CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

User Help for Seamonkey and Mozilla Suite
User avatar
LinuxUserSince1991
Posts: 337
Joined: February 2nd, 2007, 5:03 pm
Location: Los Angeles area

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by LinuxUserSince1991 »

The good news is that unless whatever Apple did actually wiped out your data, it should be fine--it's just a matter of locating it. Your e-mail accounts are stored *somewhere* on your disk. Do you know the location? I do, because I always put mine in the same location on a new hard drive or computer, and it's NOT the default location given by SM. If you know the location it's a simple matter of pointing SM to it.

Right now, from the SM e-mail client, go to Edit | Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings | <the account you want> | Server Settings and tell us what's shown under "Local directory." This is the solution right here. All we need to know is where your mail is actually stored, then you'll use this setting to point to it. BUT, if Apple DELETED your mail, you're screwed!! I hope you have a good backup.
Last edited by LinuxUserSince1991 on June 10th, 2022, 10:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
wwe
Posts: 275
Joined: July 6th, 2015, 7:09 am

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by wwe »

Thanks but why I really need is help in retrieving my deleted e mails. Can that be done and if so exactly how? Thanks
User avatar
LinuxUserSince1991
Posts: 337
Joined: February 2nd, 2007, 5:03 pm
Location: Los Angeles area

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by LinuxUserSince1991 »

You're not understanding the issue. If Apple actually DELETED your e-mails, they're gone. If Apple simply screwed something up so SM isn't looking in the right place for your e-mails, then it's easy-peasy to fix.
wwe
Posts: 275
Joined: July 6th, 2015, 7:09 am

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by wwe »

Thanks. I'm working on it now. Appreciate your help!
wwe
Posts: 275
Joined: July 6th, 2015, 7:09 am

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by wwe »

Thanks. I'm working on it now. Appreciate your help!
wwe
Posts: 275
Joined: July 6th, 2015, 7:09 am

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by wwe »

A friend is here trying to help me. He wants to know why there is no password to get into sea monkey
User avatar
LinuxUserSince1991
Posts: 337
Joined: February 2nd, 2007, 5:03 pm
Location: Los Angeles area

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by LinuxUserSince1991 »

wwe wrote:A friend is here trying to help me. He wants to know why there is no password to get into sea monkey
Huh? Why would there be a password to use a browser/e-mail client?

Each of your e-mail accounts in SM would have passwords, i.e., if one account is for joeblow@somewhere.com you'd need to supply the address and its password in order for SM to retrieve its mail. Is that what he means?
wwe
Posts: 275
Joined: July 6th, 2015, 7:09 am

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by wwe »

No idea but was just wondering!

Anyway a Mac guy came over a few hours ago and thankfully fixed everything. I think he went to TIME MACHINE and then to yesterday around noon and went to that days' Library/ Application Support/SeaMonkey and copied it and pasted it in my current Library etc and finally after at least 2 hours it replaced what was in there and everything I had before is finally back!! Phew!

By the way how to I back everything up just in case as I have never done this before? Thanks
User avatar
LinuxUserSince1991
Posts: 337
Joined: February 2nd, 2007, 5:03 pm
Location: Los Angeles area

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by LinuxUserSince1991 »

wwe wrote:No idea but was just wondering!

Anyway a Mac guy came over a few hours ago and thankfully fixed everything. I think he went to TIME MACHINE and then to yesterday around noon and went to that days' Library/ Application Support/SeaMonkey and copied it and pasted it in my current Library etc and finally after at least 2 hours it replaced what was in there and everything I had before is finally back!! Phew!
Excellent! I'm really glad you were able to get your mail back. I'm not at all familiar with Macs (I only use Linux); I've heard of a 'time machine' feature but would never have thought about it. In my world, once I delete something, it's GONE!! :shock:
By the way how to I back everything up just in case as I have never done this before? Thanks
The method I've used for decades is to simply copy my SM mail directory--with its entire subdirectory structure intact--to another location, i.e., an external hard drive, another computer on my network, a paid cloud storage account, etc. There's no need to use a backup program. It sounds like you're a point-and-click person. With whatever file manager you're using, you just need to copy your SM mail director(y)(ies) to another location.

