Closed Bug 326414 Opened 18 years ago Closed 14 years ago

Thunderbird, Can not "view saved passwords" in options window to change password or anything for that matter.

Categories

(Thunderbird :: Preferences, defect)

x86
Windows XP
defect
Not set
major

Tracking

(Not tracked)

RESOLVED WORKSFORME

People

(Reporter: gm, Unassigned)

References

Details

(Whiteboard: closeme 2010-05-05)

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.12) Gecko/20050915 Firefox/1.0.7
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.12) Gecko/20050915 Firefox/1.0.7

I upgraded from 1.0 some time ago (not sure how long maybe 4 weeks or less) to Thunderbird 1.5. Everything seemed to go fine, had no problems to speak of. I already had several accounts in 1.0 and they continued to work properly.

I added an account and after I had finished inputing all of the needed info it asks if you want to check for messages now (this is usually when it asks you for the password but it did not). I received a password mismatch error and it did not give me the oppurtunity to enter the password.

I went to Tools | Options then clicked on the Privacy button | passwords tab and then clicked on the view saved passwords button. Nothing happens?! I have removed the master password and tried to view the saved passwords and nothing happens. I have reset the master password and tried to view the saved passwords and nothing happens. I have unclicked the "use a master password to encrypt the saved passwords" and nothing happens.

I can not change the password for my new account. It never even gave me the option to set the password?!

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.Open Tools
2.Options
3.Click on Privacy button
4.Passwords tab
5.Click on view saved passwords
6.nothing happens

Not sure that there are any special cicrumstances. I am running Win XP Pro and thunderbird 1.5rc2.

Actual Results:  
Nothing happens, the button shows it is depressing but nothing happens.

Expected Results:  
It should have opened another window (at least that is what it did in 1.0) with accounts and passwords listed.

How do you get the build for Thunderbird? This is what the about Thunderbird window displays - version 1.5 (20051201).
I'm not able to reproduce this using 1.5 on Win2K.
Do you have any extensions installed which might be interfering?  If so, please restart TB in Safe Mode and see if the problem is still there.
If that fails to solve it, try creating a new profile and see if the problem occurs with that as well.
I do not have any extensions intstalled in Thunderbird.

I created a new profile for the new accounts I needed to ad and now I can view saved passwords in the new profile.

However I still can not view them in the other profile. Interesting. I will make another profile for the old files and it should fix the symptom. Not sure what the problem is.

Is there a way to copy my old mail files to the new profile without having the same bug creap in to the new profile?

Thanks, Gary
You can try deleting the file  _XUL_.mfl  from the (old) profile directory and restart -- that file will be recreated.  You'll lose all your saved window 
sizes and positions, but your preferences and mail will be preserved.

Moving POP mail from one profile to another is possible but error-prone, requiring either setting the Local Directory for each account (including Local Folders) to point at the old profile, or painstakingly copying over the mail files from the old profile to the new one.
Wait, I pointed to the wrong file:  It's  XUL.mfl   -- the one with the _ characters is a backup, I think.
I have the same problem using a different windows opperating system. I cannot access and see my passwords covering 5 different email addresses. Assuming a fault did not occur while upgrading from the previous version of thunderbird i have no way to check if they are correct and if not adjust them. Three of the  email addresses are business related and the results of them being affected would be catastrophic to say the least. Hopefully a bug fix will be shortly forth coming.
Steve.
I encountered the same thing tonight. Needless to say I am VERY disappointed in this little snafu. THe main purpose of installing Thunderbird on this computer (I have two other older version on different boxes) was to check some image handling functionality with a program I'm creating. Now I can't change the password to the one email account we've been using to test this. Jeesh!
I experienced this bug, after I have changed the password via the web interface of my e-mail provider.
Here is a

--------------------------------------
WORKAROUND:
--------------------------------------

Delete the file "signons.txt" in the profile folder. Thunderbird will than ask for the (new) password of the mail account. After typing the password, and checking "Use password manager ...", "View Saved Passwords" came back to life again on my Thunderbird client.



Markus Wiekenberg
Problem continues in 1.5.0.4 (20060516) and my password request dialog boxes have no checkbox to remember the password even though about:config shows user_pref("signon.rememberSignons", true);.
Supplemental. I am using XP Pro and did not find a signons.txt file anywheres.
Sorry I could get this all into a single comment. The "server" I am trying to connect to is localhost. It is used by YPOPS - http://www.ypopsemail.com/ - to access Yahoo Mail via Thunderbird.
I don´t have this signons.txt also ...

