Moving Eudora from OS 9 to OS X 10.6.4

[old john]

Eudora 6.0.2 (on my OS 9 iMac G3) allowed me to have 3 Eudora Folders, identified by adding initials to the name (my initials and those of two voluntary organizations for which I looked after emails). Putting aliases of the 3 Eudora Settings files into OS 9's Launcher app, and adding the initials to the aliases' names (eg, "Eudora CSC") meant that I could launch Eudora with whichever folder I wanted.

I have now moved the initialed Eudora folders a to new Mac running OS X 10.6.4 with Eudora 6.2.4. However, I can't work out an equivalent way of launching Eudora with different settings files in order to point it at different Eudora Folders. Even double-clicking on a Settings Folder doesn't launch Eudora.

 

[DewGuy1999]

Have you tried associating the settings file with Eudora by doing a Get Info (Command + I) on the settings file and choosing Eudora as the application under Open With and then clicking the Change All button for Use this application to open all documents like this.

 

[old john]

Thanks DewGuy. I did the first step you mentioned with Get Info for the Eudora Settings file and changing the Open with to Eudora. I then tried double clicking on the Eudora Settings file. Sure enough it opened Eudora, but Eudora ignored the emails contained in the Mail Folder, which was in the same Eudora folder as the Eudora Settings file. On quitting Eudora, I found it had set up a new Eudora Folder with empty mail boxes! I deleted the new Eudora Folder and tried again, but with the same result.

 

[DewGuy1999]

Thanks DewGuy. I did the first step you mentioned with Get Info for the Eudora Settings file and changing the Open with to Eudora. I then tried double clicking on the Eudora Settings file. Sure enough it opened Eudora, but Eudora ignored the emails contained in the Mail Folder, which was in the same Eudora folder as the Eudora Settings file. On quitting Eudora, I found it had set up a new Eudora Folder with empty mail boxes! I deleted the new Eudora Folder and tried again, but with the same result.

When you moved the files to the new Mac did you put them in:

YourUserName/Documents/Eudora Folder

apparently they need to be in this location for Eudora to find them under OS X.

 

[old john]

Yes, I moved the three Eudora Folders in MyUserName/Documents.

The three Eudora Folders had to have different names to distinguish them, of course. On the OS 9 machine the Eudora Folders were named with the appropriate initials, such as "Eudora CSC" and at first I tried these names in OS X 10.6.4. When that didn't work, I tried "Eudora Folder CSC" but that didn't work either. In all cases Eudora opened OK but created a new Eudora Folder.

 

[DewGuy1999]

Yes, I moved the three Eudora Folders in MyUserName/Documents.

The three Eudora Folders had to have different names to distinguish them, of course. On the OS 9 machine the Eudora Folders were named with the appropriate initials, such as "Eudora CSC" and at first I tried these names in OS X 10.6.4. When that didn't work, I tried "Eudora Folder CSC" but that didn't work either. In all cases Eudora opened OK but created a new Eudora Folder.

Okay, I fiddled around with this concept (since I've never used Eudora that way) and I can't duplicate your behavior.

I copied my Eudora Folder to the Desktop so it was safe.
Copied from my backups, 2 different Eudora Folder backups (different contents) to my Documents folder. Changed the name on the first to something unique before copying the second, also gave the second a unique name.

Launching from any of the Settings files launched Eudora with the correct contents.
Launching from the Eudora program icon launches my original account that's in the Eudora Folder.
Launching from the Eudora program icon without having a Eudora Folder created a new Eudora Folder with the setup wizard running.

I don't know if my behavior is different because all my accounts were from Eudora 6.2.4 or if it's because I'm using OS X 10.4.11 Tiger.

 

[old john]

Many thanks DewGuy for your efforts in trying things out as you described. What you report is encouraging and makes it worth trying a little more before giving up.

Maybe leaving one of the Eudora Folders without the initials will result in Eudora opening the data in that one and making any conversion that's needed for the change from version 6.0.2 to 6.2.4. If so I could then put its initials back and try the next one and then do the same with the third one.

My wife runs Eudora on an iMac G5 running OS X 10.4.11, so I could test that too if absolutely necessary.

In these ways I could test your two hypotheses!

 

[DewGuy1999]

Many thanks DewGuy for your efforts in trying things out as you described. What you report is encouraging and makes it worth trying a little more before giving up.

Maybe leaving one of the Eudora Folders without the initials will result in Eudora opening the data in that one and making any conversion that's needed for the change from version 6.0.2 to 6.2.4. If so I could then put its initials back and try the next one and then do the same with the third one.

My wife runs Eudora on an iMac G5 running OS X 10.4.11, so I could test that too if absolutely necessary.

