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Mail quits immediately upon launch!

C

Cory

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 8, 2002
11
0
I've used the Mail app for two months with few if any problems other than the occasional irritant of having to re-enter my password for no particular reason.

Suddenly Mail refuses to launch--at first it bobbed in the dock and then stopped without opening, then after I ran Norton Utilities and fixed a few problems it now opens for 2-3 seconds and then quits. I've tried Norton from the install disk, tried trashing the com.apple.mail.pslist (or whatever it is) in Users/Library/Preferences, etc., all with no luck. Can anyone help me get this app up and working again? Do I need to re-install Jaguar?

Thanks
 
First of all I can tell you from experience that Norton will cause more problems in OSX then it will fix.

Second have you done the basics. Have you started up off the OSX install disc and fixed permission? Have you ran FSCK -Y?
 
Originally posted by MacBandit
First of all I can tell you from experience that Norton will cause more problems in OSX then it will fix.

Second have you done the basics. Have you started up off the OSX install disc and fixed permission? Have you ran FSCK -Y?
Click to expand...

--Whoops, I misspoke, I only ran Norton Virus as a precaution and of course it found nothing. I meant to say I re-booted from Jag and ran Disk Utility and it found some problems and fixed them, and Mail went from only jumping and then stopping before opening, to now opening for 2-3 seconds and then abruptly giving the "Unexpectedly Quit" prompt. When it loads up briefly I can see lots of old messages being viewed as "new" so something is definitely wack.

Is running Disk Utility what you call "fixing permission"--if not can you explain how I can do that?

And apologies but as a newbie I have no idea whar FSCK-Y means, can you let me know how I can run this and where I can find it?

I believe the problem is traceable to force quitting mail when it hung during checking mail? But if a portion is corrupt not sure how to deal with it.

Thanks, really appreciate your help as I am at a standstill here.

Cory
 
i dont know how much this is happening to you, but it is not uncommont for me to boot into os x, and the first couple apps i try to open bomb out in the same way you described. for the rest of the session, i cant open them, even when logging out. other apps run fine. i just have to reboot to fix it

os x rarely crashes, but the apps , they sure crash on my computer, and yes i have run the permissions thing
 
Originally posted by BenderBot1138
I'll email you a solution... just kidding... reinstall your Mail App.
Click to expand...

OK but do I need to reinstall all of Jag to do that? How do you reinstall just Mail and will it wipe my archives, or if I back them up will i be able to reimport them?

thx
 
Hold off on reinstalling anything at the moment.

Are you running OSX 10.2? If you aren't I highly recommend upgrading it will fix a lot of these problems.

If you are here is what to do. To repair permissions you should start up off the OSX install cd and open disk utility. When you have opened disk utility there should be an option in the window to repair disk or repair disk permission. Click disk permissions and wait until it's done. Once it's done restart your computer and just after the start up chime hole command-s this will bring you up in what they call single user mode. It's a terminal without the gui. Once you have a prompt type in, "fsck -y". Type it in just like that with the space and but no quotes. This is a basic file system check built into the system. If it come up saying that it repaired a problem run it again. Keep running it until it says that it didn't need to repair anything and then type, "reboot".

Once you have done this let me know what if you still have the problem.
 
Originally posted by MacBandit
Hold off on reinstalling anything at the moment.

Once you have done this let me know what if you still have the problem.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your help. I started to do this and continually saw a "repairing volume", then "file was modified". Did it five or six times then realized I should probably ask you how many times I need to do this--just again and again until it stops saying repairing volume/file was modified?

Thanks, Cory
 
Originally posted by Cory


Thanks for your help. I started to do this and continually saw a "repairing volume", then "file was modified". Did it five or six times then realized I should probably ask you how many times I need to do this--just again and again until it stops saying repairing volume/file was modified?

Thanks, Cory
Click to expand...

Did you repair permissions? You should do it until it says no problems but I have heard of reacurring unfixable problems before and it could be that you have one. If this is the case you need to get disk warrior or another program to repair your disk. Anything but Norton. Simply reinstalling mail will not fix your problem if this is the case.

I have to go to work now. Don't do anything rash unless someone else exceptionally knowledgeable comes to the rescue. You'll know what I mean if it happens. I will try to get right back to you as soon as I get home.
 
