Since upgrading to 115.2 from 102.15, cannot see IMAP mail folders or mail
Categories
(Thunderbird :: Folder and Message Lists, defect, P1)
Tracking
(Not tracked)
People
(Reporter: psychprod, Unassigned)
References
Details
Attachments
(6 files)
How Thunderbird looks on restart
User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/117.0.0.0 Safari/537.36
Steps to reproduce:
Upgraded my main system and on initial load the wrong profile was being displayed. The upgrade created a new install profile (ab3c7tlw.Default User) but left my old one in the C:\Users\brian\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\64ngqwlg.default folder. I started Thunderbird with the -p flag to select my old profile and mark it as the default.
Actual results:
After selecting my old profile as the default, Thunderbird loaded and displayed my folders/mail for my (6) IMAP email accounts properly. I started to configure things and at some point restarted Thunderbird at which time it loaded but the folder pane was empty. All the accounts were still there, my address book, calendars, tabs, etc... but the folder pane is just empty (see image).
This occurs on both of my workstations, one that was upgraded from 102.15 to 115.2 and the other, a brand new system install, where 115.2 was first installed and then the profile from the other system imported. Both produce the same errors and exhibit the same behavior.
The only way that I've been able to get my folders/emails to show are to shut down Thunderbird and delete the xulstore.json file from my profile directory. On restart, the interface resets and the default "All Folders" is displayed in the folder pane. I am then able to switch that to a "Unified Folders" display using the View --> Folders menu option.
This works while the software is running but after a restart, I'm back to missing folders/emails and I must once again delete the xulstore.json file in order to restart and see emails.
Expected results:
I expected to upgrade to the most recent version of Thunderbird but not that it was a whole new product. Had I known that it was "Supernova" and such a drastic change, I would not have upgraded at this time.
I first wrote about my experience on the community site here:
https://support.mozilla.org/bm/questions/1423621
Another user from that site was having the same (or at least very similar) problem and started a bug report here that I've been contributing to in hopes of a solution:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1852814
I'm hoping for a resolution that doesn't require me to completely start over and reload all my mail accounts (over 15GB). At this point, I'm willing to do whatever is necessary though to move past this problem.
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Comment 1•1 years ago
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Comment 2•1 years ago
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Comment 3•1 years ago
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As suggested by Geoff on the previous bug report, I've just tried deleting the file virtualFolders.dat and the folder Mail/smart mailboxes:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1852814#c21
This has no effect however and on restart, no folders/email are displayed and the error logs are full of "Uncaught TypeError: webBrowser is undefined" errors.
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Updated•1 years ago
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Updated•1 years ago
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Comment 4•1 years ago
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(In reply to Brian Barrett from comment #0)
The only way that I've been able to get my folders/emails to show are to shut down Thunderbird and delete the xulstore.json file from my profile directory. On restart, the interface resets and the default "All Folders" is displayed in the folder pane. I am then able to switch that to a "Unified Folders" display using the View --> Folders menu option.
This works while the software is running but after a restart, I'm back to missing folders/emails and I must once again delete the xulstore.json file in order to restart and see emails.
I find this very odd. Please attach a xulstore.json file that causes this problem. I'll add it to one of my profiles and see if it does the same thing to me.
I can see from your screen shots you have some add-ons. If you disable all the add-ons does the problem persist?
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Comment 5•1 years ago
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Here's the xulstore.json that I'm running currently with Thunderbird open. So this was created by Thunderbird since the last time I shut it down and deleted the previous xulstore.json.
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Comment 6•1 years ago
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This is xulstore.json just after shutting down Thunderbird. This is the file I would delete before restarting.
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Comment 7•1 years ago
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This is xulstore.json after Thunderbird has just been restarted and it recreates the file but before I've made any additional changes to the interface. It takes about 30 seconds or so once Thunderbird is restarted for it to recreate this file I've noticed.
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Comment 8•1 years ago
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(In reply to Geoff Lankow (:darktrojan) from comment #4)
I find this very odd. Please attach a xulstore.json file that causes this problem. I'll add it to one of my profiles and see if it does the same thing to me.
I can see from your screen shots you have some add-ons. If you disable all the add-ons does the problem persist?
I've disabled all add-ons for the last couple days and it hasn't made any difference.
You can see the xulstore.json for the currently running instance of Thunderbird. I'll shut it down though and then upload what it creates by default when it starts back up and before I make any changes to the interface (resize folder pane, etc).
Okay, you should be able to see above all three instances of xulstore.json (while running and I've tweaked the interface a bit, after shutting down Thunderbird and it updates the file on close, and then after deleting the file and restarting the version it creates before I make any changes).
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Comment 9•1 years ago
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I'm not seeing anything in these files that would produce the symptoms you're seeing.
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Comment 10•1 years ago
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(In reply to Geoff Lankow (:darktrojan) from comment #9)
I'm not seeing anything in these files that would produce the symptoms you're seeing.
Yeah, I don't think it's actually something IN xulstore.json but rather loading Thunderbird without that file forces it down a path similar to whatever it's doing when loading in Troubleshoot Mode.... which is the only other way I've been able to successfully restart Thunderbird AND see anything in the Folders pane.
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Comment 11•1 years ago
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You could try hiding your accounts one at a time. In the config editor, add the preference mail.server.serverX.hidden and set it to true (where X is a number, you'll have other similar preferences).
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Comment 12•1 years ago
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(In reply to Geoff Lankow (:darktrojan) from comment #11)
You could try hiding your accounts one at a time. In the config editor, add the preference
mail.server.serverX.hiddenand set it to true (where X is a number, you'll have other similar preferences).
