Mail.app sudden death.
October 13, 2011 11:55 PM Subscribe
Following a power shortage, Mail has "forgotten" everything, and greets me with the Welcome to Mail set-up assisting prompt.
I'm on OSX 10.5.8, with Mail.app 3.6, on a late-2008 MacBookPro.
I had two IMAP accounts set up: one gmail and one company account.
The files are all still there, in Library>Mail.
The most recently modified one - dating to the moment of the shortage - is the Envelope Index.
What's the best restoration route - getting Mail to re-see the files on the computer - or do a new setting-up and let Mail read everything anew off the mail servers via IMAP? (The thought makes me anxious - I have no in-born trust of servers...)
The power shortage was actually the battery's doing - it was showing about 12% and then suddenly conked out, leaving the computer off (instead of in the usual deep sleep that I can wake it out of with the on/off button). Is there an issue here that I should be addressing?
I'm on OSX 10.5.8, with Mail.app 3.6, on a late-2008 MacBookPro.
I had two IMAP accounts set up: one gmail and one company account.
The files are all still there, in Library>Mail.
The most recently modified one - dating to the moment of the shortage - is the Envelope Index.
What's the best restoration route - getting Mail to re-see the files on the computer - or do a new setting-up and let Mail read everything anew off the mail servers via IMAP? (The thought makes me anxious - I have no in-born trust of servers...)
The power shortage was actually the battery's doing - it was showing about 12% and then suddenly conked out, leaving the computer off (instead of in the usual deep sleep that I can wake it out of with the on/off button). Is there an issue here that I should be addressing?
The power shortage was actually the battery's doing - it was showing about 12% and then suddenly conked out, leaving the computer off
I had a battery that did this, although much sooner. Around 50% or so. Apple replaced it as a warranty item.
However, at 12% on a 3 year old machine I'm not sure you have a good chance of getting it replaced. If you're still under Apple Care it's worth a shot.
posted by sbutler at 12:09 AM on October 14, 2011
I had a battery that did this, although much sooner. Around 50% or so. Apple replaced it as a warranty item.
However, at 12% on a 3 year old machine I'm not sure you have a good chance of getting it replaced. If you're still under Apple Care it's worth a shot.
posted by sbutler at 12:09 AM on October 14, 2011
"…it was showing about 12% and then suddenly conked out, leaving the computer off (instead of in the usual deep sleep that I can wake it out of with the on/off button). Is there an issue here that I should be addressing?"
Yeah, shagged battery. FWIW, mine's even older than yours (mid-07), and is likely to crap out anytime below 10% or so. It used to crap out anytime below ~15% before I re-calibrated the power management. I should really buy a new one sometime…
As for the mail problem, it's likely just Mail.app's plist file (~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist) that's corrupted.
Which is fine - if Mail.app was configured to store sent mail on the server. If not (and I don't think it is, by default), then you'll lose everything in your Outbox.
(Also, I went that route last time I replaced my HDD - forgetting I was at home on ADSL, and the many gig of mail & attachments I had spread across 3 accounts…)
posted by Pinback at 1:32 AM on October 14, 2011
Yeah, shagged battery. FWIW, mine's even older than yours (mid-07), and is likely to crap out anytime below 10% or so. It used to crap out anytime below ~15% before I re-calibrated the power management. I should really buy a new one sometime…
As for the mail problem, it's likely just Mail.app's plist file (~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist) that's corrupted.
- If you've got a Time Machine backup, restore the .plist from that.
- If you can remember (or figure out) how your email accounts were set up, try copying your ~/Library/Mail/ folder to somewhere else, re-configure Mail.app, and copy the folder back.
- If you can't remember exactly how your accounts were configured, try copying the ~/Library/Mail/ folder to somewhere else, re-configure Mail.app, then import the old Mail files (under "File" - "Import Mailboxes") from the copied folder. You'll probably have to copy stuff from the imported folders into the newly set-up ones, it may then double up things when syncing to the IMAP server, and it stuffs up attachments half the time, but it works as a last resort. (Note: not 100% sure about this option - I think it was there in 10.5.x, but it may be 10.6.x only…)
Which is fine - if Mail.app was configured to store sent mail on the server. If not (and I don't think it is, by default), then you'll lose everything in your Outbox.
