124051 - biff doesn't fire after a while

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(SeaMonkey :: MailNews: Message Display, defect)

Description

[Suresh]

ok...I've seen this for a while. The biff doesn't fire (I don't get any new 
msgs) after using the product for a while. Also I've seen cases where if I leave 
my system idle for a while, I don't get any new msgs. 
Imap account, if it matters.

build: 2/4/02 mozilla build on win2k.

Comment 1

[Dimitrios]

I see the same behaviour on pop3: if I start Mail without having an internet
(dial-up) connection and then activate the connection, biff doesn't work at all.
This change came after the fix for bug 123440.
Is this the same with you or I should file a new bug ? If the first is true,
this bug should be named "Biff stops working if cannot connect to server for the
first time in session".

Comment 2

[emmet]

Me too, Win2K, permanent LAN connection, POP, mail check set at 1 minute intervals.

Comment 3

[Dimitrios]

I have filed bug 125328 for the case whaen a fail to connect on startup disables
biff until a manual message retrieval is used.

Comment 4

[Jonathan Buschmann]

I have noticed the same problem.
In addition, it *seems* that when I click in the folder pane on the Inbox of my
imap server, things unblock. It's hard to be sure since one doesn't know if mail
is really waiting or not (could be a Skinner effect :)
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win95; en-US; rv:0.9.8)

Comment 5

[Suresh]

I still see this bug. Recently using 3/4/02 mozilla build on win2k. I never quit 
the mozilla session once I start in the morning. Around afternoon, the biffs 
doesn't fire. :(

Comment 6

[Ere Maijala (slow)]

I have a theory which just needs to be confirmed. In some cases biff seems to
initialize timer to fire very quickly (in less than a sec). It seems to me that
it might actually be in past when it reaches the timer code (due to delay in
processing or rounding of microsecs to millisecs). It seems that this would
cause the timer to not fire anymore. I'll try to create a patch soon so someone
else could also try to see if it makes any difference.

Comment 7

[Lee Gladen]

This could be related to what I am seeing - using 2002041503, winXP pro, the
mail only retrieves new messages when the mail&newsgroups window is open.  I
have 3 pop3 accounts, all set to check for mail at different intervals, and set
to download new messages automatically. If I have just the browser window open,
the mail does not arrive, until I open the mail window again.  This behavior
seems to have been going on for several nightlies, but since my mail window is
usually open constantly, I am unsure as to when exactly it started (perhaps with
the new message popup on the icon near the clock?)

Suggest if others see this the priority should be increased.

Comment 8

[Ere Maijala (slow)]

Attachment: v1 Patch to make sure the timer is initialized correctly

I'd be grateful is someone else could also try this patch. I've run with it
without problems for one day, but it doesn't really confirm that it works
always.

Comment 9

[Ere Maijala (slow)]

Umm... crap. It didn't work. Investigating more.

Comment 10

[Carl Schrader]

I am seeing this as well on 2 different winxp pro machines. I have also seen
this on a winme machine running RC1. It seems to have started when the New Mail
animated dialog was added.. 

Comment 11

[Ere Maijala (slow)]

Note: Later on I identified the timer problem (Bug 138791) as a source for this
problem. I hope there are no other problems. Timer fix is now checked in, I hope
we will see an improvement in later builds.

Comment 12

[Ere Maijala (slow)]

I've been running for two fays with the fixed timer. I'll run still overnight
with the real trunk build to verify this, but it looks good. Marking fixed,
please reopen if you find problems with build 20020426 or later.

Comment 13

[Ere Maijala (slow)]

Marking verified. The timer fix from bug 138791 seems to be working.