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Apple Mail won't load attachments

T

thenewguy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 25, 2006
203
0
Hey everyone,
Something wierd happened a few days ago. All of a sudden, whenever I try to add an attachment to a message, either by dragging a file or by using the attach button, Mail pinwheels and I have to force Quit it.

Any ideas? How do I reinstall it? I have all the disks and everything...but can I reinstall just one program? Will it still keep all my settings and all that?

thanks
 
You probably won't have to reinstall. Try this:


  • Quit Mail.
  • Find a file named com.apple.mail.plist in your Preferences folder.
  • Drag this file to the Desktop.
  • Reopen Mail.
  • Try adding an attachment to an email.


This will return all your customised Mail settings to their defaults. If it doesn't work then feel free to put the file on your Desktop back into the Preferences folder whilst Mail is closed, replacing the new default version of the file, and you'll be no worse off than before but we'll have to try something else. :)
 
I've been experiencing the exact same problem on BOTH my MacBook AND MacBook PRO - and this only started a few days ago.

I was away on business with my MacBook and didn't notice any problem with Apple Mail. Upon my return, I logged onto my MacBook Pro and started using Mail. When I go to attach a file, it takes a minimum of 45 seconds to attach.

I deleted preferences, etc. and that doesn't fix anything. Now the same thing is happening on my MacBook!!!!

Could this be related to a recent update? I did a security update before I left and I think a battery update.

This happens on and off in Mail. Can;t figure out what the issue is. This is happening with small files - not just big ones - I'm talking like 60k Word Docs.

I should note that I have three email accounts -- a .Mac account and 2 others. I don't have any drafts stored on the server if that makes a difference.

Any ideas???
 
Hey Mad Jew (I too am Jewish but not mad). Basically, if I have airport off, it will attach fine instantly. But with airport on, it takes forever to load. It happens with all three accounts.

Do I need to do anything to my actual airport settings or airport express base station or anything? I don't get it...
 
Mad Jew, when I turn airport off, nothing is connected. So as the beachball spins or the arrow hangs and nothing attaches, I take airport offline and then the file immediately attaches.
 
thenewguy said:
Hey everyone,
Something wierd happened a few days ago. All of a sudden, whenever I try to add an attachment to a message, either by dragging a file or by using the attach button, Mail pinwheels and I have to force Quit it.

Any ideas? How do I reinstall it? I have all the disks and everything...but can I reinstall just one program? Will it still keep all my settings and all that?

thanks
Click to expand...

I am having the same problem... it started today itself... have no clue why. I tried restarting and everything! This is really frustrating... so much for a mac never crashing! I can't even email a file!:mad:
 
ClassicBean said:
Mad Jew, when I turn airport off, nothing is connected. So as the beachball spins or the arrow hangs and nothing attaches, I take airport offline and then the file immediately attaches.
Click to expand...


Okay, well to test if it's related to the AirPort, would you mind connecting to your router directly via a cable (ethernet, USB or whatever) to see if it's any better. If this is not feasible, then another test may be to create a new location from the Apple menu and reconfigure your settings.


anoopmj said:
I am having the same problem... it started today itself... have no clue why. I tried restarting and everything! This is really frustrating... so much for a mac never crashing! I can't even email a file!:mad:
Click to expand...


Are you on a wireless network?
 
anoopmj, if you create a new user account in System Preferences and reconfigure your Mail app there, can you get that version to upload attachments? If you can, then the problem can almost certainly be traced back to your original Home folder.
 
mad jew said:
Okay, well to test if it's related to the AirPort, would you mind connecting to your router directly via a cable (ethernet, USB or whatever) to see if it's any better. If this is not feasible, then another test may be to create a new location from the Apple menu and reconfigure your settings.





Are you on a wireless network?
Click to expand...

I just tried a few things:

1) Plugged directly into the network through Ethernet
2) Created a new location
3) Delete Mail preference files
4) Created a new user and tried mail through the new user account
5) Crying

None of these worked. I get the same problem with mail being slow to attach a file. Again, when there is no internet connection, all is good. This only happens in Mail. I use Entourage for my business account and it works fine.

Arrrrrrgh...
 
Is it possible that it's trying to open a network folder that isn't there anymore?
 
Okay, so I've done some scouring on the 'web for this sort of problem and each solution seems slightly different. One person managed to get things working again by repairing their drive. Weirdness, but maybe give it a try. Boot from the OSX discs and use the bundled version of Disk Utility to repair the drive. If the discs are currently unavailable, then run fsck from Single User Mode. :)
 
reflex said:
Is it possible that it's trying to open a network folder that isn't there anymore?
Click to expand...

I just got off the phone with Applecare. Luckily, my machine is less than three months old so I can take advantage of their expertise without paying a financial penalty.

Anyway, after a long 1.5 hour troubleshooting call with two different people, we couldn't solve the problem.

