550062 - Thunderbird gets new mail and hangs

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Thunderbird :: Folder and Message Lists, defect)

Description

[Les]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2) Gecko/20100115 Firefox/3.6 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Build Identifier: 2.0.0.23

T-bird Crashes after downloading more than 4 or 5 new emails. After closing and reopening T-bird, mail displays normally and T-bird operates normally. Crash messages have all been sent to Microsoft.

My system configuration puts the local folders on a file server so that I can access my email from any computer on my LAN. All computers run XP. The crash occurs on all computers, whether connected with Ethernet or wireless.

When I load all my mail files on an external drive, no crash occurs. 

My file server happens to be a Novell 3.12 (early to mid 1990s vintage) and has long file name support. It's simple and very reliable, and I have used it for years to serve data files used with many program without any issues. I also have an NT server, but because of limited disk capacity and reliability issues, I have not tried to use it for my local folders.



Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Install T-bird on host workstation of networked computer (client/server).
2. Configure T-bird on host so that it uses POP to get email from remote ISP and the local folders are on a file server across the local network.
3. Send 10 assorted email messages to the email address (try a few attachments also).
4. Start T-bird and log in. 
5. Wait for emails to download. 
Actual Results:  
1. Observe the mouse pointer becomes an hourglass in the T-bird window and the download process never ends - T-bird froze.
2. Close the window - see a message that the program has stopped running.
3. It takes a long time for T-bird to close (a minute or two).
4. Restart T-bird, and read all the email messages that were sent. T-bird runs normally after restarting.

Expected Results:  
Expected to receive all emails without restarting.

When the mail folders are loaded on an external drive and plugged into a USB port of a workstation (after reconfiguring T-bird on the workstation to get the files from the external drive), T-bird works normally.

This issue probably won't affect all users. I don't know if a peer to peer arrangement will work any better, but that means whichever host has the email files must be left running and that can be a security issue.

Comment 1

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

questions:
* for a given user X, X is only ever logged in to thunderbird at one computer at a time?
* you are not using global inbox for pop?
* how many characters is the directory of the deepest folder in the user profile?
* this crash didn't happen in v2.0.0.22?
* what antivirus program do you run?

Comment 2

[Les]

answers to questions posed by Wayne Mery at Lehigh:
* for a given user X, X is only ever logged in to thunderbird at one computer
at a time? 
I'M THE ONE AND ONLY T-BIRD USER. T-BIRD DOESN'T SUPPORT MULTIPLE CONNECTIONS TO THE SAME ACCOUNT LAST TIME I TRIED.
* you are not using global inbox for pop?
TOP FOLDER SHOWS AS "LOCAL FOLDER"
* how many characters is the directory of the deepest folder in the user
profile?
I'M NOT SURE HOW TO ANSWER THIS, BUT LET ME TRY.
THE ACTIVE PROFILE IS ON LOCAL SYSTEM DRIVE ON EACH COMPUTER WHERE T-BIRD IS SETUP AS EMAIL CLIENT. HERE IS EXAMPLE FROM ONE COMPUTER:
C:\Documents and Settings\XXX\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\sjhumq69.default
THE PREF.JS FILE REFERENCES THE LOCAL FOLDER LOCATED ON THE SERVER.
* this crash didn't happen in v2.0.0.22?
THIS CRASH BEGAN IMMEDIATELY AFTER MOVING FROM V1.X TO V2.0. IT'S BEEN GOING ON FOR A LONG TIME, AND I POSTED IT ONCE BEFORE. SOMEONE GOT FRUSTRATED AND REMOVED IT. ON A WHIM, AFTER ONE CRASH, I GOT THE URGE TO TRY AGAIN.
* what antivirus program do you run?
RIGHT NOW I'M RUNNING NORTON 360. I HAVE RUN OTHER AV PROGRAMS. IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. 

OTHER COMMENTS:

WHEN T-BIRD DOWNLOADS ONLY A FEW SMALL EMAIL FILES, THERE'S NO CRASH. ON AVERAGE, <5 EMAILS USUALLY LOAD OK. >5 USUALLY CRASHES. ALL THE EMAIL IS APPARENTLY SAVED TO THE SERVER. WHEN RESTARTING AFTER T-BIRD FREEZES, ALL THE EMAIL APPEARS INCLUDING THE NEW EMAIL. 

WEBMAIL IS ALSO AVAILABLE FOR MY ACCT, BUT T-BIRD (WHEN IT DOESN'T CRASH) IS MUCH BETTER. 

I SAVED THE LATEST CRASH DUMP REPORT THAT WINDOWS XP SENDS TO MICROSOFT. FILE NAMES IN THE FOLDER ARE LISTED BELOW:
appcompat.txt
manifest.txt
thunderbird.exe.hdmp
thunderbird.exe.mdmp

THE .HDMP FILE IS >35M, SO IT WON'T EMAIL WELL. OTHERS ARE MANAGEABLE (TOTAL <1M). I'M WILLING TO EMAIL IF ANYONE WANTS THE SMALLER FILES. I DON'T HAVE THE EXPERTISE TO ANALYZE THEM.

THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST.

Comment 3

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

try with norton disabled or uninstalled.
if still fails, please try version 3.
results?

Comment 4

[Joshua Cranmer [:jcranmer]]

RESOLVED INCOMPLETE due to lack of response to last question. If you feel this change was made in error, please respond to this bug with your reasons why.