Open Bug 1925750 Opened 1 year ago Updated 8 months ago

Check for new messages at startup for NNTP accounts doesn't work without (default) mail account

Categories

(MailNews Core :: Networking: NNTP, defect)

Product:
MailNews Core
Component:
Networking: NNTP
Version:
Thunderbird 128
Type:
defect

Tracking

(Not tracked)

People

(Reporter: kurtzlepirate, Unassigned)

References

Details

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:131.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/131.0

Steps to reproduce:

Nothing special to do.
Just lauch Thunderbird.

Actual results:

No checking for new messages on NNTP servers.

Expected results:

New messages should be picked up.

The "User agent" in de automatic "description" it has nothing to do with the bug.

Thunderbird 128.3.2 esr 64b, macOS Sequoia 15.0.1

Do you have "Check for new messages at startup" set in the account settings for that account (it's under server settings)?

Of course we do.

But it does get new articles if done manually?

Summary: Check for new messages at startup → Fails to check for new news articles at startup

Yes, manually is ok.

The bug is still present in the latest (?) release 128.6.0esr-64b

Still no news on this bug ?
No one wants to deal with it or no one is able to fix this problem ?
I confirm that this bug is real.

bug 1901338 comment 40 and 42 have instructions for getting a log. Or we can wait for bug 1901338 to make progress.

See Also: → 1901338

(In reply to kurtzlepirate from comment #8)

Still no news on this bug ?
No one wants to deal with it or no one is able to fix this problem ?
I confirm that this bug is real.

I tried this with a high volume mailing list via nntp and new messages definitely are retrieved on startup (assuming the checkbox is is set).
Can you tell me the nntp server and group that doesn't work for you (probably I can access it if publicly available).
FWIW, I checked it with nntp.lore.kernel.org and group org.kernel.vger.linux-kernel and on TB startup, a bunch of messages came in.

Wayne wrote:

bug 1901338 comment 40 and 42 have instructions for getting a log. Or we can wait for bug 1901338 to make progress.

Bug 1901338 really doesn't address startup problems like you are seeing. However, a log may be useful if I can't reproduce the issue here.

See Also: → 1798049

The nntp servers configured are : news.povray.org, nntp.perl.org, news.free.fr, news.eternal-september.org and pasdenom.info.
And of corse, in servers settings, check for new messages at startup is checked for each server.

Note that, after startup, action : File -> Get New messages for -> All accounts (Shift+Cmd+Y) works well.

About logs :

  • I can only open the console (cmd+shift-j) after starting thunderbird. The console is empty and I don't see any “startup actions".
  • I can't see how to attach a file here either. I put here the logs after making the request manually .

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Browser Console Mode
Parent process only(Fast)
Multiprocess(Slower)
09:16:27.556 mailnews.nntp: Connecting to news://news.povray.org:119 2 NntpClient.sys.mjs:96:20
09:16:29.666 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP fr.rec.photo.materiel NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.666 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 474 329 846 povray.object-collection selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.667 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.707 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP povray.programming NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.739 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 0 1701 1700 fr.comp.lang.perl

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.740 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.740 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 697 1 697 perl.cpan.discuss

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.741 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.741 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 825 901 1779 povray.pov4.discussion.general selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.741 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.743 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP povray.test NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.743 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 34556 149729 185024 fr.rec.photo

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.744 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.749 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP fr.rec.photo.pratique NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.750 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 1563 28909 30652 fr.rec.photo.materiel

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.750 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.751 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP alt.fr.langages.html NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.767 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 314 7649 8016 fr.rec.photo.pratique

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.768 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.768 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP alt.fr.langages.c NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.771 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 1 5 5 alt.fr.langages.html

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.771 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.772 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP alt.fr.langages.perl NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.788 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 1 1 1 alt.fr.langages.c

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.789 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.789 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP alt.fr.langages.perl-tk NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.790 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 2 1 2 alt.fr.langages.perl

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.790 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.791 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP alt.fr.langages.shell NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.797 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 5669 1508 10398 povray.programming selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.798 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.801 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP povray.text.tutorials NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.831 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 4 1 5 alt.fr.langages.perl-tk

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.832 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.833 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP alt.fr.langages.shell.bash NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.833 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 0 1 0 alt.fr.langages.shell

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.834 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.835 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP fr.comp.lang.javascript NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.835 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 146 259 416 povray.test selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.836 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.839 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP povray.tools.general NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.851 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 0 1 0 alt.fr.langages.shell.bash

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.852 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.854 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP local.test NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.856 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 98 1167 1303 fr.comp.lang.javascript

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.856 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.857 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP local.newsportal NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.871 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 7 1328 1335 local.test

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.873 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.875 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP comp.databases.filemaker NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.876 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 15 279 294 local.newsportal

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.876 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.877 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP free.it.comp.filemakerpro NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.892 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 77 2060 2137 povray.text.tutorials selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.893 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.898 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP povray.unofficial.patches NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.898 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 10 3222 3232 comp.databases.filemaker

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.899 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.930 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP fr.comp.usenet.lecteurs-de-news NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.932 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 0 1 0 free.it.comp.filemakerpro

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.932 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:29.933 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP alt.fan.warlord NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:29.959 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 409 619 1110 povray.tools.general selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:29.960 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:30.359 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP povray.binaries.images NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:30.361 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 3856 5130 9321 fr.comp.usenet.lecteurs-de-news

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:30.362 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:30.364 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 0 1 0 alt.fan.warlord

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:30.364 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:30.365 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 662 4375 10732 povray.unofficial.patches selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:30.365 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:30.367 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP povray.binaries.misc NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:30.458 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 99 49 166 povray.binaries.misc selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:30.459 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:30.463 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP povray.binaries.programming NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:30.464 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 75129 68495 148607 povray.binaries.images selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:30.465 mailnews.nntp: C: XOVER 148607-148607 NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:30.558 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 295 11 708 povray.binaries.programming selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:30.559 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:30.560 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP povray.binaries.tutorials NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:30.560 mailnews.nntp: S: 224 data follows

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:30.645 mailnews.nntp: S: 148607 Re: worley noise (not POV-Ray) "ingo" <nomail@nomail> Wed, 26 Mar 2025 04:14:31 EDT <web.67e3b76783b3e9b417bac71e8ffb8ce3@news.povray.org> <web.67e2a17683b3e9b46563700825979125@news.povray.org> 435735 5674 Xref: news.povray.org povray.binaries.images:148607

.