Originally posted by MacBandit


I have to go to work now. Don't do anything rash unless someone else exceptionally knowledgeable comes to the rescue. You'll know what I mean if it happens. I will try to get right back to you as soon as I get home.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes, repeatedly repairing permissions hasn't worked yet, though I could plug away at it a little longer I suppose. Disk Warrior is a good idea, is there one just for OSX?

Cory
 
Originally posted by Cory


Thanks. Yes, repeatedly repairing permissions hasn't worked yet, though I could plug away at it a little longer I suppose. Disk Warrior is a good idea, is there one just for OSX?

Cory
Click to expand...

There is not a disk Warrior just for OSX yet. The current version of Disk Warrior will work from disk or from OS9 and will fix OSX disks. There is supposed to be a new version out for X very soon though. Micromats new version of Drive 10 is supposed to be very good now though I still think I would go with Disk Warrior.

Just out of curiosity have you had other problems with 10.2? Have you installed any system modifications recently or moved anything in the system?
 
Originally posted by MacBandit


Just out of curiosity have you had other problems with 10.2? Have you installed any system modifications recently or moved anything in the system?
Click to expand...

Actually no, 10.2 has run fine since install a month or so ago. The only recent activity I can think of would involve using iDisk recently?-but don't see how that would affect anything. I happened to be at an Apple Store yesterday and the Genius Bar-tender suggested doing a reinstall and archive with my data backed up) of Jag. As I understand it this would then create an older system folder for the previous Jag, which i could then trash because all of my settings would be transferred to the new one?

Thx, Cory
 
Originally posted by Cory


Actually no, 10.2 has run fine since install a month or so ago. The only recent activity I can think of would involve using iDisk recently?-but don't see how that would affect anything. I happened to be at an Apple Store yesterday and the Genius Bar-tender suggested doing a reinstall and archive with my data backed up) of Jag. As I understand it this would then create an older system folder for the previous Jag, which i could then trash because all of my settings would be transferred to the new one?

Thx, Cory
Click to expand...

Sounds like it's worth a try. I don't know if it will cure your file system problems though. It will be interesting to see if it fixes everything.
 
will doing a "seperate install" in Jag actually transfer the settings? i thought it just put a new system on and let you transfer things by hand. And that the only way to have it automatically transfer things was to install Jag right on top of an existing install.

I dunno, when i installed Jag i reformatted, as per all advice at the time...

:)
pnw
 
i had this same problem....

only i moved some files in the applications folder, and then mail would open, and then close after 2-3 seconds.

I ended up formatting my hard drive and reinstalling jaguar, but i did that because there were some other problems too.
 
happened here too!

I had the same thing happen here the other day (after installing 10.2). Mail would open and then shut right away. I tried a few times and then rebooted. Hasn't happened since then. I'm really wondering what this is all about now that I hear others have it happen too!
 
Here's a fix

This happened to me awhile back, and this is what AppleCare told me to do: inside your Library folder in your Home, go the Mail folder and delete the .plist files. To tell you the truth, I don't remember specifically which ones, but deleting them won't hurt anything. This fixed the problem for me and I haven't had any trouble since.
 
i don't know about Mail, but Entourage is really sensitive to bad OS 9 fonts - try emptying your OS 9 fonts folder (put the fonts somewhere else) and see if that makes a difference. Then, if it works, put the fonts back in half at a time, opening the app between each transfer (like you would with os 9 Extensions) and you should be able to narrow down which font/s are causing problems.

Like I said, it works with Entourage - so maybe it will with Mail.
 
Originally posted by Macette
i don't know about Mail, but Entourage is really sensitive to bad OS 9 fonts - try emptying your OS 9 fonts folder (put the fonts somewhere else) and see if that makes a difference. Then, if it works, put the fonts back in half at a time, opening the app between each transfer (like you would with os 9 Extensions) and you should be able to narrow down which font/s are causing problems.

Like I said, it works with Entourage - so maybe it will with Mail.
Click to expand...

How is moving OS9 fonts going to affect OSX?
 
Re: Here's a fix

Originally posted by daytona63
This happened to me awhile back, and this is what AppleCare told me to do: inside your Library folder in your Home, go the Mail folder and delete the .plist files. To tell you the truth, I don't remember specifically which ones, but deleting them won't hurt anything. This fixed the problem for me and I haven't had any trouble since.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, it must work in some cases as almost everyone has recommended it, but unfortunately not for me!
 
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