In these ways I could test your two hypotheses!

Sounds like a good idea, just make sure you have a backup in case the experiments don't work. I just thought of something else, how did you get the files from the old Mac to the new Mac?

 

[old john]

I just thought of something else, how did you get the files from the old Mac to the new Mac?

Yes, that was a good new thought you had! I expect it's the same as I am now thinking, though I needed some prompts as follows.

I deleted the initials from a transferred Eudora File and this time Eudora didn't create a new folder, but instead reported, "Selection is not a properly formatted mailbox." I Googled this string and discovered the likely cause. As my Eudora folder is nearly 900 MB, I used a large flash drive to move it. Flash drives are probably formatted for Windows and so the resource forks are not copied. I used a Zip drive with the iMac G3, but the discs are not big enough. It's late here now in the UK, or rather early morning, after 2.30 am. So I'm off to bed, but I'll try linking up an external HD later.

It's kind of you to keep up your help, thanks.

John

 

[DewGuy1999]

Yes, that was a good new thought you had! I expect it's the same as I am now thinking, though I needed some prompts as follows.

I deleted the initials from a transferred Eudora File and this time Eudora didn't create a new folder, but instead reported, "Selection is not a properly formatted mailbox." I Googled this string and discovered the likely cause. As my Eudora folder is nearly 900 MB, I used a large flash drive to move it. Flash drives are probably formatted for Windows and so the resource forks are not copied. I used a Zip drive with the iMac G3, but the discs are not big enough. It's late here now in the UK, or rather early morning, after 2.30 am. So I'm off to bed, but I'll try linking up an external HD later.

It's kind of you to keep up your help, thanks.

John

If you can make a Disk Image in OS 9 and put your Eudora Folder on the Disk Image and move it over to OS X it should preserve the resource forks.
Also, if you Stuff the Eudora Folder with Stuffit on OS 9 it should preserve the resource forks. "Talk" more tomorrow. Good Night.

 

[old john]

If you can make a Disk Image in OS 9 and put your Eudora Folder on the Disk Image and move it over to OS X it should preserve the resource forks.
Also, if you Stuff the Eudora Folder with Stuffit on OS 9 it should preserve the resource forks. "Talk" more tomorrow. Good Night.

(I didn't get back to this earlier today as I was out talking to the director of a feature film being made near my sailing club. I expect to be sailing one of the period boats in a shoot due this coming week.)

I've made a Disc Image sometime, but it was probably using something in OS X, either iDVD or Toast and I can't remember (or never knew!) how to do it in OS 9.

I only have Stuffit Expander on the G3, but I remembered winning a copy of Stuffit Deluxe, (I think in a competition at an exhibition . . .or maybe that was Norton Utilities!). I found I had never installed the Stuffit Deluxe -- it's in an used state and the CD and User's Guide are dated 1997! I installed it (and noticed some file or other was dated 1999) and tried to make a a Stuffit archive (.sit). I tried three times but each time it crashed the whole machine before it really got started! I gave up and de-installed it.

How do I make a Disc Image in OS 9? Or perhaps it's back to the external HD idea!

 

[wrldwzrd89]

(I didn't get back to this earlier today as I was out talking to the director of a feature film being made near my sailing club. I expect to be sailing one of the period boats in a shoot due this coming week.)

I've made a Disc Image sometime, but it was probably using something in OS X, either iDVD or Toast and I can't remember (or never knew!) how to do it in OS 9.

I only have Stuffit Expander on the G3, but I remembered winning a copy of Stuffit Deluxe, (I think in a competition at an exhibition . . .or maybe that was Norton Utilities!). I found I had never installed the Stuffit Deluxe -- it's in an used state and the CD and User's Guide are dated 1997! I installed it (and noticed some file or other was dated 1999) and tried to make a a Stuffit archive (.sit). I tried three times but each time it crashed the whole machine before it really got started! I gave up and de-installed it.

How do I make a Disc Image in OS 9? Or perhaps it's back to the external HD idea!

Making a disk image in Mac OS 9 isn't that hard - you use Disk Utility, just like in Mac OS X. The only difference is that the Disk Utility UI is WAY different in OS 9 than it is in OS X.

 

[DewGuy1999]

(I didn't get back to this earlier today as I was out talking to the director of a feature film being made near my sailing club. I expect to be sailing one of the period boats in a shoot due this coming week.)

I've made a Disc Image sometime, but it was probably using something in OS X, either iDVD or Toast and I can't remember (or never knew!) how to do it in OS 9.