Holy crap! Geoff, you steely-eyed missile man you! THAT had an effect for sure. Right or wrong, I started by setting the mail.server.default.hidden to true and then restarted. I immediately realized that was kinda stupid as without a default it would prompt me for setting up a default mail account and I thought I'd screwed up. BUT, I noticed that it WAS showing folders in the Folders pane regardless and that was a first!
So I navigated back to the config editor and set mail.server.default.hidden back to false, crossed my fingers (arms, legs, you name it) and restarted... the Folders pane was still displaying! It was even showing the Unified Folders like I'd specified before restart... and absolutely no errors in the error log. Duuuuude. Too good to be true?
I noticed that it had lost which folders should be included in the "Inbox" group (and Drafts, Sent, Archives, Junk, Trash, etc) so I right-clicked into Properties for the unified Inbox and re-selected all 6 of my IMAP Inbox folders, clicked Update and then updated the column selections, widths, etc and once again, restarted to see if it would hold.
It does! And still no errors at all in the log.
I just did the same for all the other unified folders like Drafts, Sent, Junk, and Trash. Everything is there when I restart Thunderbird. :)
Lastly, I have re-customized my toolbar icons and one last restart to double-check everything is working.... yup, it appears fixed!
Wow, now I'm wondering if it would have fixed it (and been easier) to mark any of the non-default accounts as hidden? When I power on my old workstation I'm going to test that as it's still happening on that system.
Let me know what else you might want me to try while I've still got the problem happening on the other computer. Once it's fixed, I don't think I can replicate the original problem (I hope).
Thank you for sticking with me on this nasty issue and your suggestion that lead to this progress. Really appreciated.
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Comment 13•1 years ago
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I don't know how that could've permanently solved the problem, but I'm happy for you that it did. If fixing your other machine leads to any discoveries about how or why, let us know and it may help somebody else out. Thank you for your patience and willingness to try things.
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Updated•1 years ago
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Comment 14•1 years ago
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(In reply to Geoff Lankow (:darktrojan) from comment #13)
I don't know how that could've permanently solved the problem, but I'm happy for you that it did. If fixing your other machine leads to any discoveries about how or why, let us know and it may help somebody else out. Thank you for your patience and willingness to try things.
As promised, I loaded my old workstation still running an affected Thunderbird 115.2.0 (32 bit) to see if I could replicate the solution and along the way, see if there was anything else I could attempt that might shed some light.
The short answer is yes, the same steps worked to fix my old system as well.
I first tried a couple other things that I was hopeful might solve it as well. First, I tried going into Account Settings and selecting my primary work Gmail account and making sure it was set as the default under the Account Actions menu. I noticed that it wasn't marked as the default even though it should be. I made that change and then was excited because on restart (or right away, can't remember), the Folders pane loaded! I thought, that has to be it... Thunderbird is, for whatever reason, getting confused about which account is to be the default or something but alas, on subsequent restarts, the Folders pane did not load and it was back to the same behavior. Thunderbird still had my primary account marked as the default though, even on successive restarts which was good (and likely necessary for the eventual fix to work).
I then tried going into the config editor and before going straight to hiding the default account, tried hiding one of my other accounts (mail.server.server3 I think). I didn't really think that would work but worth a shot so I set it to hidden = true and restarted. No Folders pane loaded but looking in Account Settings, that account was indeed not showing up. I turned it back to false so that account was showing again and restarted.
Out of other ideas, I went back to the config editor and this time put in mail.server.default.hidden set to true and restarted. Thunderbird loads but defaults to a tab asking you to create a new email account (enter name, email, etc). But sitting to the left of that tab is the Folders pane and just like on my other workstation the Folders pane loaded just fine now (Local Folders I think). Click back to Settings, scroll to the bottom, click Config Editor (I don't think the tab stays open on restart) and set mail.server.default.hidden to false. Restart and the Folders pane still loads properly with Unified Folders displayed but having lost which account folders should be in the unified Inbox group (and all other unified folder views for that matter).
Just like before, I right-clicked on the unified Inbox and choose Properties, clicked the Choose button (Select the folders to search:), checked the Inbox for each of my 6 mail accounts, click Update and rinse and repeat for each of the other unified folders (Drafts, Sent, Junk, Trash, etc).
Made a bunch of other customizations to the menu bar and mail folder columns, shut down and restart and they're all still there. I documented each step in my process with screen grabs in case anyone needs them.
I'm interested what code Thunderbird executes when the default is not found because clearly it updates something somewhere in some config that is missing when you upgrade from 102.15 to Supernova somehow.
Anyway, hope that was helpful and gives you some idea where to look. I'm super happy to have my mail back even if I don't know why it works.
Now if I could just get the File menu back to the top of the application where it belongs. Sorry, parting shot there! :) Thanks again for all you devs do to make this product. It really is appreciated even if it doesn't always seem like it.
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Comment 15•1 years ago
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That toggling "hidden" for the server fixes it indicates this has something to do with "smart mailboxes" (virtual folders, unified folder view).
https://searchfox.org/comm-central/rev/9f2a3f290a9960308e96b0be103808331ab0d9ce/mailnews/base/public/nsIMsgIncomingServer.idl#415-421
When you set the default to hidden and then toggle it back to true, it will result in all getting non-hidden, since defaults aren't saved - values saved for it would get cleared.
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Comment 17•1 years ago
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User in form has reported that updating to 115.2.3 has fixed issue.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1424133
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Comment 18•1 years ago
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(In reply to Anje from comment #17)
User in form has reported that updating to 115.2.3 has fixed issue.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1424133
That's great! I hope that holds... just FYI, I updated my now fixed 115.2.2 64bit to 115.2.3 and no negative effects. Same with my older 115.2.0 32bit on my old system. Both are working as expected.
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