TB Sending Mail Progress Box Disappeared

Hi Ramona:

The Sending Mail progress box in TB (contacting smtp, sending mail, delivering mail, mail sent successfully with the progress bar) no longer displays on the screen when a message is sent. Instead, the progress is now reported in the task bar at the bottom of the screen.

Can you tell me what I (inadvertently) did to cause the change and how to reset it to display the sending progress on the screen once again? Thanks.

 

Did this happen? New version, theme?
I am using the original theme, and I see the usual progress, and I think that there is also a progress at the Status Bar. I can make the Status Bar (View|Toolbar|uncheck Status bar), but I can't find anything about making the progress popup c0me/go

 

Hi Westside:

I'm using TB 1.06 with the original theme. There were no changes made to the theme or version -- at least none I'm aware of. The send progress box just stopped appearing.

 

I don't know where TB controls this setting within the "options" settings....

It is set to default in:
mailnews.js

pref( "mailnews.show_send_progress ", true); //Will show a progress dialog when saving or sending a message

You can toggle the setting with "about:confg" shud be set to "true "
Filter "about:config" on

mailnews.show_send_progress

about:config extension
http://aboutconfig.mozdev.org/

or you can set the "startpage" :

tools >>options>>general.>>TB start page.......
chrome://aboutconfig/content/config.xul

Go>> "mail startpage "

no idea how it got changed
HTH

regards:captjlddavis

 

BirdieBob,

I see that captjlddavis has given you the fix for your wife's Mail glitch. Can't imagine how it was changed either, unless it has always been that way, and you say not. At any rate, marital bliss shall reign again...

 

Ramona & captjlddavis:

Thanks for the replies. First, the Send Progress was definitely enabled and in use before whatever happened, happened.

I went to Program Files> Mozilla Thunderbird> defaults> pref> mailnews.js. The pref there is as I understand it should be:

pref( "mailnews.show_send_progress ", true).

Is there a setting or pref in the profile that would override that? Or what would you suggest next? I haven't used "about:config" but will give it a go is there's something to go after.

 

It appears that, somehow the pref hs been changed......to false

Easiest way is thru "about:config" entry as I suggested. If you do not have "about:config" extension, set start page as I suggested:

this shud bring up "about:config" in the message body window....filter on "progress" and toggle the entry in question to "true "

Second option:
WITH TB CLOSED......
Go to active profile, AND BACK UP prefs.js -

Open prefs.js with a plain text editor.

find the line:

user_pref( "mailnews.show_send_progress ", false);
and remove it...

save the file....

start TB

Let us know the results..

regards:captjlddavis

 

captjlddavis:

Thanks for your message. I believe I have followed each of your recommendations but with no success to-date. I'll try and layout the steps taken for your review.

First, I tried the "prefs.js" option:
1. Closed TB
2. Went to the profile and backed-up prefs.js.
3. Opened prefs.js in the profile with Notepad.
4. Located user_pref( "mailnews.show_send_progress ", false). Note that it did read "false ".
5. Deleted the line.
6. Saved the file.
7. Started TB.
The TB information page appeared in the message pane. I sent a test message and the progress box did not appear but the message was sent. Since no improvement was acheived, I copied the back-up prefs.js file back into the profile.

Second, I tried configuring the start page.
1. Went to Tools> Options> General> TB start page.
2. Enabled the option to go to the start page upon loading.
3. Entered the start page URL as chrome://aboutconfig/content/config.xut
4. Went to Go> start page.
The about:config page did not appear in the message pane. I thought perhaps "aboutconfig" should have been "about:config" and tried that as well, but with the same result.

Third, I installed about:config 0.5:
1. Downloaded the link.
2. Dragged the link into the Extension Manager.
3. Installed the extension.
4. Closed and re-opened TB. Aboutconfig then appeared in the Tools menu.
5. Cliked on about config in the menu.
6. Filtered to the preference in question which read:

( "mailnews.show_send_progress ", true)

That one threw me, since I expected to see it set to false. I toggled it anyway from true to false, and then back to true while I was there.

