[SOLVED] Thunderbird 31 - Account already exists?

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Buzzrr
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[SOLVED] Thunderbird 31 - Account already exists?

Post by Buzzrr »

Being locked out in changing anything in Thunderbird 31.1.1 account settings, popup says An account with this name already exists. Please enter a different account name.

Uninstalled and installed Thunderbird 24.6.0 then had no problem accessing settings. Removed TB 24.6 and put back TB 31.1.1 and same problem occurred.

Strange thing is only happening with one specific mail server account with two profiles affected. The other account profiles with different email servers have access to in TB 31.1.1. :-k
Last edited by Buzzrr on September 13th, 2014, 5:50 am, edited 2 times in total.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Account already exists?

Post by tanstaafl »

Thunderbird expects each account to use a unique combination of the account type (POP/IMAP), mail server name, and username to specify how to connect to the mailbox. While Thunderbird wants you to assign a unique account name for each account I've never run into a scenario where it matters since its just a string that gets displayed. What exactly are you doing when this error occurs?

If its locking you out from editing one accounts settings using tools -> account settings try using the config editor in tools -> options -> advanced -> general to edit the account name. Start by searching for the accounts email address in order to identify the server id . On my PC mail.server.server2.userName contains the email address for my main account. mail.server.server2.name has the account name. On your PC your account probably uses a different server id. (FYI mail.account.account2.server is set to server2, which actually has most of the accounts settings. It seems backwards as you would expect the account settings to be stored in mail.account.account2 but all it stores is the server id and a list of identities.)

Or just edit the accounts name while running 24.*.

I found some related threads such as https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1012587 that appear to describe that problem occurring when using the new account wizard. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=322738 is really old and unconfirmed but seems to describe a similar problem when adding an account.
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Buzzrr
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Re: Account already exists?

Post by Buzzrr »

I'm not the only one having this problem.
Tested older Thunderbird 31 versions which do the same. TB 24.8.0. does not have the problem.

...and yes it's when accessing through tools -> account settings - nothing can be selected.
Each account has it's own name. None are identical. They are using the same Gmail POP & SMTP mail servers.

tanstaafl wrote:I found some related threads such as https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1012587 that appear to describe that problem occurring when using the new account wizard.

I did read through this earlier before posting though I am not using the wizard.

I see you've previously addressed this issue in 2010. I however am not setting up accounts. Just needed access to the settings.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Thunderbird 31 - Account already exists?

Post by tanstaafl »

I can't reproduce your problem. Everything I can find about that error message involves adding new accounts, which is a different problem. I suggest you stick with 24.8.0 for now and file a bug report at https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/ . If you do that please post a link to it. Please attach a copy of your prefs.js file in both of your profiles as an attachment to the bug report because if anybody looks at it the first thing they will want to figure out is whats unique about the problem account.
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Buzzrr
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Re: Thunderbird 31 - Account already exists?

Post by Buzzrr »

I tried to disable add-ons then removed them completely but that didn't help either. Just came up with error as soon as I tried to click upon anything within the account manager.

Image


Found this information about the same issue from 2009, but it is so outdated that not too much of it is relevant. Besides it's only for adding additional accounts. It states that the error stems from somewhere in user_pref(“mail.identity.id, however the current prefs.js. file does not contain anything about <some number>. Maddening to say the least! ](*,)

:er: For some reason (as I write this) one of the mail accounts is now working in TB 31.1.1? I can click upon items within the account manager without the popup prompt. All of the add-ons are enabled as well. I didn't change anything in the prefs.js file. I did however make a backup copy though it was in both profile accounts. Now I have to decipher why it works in one and not in the other. :-k

Update: Well now none work again! WTH! :crazyeyes:
This happened after the computer was rebooted.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Thunderbird 31 - Account already exists?

Post by tanstaafl »

They should be in prefs.js. They are in my copy. You're looking for something that looks like user_pref("mail.identity.id1.useremail", "the From: email address used for that identity"); One identity is created for each account. You can also assign extra identities to an account (a multiple identity). Those can either be the identity used by another account, or a completely new identity (for example when you want to select an alias in the drop down list of From: addresses). Perhaps something messed up the identity assignment for your account.

Try using the config editor instead, and search for .useremail . I have one for each identity, each set to the email address used by that identity. I'm not aware of a master setting listing all valid identities like there is for accounts. I'm not sure what happens if you specify an identity that doesn't exist. My second account (which uses mail.server.server2.* to store almost all of the information) has mail.account.account2.identities set to id24,id1. There is a mail.identity.id1.* and a mail.identity.id24.* which each have a complete copy of account settings.

Search for your bad accounts email address in the config editor and find what server id its associated with. In the example I used my email address was set in mail.server.server2.userName and the name of the account in mail.server.server2.name . From that you can find the account id (usually the same id), which will let you see what identities are assigned to that account. Check that those identities actually exist.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Multiple_iden ... il_account doesn't mention the .useremail setting, but http://www-archive.mozilla.org/projects ... ities.html (from back before multiple identity support was added to the GUI) does.
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Buzzrr
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Re: Thunderbird 31 - Account already exists?

Post by Buzzrr »

tanstaafl wrote:Try using the config editor instead... My second account (which uses mail.server.server2.* to store almost all of the information)


The answer was staring right in the face though I'd seem to have blinders on! #-o

So I was looking through the settings once again and noticed that there were two accounts with the same name - two disc space & junk settings - but that's all that was there (seen above in picture). I was able to briefly get into the settings before being locked out again. Luckily I was able to stay upon the second identical account name and then simply changed it to something else. I was then able to traverse through the settings without any name popup prompts... simple! :oops:

I don't know why though it has duplicate accounts. It never was set up that way.

Anyway these were the keys to the solution inside about:config editor.
mail.server.server1.name;
mail.server.server2.name;


Now I know what to look for & fix the other affected mail profile! :D

BTW, thanks for your assistance with this! =D>

Just noticed looking through this account example that the mail.server.server2.name; should be Local Folders.
mzlforum
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Re: [SOLVED] Thunderbird 31 - Account already exists?

Post by mzlforum »

bzrrr .. you saved me .. thanks.. now stuck with The message could not be sent because the connection to SMTP server smtp.googlemail.com timed out. :D
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DanRaisch
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Re: [SOLVED] Thunderbird 31 - Account already exists?

Post by DanRaisch »

mzlforum, you now have a different problem. Please start a new topic to address this.
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