The view passwords window doesn´t appear anymore, but I have a workaround for the problem, that I can´t change a password for one smtp account. I restart TB in safe mode. It asks for all passwords. I set them and close TB. Than I start it again in normal mode and now I can also send emails via the (former) not working e-mail account, because TB remembered the given password, when started in save mode.

But that doesn´t fix the problem with the view passwords dialogue. But in the mozillazine forum someone maybe tried out a workaround (but it´s not "easy" to do):
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=2434846#2434846

(read some more postings...)
If you don't have a "signon.txt" go to about:config and see if the name has been changed.
Restarting in safe mode got me to where I could view the saved password but I still have to enter all of them.

Various combinations or renaming signon.txt back and forth from the default name had no effect. Setting a master password had no effect other than I then had to enter five passwords instead of four.

Be nice to move this up on the "to do" list.
(In reply to comment #13)
> Be nice to move this up on the "to do" list.

We need steps to reproduce the problem before this can be fixed.  I don't save passwords, but the View Passwords dialog displays for me.  Back in comment 3 & 4 I suggested deleting XUL.mfl, which contains window display information and has been known to get corrupted.  I only recently discovered that (under Windows 2000, anyway) this file is not kept in the profile but in 
 <document&settings>\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data\Thunderbird
I also see there's an XPC.mfl file, about which I know nothing.
Yes, good point. I did try deletion of all copies of the XML file you recommended, but it had no effect. It was only then that I tried the other things. What documents/settings/steps can I submit/do to help out?
(In reply to comment #15)
> What documents/settings/steps can I submit/do to help out?

Start with a new profile, verify that you can see the View Passwords dialog right away, then start making changes to make the new profile more like the broken one.  After each change, View Passwords, restart the program, and View Passwords again.  Keep track of any new files in the profile directory (e.g. signons.txt).  Backup the files in the profile directory at each shutdown, but don't back up by overwriting the previous copy since if the dialog doesn't show on restart, you'll have lost the differences.

If you get to the point where the View Passwords dialog stops viewing, then zip up the profiles -- the most-recent backup and the broken one -- and upload the zips here.  (You probably should be sure to either use a test mail account or don't supply valid passwords when you save them.)
(In reply to comment #7)
> I experienced this bug, after I have changed the password via the web interface
> of my e-mail provider.
> Here is a
> 
> --------------------------------------
> WORKAROUND:
> --------------------------------------
> 
> Delete the file "signons.txt" in the profile folder. Thunderbird will than ask
> for the (new) password of the mail account. After typing the password, and
> checking "Use password manager ...", "View Saved Passwords" came back to life
> again on my Thunderbird client.
> 
> 
> 
> Markus Wiekenberg
> 

there is no more *.txt file, but there is a *.s file. If you delete this file you can go on as described in the workaround. BTW I had the same problem and when I opened the *.s file using the editor I found to much information stored inside. It seems Thunderbird kept old passwords from former accounts in this file. That may be the problem.
I had already tried that, without effect.
Did as suggested in Comment #16 but still cannot re-create.
This has happened twice now.  It was working and then suddenly stopped working after I changed a password on one of my accounts.  I did not use any non-ASCII characters in the password.

I believe this is difficult to duplicate because it depends on some file becoming corrupted.  How this file gets corrupted is unknown.

Any one with better ideas on fixing this.
Been fighting this one for a while. The window actually pops up then closes. I believe it has to be something associated with a previous update. Is there any way to get a special debug statement during that window process so it can be traced to where it exits and why?
Ah, and deleting the *.s file did work. Hope this helps pin point the issue further.
This has been a problem for over a year, and it still isn't resolved. Will someone please figure this one out? Thunderbird is useless to me now, since I changed a password in my browser. I knew I shouldn't have let it remember my passwords. Isn't it supposed to ask you for a new password when the old password is incorrect?
The only way I got it fixed was to re-create the account from the ground up. You could, however, download RoboForm, install it, and have it import the passwords. For instructions, contact me backchannel.
(In reply to comment #24)
> The only way I got it fixed was to re-create the account from the ground up.
> You could, however, download RoboForm, install it, and have it import the
> passwords. For instructions, contact me backchannel.
> 

Even when I completely wipe out the thunderbird folder after an uninstall, the accounts show up again when I reinstall. I'm no computer expert (though I'm no novice either), but this says to me that the information about my accounts is being stored somewhere other than in the thunderbird folder. My goal is to find where it's being stored, and erase it. I want a tabula rasa, a blank slate, when I open thunderbird.
You will find them in
%APPDATA%\Thunderbird
and
%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Thunderbird
 - just type those strings into Start-->Run and that is /probably/ where you need to be.