I only have Stuffit Expander on the G3, but I remembered winning a copy of Stuffit Deluxe, (I think in a competition at an exhibition . . .or maybe that was Norton Utilities!). I found I had never installed the Stuffit Deluxe -- it's in an used state and the CD and User's Guide are dated 1997! I installed it (and noticed some file or other was dated 1999) and tried to make a a Stuffit archive (.sit). I tried three times but each time it crashed the whole machine before it really got started! I gave up and de-installed it.

How do I make a Disc Image in OS 9? Or perhaps it's back to the external HD idea!

The movie sounds pretty cool. I just got back from the weekly grocery shopping trip...

To make a Disc Image, you need to launch Disk Copy (it should be in the Utilities folder of the Applications folder) from the Image menu you can select either Create New Image... or Create Image from Folder... of Create Image from Disk...

Either of the first 2 should work. Pretty self explanatory from that point forward. If you use the first choice after the Disk Image is made, mount it and copy your files to it. With the second choice once it's done you'll be good to go.

 

[old john]

Thanks both both of you for your instructions on making a disc image. I may still need to use one, but in the meantime I used an external HD that has both FW400 and FW800 ports (wow, I was impressed with the 800 speed).

At last Eudora recognized my folder and loaded all my emails! Hurray! However, it reported that it couldn't find the Attachments Folder, despite it being there with over 400MB of files!

Well, step by step I'm slowly getting there!

The movie sounds pretty cool.

(The shoot is http://dimensionsthemovie.com and the BBC/YouTube and local press have reported it.)

 

[DewGuy1999]

Thanks both both of you for your instructions on making a disc image. I may still need to use one, but in the meantime I used an external HD that has both FW400 and FW800 ports (wow, I was impressed with the 800 speed).

At last Eudora recognized my folder and loaded all my emails! Hurray! However, it reported that it couldn't find the Attachments Folder, despite it being there with over 400MB of files!

Well, step by step I'm slowly getting there!



(The shoot is http://dimensionsthemovie.com and the BBC/YouTube and local press have reported it.)

Ooh a time travel movie. I'll keep an eye out for it. Thanks for the links.

Glad to hear the Firewire Drive worked. As far as the Attachments folder I think this Eudora Support Doc will help with that:

Eudora can't find Attachments folder

 

[old john]

OK, thanks. Eudora is now reunited with my Attachments Folder.

I think I'll set Eudora on the new machine so not to delete incoming messages from the POP server. I'll then download them on the G3 too until I'm satisfied that everything is working well!

I also need to sort out broken alias links. I moved some attachments leaving an alias behind in the Attachments Folder. I'll need to stitch the links back again. Most have gone into the same folder, so I hope there might be a shortcut -- or maybe it's time to remember how to use automator -- it's ages since I used it.

Anyway, things are looking good now. So thanks for all your help!

Now we have to be frightened if Classic Eudora becomes incompatible with some new development. Mail has improved from version 2.1.3, on my wife's iMac G5 to version 4.3. One advantage over Eudora is that it's well integrated with other iLife apps. Also I've an iPod touch, which we recently used for emails in France, and it has a version of Mail, so I'd be able to synchronize my messages if I used Mail on the Mac.

However, various Mail features still can't match those of aged Eudora! And apparently Mail slows horribly if you have very large mailboxes, as I asked about recently.

I had a reply from Mal, who only keeps emails in his inbox until he has dealt with them. Then, if he wants to keep them longer, he files them, presumably in an appropriate mailbox. I'm thinking of using Eudora to access my backlog of emails to and start afresh with Mail and using it in a similar way to Mal. Developing a new habit will be difficult; my present way of doing things is so well ingrained -- I started using email when Mal was a one-year-old!

(The original boat for the movie is featured here, a beautiful object. Unfortunately, her mast is bent and I'm using an understudy, designed the same year -- being briefed on her rigging tomorrow morning.)

 

[DewGuy1999]

OK, thanks. Eudora is now reunited with my Attachments Folder.

I think I'll set Eudora on the new machine so not to delete incoming messages from the POP server. I'll then download them on the G3 too until I'm satisfied that everything is working well!

I also need to sort out broken alias links. I moved some attachments leaving an alias behind in the Attachments Folder. I'll need to stitch the links back again. Most have gone into the same folder, so I hope there might be a shortcut -- or maybe it's time to remember how to use automator -- it's ages since I used it.

Anyway, things are looking good now. So thanks for all your help!

Now we have to be frightened if Classic Eudora becomes incompatible with some new development. Mail has improved from version 2.1.3, on my wife's iMac G5 to version 4.3. One advantage over Eudora is that it's well integrated with other iLife apps. Also I've an iPod touch, which we recently used for emails in France, and it has a version of Mail, so I'd be able to synchronize my messages if I used Mail on the Mac.

