server6.directory"
- change "mail.server.server6.directory-rel" to "[ProfD]Mail/smart mailboxes-1"
Then start TB.

Comment 9

[Len]

Hi, thanks for the help. Just to be be completely clear: there IS a "Documents and Settings" folder, but it is just used as a redirect for legacy programs from XP and is not accessible by the user. I backed everything up with mozbackup.

I tried what you asked and restarted Tbird with NO effect. I cannot delete the preferences:

"mail.root.none"
"mail.root.none-rel"
"mail.server.server6.directory"

Just their paths, which I deleted. Their is not a way in the config. editor to delete the preferences that I could find, but when I restarted Tbird they now point to new values:

mail.root.none;C:\Users\Len\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\dlcdrtl6.default\Mail
mail.root.none-rel;[ProfD]Mail
mail.server.server6.directory;
mail.server.server6.directory-rel;[ProfD]Mail/smart mailboxes-1

The "mail.server.server6.directory" value is empty.

That changed the paths but didn't make accounts settings accessible. Ideas?
Thanks for the help,
Len

Comment 10

[:aceman]

(In reply to Len from comment #6)
> The path you just referenced doesn't exist:
> 
> "help->troubleshooting information->profile folder->show folder"
> 
> When I go to "help->troubleshooting information-" Thunderbird opens a new
> tab with information under the following entries:
> 
> Nothing on a profile folder. It has options to "copy text to clipboard" and
> "send via email" 

You need to click " Include account names" checkbox so that the "profile folder" in "application basics" shows its value.

Comment 11

[Len]

OK, thanks. I see that now. I didn't notice the checkbox. Tbird shows the dlcdrtl6.default profile or:
"file:///C:/Users/Len/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/dlcdrtl6.default/" 
which is the path I mentioned in comment 6 and is what the "mail.root.none" value was just changed to after I deleted the old value. I still can't get into account settings though. The account settings in the inbox window continues to open to Len on the bottom. and not allow any changes. If I'm in the "write" window "Account Settings" opens to zeterian at the top and I can make changes in settings. 

I have 2 profiles in the profile folder the one I just referenced and dz20a4if.default which only has an empty mail folder in it. I've moved the dz20a4if.default folder to the desktop and it is recreated in the profile folder whenever I restart Tbird, if that helps.

OK!!! I just discovered something. I re-opened the account settings window in a "write" window when I scrolled down to the bottom and clicked on the bottom Len server I got the same error messages I get when I open account settings in the inbox window. After I did that I could not navigate anywhere in the account settings window including changing smpt servers. After closing account settings and reopening it. It again opened with the top account zeterian selected.

I thought about deleting the bottom problem second Len account but that option is not allowed with that account, every other one can be deleted. I just searched the config editor for entries with the phantom dz20a4if.default profile and found 4 entries for quick note save location that referenced a third profile that I've never seen, at least on this computer. I opened quick note settings and changed the save location to my real profile. I then deleted the dz20a4if.default profile and restarted Tbird. It did not recreate the dz20a4if.default this time, but NOTHING else changed. I can't edit any account settings through the inbox window but I can in the write window.

I removed quick Note, NOTHING CHANGED. The configured editor showed the same four entries for quick note to the real dlcdrtl6.default profile.

Comment 12

[:aceman]

(In reply to Len from comment #11)
> OK, thanks. I see that now. I didn't notice the checkbox. Tbird shows the
> dlcdrtl6.default profile or:
> "file:///C:/Users/Len/AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird/Profiles/dlcdrtl6.default/
> " 
OK, then that is fine.

> OK!!! I just discovered something. I re-opened the account settings window
> in a "write" window when I scrolled down to the bottom and clicked on the
> bottom Len server I got the same error messages I get when I open account
> settings in the inbox window. After I did that I could not navigate anywhere
> in the account settings window including changing smpt servers. After
> closing account settings and reopening it. It again opened with the top
> account zeterian selected.
This is expected and unfortunately does not help us.

> I thought about deleting the bottom problem second Len account but that
> option is not allowed with that account, every other one can be deleted.
Yes, it probably is the special "Local Folders" account, that can't be deleted.

> I just searched the config editor for entries with the phantom
> dz20a4if.default profile and found 4 entries for quick note save location
> that referenced a third profile that I've never seen, at least on this
> computer. I opened quick note settings and changed the save location to my
> real profile. I then deleted the dz20a4if.default profile and restarted
> Tbird. It did not recreate the dz20a4if.default this time, but NOTHING else
> changed. I can't edit any account settings through the inbox window but I
> can in the write window.
OK, that is good that you cleaned that up. Are there any references to dz20a4if in any remaining preferences?

(In reply to Len from comment #9)
> I tried what you asked and restarted Tbird with NO effect. I cannot delete
> the preferences:
> 
> "mail.root.none"
> "mail.root.none-rel"
> "mail.server.server6.directory"
> 
> Just their paths, which I deleted. Their is not a way in the config. editor
> to delete the preferences that I could find
There is an option to "reset the value" which will "delete" these prefs.
Please do that for the mail.server.server6.directory.