They believe that my computer might be trying to connect to a network (as you said) but he couldn't see any evidence of this on my computer. Plus, this is happening on two separate machines - one MacBook Pro and one MacBook - so I am not sure if that is accurate as I rarely use the MacBook and I'm getting the same problem (I use the MacBook only for travel - I know, I know, two portables - I must be crazy).

I noticed this issue after the battery update that I did on the 29th but I don't see how that could be an issue. Who knows though.

Anyway, they are going to call me back within 48 hours. It is now 10:40am ET on Wednesday. I should post again no later than Friday.

I am concerned that this could be a more universal problem since there are a few posters experiencing the same issue.
 
yeah please keep me updated... I would rather not reinstall any programs as this happened to me only after the battery update too!

and it's not a new account, it was working perfectly for the past 6 months and suddenly this problem came up... I did not change any settings either
 
anoopmj said:
yeah please keep me updated... I would rather not reinstall any programs as this happened to me only after the battery update too!

and it's not a new account, it was working perfectly for the past 6 months and suddenly this problem came up... I did not change any settings either
Click to expand...

I will definitely let you know what's up. It's gotta have something to do with the batter update. It was working fine for me as well. Nothing changed in terms of settings and, as I said, this is happening on both the MacBook and MacBook Pro. This is NOT happening on my wife's PowerBook though.

As a sidenote, both of my machines (MacBook and MBP) have the wireless n update installed - but that was installed a long time ago and there was no problem until last week.
 
ClassicBean said:
I will definitely let you know what's up. It's gotta have something to do with the batter update. It was working fine for me as well. Nothing changed in terms of settings and, as I said, this is happening on both the MacBook and MacBook Pro. This is NOT happening on my wife's PowerBook though.

As a sidenote, both of my machines (MacBook and MBP) have the wireless n update installed - but that was installed a long time ago and there was no problem until last week.
Click to expand...

Apple is sending me some files to run on my computer which will compile data related to my mail account. I will send it back to them. Hopefully it will solve something.
 
ClassicBean said:
Apple is sending me some files to run on my computer which will compile data related to my mail account. I will send it back to them. Hopefully it will solve something.
Click to expand...

I ran the application and submitted the report file to Apple. They will get back to me within 48 hours with results. The good thing is I'm dealing with a specific Apple technician who is sending my details to the engineering department so I will hear back directly from him either by phone or email.

I'll keep everyone updated.
 
ClassicBean said:
I ran the application and submitted the report file to Apple. They will get back to me within 48 hours with results. The good thing is I'm dealing with a specific Apple technician who is sending my details to the engineering department so I will hear back directly from him either by phone or email.

I'll keep everyone updated.
Click to expand...

I am working today from a Starbucks and I am having no problems attaching a file to my mail. This seems to be only happening at home. I am on Rogers High Speed Cable.

I am curious to know what type of connection everyone else who is experiencing this problem is on (ie. who is your provider)?
 
i am using NTL, but am in UK. But I should mention that the problem has disappeared in the last 2 days. Things are working well again. But its all very confusing... the Mac has a mind of it's own.. :confused:
 
anoopmj said:
i am using NTL, but am in UK. But I should mention that the problem has disappeared in the last 2 days. Things are working well again. But its all very confusing... the Mac has a mind of it's own.. :confused:
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat. Seems to be fine again. Or, at worst, I'm only experience the problem on rare occasion. Who knows? Hopefully I'll hear something from Apple today.
 
anoopmj said:
i am using NTL, but am in UK. But I should mention that the problem has disappeared in the last 2 days. Things are working well again. But its all very confusing... the Mac has a mind of it's own.. :confused:
Click to expand...

anoopmj, do you have Parallels installed by any chance? I just got off the phone with Apple and they said that they noticed I had Parallels installed. They informed me that when you install Parallels, it actually plays with your OS system files - which is a big no-no. But apparently, Parallels does that. He says that it does something to your internet and a lot of people running parallels have trouble connecting to WPA2 wireless internet. Although, I have never had this problem before. In any event, they are going to let me know what they found but I thought I'd ask you if you run parallels because that could be the culprit.

Also, this problem occurs without Parallels actually running on both of my systems.
 
ClassicBean said:
anoopmj, do you have Parallels installed by any chance? I just got off the phone with Apple and they said that they noticed I had Parallels installed. They informed me that when you install Parallels, it actually plays with your OS system files - which is a big no-no. But apparently, Parallels does that. He says that it does something to your internet and a lot of people running parallels have trouble connecting to WPA2 wireless internet. Although, I have never had this problem before. In any event, they are going to let me know what they found but I thought I'd ask you if you run parallels because that could be the culprit.

Also, this problem occurs without Parallels actually running on both of my systems.
Click to expand...

Hi ClassicBean, what do you mean by Parallels? Thank you.
 
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