How to locate Thunderbird email outside Save file? (Solved)

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Sylvander
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How to locate Thunderbird email outside Save file? (Solved)

#1 Post by Sylvander »

1. Thunderbird was set up and working OK.
I'd moved /root/.thunderbird to /mnt/home/.thunderbird and symlinked it back, and it was working OK.
Received emails were showing etc.
All being done within Slacko-5.3.3.1-SCSI.
All GOOD. :D

2. Then I installed a PET file for a financial program.
The program wouldn't run, so I uninstalled it, and rebooted without saving the session.
Contrary to my expectation, all traces of the install taking place were NOT gone. :?
About 4 lines of errors were now being displayed in the console window whenever I ran it, instead of the previous single error line.
So I made a "Pupsavehotbackup" of the Slacko, and...
Rebooted to Racy-5.3, and deleted the slackosave file, and restored a recent backup copy.
The backup didn't include an installation of Thunderbird, so....

3. I installed the identical version of Thunderbird to the version previously installed [version 13.0.1].
There was no /root/.thunderbird folder at this point in time.
Then...
(a) Ran thunderbird, told the opening dialog I wanted setup later, and shut down.
There was now a /root/.thunderbird folder.
So...
(b) I deleted it, and symlinked the previously saved /mnt/home/.thunderbird to /root.
(c) Thunderbird was now working as I wanted, with all three identities showing, with their stored emails, BUT...
(d) IT WOULD NOT PERSIST BETWEEN SESSIONS!
i.e. After reboot, even though I'd manually saved the session changes, by clicking the desktop "Save" icon...
When I ran Thunderbird, the first-run dialog appeared, and no identities or emails were shown.
(d) If I delete the /root/.thunderbird folder, and replace it with a symlink of /mnt/home/.thunderbird, then all is well for the remainder of the session, but all of this is lost at shut-down/reboot, even though I save the session changes.
Last edited by Sylvander on Wed 15 Aug 2012, 15:02, edited 3 times in total.

Jasper

#2 Post by Jasper »

Hi Sylvander,

Re (2) Sometimes programs will not uninstall cleanly and more rarely not at all. However, it seems more likely that you actually uninstalled and then saved.

If you still think you did not save at that time; then try reinstalling the Financial program and don't even bother to uninstall it - merely see what happens when you reboot without saving.

Re (3) I am not clear why you installed an identical copy of Thunderbird instead of copying from your mount/home/.thunderbird backup to mnt/home and then linking from that thunderbird directory to root before saving.

My regards

I assume that upon installation and use all of Thunderbird's files reside in a dot directory of that name in root. Kindly advise the details if some files are stored elsewhere.

Sylvander
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#3 Post by Sylvander »

1. "it seems more likely that you actually uninstalled and then saved"
(a) No...
My actions were VERY DELIBERATE AND CAREFUL.
I took the decision to do BOTH.
i.e. Uninstall AND not-save.
Why?
"Belt and braces" both.
If the "not-save" failed to do its job, I'd uninstalled anyway.
If the uninstall failed to do its job, I'd failed to save the session changes.
If the uninstall worked, I'd also failed to save all changes.
It shouldn't really matter whether the uninstall worked or not, if I've failed to save session changes anyway.
Get it? :D

(b) Perhaps I'd gotten too smart for my own good.
Apparently, when something is uninstalled, [particularly when it's the 1st save of the session] it is necessary to save that change before attempting to install something else.
And then that something else must be saved.

(c) But I hadn't done that.
I installed something [and didn't save it], and then I uninstalled it [and again didn't save it].
The unseen actions carried out by the Puppy OS [related to the layered filesystem] are all rather beyond my level of understanding.
I have only the slightest grasp.

2. "If you still think you did not save at that time; then try reinstalling the Financial program and don't even bother to uninstall it - merely see what happens when you reboot without saving"
(a) What do you have in mind? What is the purpose?
(b) Should I be doing that with the restored backup made prior to the attempt to install?
Or should I go back to the screwed-up version of the pupsave that I made after it all went wrong?

3. "Re (3) I am not clear why you installed an identical copy of Thunderbird instead of copying from your mount/home/.thunderbird backup to mnt/home and then linking from that thunderbird directory to root before saving"
Well...
(a) Having screwed up by installing, then uninstalling, then not saving [the financial prog]...
(b) I restored a backup of the pupsave made prior to the introduction of the problem.
But...
(c) That pupsave didn't include ANY installation of Thunderbird.
So...
(d) I needed to install SOME copy of Thunderbird.
And the copy needed was the version that included certain new [and needed] features.
So...
(e) I installed version 13.0.1 as previously.
BUT...
(f) Once installed...
Any new Thunderbird apparently has no /root/.thunderbird folder, until such time as the program has been run, and either set up or setup postponed.
I postponed it, and the folder was created.
I figured Thunderbird would not work with a /root/.thunderbird folder until such time as it had been properly created.
So...
(g) Only then did I delete the original /root/.thunderbird folder...
And symlink the existing/previously-made /mnt/home/.thunderbird folder to /root.

