"Get messages" button issues and "no available folders"

[Dreamer8]

Hello,

from version 52.1.1 (32-bit) portable I have the following problems, I think they are related:

#1 "Get Messages" button doesn't work at all, emails are not checked at startup, "Get Messages" account list is empty.

#2 In Account settings > Copies & Folders > all drop-down fields are unavailable and the text is "No available folders"

Emails are loading correctly with option "Check for new messages every [X] minutes for all accounts!
Emails are loading correctly when I click the "online/offline" button (first small button in the status bar), and then click "Download Now" on "Download Messages" dialog. It's also the workaround I found just today (by mistake).

I already tried to:
- remove "Get Messages" and re-add
- use "restore default set" for toolbar
- start TB as administrator
- restore whole TB folder from backup except "\Data\profile\Mail", I used new Mail folder, everything was working perfect, after auto-update issue was back, so all files was the same in both cases, so it looks, the only difference is the new version

Currently using TB 52.4.0 (32-bit) portable (latest), Windows 10 Home 64-bit.

Is it a bug? Thanks in advance.

[tanstaafl]

I haven't noticed any other threads about this. I suspect its a problem with your profile. Have you tried running in safe mode (Help -> restart with add-ons disabled) to see if this is a side effect of an add-on that has problems with the latest version?

A quick search didn't find anything about "no available folders". That's not the same as a dangerous directory, which I'm familiar with. Double check that you are working online by seeing if you have a File -> Offline -> Work Offline menu command, rather than relying upon the icon in the lower left corner of the main window.

Is this a POP or IMAP account?

Check the "local directory" setting at the bottom of the accounts server settings, next to the Browse button. It specifies where the accounts files are stored. Is it still pointing to a directory named after the mail server, within the profile? If you're using a Gmail POP account it would typically be ..\Mail\pop.gmail.com for example.

What is the accounts "local directory"?

I suggest you (temporarily) install the normal Mozilla version of Thunderbird on your hard disk and use a -profile "path" command line argument to specify the location of the profile used by Portable Thunderbird. See if it has the same problem. That will help you isolate if its a problem with portable Thunderbird or the profile.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Running_from_ ... hunderbird

[Dreamer8]

Thank you for the reply.

- I have multiple POP gmail accounts
- I tried to disable all addons manually and restart TB
- Local directory is C:\Programs\Mozilla Thunderbird\Data\profile\Mail\Local Folders
- I am sure I'm online, TB is not loading any emails at start, after 3 minutes it's asking for master password and then it's loading main account
- I tried to install standard version and use command line argument, it's the same as portable version, broken

Anyway, as I said, when I used whole TB folder from backup and new Mails folder, it was working good, after auto-update and restart it was broken again - so all the files, mails, settings were the same!

Any ideas are welcome.

[Dreamer8]

Anyone else with the same problem? What about compare the settings, files, there must be a difference somewhere...

[DanRaisch]

What security software are you running on that system?
When you refer to the installing the standard version, did you install that in a new directory location and create a new profile or install it over the existing portable program files?

[tanstaafl]

- Local directory is C:\Programs\Mozilla Thunderbird\Data\profile\Mail\Local Folders

That's a poor location if Thunderbird is installed at C:\Programs\Mozilla Thunderbird since it might get wiped as part of upgrading to a new version (though I expected Thunderbird to be installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird). Why are you storing your profile there?

The default location for a profile under Windows 10 is C:\Users\<Windows user name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\ . Personally, I store mine at c:\profiles to minimize the path length and avoid any spurious dangerous directory error messages.

edit: I forgot, you're using Portable Thunderbird. Why is your profile on drive C: if you are using Portable Thunderbird? The whole idea of Portable Thunderbird is not to install anything on the PC since you are a roving user. I'd assume drive C: is your windows 10 boot drive, not a USB flashdrive.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_p ... hunderbird
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Thunderbird
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Dangerous_dir ... hunderbird

[DanRaisch]

That's a poor location if Thunderbird is installed at C:\Programs\Mozilla Thunderbird since it might get wiped as part of upgrading to a new version (though I expected Thunderbird to be installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird). Why are you storing your profile there?

Perhaps because the OP is running Thunderbird Portable? The portable version installs the data folder under the program directory. OK on a flash drive or the like but a bad idea on a regular hard drive.

[Dreamer8]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm using the path C:\Programs\ for most of the programs, most of them are portable versions, or non-portable in some kind of portable mode. Reasons are not so important, but it's easier using, backup, access, I had never any problems with this and it's irrelevant for this issue, explanation is above and I'll try to explain again.

- I tried to install standard version to a new folder and use command line argument with the path to the existing profile.
Install folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Thunderbird
Profile folder/command line argument: -profile "C:\Programs\Mozilla Thunderbird\Data\profile"

- Again - with the old version and the same profile, same program files, same profile (all files were 100% same) it works perfect, but after upgrading to latest version, it's broken again.