Earlier, I asked for the location shown under "Local directory" in your SM settings. If you provide that it'll make giving instructions easier. Do you have multiple e-mail accounts set up in SM? If so, you need to know each account's mail directory.

When I get a new computer, I immediately partition its disk using a certain protocol I've used for decades, including a partition named "data"--on this partition I copy my current SM mail directory and I'm good to go. My locations look something like:

/data/mail/account1
/data/mail/account1/<various subdirectories>
/data/mail/account2
/data/mail/account2/<various subdirectories>

and so on. "Various subdirectories" includes each account's inbox, sent mail, drafts, etc. All I have to do to back up all of my mail is copy /data/mail to my desired backup location. Done. Since it's a straight copy, there's no need for any special software to restore it--just copy it from the backup location and you're good to go.

If you need help, let us know.
wwe
Posts: 275
Joined: July 6th, 2015, 7:09 am

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by wwe »

Hi. I really appreciate all the help you've given me on this as i was driving me crazy!

The local directory is "/Users/pauldowling/Library/Application Support/SeaMonkey/4w6sv9pk.default/Mail/mail.comcast-1.net"

I only have one account

So yes I'd love it if you could provide me further details!

Oh and by the way TIME MACHINE has been a life saver for me

Thanks

Paul
User avatar
LinuxUserSince1991
Posts: 337
Joined: February 2nd, 2007, 5:03 pm
Location: Los Angeles area

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by LinuxUserSince1991 »

wwe wrote:Hi. I really appreciate all the help you've given me on this as i was driving me crazy!
You're very welcome. :)
The local directory is "/Users/pauldowling/Library/Application Support/SeaMonkey/4w6sv9pk.default/Mail/mail.comcast-1.net"

I only have one account

So yes I'd love it if you could provide me further details!
Great! All you need to do is fire up whatever file manager you use on your computer--I'm not at all familiar with Mac, so I don't know any by name, but just a basic file manager that lets you see your files, directories, computer structure, etc., is all you need. Using your file manager, navigate to /Users/pauldowling/Library/Application Support/SeaMonkey/4w6sv9pk.default/Mail and then use the file manager's 'copy' function to copy and paste mail.comcast-1.net to wherever you want the backup.

Do you have an external drive? A thumb drive? Anything? :) I like backing up files on removable media because they're portable and easy to take from place to place (if need be). As noted earlier, by simply copying files rather than using a backup program, you'll never run up against needing that same program to restore the files. It will always be a simple matter of copying it to where you want it.

Where do you want to store your mail backup(s)?
Oh and by the way TIME MACHINE has been a life saver for me
The thing is--and this is coming from the old-school UNIX user in me--you really shouldn't count on something like that. A much better practice is to always have a current backup. In a situation like yours that started all of this, a good idea would've been to grab a current backup of anything important--like your SM mail--*before* letting Apple do whatever they did to your computer. I know, I know, hindsight is 20/20 and all that... But really, hard drives fail, computers break, fires and floods happen, there are all sorts of reasons why it's REALLY a good idea to get into the habit of backing up important files. That way you don't need to worry about losing data or hoping you can rely on something like 'time machine.'

If you need any help copying the files, let us know! Tell us which file manager you're using, too. Maybe a Mac person can chime in.
wwe
Posts: 275
Joined: July 6th, 2015, 7:09 am

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by wwe »

Great great advice and suggestions!! I'll work on these tomorrow. Might need to call Apple tomorrow but I've had a Mac since 1987 and I'm pretty good at figuring things out. This SM e mail problem was something I couldn't do. The guy who came over here is a Mac expert although he had never heard of SM so I kinda steered him in a good direction thanks to some things you told me but I have to gve him credit as he did a great job. I have a mail order business and I don't know what I would have done if I had lost all the e mails and contacts etc so I'm extremely happy tonight.