4. "I assume that upon installation and use all of Thunderbird's files reside in a dot directory of that name in root. Kindly advise the details if some files are stored elsewhere"
(a) Since Thunderbird was installed and functional, yet no /root/.thunderbird folder existed at first, I assume there must be Thunderbird installation files held elsewhere than this folder.
See the "Find..." screenshot...
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ETP
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TB

#4 Post by ETP »

Sylvander,

Please ignore my previous Email pending a more considered reply.
(Your .pet install of TB differs greatly from my manual install !!!!!!!)

I also have another possible line of attack that I wish to investigate :wink:
I will respond hopefully tomorrow with screenshots.
Regards ETP
[url=http://tinyurl.com/pxzq8o9][img]https://s17.postimg.cc/tl19y14y7/You_Tube_signature80px.png[/img][/url]
[url=http://tinyurl.com/kennels2/]Kennels[/url]

Sylvander
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#5 Post by Sylvander »

OK ETP...
Your post seen and understood.
Keen to see all the ideas.
Hope we find a fix.
Seems like an adventure so far. 8)

Jasper

#6 Post by Jasper »

Hi Sylvander,

(a) What do you have in mind? What is the purpose?
(b) Should I be doing that with the restored backup made prior to the attempt to install?
Or should I go back to the screwed-up version of the pupsave that I made after it all went wrong?


(a) If your statement is true your whole strategy (and the understanding of myself and others) seems to be in tatters.
The purpose is to try to replicate this error which should be impossible.

The attempt to replicate should be made from a clean Slacko as it would be pointless to reuse a screwed-up version.

My regards

You appeared only very mildly surprised as also evidenced by your "belt and braces" comment; whereas, if you are correct, severe and widespread concern looks the appropriate response and this should be explored in depth before worrying about Thunderbird persistence.

jakfish
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#7 Post by jakfish »

I've had this trouble before, with various absolute symlinks not being picked up on reboot. I've found two workarounds:

1) build a small script in /root/Startup that re-creates the symlink (b/c on reboot, before problematic app is run, a directory for it is not yet created until the app is started)

2) symlink the large sub-directory instead. For instance, the default directory within /root/.mozilla, which is by far the largest and contains email, temp files, etc

Jake

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ETP
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Problem using Thunderbird

#8 Post by ETP »

Sylvander wrote:
Seems like an adventure so far.
- Feels more like an assault course!

To recap your aim is to store your emails outside of your save file and to share it between a number of pups installed on the same volume so obviating the need for totally independent installations of TB. Any changes made when in one pup will be reflected when you access another.
Before using the method described below I tried variations on the symlink method to no avail. I also tried the current portable apps version of TB under wine which to my surprise, proved to be unstable & prone to frequent crashes. (A pity as it used to work fine some years ago if you could ignore the poor graphics)

For the purposes of this write up I used Slacko 5.3.3 & Slacko 5.3.3.2 installed on a FAT32 USB2 stick with a single partition. In each case TB was installed manually by simply extracting the thunderbird-13.0.1.tar.bz2 in the root of each puppy. This, once TB has been first launched, produces just two directories - /root/thunderbird and /root/.thunderbird (hidden) plus their contents. The file defaultemail is then modified as follows to launch TB.

Code: Select all

#!/bin/sh
exec /root/thunderbird/thunderbird "$@"
Two files need to be accessed within TB:
A. xxxxxx.default, where xxxxxx is a series of random numbers/letters. (This is the profile (The equivalent of an Outlook .pst). It contains your emails & settings))

B. profiles.ini

In the case of a manual TB install these are both to be found in /.thunderbird. If you have used a .pet to install TB they may be off /.mozilla/thunderbird

http://postimage.org/image/bj0v4mxxd
Image


STEPS:
1. Create a “Mail
Last edited by ETP on Sat 21 Jul 2012, 12:46, edited 1 time in total.
Regards ETP
[url=http://tinyurl.com/pxzq8o9][img]https://s17.postimg.cc/tl19y14y7/You_Tube_signature80px.png[/img][/url]
[url=http://tinyurl.com/kennels2/]Kennels[/url]

Sylvander
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Location: West Lothian, Scotland, UK

#9 Post by Sylvander »

1. "TB was installed manually by simply extracting the thunderbird-13.0.1.tar.bz2 in the root of each puppy"
I installed my copy by using the PET file.
Is it necessary for me to do it the way you did it?
And if so, is it that simple/easy?
Where should I get the .tar.bz2 file?

2. "once TB has been first launched, produces just two directories - /root/thunderbird and /root/.thunderbird"
In my copy, there is only the /root/.thunderbird folder [hidden]; no /root/thunderbird [unhidden] folder.
Hence, your command wouldn't work on my Thunderbird, since I have no /root/thunderbird folder.

3. "Two files need to be accessed within TB:
A. xxxxxx.default
"
I found a file = /root/.thunderbird/xxxxxxxx.default
Is that the correct file, think you?

4. "B. profiles.ini"
This file is present.