(Also, I went that route last time I replaced my HDD - forgetting I was at home on ADSL, and the many gig of mail & attachments I had spread across 3 accounts…)
posted by Pinback at 1:32 AM on October 14, 2011
Tangentially, I had a Mac battery crap out similarly (MBP), the store said it was a very high number of short cycle charges, which I finally figured was probably due to a crappy adapter at the mag link end - the cable seemed broken inside and would often cut power if I moved the MBP around, leading to short battery cycles.
posted by carter at 5:03 AM on October 14, 2011
posted by carter at 5:03 AM on October 14, 2011
(The thought makes me anxious - I have no in-born trust of servers...)
By using IMAP, you've already thrown full trust to the servers. The server has the master copy of your mail, always. If the server says a certain mail no longer exists, your client will delete it immediately. Really, the only reason your client keeps a copy of the mail is to make reading faster when online and possible at all when offline. It's just a cache. Just re-set up your Mail.app and be done with it. I've used IMAP for 15 years, having lost count of the number of new client setups I've done long ago, and have never, ever had a problem with lost mail.
Pinback, AFAIK Mail.app defaults to using the server for the Sent folder with IMAP accounts. It's just doing a good job of making it look local by putting it on top of the list under the Inbox.
posted by zsazsa at 6:49 AM on October 14, 2011
By using IMAP, you've already thrown full trust to the servers. The server has the master copy of your mail, always. If the server says a certain mail no longer exists, your client will delete it immediately. Really, the only reason your client keeps a copy of the mail is to make reading faster when online and possible at all when offline. It's just a cache. Just re-set up your Mail.app and be done with it. I've used IMAP for 15 years, having lost count of the number of new client setups I've done long ago, and have never, ever had a problem with lost mail.
Pinback, AFAIK Mail.app defaults to using the server for the Sent folder with IMAP accounts. It's just doing a good job of making it look local by putting it on top of the list under the Inbox.
posted by zsazsa at 6:49 AM on October 14, 2011
If you want to make doubly damn sure that your email is actually on the server, either use a web mail interface (which Gmail has, of course), or if there isn't one, set up a different IMAP client like Thunderbird. Once you've ascertained that you mail is indeed there, go ahead and re-set up Mail.app.
posted by zsazsa at 6:57 AM on October 14, 2011
posted by zsazsa at 6:57 AM on October 14, 2011
zsazsa: Yeah, you're right, I checked for myself last night. I wasn't sure, because I vaguely remembered having to check that option manually last time I set up an IMAP account.
posted by Pinback at 4:38 PM on October 14, 2011
posted by Pinback at 4:38 PM on October 14, 2011
Response by poster: OK, so I got Apple Care's opinion too: they're for re-setting up Mail, either letting it find the folders where they were, or else, but only when I suggested it, removing the folders first, and letting Mail load everything back from the servers. I kind of prefer starting the Mac from scratch; my only concern: i've got tens of gigs of stuff, and, like Pinback, my home ADSL ain't ideal...
(I checked both accounts via webmail, and everything's there server-side. The only business - which I guess this might be the right moment to fix - is how my iPhone Mail deals with the server vs how the Mac deals with it - there's some proliferation of boxes that needs untangling. It's actually a lot more complex than I'd like, what with deciding what should happen on which device in off-line vs. online scenarios. I wonder: would/will iCloud make all of this more straightforward?)
Will let you know how things went - thanks for the pointers meantime.
posted by progosk at 4:22 AM on October 15, 2011
(I checked both accounts via webmail, and everything's there server-side. The only business - which I guess this might be the right moment to fix - is how my iPhone Mail deals with the server vs how the Mac deals with it - there's some proliferation of boxes that needs untangling. It's actually a lot more complex than I'd like, what with deciding what should happen on which device in off-line vs. online scenarios. I wonder: would/will iCloud make all of this more straightforward?)
Will let you know how things went - thanks for the pointers meantime.
posted by progosk at 4:22 AM on October 15, 2011
Response by poster: Just to say: given that everything was saved server-side, (with a local copy of the previous mail folders kept to one side on my Macbook) I started Mail.app from scratch, and then just waited for all the mail to sync. This kind of restart actually feels kind of good, somehow - having everything back again, and finally freely deleting the safety copy of the previous (corrupted) mail folders.
posted by progosk at 1:36 PM on November 13, 2011
posted by progosk at 1:36 PM on November 13, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by devnull at 11:57 PM on October 13, 2011