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:30.659 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:30.670 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP povray.binaries.scene-files NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:30.675 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 84 1421 1504 povray.binaries.tutorials selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:30.676 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:30.680 mailnews.nntp: C: GROUP povray.binaries.utilities NntpClient.sys.mjs:320:20
09:16:30.762 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 1147 2365 5391 povray.binaries.scene-files selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:30.762 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18
09:16:30.771 mailnews.nntp: S: 211 561 3657 4576 povray.binaries.utilities selected

NntpClient.sys.mjs:166:18
09:16:30.772 mailnews.nntp: Done with status=0 NntpClient.sys.mjs:957:18

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Hope that help...

From testing bug 1901338 I was already set up on "eternal-september" and subscribed to alt.atheism (a very high volume group). I set the server setting like this:

  • Check for new messages at startup: enabled
  • Check for new messages every X minutes: disabled
  • Ask me before downloading more and 25 messages (not important)
  • Always request auth: disabled (not important)

Also, set up on nntp.lore.kernel.org on group linux-kernel, which is even higher volume, in the same way.

Both bring in new messages correctly on startup.

Also set up news.povray.org with several groups but none I selected were high enough volume to see new messages (except for the very first startup when all are new).

As a test, I would suggest setting just "eternal-sept" subscribed to alt.atheism as I show above and ALL other nntp accounts set with:

  • Check for new messages at startup: disabled
  • Check for new messages every X minutes: disabled

to prevent TB from automatically accessing them and cluttering the log
Then on TB restart, after TB being down for a few minutes (make sure console window is closed too), you should see new messages retrieved and listed from eternal-sept/alt.atheism.
Note: Late at night (it's about midnight here) you may need to restart TB more than once. I saw about and hour delay in new messages from alt.atheism just now. So you can test this on any high volume nntp group that you prefer.

In TB you can add a column "Order Received" and sort on it. You will see the highest value in the list, e.g., 8648184. Then in the log you should see the response to GROUP command with the new highest message number, e.g.,
mailnews.nntp: S: 211 49341 3596363 3648188 alt.atheism (highest now 3648188) and then TB asks for the overview of the new messages with mailnews.nntp: C: XOVER 3648185-3648188 which brings in header info that gets displayed. Then when you click on a message the full message is retrieved. (I'm not storing messages for offline use.)

I can only open the console (cmd+shift-j) after starting thunderbird. The console is empty and I don't see any “startup actions".

Yes, you have to ctrl-shift-j to see the console. But stuff is logged there even if it's not yet made visible. The startup action is just something like 00:33:30.365 mailnews.nntp: Connecting to snews://news.eternal-september.org:563
If the console is empty after startup, that's a problem. Are you seeing anything in the status bar along the bottom about TB accessing your nntp server on startup?
In the console, make sure you have the "filters" set so that you see at least Warning, Info, Log and Debug items. The Error filter may show extraneous (non-nntp) stuff but OK to have it on too.
Also, make sure pref mailnews.nntp.loglevel is set to All or Debug (case sensitive!).

I can't see how to attach a file here either. I put here the logs after making the request manually .

I think you have to copy the console content and paste it to a file (console has no "save to file" feature AFAIK). Then you can attach the file using the "Attach new file" button up above in bugzilla.

Duplicate of this bug: 1798049
See Also: 1798049 →

Update to 128.11.0esr (64-bit).
I made a last test and this cannot be contested :

  1. Launch Wireshark
  2. Fix filter to nntp
  3. The capture window is empty
  4. Launch TB.
  5. The capture window is still empty.
  6. Choose "File -> Get New messages for -> All accounts"
  7. The wireskark window fills up, showing network exchanges with the nntp protocol.

This incident can be closed because this bug in TB cannot be corrected.

Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 11 months ago
Resolution: --- → WONTFIX

I don't think you meant wontifx (that means, it's a bug we don't consider a bug and won't fix).

Anyway, startup checking for new messages is kicked off from here, if anyone wants to debug
https://searchfox.org/comm-central/rev/639d66d3b891033575f4ee78f69c8513b53de3f9/mail/base/content/messenger.js#748

Status: RESOLVED → REOPENED
Ever confirmed: true
Resolution: WONTFIX → ---

Does this work though for mail accounts, do they get their new messages retrieved automatically at startup?

Flags: needinfo?(kurtzlepirate)

Please also make sure any of your mail accounts is set as default, otherwise automatic message retrieval at startup doesn't seem to happen (see https://searchfox.org/comm-central/rev/639d66d3b891033575f4ee78f69c8513b53de3f9/mail/base/content/messenger.js#694-697).

Status: REOPENED → UNCONFIRMED
Ever confirmed: false
Severity: -- → S4
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Ever confirmed: true
Flags: needinfo?(kurtzlepirate)
See Also: 1901338 → 762000
Summary: Fails to check for new news articles at startup → Check for new messages at startup for NNTP accounts doesn't work without (default) mail account
You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.