5. Am I OK to begin with your "Steps:"?

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ETP
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#10 Post by ETP »

Sylvander,

You have found the 2 relevant files which, as it so happens, were in the same place as mine ie /root/.thunderbird.
Stick with your pet and proceed having backed up your save file first.

If no joy you will need to uninstall the pet, zap all remnants of TB & then do a manual install as above.
The English Linux version (now 14) can be found here:
http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/all.html
Regards ETP
[url=http://tinyurl.com/pxzq8o9][img]https://s17.postimg.cc/tl19y14y7/You_Tube_signature80px.png[/img][/url]
[url=http://tinyurl.com/kennels2/]Kennels[/url]

Sylvander
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#11 Post by Sylvander »

Question:
1. In step 1 of your instructions.
When I MOVE the xxxxxxxx.default file to /mnt/home/Mail, would I need to symlink it back to /root/.thunderbird ?
I'll assume I do, otherwise how could Thunderbird work without that folder either in its normal place, or a symlink to it replacing it in its normal home location?

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#12 Post by ETP »

Sylvander wrote:Question:
1. In step 1 of your instructions.
When I MOVE the xxxxxxxx.default file to /mnt/home/Mail, would I need to symlink it back to /root/.thunderbird ?
I'll assume I do, otherwise how could Thunderbird work without that folder either in its normal place, or a symlink to it replacing it in its normal home location?
No..... Forget symlinks, you are modifying the ini file to point to it !!!!!!
Regards ETP
[url=http://tinyurl.com/pxzq8o9][img]https://s17.postimg.cc/tl19y14y7/You_Tube_signature80px.png[/img][/url]
[url=http://tinyurl.com/kennels2/]Kennels[/url]

Sylvander
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Location: West Lothian, Scotland, UK

#13 Post by Sylvander »

1. OK, step-3 completed, and TB working well [as I want it to].
Prior to this, I had restored the pupsave made prior to the changes and had a 2nd go at your instructions.

2. Now to boot into Racy-5.3, and try your steps 4 to 6.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. OK, in Racy-5.3 there's no /root/.thunderbird folder after I install Thunderbird-13.0.1
When I run thunderbird in a console window I get "Couldn't load XRE functions".
Will try rebooting to see if that helps.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Tried it in Dpup-Exprimo-5.x.3.4.2.8-SCSI, and it is now working just fine. :D SUCCESS! 8)

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How to locate Thunderbird email outside Save file?

#14 Post by ETP »

Sylvander,

Good news. Image

That must merit a "SOLVED".

With regard to Racy I cannot locate an official TB .pet for it. You may wish to uninstall the pet you used & try a manual install.
Yes - it is as simple a procedure as I descibed in my write up above.
Regards ETP
[url=http://tinyurl.com/pxzq8o9][img]https://s17.postimg.cc/tl19y14y7/You_Tube_signature80px.png[/img][/url]
[url=http://tinyurl.com/kennels2/]Kennels[/url]

Henry
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Thunderbird 10 sfs for Racy

#15 Post by Henry »


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ETP
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Thunderbird 10 sfs for Racy

#16 Post by ETP »

Henry,
Thanks for the sfs link but I note that it relates to Racy 5.2.2 rather than
Racy 5.3 which Sylvander is using and EarlyBird 10.0.2 which is very old.
I feel that Sylvander would be better off with a manual install of TB 14 which
I have already tried & tested by upgrading from 13.01 (very simple-just click
on help then about in T'bird)

It is of course for Sylvander to decide.
Thanks once again.
Regards ETP
[url=http://tinyurl.com/pxzq8o9][img]https://s17.postimg.cc/tl19y14y7/You_Tube_signature80px.png[/img][/url]
[url=http://tinyurl.com/kennels2/]Kennels[/url]

Henry
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#17 Post by Henry »

ETP,

Thanks for explaining. Of course you are right. I tend not to think much about the age of Thunderbird. I only picked this when I moved to Racy a few weeks ago, having used Thunderbird 2 very satisfactorily for the last many years. All else being equal I suppose newer is better.

Sylvander
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Re: How to locate Thunderbird email outside Save file?

#18 Post by Sylvander »

1.
ETP wrote:Good news.
That must merit a "SOLVED".
It certainly does! :D
Good result, and working really well. 8)
My thanks to you for your good ideas/advice/assistance.
And to all contributors.
ASAP, I'll read through the thread again from the beginning, and try to deal with all the points made.

2.
ETP wrote:With regard to Racy I cannot locate an official TB .pet for it. You may wish to uninstall the pet you used & try a manual install.
Yes - it is as simple a procedure as I descibed in my write up above.
Will do ASAP.

Sylvander
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Joined: Mon 15 Dec 2008, 11:06
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#19 Post by Sylvander »

Suddenly my Thunderbird has stopped fetching emails.
Doesn't do it automatically or manually.
Haven't made any changes.
pop3 and smtp server settings look OK.

Anyone know how to fix?

Jasper

#20 Post by Jasper »

Hi Sylvander,

If your restore from a recent backup didn't/doesn't work, contact your ISP and, as a last resort in true Scots' style, pay their bill.

My regards

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