238480 - Mozilla requires a reinstall if IMAP server software is changed

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(MailNews Core :: Networking: IMAP, defect)

Description

[Graham Leggett]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030922
Build Identifier: Mozilla v1.6 / WIndows 2000

If the IMAP server is changed from UW imapd-2000 to courier-imap v3.0, Mozilla
is no longer able to view this mailbox.

When the mailbox is opened, the message "Unable to open this mailbox" is shown.

Unfortunately the Mozilla developer who wrote this particular code did not see
fit to include WHY it could not open this mailbox, so no resolution to this
problem is apparent.

Deleting the imap account from the accounts list and recreating it has no
effect, mozilla seems to remember the old broken settings and reuse them.

So far the only workaround is to completely delete the Mozilla's user profile,
and reinstall it from scratch.


Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:
xxx

Comment 1

[Graham Leggett]

Some further notes.

Mozilla seems to be unbelievably tenacious. The courier-imap log shows that
mozilla is trying to read ACLs for all the old mail folders that were in the old
and now gone UW imap system. This is despite the following steps being taken:

- Deleting the mailbox and reinstalling it.
- Deleting the ImapMail directory in it's entirety and reinstalling it.
- Deleting the entire Application Data/Mozilla directory and reinstalling it.

I can only think that Mozilla is hard wiring something to the registry about
which IMAP server it talks to, and then is refusing to update this information.

At this stage our only further solution is to scrap Mozilla mail entirely and
install a different mail package :(

Comment 2

[Graham Leggett]

Turns out this problem is due to courier-imap, not Mozilla. The problem clients
all being Mozilla was a coincidence.

Courier-imap behaves incoherently when corruption occurs inside mail folders.

Comment 3

[David :Bienvenu]

> When the mailbox is opened, the message "Unable to open this mailbox" is shown.

This message comes from your IMAP server - Mozilla is just relaying it to you.
Unfortunately, your imap server isn't giving more information. 

Ah, I see you've marked it invalid. Thx. I'm glad it's not Mozilla.