- I'm using Windows defender only

- The problem is ONLY the Get messages button, sub-menu and "no available folders", messages are loading correctly each 3 minutes and when I toggle online/offline mode.

So I think, it might be a problem, conflict with the new version and some old option, I'd need to find it, because I don't want to create new profile and configure and download 6 gmail accounts and re-download messages (over 1GB!).

EDIT: All in all, loading of messages works always - with any version. "Get messages" button works good with last version before 52.1.1 (32-bit) (and older), "get messages" button doesn't work from version 52.1.1 (32-bit) (and newer) - with the same profile files and same program files (100% same, except the update files downloaded with last update).

[tanstaafl]

"I tried to install standard version to a new folder and use command line argument with the path to the existing profile .... but after upgrading to latest version, it's broken again."

Do you mean using the -profile command line argument with Mozilla (not portable) Thunderbird 52.4 has this problem?

If so, I suggest you re-install a older working version and wait a couple of minor releases before upgrading. While the official line is that you always need to run the latest version because of potential security risks in practice as long as you don't fall too far behind and are careful what attachments you open you should be fine.

Another possibility is to try a daily build from http://download-origin.cdn.mozilla.net/ ... m-central/ . They are untested and it definitely is a risk (so its a good idea to backup your profile beforehand and disable automated updates) but in practice they usually work well. I've used them fairly often and never lost any data.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/ ... underbird/
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Go_back_to_an ... hunderbird

[tanstaafl]

https://dxr.mozilla.org/comm-central/se ... rect=false searches the Thunderbird sources for references to "no available folders" . One of the snippets makes me wonder if you are using POP accounts configured to use a global inbox? If so try disabling global inbox for one of the POP accounts and see if that workarounds the problem.

[Dreamer8]

Do you mean using the -profile command line argument with Mozilla (not portable) Thunderbird 52.4 has this problem?

Yes.

I will be using the latest version, because new messages are loading correctly and I can use the offline/online button to load messages instantly - as workaround to "get messages" button.

The problem is, that I can't load messages only for one account, because "get messages" sub-menu with profiles is empty, so I can only load messages from all accounts (with that offline/online button trick).

One of the snippets makes me wonder if you are using POP accounts configured to use a global inbox? If so try disabling global inbox for one of the POP accounts and see if that workarounds the problem.

I'm not sure what you mean, "local directory" option per account (Account name > Server settings > )?

It's different with accounts (local directory):
C:\Programs\Mozilla Thunderbird\Data\profile\Mail\pop.gmail.com
C:\Programs\Mozilla Thunderbird\Data\profile\Mail\gmail.com
C:\Programs\Mozilla Thunderbird\Data\profile\Mail\name.surname@gmail.com

Could you explain what exactly should I change, please?

EDIT: BTW it's weird, that I use these options under <Account name> > Server settings:
[v] Check for new messages at startup
[v] Check for new messages every [x] minutes

...while first option doesn't work, second option works good.

[tanstaafl]

Changing the local directory to use C:\Programs\Mozilla Thunderbird\Data\profile\Mail\\Local Folders doesn't hide the POP account in the folder pane like configuring a global inbox does. It also prevents you from sharing message filters with other accounts. There might be some other differences I'm not aware of. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Global_Inbox

In tools -> account settings -> account_name -> server settings -> advanced choose "inbox for this account" (if you want to use the POP account normally) rather than selecting "inbox for another account" and then selecting "Global Inbox (Local Folders)" in the Choose Account list box. Thunderbird used to default to creating a global inbox when you added a POP account. It hasn't for while. A quick test for whether you have a global inbox is whether the account name for the POP account is listed in the folder pane or not.

[Dreamer8]

I had the option "inbox for this account" for all accounts, is it right?

I have just 2 accounts in the main window (screenshot), but I have no accounts in the "get messages" sub-menu list with new version and all accounts in old version.

[tanstaafl]

"I had the option "inbox for this account" for all accounts, is it right?"

Yes. Based on the screen shot you aren't configured to use a global inbox.

"I have just 2 accounts in the main window (screenshot), but I have no accounts in the "get messages" sub-menu list with new version and all accounts in old version."

That looks like you are using view -> folder -> unified. While that re-arranges the order of folders/accounts in the folder pane it shouldn't effect the "get messages" list box.

[Dreamer8]

I found another way to download new messages without switching to offline mode:

In menu > File > Offline > Download/Sync Now... > OK

I can't create a toolbar button for this option, so it would replace the "Get messages" button which is not working. Is there a way to create a toolbar button for "Download/Sync Now...", perhaps as extension?

I found a workaround though. Using the program HotkeyP, I created macro for F5 hotkey in TB to use that option, so in TB F5 works to download all messages from all accounts.

If someone has the same problem, here are the options:
Hot key: F5
Command: Macro to active window
Parameters: \alt.f\sleep1.l\sleep1.s\sleep1\altup\enter thunderbird.exe