Again many thanks for helping me and all your suggestions.

Paul
User avatar
LinuxUserSince1991
Posts: 337
Joined: February 2nd, 2007, 5:03 pm
Location: Los Angeles area

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by LinuxUserSince1991 »

wwe wrote:Great great advice and suggestions!! I'll work on these tomorrow. Might need to call Apple tomorrow but I've had a Mac since 1987 and I'm pretty good at figuring things out. This SM e mail problem was something I couldn't do. The guy who came over here is a Mac expert although he had never heard of SM so I kinda steered him in a good direction thanks to some things you told me but I have to gve him credit as he did a great job. I have a mail order business and I don't know what I would have done if I had lost all the e mails and contacts etc so I'm extremely happy tonight.

Again many thanks for helping me and all your suggestions.

Paul
You're very welcome, and I'm so happy you're happy! Please, whatever else you do, get into the habit of backing up critical data. Just ask yourself which data you couldn't live without, and then back it up. For me that equates to mail, images and videos I've taken, financial data, family-related things, etc. Since you're running a business, you really.......really need to have your data backed up just in case.

Back in the old days, when "off-site backups" literally meant a different physical location, I would do a nightly backup at work where I was the programmer and sysadmin on a UNIX system, leaving one copy in my locked office at work and taking one copy home with me. That way, if anything catastrophic happened, we were covered, at least up until I left the night before--which is better then nothing! Today, my off-site backups are in the cloud somewhere. But I still keep physical backups, too, which are much handier to restore than cloud backups and can be done without an Internet connection.
wwe
Posts: 275
Joined: July 6th, 2015, 7:09 am

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by wwe »

Thanks for the response.

Yes I have always backed up everything (well of course not SM as honestly I had no idea it could be done! No idea why!) since I have owned a Mac since 1987 and I love them. There are so many things I like about them but maybe TIME MACHIN is one of the best things about it. I have used TM over the years but really not because I have lost anything but because sometimes I might want to go back to a previous folder that is no longer on my desktop and it's so easy to go back and find it. I also have two SEAGATE backups which automatically back up most everything ip. But of course SEA MONKEY is another story as TM does not back this up. And thankfully everything on SM was backed up under Library/ Application Support / SeaMonkey.

Again THANK you for your help.
Last edited by wwe on June 11th, 2022, 7:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
LinuxUserSince1991
Posts: 337
Joined: February 2nd, 2007, 5:03 pm
Location: Los Angeles area

Re: CAN'T OPEN SM (Mac)

Post by LinuxUserSince1991 »

wwe wrote:Thanks for the response.

Yes I have always backed up everything (well of course not SM as honestly I had no idea it could be done! No idea why!) since I have owned a Mac since 1987 and I love them. There are so many things I like about them but maybe TIME MACHIN is one of the best things about it. I have used TM over the years but really not because I have lost anything but because sometimes I might want to go back to a previous folder that is no longer on my desktop and it's so easy to go back and find it. I also have two SEAGATE backups which automatically back up most everything ip. But of course SEA MONKEY is another story as TM does not back this up. And thankfully everything on SM was backed up under Library/ Application Support / SeaMonkey.

Again that you for your help.
It's good to know you're already in the habit of making backups.

One thing to keep in mind is that SM's mail is just like any other data--it's all written out to your hard drive. (Unless, of course, you're leaving your mail on the server, which I only do when transitioning to a new computer.) As long as you're saving SM's mail locally, it's just another set of files and directories, like any other.

Now that you know the location of your mail, you can manually back it up whenever you want. You can also change its location; as I noted, I always put my SM mail in /data/mail/<account_name> rather than let SM put it in the default location, which on Linux would be something like /home/<username>/.mozilla/seamonkey/1234567890.default/Mail and subdirectories for each account. I don't see any need for *you* to change your mail's location right now, so I'd just leave it as is, but at least now you know WHERE it is! :)
Post Reply