However, various Mail features still can't match those of aged Eudora! And apparently Mail slows horribly if you have very large mailboxes, as I asked about recently.

I had a reply from Mal, who only keeps emails in his inbox until he has dealt with them. Then, if he wants to keep them longer, he files them, presumably in an appropriate mailbox. I'm thinking of using Eudora to access my backlog of emails to and start afresh with Mail and using it in a similar way to Mal. Developing a new habit will be difficult; my present way of doing things is so well ingrained -- I started using email when Mal was a one-year-old!

(The original boat for the movie is featured here, a beautiful object. Unfortunately, her mast is bent and I'm using an understudy, designed the same year -- being briefed on her rigging tomorrow morning.)

Leaving the messages on the server is always a good idea when your trying out new mail software or moving to a new Mac. I believe I have mine set up to leave the messages for 30 days and to delete when emptied from the trash. That way I always have a backup on the server of anything I want to keep.

I've tried Mail under Panther and Tiger and just couldn't get into it. Haven't had any exposure to Leopard or Snow Leopard so I don't know if my opinion would change, but from what I understand it still borks long URLs in outgoing messages unless they're done as link which of course requires you to use Rich Text rather than Plain Text and fuss around with it--bah! I hear that Mail Forge (paid program) is supposed to be a "true" successor to classic Eudora but is still rough around the edges. Others like Thunderbird. I haven't tried Mail Forge, but the last time I tried Thunderbird (a couple of years ago) it was terribly sluggish on my G4 so I stayed with Eudora. I'll probably not try anything new for email until I get a new Mac and since I'm not crazy about any of Apple's current lineup it probably won't be anytime soon.

Early this evening I remembered something about Eudora that will probably effect you. There is a problem with Eudora notification sounds under Leopard (and I believe Snow Leopard) you can read about it on the bottom half of this Eudora Download page.

I don't really know anything about boats as I'm a dyed-in-the-wool landlubber, but she's nice looking, must be fun to sail.

 

[old john]

Making a disk image in Mac OS 9 isn't that hard - you use Disk Utility, just like in Mac OS X. The only difference is that the Disk Utility UI is WAY different in OS 9 than it is in OS X.

Hi Wizard

I don't know if you're still following this thread; I hope so as I need a little more help following your suggestion.

Although I've resolved the problem of moving Eudora using an HD with both FW 400 and FW 800, it's quicker to use a flash drive and I have other files to move from time to time from the old OS 9 iMac. So disk images would be useful.

You suggest using Disk Utility, but I didn't find Disk Utility in OS 9, but rather Disk First Aid, which is only for verifying and repairing disks, and Disc Copy, which can make disk images. However, in creating a disk image from a folder, the way it seems to treat Resource Forks is to put them all in a separate folder, called RESOURCE.FRK

Having moved the files to the OS X MacBook, is there a way of reuniting the files with their resource forks?!

 

[PeckhamBog]

(I didn't get back to this earlier today as I was out talking to the director of a feature film being made near my sailing club. I expect to be sailing one of the period boats in a shoot due this coming week.)

The movie sounds pretty cool. I just got back from the weekly grocery shopping trip...

Sorry although I've followed the thread, I'm afraid I can't contribute anything useful. But I would like to remark that I'm at home minding the children whilst my wife is out getting the groceries!

I did like the boat page.

 

[DewGuy1999]

Hi Wizard

I don't know if you're still following this thread; I hope so as I need a little more help following your suggestion.

Although I've resolved the problem of moving Eudora using an HD with both FW 400 and FW 800, it's quicker to use a flash drive and I have other files to move from time to time from the old OS 9 iMac. So disk images would be useful.

You suggest using Disk Utility, but I didn't find Disk Utility in OS 9, but rather Disk First Aid, which is only for verifying and repairing disks, and Disc Copy, which can make disk images. However, in creating a disk image from a folder, the way it seems to treat Resource Forks is to put them all in a separate folder, called RESOURCE.FRK

Having moved the files to the OS X MacBook, is there a way of reuniting the files with their resource forks?!

Disk Copy on OS 9, Disk Utility on OS X. I don't know about the resource fork problem. Does it do the same thing if you make the image first and then put the files on it.

Another option that I believe would work would be to forgo the Disk Image and format the flash drive as a Mac disk (Mac OS Extended). That should be readable/writable on both Macs and should eliminate the resource fork problem.

WARNINGS:

• Formatting a disk removes all information on it, so clear off anything you want to keep before formatting.
  
• A Mac formatted disc will not be readable/writable on PCs and if you want to use it on PCs after your done with the move you'll need to format it back to FAT32 format.