Don't just delete those folders carte blanche, however, as you'll lose your address book if you do.
I just moved them elsewhere, then retrieved what I wanted. You've solved my problem! Many thanks!!!
I just experienced this problem.  I'm using Mozilla Thunderbird version 2.0.0.16 (20080708).  The extensions I have loaded are gContactSync v0.1b1, Lightning v0.8, MinimizeToTray 0.0.1.2006102615+.  When Thunderbird loads, I was getting an error number 2152333318.  

The contents of the error said "An error was encountered preparing the calendar located at http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/***Redacted***/basic.ics for use. It will not be available."  

The details said "[Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) [nsISimpleEnumerator.getNext]"  nsresult: "0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE)"  location: "JS frame :: file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Michael/Application%20Data/Thunderbird/Profiles/37efdyj8.default/extensions/%7Ba62ef8ec-5fdc-40c2-873c-223b8a6925cc%7D/components/calGoogleCalendarModule.js -> file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Michael/Application%20Data/Thunderbird/Profiles/37efdyj8.default/extensions/%7Ba62ef8ec-5fdc-40c2-873c-223b8a6925cc%7D/js/calGoogleUtils.js :: passwordManagerGet :: line 479"  data: no]

Thunderbird would load but my Google Calendars would not be available.

Renaming the %APPDATA%\Thunderbird\Profiles\(Profile)\signons.txt file fixed the problem.

To recreate this problem from a profile that is working correctly:
0.  Back up your profile (Or at least the %APPDATA%\Thunderbird\Profiles\(Profile)\signons.txt file)
1.  Tools > Options > Privacy > Passwords tab.  Select the 'Use a master password' check box and click 'Set Master Password'.
2.  Restart Thunderbird.  Ensure that password manager still opens correctly.
3.  Tools > Options > Privacy > Passwords tab.  Now uncheck the 'Use a master password' check box and click 'Remove Master Password'.  Type current master password, click remove, click ok and click ok on the options dialog.
4.  Go back to Tools > Options > Privacy > Passwords tab.  Try to open the password manager.
I have been having a problem with the Password dialog not showing the "Show Password" button.  It was present in Safe mode.  In Normal mode with all extensions disabled and using the default theme the dialog was still broken. I then renamed userChrome.css and userContent.css, and this restored the Button. 

My testing shows that an unidentified entry in userChrome.css can cause hiding the button. 

Therefor, any one having problems with use of the Edit Password dialog should add a test of renaming the userChrome.css in their profiles Chrome folder, if the folder and file exist.  If they do not, state the fact in your bug comment.
Assignee: mscott → nobody
I've tried it with a NEW profile, without any addons/extentions, and it was still broken.
(In reply to comment #29)
> I have been having a problem with the Password dialog not showing the "Show
> Password" button.  It was present in Safe mode.  In Normal mode with all
> extensions disabled and using the default theme the dialog was still broken. I
> then renamed userChrome.css and userContent.css, and this restored the Button. 
> 
> My testing shows that an unidentified entry in userChrome.css can cause hiding
> the button. 
> 

The missing buttons were caused by a too small dialog.  While working with DOMi I got them into view and discovered the dialog was not tall enough. The issue with my userChrome.css is probably a side effect of setting MS Nina as my Global chrome font family.
That's solved the problem for me.
Into TB 3.x, passwords manager is completely rewrite and probably this issue is gone.

Gary and\or Staven, 14231324745, Markus, Steve, Ulf and others do you can confirm that the issue is gone using latest TB 3.0.4?
Whiteboard: closeme 2010-05-05
I have not used Thunderbird for months due to the un-fixed problem that cropped out about 12-18 months ago with the inability to see the text for some messages.

Used to be that T-Bird could view any message it received. Then something happened that made font encoding unreliable or had some other effect or caused some other problem, and 50% of the time or more viewing a message reveals no text, even when viewing the message source. Reloading TB a few times, or mucking about with the font encoding fixed the problem for the message at issue, but not permanently, not reliably, and not for other messages.

At the request of someone, I'm trying TB 3. It will be interesting to see if this has been addressed.

XP SP3
This works for me in Thunderbird 3.0.4.  The steps listed in comment #28 no longer cause a problem for me.

(In reply to comment #34)
> Into TB 3.x, passwords manager is completely rewrite and probably this issue is
> gone.
> 
> Gary and\or Staven, 14231324745, Markus, Steve, Ulf and others do you can
> confirm that the issue is gone using latest TB 3.0.4?
WFM per comment 36.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 14 years ago
Resolution: --- → WORKSFORME
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