Closed Bug 294433 Opened 20 years ago Closed 16 years ago

TB tries to download messages from server when offline

Categories

(Thunderbird :: Mail Window Front End, defect)

Product:
Thunderbird
Component:
Mail Window Front End
Type:
defect
Priority:
Not set
Severity:
minor

Tracking

(Not tracked)

Status:
RESOLVED WORKSFORME

People

(Reporter: jdg, Unassigned)

References

Details

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Win98; en-US; rv:1.7.7) Gecko/20050414 Firefox/1.0.3
Build Identifier: Thunderbird version 1.0 (20041206)

When I start up Thunderbird offline to read previously-downloaded mail, after
about 1-2 minutes I'm prompted to enter the Master Password.  This happens even
though I'm reading only plain-text mail messages, and not doing anything that
should cause passwords saved in Password Manager to be needed for any reason.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Start TB with command line option "-offline".
2. Go to any existing mail folder and spend at least 2 minutes reading messages
it contains.
Actual Results:  
I'm prompted for the Master Password.

Expected Results:  
I should never be asked for the Master Password unless I go online, or attempt
to View Saved Passwords or Change Master Password from the Tools -> Options menu.

I do use Password Manager to store the login passwords for mail and news
servers, which is why I wouldn't object to being asked if I were online.
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Getting this on Windows XP, TB 1.5.0.5

TB prompts for password after first interval of time you set for it to check for new messages on server. In other words, TB starts its sequence of actions to check the server for new mail even when you selected work offline.
Same problem here TB 1.5.0.8

Even if I choose to work offline, after the time defined in the server; I get prompted for Master Password.

The fact is that even if I enter the password, TB won't download any messages.

If I don't enter, whenever a connection is time queued, the password is requested.
I don't think this should happen. If offline no connections should be "attempted".
Forgot to mention that this was in the Linux version
And is still present in TB 1.5.0.9 (linux)
QA Contact: general
confirming based on multiple reports.
Assignee: mscott → nobody
Status: UNCONFIRMED → NEW
Component: General → Mail Window Front End
Ever confirmed: true
OS: Windows 98 → All
QA Contact: general → front-end
Hardware: PC → All
This is still present in Thunderbird 2.0

In detail:

When starting Thunderbird offline the Master password is requested after some time. The time it takes to see the request is determined bu the "Check new messages every X minutes" option in the account section.

What seems to happen is that even when offline, the process for connecting to server is still triggered and the Master password request pops-up. This can be very annoying if the user has several accounts, since the password is requested every time the timing cycle goes by. However if the master password is correctly inserted, this window no longer appears until restart.

Also if you then change to online, you won't need to insert the password again.

Hope this helps to clarify the problem
(Re comment #7) Yes, I think you've nailed the cause, and I can expand on that info somewhat.

The behavior of trying to retrieve messages when offline seems to be a function of account type, and each type seems to work the same in TB 2.0.0.0 as in 1.1.7.  What I see is this:

POP account - correctly refrains from trying to download messages while offline, including at startup and shutdown.

IMAP account - will try to download messages every X minutes even if offline.  This can be disabled by leaving X blank in Tools -> Account Settings -> Server Settings.

RSS feeds - will try to download messages both at startup and again every X minutes, even though offline.

A side issue is that it may no longer be possible to start TB offline.  I use a shortcut with the "-offline" command line option, but it seems to be ignored in 2.0.0.0; that may be pursued as another bug.  I still feel the root problem that the engine tries to download messages while offline ought to be fixed, though, so I'm not abandoning this bug.
I couldn't find another bug that deals with the root problem, so I'm changing the title of this one to reflect it.

I'd like to work on this, but I don't know enough about the code to locate the variable that determines online/offline status.  Please reply offline if you can tell me that.
Summary: When starting offline and reading mail, I'm needlessly prompted for master password → TB tries to download messages from server (IMAP and RSS accounts only) when offline
Actually I only use POP3 accounts and have the master password problem, so it's not only related to RSS and IMAP. Did you mean that with these two it actually downloads or tries to? The Pop3 account also have the "Check every X minutes" option. Check under: Account settings -> account -> Server Settings

Im my experience, with pop3 accounts, it tries to download too but even after inserting the master pass it won't download anything. The don't download part is correct, since I'm offline. The "tries to" isn't :)
I guess is not only related to IMAP and RSS, at least when it comes to the master password thing.

On 2.0 in the Advanced section I have "Ask me for online state at startup" so I'm prompted every time I start TB. And it starts online or offline. Offline is not ignored i.e. I check the down left corner and it reports offline and works as mentioned above.

About the code, I can't help you on that. I'm a mere TB user. No coding experience :|
Yes, I meant it: my POP3 account is set to download every 5 minutes, but unlike the IMAP and RSS accounts, the POP3 account appears "smart" enough to refrain from making network connection requests when TB is offline.
Sorry, my mistake: all accounts attempt to download while offline, but on the POP account I don't see a prompt for the master password because the download function doesn't ask for it until after it receives an initial response from the POP server.
Summary: TB tries to download messages from server (IMAP and RSS accounts only) when offline → TB tries to download messages from server when offline
Flags: blocking-thunderbird3?
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; rv:1.9.1a2pre) Gecko/20080813032636

Not seeing any of the behavior described in this bug, with either IMAP or Pop3. When in offline mode, Tb stays quiet, no attempts whatsoever to contact servers.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 16 years ago
Resolution: --- → WORKSFORME
Flags: blocking-thunderbird3?
Does not WORKSFORME - please reopen. Thunderbird/3.0.7 with IMAP, RSS, and Local (movemail) accounts (only the IMAP account requires a password).

Offline Settings: "Ask me for online state at startup"

Launch Thunderbird, select "Work Offline".

Thunderbird asks for master password. If I click cancel, the dialog pops up again after 10 minutes when the IMAP account checks again. If I change IMAP to check every 1 minute, dialog pops up every 1 minute.
I suggest opening a new bug (and please CC: me on it).  I WFMed this one because I no longer see the problem using POP (I no longer use IMAP).

"-offline" not working is another problem: bug 355889 (note the final comment there, written by a real jerk to whom Windows users don't matter).

I'm also seeing new behavior where two or (more often) three master-password-request dialogs appear on the screen when starting TB 3.1.4, often interrupting each other so that the password I type goes partly to one and partly to another, requiring me to re-enter it multiple times.  This is a stupid low-level programming error: when one master-password dialog is on the screen, TB should refuse to create another and simply wait for the result of the first.
(In reply to comment #16)

> I'm also seeing new behavior where two or (more often) three
> master-password-request dialogs appear on the screen when starting TB 3.1.4,
> often interrupting each other so that the password I type goes partly to one
> and partly to another, requiring me to re-enter it multiple times.  This is a
> stupid low-level programming error: when one master-password dialog is on the
> screen, TB should refuse to create another and simply wait for the result of
> the first.
We went to a lot of trouble to do exactly what you describe. Sounds like for some reason your setup exposed an issue that we're not seeing here. One known issue is that password protected newsgroups have the bug, but if all you have are IMAP accounts, we haven't seen that issue.
I don't have only IMAP accounts; I no longer use IMAP at all.  I use POP3 for mail, NNTP for news, and a fair number of RSS feeds.  Will be happy to tell more about my setup if it helps diagnose this (should I file a new bug, or has somebody beaten me to it?)
Do any of your newsgroups require authentication? If so, this is a known issue, I believe.
The news server does require a login, which I have set up using a master password.
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