> mail.root.none;C:\Users\Len\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\dlcdrtl6.
> default\Mail
> mail.root.none-rel;[ProfD]Mail
Yes, this is what we wanted, they automatically get set to new correct values.

Comment 13

[Len]

> OK, that is good that you cleaned that up. Are there any references to dz20a4if in any > remaining preferences?

Config editor is empty when I search for dz20a4if, so no more entries.

> There is an option to "reset the value" which will "delete" these prefs.
> Please do that for the mail.server.server6.directory.

I did and and the "mail.server.server6.directory" was gone after restarting the config editor. Unfortunately I still cannot edit any account settings. Something is forcing the account settings window to open with the bottom (last) account selected. It used to open with the top (first) account selected and everything worked. On an earlier build last fall/winter? it did and everything was fine. I can't give you an exact date because account settings is not something I use very often, but it is important at times. Just to reiterate I only have one profile ( dlcdrtl6.default ) in my profile folder now.

Thanks for the help,
Len

Comment 14

[:aceman]

That is strange that it is still not working.
Only way I see now is that you look into your profile folder and find the file called prefs.js. Make a copy of it and remove all lines except these prefs:
- mail.account.account*.server
- mail.accountmanager.*
- mail.root.*
- mail.server.server*.directory*
- mail.server.server*.type

Then attach the file here so we can be sure things really are as we expect them. Hopefully this reduced file will contain no private information.

Comment 15

[mdksa7188]

Today, I noticed the same problem for the first time.

Today, I attempted to add an email account, but I canceled after I couldn't remember the password.  After that I noticed the problem that Len has specified.  However, I cannot prove the problem existed prior today.

*Exception* to Len: I don't get the "first window", the "The Local Directory path "C:\Users ... [snip]... another directory.".  I only get the message, ""An account with this name already exists. Please enter a different account name."

In an effort to fix, I restored my full backup of my profile from yesterday.  This did not remedy the problem.

Below is copy of Troubleshooting Information, with personal info replaced with generic descriptor.  I also removed all print.print* entries.


-------
  Application Basics

    Name: Thunderbird
    Version: 31.0
    User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:31.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/31.0
    Profile Folder: Show Folder

              (Local drive)
    Application Build ID: 20140717165725
    Enabled Plugins: about:plugins
    Build Configuration: about:buildconfig
    Memory Use: about:memory

  Mail and News Accounts
    account1:
      INCOMING: account1, , (none) Local Folders, plain, passwordCleartext

    account2:
      INCOMING: account2, , (pop3) domain.com:110, plain, passwordCleartext
      OUTGOING: domain.com:587, plain, passwordEncrypted, true

  Crash Reports
    http://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/bp-2274579e-8b25-48b1-8c2a-f534e2141125 (11/24/2014)
    http://crash-stats.mozilla.com/report/index/bp-df81850c-cd15-472f-bb9e-59e5b2140912 (9/12/2014)

  Extensions
    Color Folders, 1.1, true, [e-mail]
    CompactHeader, 2.0.9, true, {58D4392A-842E-11DE-B51A-C7B855D89593}
    Send Later, 4.4.1, true, [e-mail]
    X-notifier, 3.5.8.1-signed, false, {37fa1426-b82d-11db-8314-0800200c9a66}

  Important Modified Preferences

    Name: Value

      accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0
      browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400
      browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false
      browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false
      browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400
      extensions.lastAppVersion: 31.0
      font.internaluseonly.changed: false
      font.name.monospace.el: Consolas
      font.name.monospace.tr: Consolas
      font.name.monospace.x-baltic: Consolas
      font.name.monospace.x-central-euro: Consolas
      font.name.monospace.x-cyrillic: Consolas
      font.name.monospace.x-unicode: Consolas
      font.name.monospace.x-western: Consolas
      font.name.sans-serif.el: Calibri
      font.name.sans-serif.tr: Calibri
      font.name.sans-serif.x-baltic: Calibri
      font.name.sans-serif.x-central-euro: Calibri
      font.name.sans-serif.x-cyrillic: Calibri
      font.name.sans-serif.x-unicode: Calibri
      font.name.sans-serif.x-western: Calibri
      font.name.serif.el: Cambria
      font.name.serif.tr: Cambria
      font.name.serif.x-baltic: Cambria
      font.name.serif.x-central-euro: Cambria
      font.name.serif.x-cyrillic: Cambria
      font.name.serif.x-unicode: Cambria
      font.name.serif.x-western: Cambria
      font.size.fixed.el: 14
      font.size.fixed.tr: 14
      font.size.fixed.x-baltic: 14
      font.size.fixed.x-central-euro: 14
      font.size.fixed.x-cyrillic: 14
      font.size.fixed.x-unicode: 14
      font.size.fixed.x-western: 14
      font.size.variable.el: 17
      font.size.variable.tr: 17
      font.size.variable.x-baltic: 17
      font.size.variable.x-central-euro: 17
      font.size.variable.x-cyrillic: 17
      font.size.variable.x-unicode: 17
      font.size.variable.x-western: 17
      gfx.blacklist.suggested-driver-version: 6.1400.1000.5218
      gfx.direct3d.last_used_feature_level_idx: 0
      mail.openMessageBehavior.version: 1
      mail.winsearch.firstRunDone: true
      mailnews.database.global.datastore.id: cd7b3da5-334b-41b8-820d-74d5bbe9eda
      mailnews.database.global.views.conversation.columns: {"threadCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"5"},"flaggedCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"21"},"attachmentCol":{"visible":fals…
      network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true
      places.database.lastMaintenance: 1432657661
      places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858
      places.history.expiration.transient_optimal_database_size: 42928046
      plugin.importedState: true


