78.4.0 Asking for Password on Startup

[sengsational]

Earlier, Thunderbird only asked for my password when I clicked "Get Messages". This is exactly how I wanted it to work. I don't have it get email when it wants to, only when I request it.

Then it updated today to 78.4.0 and now it's asking for my password when Thunderbird starts. That's not the way it used to work and not what I want.

Please advise.

[tanstaafl]

You have only one account, which is a POP account?

What version did you upgrade from? 78.3 or something much older such as 60.*?

Your authentication method is "normal password" in the server settings (not something like OAuth2)?

Did you used to disable check for new mail on startup and check for new mail every X minutes in the server settings and also disable global search/indexing in tools -> options so that Thunderbird only fetched /checked for new mail when you pressed "get messages"?

Try running in safe mode (help -> restart with add-ons disabled) to see if your problem is a side effect of an add-on that no longer works correctly due to the upgrade.

[sengsational]

Thanks tanstaafl for your kind attention.

I have several POP accounts, all going to pop.gmail.com. Authentication method is "normal password" across all the POP accounts. In call cases, "Check for new messages at startup" is not checked. Same with the x minutes checks, so no reason to authenticate with a server on startup.

Update History shows previous version was 68.12.1, installed on 10/1/2020. 78.4.0 installed on 10/29/2020.

I don't have any add-ons.

So still a mystery. I guess it's no big deal, because if I hit cancel, everything works as before. But it's one extra click that shouldn't be required.

[sengsational]

It also seems to be taking longer to start-up. Is it trying to phone home? Not very Mozilla-like, if that's what it is.

[DanRaisch]

Not very Mozilla-like, if that's what it is.

I don't know what that is supposed to mean.

Perhaps Thunderbird is mistakenly looking for a Master Password. See his article and try to reset any setting that is causing that -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Master_passwo ... r_password

[sengsational]

Perhaps Thunderbird is mistakenly looking for a Master Password. See his article and try to reset any setting that is causing that -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Master_passwo ... r_password

Thanks for the response, Dan.

I have a master password set. I want the master password's functionality, which is to keep stored passwords secure.

As a test, and based on the link you provided, I removed the master password, closed Thunderbird, opened Thunderbird (of course there was no password prompt, as expected). Then I entered the master password, closed Thunderbird, opened Thunderbird, and was greeted with a password prompt before going to fetch emails (unexpected). As I mentioned above, I don't have any automatic fetching of email turned on, so there is no need for the password at startup.

Again, this was not working this way until the most recent update. In other words, before this update, I could open Thunderbird, there would be no prompt for a password. If I clicked to "Get Messages", the password prompt would appear at that time (expected).

Not very Mozilla-like, if that's what it is.

I don't know what that is supposed to mean.

The idea that a Mozilla product would contact some server without being specific as to why doesn't seem to be in line with the idea that Mozilla products are purported to be less intrusive with respect to leaking personal data. That's not really germane to the apparent change in behavior, though.

[tanstaafl]

"The idea that a Mozilla product would contact some server without being specific as to why doesn't seem to be in line with the idea that Mozilla products are purported to be less intrusive with respect to leaking personal data."

You stated you got prompted for the master password earlier than normal (before it was needed to check for new mail) and that the first request could be canceled. I think you jumped to the wrong conclusion that its leaking personal data. It sounds like its just doing what it used to do before but in a different sequence than before, not leaking data. Based on https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1662185 this sounds like a regression bug that might be caused by Lightning being made part of the core code (rather than an add-on) that wasn't caught because most users configure Thunderbird to check for new mail on startup (and there were so many other things to complain about in 78).

[ton85]

Is there any solutions to this?
Version 91 is still asking for the password at startup, even though emails aren't checked at startup.

[tanstaafl]

Please create a new thread, and mention whether its asking for a master/primary or a account password. If its a account password what checkboxes did you uncheck?

Don't forget the possibility of a remote calendar or remote address book connection being made.

Locked as the thread is over a year old.