mail notifications only working on manual check...

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johnny_canuck
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Joined: November 14th, 2016, 3:36 pm

mail notifications only working on manual check...

Post by johnny_canuck »

So, I have TB set up to 'play a sound' on receiving new mail. THis works fine, but only (i) on starting TB, or (ii) a manual check. If I send a note to my account, and then wait for TB to access the server (POP), which is does by default every 10 minutes, it pulls the email OK, but doesn't 'play the sound'.

Any suggestions on where to start?
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tanstaafl
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Re: mail notifications only working on manual check...

Post by tanstaafl »

See if its side effect of an add-on by trying again in safe mode (help -> restart with add-ons disabled).

You could also try using the Mailbox Alert add-on at https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/th ... box-alert/ to manage your notifications. Sometimes that works around a bug in Thunderbird because the add-on uses their own code to implement a feature that is already built into Thunderbird.
johnny_canuck
Posts: 22
Joined: November 14th, 2016, 3:36 pm

Re: mail notifications only working on manual check...

Post by johnny_canuck »

Actually, that suggestion gave me a clue. I happened to notice that various emails were showing up in my inbox, without prompting the notification sound, were also showing up in a folder called 'uncertain'. I am pretty sure there is no 'uncertain' folder using standard TB without addons. When I looked in prefs.js, sure enough, there was a line that was a holdover for an add-on (JunQuilla) that was not cleaned out when I uninstalled it during the upgrade from 58 -> 60:

Code: Select all

user_pref("extensions.junquilla.installed", true);
The JunQUilla add-on used to create a folder called 'Uncertain', whenever it received an email that it wasn't sure how to 'classify'. Mail sent to it didn't cause a notification, if I recall correctly.

So, I've edited out the 'junquilla' line from prefs.js, and deleted the 'uncertain' folder. I'll see if this solves things.

What puzzles me, though, is that as far as I can tell, the junquilla line in prefs.js is in fact the only place in my entire profiel that references anything related to an 'uncertain' folder. Since there is nothing related to Junquilla in the 'Extensions' folder (at least, as far as I can tell), what the heck is generating the 'Uncertain' folder?
Last edited by johnny_canuck on July 4th, 2019, 6:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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tanstaafl
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Re: mail notifications only working on manual check...

Post by tanstaafl »

The mail folder doesn't disappear when you remove the add-on. AFAIK its a normal folder.
johnny_canuck
Posts: 22
Joined: November 14th, 2016, 3:36 pm

Re: mail notifications only working on manual check...

Post by johnny_canuck »

tanstaafl wrote:The mail folder doesn't disappear when you remove the add-on. AFAIK its a normal folder.
I know that. But, what puzzled me is that (i) when I uninstalled JunQuilla, it didn't remove the line from prefs.js that seemed to indicate it was still installed, and (ii) even if I blew away 'Uncertain' (which is not a folder that TB generates, but Junquilla does/did), it would re-appear.

I think I've figured out (2). I use a global inbox. Suppose it collates maile from accounts A and B. Then, if I delete 'Uncertain' from the global inbox, but forget to also delete it from A and B, then it re-generates itself.

Now that I've removed all vestiges of JunQuilla and 'Uncertain' (I think...), I'm guessing (hoping?) the notifcation problem in my OP will be resolved. Stay tuned...
johnny_canuck
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Joined: November 14th, 2016, 3:36 pm

Re: mail notifications only working on manual check...

Post by johnny_canuck »

Here is the status now -- I'll post this in full because I think there is a new bit of 'technological weirdness' that others might run into.

1\ after deleting all remnants of JunQuilla (as described aboe), still having the 'periodic' problem that I wasn't getting 'audible' notifcations -- 'periodic' and 'audible' being important.

2\ I did happen to notice that occasionally I would get a notifcation in the system tray, but not 'hear' anything. So, notification in the broad sense is working. But, periodically, no audible notification

3\ also happened to notice that my new-ish speakers would periodically look as if they had 'shut down' (or, better, gone into standby mode). In fact, they had. Turns out that with many (most?) new speakers, there is a built-in new 'power-saving feature' that really does put the speakers into 'standby' mode. From the website for my speaker manufacturer (Creative):
In keeping with ErP (Energy-related Products) regulations, your Creative speaker will go into Standby mode if it doesn’t detect audio input (via aux-in/line-in) after a specific amount of time. This speaker uses a fixed threshold input level to enable auto power management feature. This means if you greatly lower the volume on your mp3 player or smart device, your speaker might interpret this as silence and go into Standby mode. This is by no means a product defect but a design intent in keeping with ErP regulations.
And (the big moment), if the speaker is in stand-by mode, it may not 'wakeup' when TB tries to notify you of an incoming message. The generic fix is to (i) go into the mixer panel for your computer, and turn the volume setting sup as loud as possible without distortaiton, and then (ii) control the actual volume of what you hear using the volume controls on the speaker.

I tried this earlier this morning, and so far, so good. There a number of people on various discussion/support forums who are complaining about unintended artifacts of ErP (not just mail notifications). ErP sounds like a great idea, but...
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tanstaafl
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Re: mail notifications only working on manual check...

Post by tanstaafl »

I'm used to thinking of a speaker as getting its power from the signal inputs, so there would be no power saving by going into standby mode. But apparently Creative speakers have a small power brick. Things have changed :)
johnny_canuck
Posts: 22
Joined: November 14th, 2016, 3:36 pm

Re: mail notifications only working on manual check...

Post by johnny_canuck »

tanstaafl wrote:I'm used to thinking of a speaker as getting its power from the signal inputs, so there would be no power saving by going into standby mode. But apparently Creative speakers have a small power brick. Things have changed :)
Indeeed, so they have.

One solution I've been looking at is to run a process which sends the audio-equivalent of a keep-alive signal to the sound/audio device(s). One such utility is 'Sound Keeper' (http://veg.by/en/projects/soundkeeper/), although I haven't tried it yet.
johnny_canuck
Posts: 22
Joined: November 14th, 2016, 3:36 pm

Re: mail notifications only working on manual check...

Post by johnny_canuck »

Confirmed that 'speakers going into standby' was the culprit (at lerast, 'confirmed' based on no recurrence of the issue once I tried the cheap fix of (i) go into the mixer panel for your computer, and turn the volume setting sup as loud as possible without distortaiton, and then (ii) control the actual volume of what you hear using the volume controls on the speaker.
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