  Graphics

      Adapter Description: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
      Vendor ID: 0x8086
      Device ID: 0x0412
      Adapter RAM: Unknown
      Adapter Drivers: igdumdim64 igd10iumd64 igd10iumd64 igdumdim32 igd10iumd32 igd10iumd32
      Driver Version: 9.18.10.3186
      Driver Date: 5-17-2013
      Direct2D Enabled: true
      DirectWrite Enabled: true (6.2.9200.16492)
      ClearType Parameters: D [ Gamma: 2200 Pixel Structure: R ClearType Level: 100 Enhanced Contrast: 300 ] D [ Gamma: 2200 Pixel Structure: R ClearType Level: 100 Enhanced Contrast: 300 ]
      WebGL Renderer: false
      GPU Accelerated Windows: 1/1 Direct3D 10

      AzureCanvasBackend: direct2d
      AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0
      AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo
      AzureContentBackend: direct2d

  JavaScript

  Incremental GC: 1

  Accessibility

    Activated: 0
    Prevent Accessibility: 0

  Library Versions

      Expected minimum version
      Version in use

      NSPR
      4.10.6
      4.10.6

      NSS
      3.16.2 Basic ECC
      3.16.2 Basic ECC

      NSS Util
      3.16.2
      3.16.2

      NSS SSL
      3.16.2 Basic ECC
      3.16.2 Basic ECC

      NSS S/MIME
      3.16.2 Basic ECC
      3.16.2 Basic ECC
-------

Thanks,
David

Comment 16

[:aceman]

mdksa, that is a different problem. It means you have 2 accounts with the same name. So rename one of them and all should be good.

Comment 17

[mdksa7188]

:aceman, thank you very much for your reply.

summary: problem fixed (thank you!), but something about my observations today seem odd.

details:
For the record, my profile is almost 8 years old, it has been on at least 3 PCs (XP and Win7), and has always had only 1 email associated with it.  While I occasionally visit Account Settings, I haven't made changes to Account Settings for many months.  Furthermore, this past May (last month), I updated TB from v24.4 to 31.0 (incrementally, 24.4 -> 24.5 -> 28.0b1 -> 31.0).

In other words, why has this problem all of a sudden appeared when the only change (that I know of) was version updates?

1) I have only 1 account, "domain.com".  I have no other email associated with TB.
2) This has never happened prior to today: clicking on *any* item in the Account Settings' left pane results in the message window "An account with this name already exists. Please enter a different account name."

Per your recommendation, I renamed the entry that only lists "Junk Settings" and "Disk Space"; this was the only entry that could be selected.  Now the problem is gone. (thank you)  This was not a problem in TB v24.4, and I had not made any changes to my account settings before updating TB.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I suspect there has always been a problem, but TB did not throw a message until post-v24.4, or something similar.  But I'm not an expert on this, so I'll leave it at that.

Thanks again for your help.

David

Comment 18

[Len]

Hi, I meant to get back to you before, but my water pump failed and I had more pressing problems replacing it. Sometime after one of the last config edits or updates the first error message:

> "The Local Directory path "C:\Users\Len\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\dlcdrtl6.default\Mail\Local Folders" is not suitable for message storage. Please choose another directory."

disappeared. Since Thunderbird had created a second account with a duplicate name for junk and disk space I renamed it per your suggestion for mdksa7188 above. That fixed it, I guess. When opening Account settings from the main mail view window it still opens with the bottom, now renamed account selected. Opening settings from a write window opens it with the top account selected, however I can edit account settings from either window.

I had mentioned I had 2 account with the same name in comment 11:

> I thought about deleting the bottom problem second Len account but that option is not allowed with that account.

but I didn't stress it because it was created and named after my default account by Tbird so I thought that was expected. I didn't mention the first error message had disappeared which I should have noticed. In any event unless Account setting opening with the bottom account selected instead of the top one like it used to can cause trouble later I'm fixed. 


Thanks very much for the help and sorry for the delay, but it's amazing how much we rely on running water but don't really appreciate it till it's gone.

Len

Comment 19

[:aceman]

But if you still get the error if the "bottom" account is opened in the Account settings, then there is still something wrong.

Comment 20

[Len]

I don't get any error messages any more and I can make changes to my accounts in both windows. The only anomaly is account settings opens from the main mail view window with the bottom renamed account selected. If you think that could cause problems later I'll send the prefs.js as suggested earlier, but as it stands now their is no loss of functionality that I can see in Tbird.

Thanks for the help,
Len