 

[old john]

Disk Copy on OS 9, Disk Utility on OS X. I don't know about the resource fork problem. Does it do the same thing if you make the image first and then put the files on it.

Another option that I believe would work would be to forgo the Disk Image and format the flash drive as a Mac disk (Mac OS Extended). That should be readable/writable on both Macs and should eliminate the resource fork problem.

I haven't tried making the disc image first, but I may try your second suggestion first. I wondered if flash drives could be re-formatted as Mac drives. I've been using an old 1GB flash drive to move things between computers and I'll check to see if there's anything else I need to save elsewhere before reformatting it. So Mac OS Extended will work on both OS 9 and OS X, will it?

In my ignorance about the dropping of resource forks, I had been using a 16 GB flash drive to transport backups of files from the G3 to send to a Time Capsule from the iMac G5 -- the G3 can't access the Time Machine. I'm glad I haven't need to use that backup to restore any files that may have lost resource forks.

Eudora is even more of a joy on the MacBook Pro. It goes so fast! However, it seems the other iLife apps have improved and it may make the integration with Mail sufficiently useful to attract me away from Eudora. For example, iPhoto has improved so much from version 5 to version 9, eg, it's great being able to export straight into emails at three different sizes without having to reduce them in GraphicConverter or similar app. I've just used it to send photos my wife took of the Dimensions shoot to the other people involved in lending or sailing the boats. BTW, here's one by the movie crew.

My new MacBook Pro often doesn't wake properly; instead it goes into safety sleep even when the battery's fully charged and the mains power connected. Apple has sent a replacement and the original is going back to Apple on Monday. In the meantime I tried importing the Eudora's emails into Mail. It seemed to go OK and worked fast enough with the large sizes of the mail boxes.

Next job is to set up Time Machine to operate with our Time Capsule -- our iMac G5 can't use TM because it's only running Tiger and won't run Snow Leopard. Leopard now costs over £140 in the UK now, despite having been superseded.

 

[DewGuy1999]

I haven't tried making the disc image first, but I may try your second suggestion first. I wondered if flash drives could be re-formatted as Mac drives. I've been using an old 1GB flash drive to move things between computers and I'll check to see if there's anything else I need to save elsewhere before reformatting it. So Mac OS Extended will work on both OS 9 and OS X, will it?

In my ignorance about the dropping of resource forks, I had been using a 16 GB flash drive to transport backups of files from the G3 to send to a Time Capsule from the iMac G5 -- the G3 can't access the Time Machine. I'm glad I haven't need to use that backup to restore any files that may have lost resource forks.

Eudora is even more of a joy on the MacBook Pro. It goes so fast! However, it seems the other iLife apps have improved and it may make the integration with Mail sufficiently useful to attract me away from Eudora. For example, iPhoto has improved so much from version 5 to version 9, eg, it's great being able to export straight into emails at three different sizes without having to reduce them in GraphicConverter or similar app. I've just used it to send photos my wife took of the Dimensions shoot to the other people involved in lending or sailing the boats. BTW, here's one by the movie crew.

My new MacBook Pro often doesn't wake properly; instead it goes into safety sleep even when the battery's fully charged and the mains power connected. Apple has sent a replacement and the original is going back to Apple on Monday. In the meantime I tried importing the Eudora's emails into Mail. It seemed to go OK and worked fast enough with the large sizes of the mail boxes.

Next job is to set up Time Machine to operate with our Time Capsule -- our iMac G5 can't use TM because it's only running Tiger and won't run Snow Leopard. Leopard now costs over £140 in the UK now, despite having been superseded.

You're really giving me a challenge with the OS 9 stuff, I moved from my old OS 8.6 iMac to this iMac which is currently running OS X 10.4.11 almost 7 years ago via file sharing over Ethernet and haven't really done much "classic" related since. My understanding is that file sharing over Ethernet is not an option in your situation, as AppleTalk is no longer supported under OS X.

Unless I'm mistaken, any kind of media, hard drive, flash drive, even optical media can be formatted for Mac. Mac OS Extended will work with OS 8.1 or later.

If you do switch to Mail, there's a nice little program called Eudora Mailbox Cleaner that works really well for moving your mail from Eudora to Mail. From what I understand Mail's import function isn't real thorough.

I upgraded to iLife '08 a couple of years ago mostly for iPhoto and iWeb, decided that I didn't care for iWeb and still haven't gotten around to putting my photos in iPhoto as I'm still using the Canon software that came with my camera.

Sorry to hear that you've had problems with the MacBook Pro. The movie production looks like a fun/interesting thing to be a involved with, hope you're having fun.