I closed and reopened TB expecting the progress box to show given the true setting. I sent a test message, producing no progress box but a successfully sent message. So. I was back to square one.

I closed TB and went to the prefs.js file in the profile to verify what it was set to, and found the setting to be false. So, we appear to be here:
1. Setting of True through about:config on the profile's Tools menu.
2. Setting of false looking at the profile's prefs.js file through Windows Explorer via Notepad.
3. No send progress box.

Hard to see how the about:config and a direct look at the profile's prefs.js file can give different settings of true and false, respectively. I would assume that they are both looking at the same profile given the steps followed, but there we are.

Don't mean to be tedious with the above, but I wanted to try and be clear about the steps taken for you or others to chew on. Any further feedback and recommendations from you and the other wizards would be appreciated, as always! Thanks.

 

Birdie Bob,
this is is obviously not a common problem. I have two possible solutions. Now, keep in mind that you do not lose your personal information by uninstalling the program (from the Add/remove), so uninstall TB, and then reinstall it (obviously, you should have the download file). It may not help a bit, but it is possible that this could help. I remember that I was using a nightly, long ago which behaved like yours. So, I got the next days' nightly, and all was well.
And, there were no profile changes.
The second one is to create a new profile. You will have to set up your mail, and get the old mail in the new profile, but considering the time that you have been taking, it may take less time.
My approach is not sophisticated, but is likely to work with less effort.

 

BirdieBob,

I'm fresh out of ideas.......any or all of the suggestions shud have given the results you want...

Removing the offending line from the prefs.js file with TB closed SHUD have brought the desired results......

Reverting to the default setting from mailnews.js file......

1.Tools> Options> General> TB start page.
2. Enabled the option to go to the start page upon loading.
3. Entered the start page URL as chrome://aboutconfig/content/config.xut

entry shud read:
chrome://aboutconfig/content/config.xul

This brings about:config to message window ( as far as I know)

if about:config entry set to true , there shud be NO entry in prefs.js file....

if your about:config = true AND prefs.js entry = false, then I am at a loss as to what is going on.......

Try fulvio's suggestion and let us know

regards:captjlddavis

 

BirdieBob ...

I was away most of yesterday, so couldn't respond to your PM.

You haven't said whether you're using an installer build or a zipped build of TB (it may not matter), but I'm going to suggest radical surgery ...

1. If you don't already have it, download RegSeeker. It doesn't require installation, as it runs from wherever you unzip it.

2. If you've used an installer version of TB, uninstall it. If a zipped version, just delete the program folder. Then, delete the contents (if any) of your TB profile's Extensions folder.

3. Open RegSeeker, click on "Find in registry ... ", type in thunderbird and click on the "Search!" button. When the search is complete, click on "Select all" at the bottom of the page, then right-click anywhere in the window, select "Delete all selected items" and click on "OK" in the box that opens. Do the same for any nicknames you may use for Thunderbird, such as TB or tbird. (This is all reversible, so don't worry about harming anything.)

4. Reinstall TB. Personally, I prefer to use the nightly zipped Aviary builds, as they don't require installation. They can be located anywhere you wish, as long as any shortcuts point to the executable, and the profile.ini file at C:\Documents and Settings\<Username>\Application Data\Mozilla\Thunderbird\profiles.ini points to the location of your profile.

5. To be on the safe side, run TB's profile manager (<path to>thunderbird.exe -p) before opening TB. Delete the old profile name (but not files and folders) and create a new profile, even if you use the old name.

NOTE 1: You are not deleting the profile ... just the profile name.

NOTE 2: As you probably already know, the TB nightly release page shows the Aviary builds as "aviary1.0.1 ", but they're really 1.0.6.

NOTE 3: When installing the AboutConfig extension be aware that, to see the button for it, you have to right-click anywhere on the menubar or toolbar, select "Customize ", and drag the button to the toolbar.​

user_pref( "mailnews.show_send_progress ") (true or false) does not show up in my profile's prefs.js file ... only in the program folder's defaults\pref\mailnews.js file.

Hope this helps, and that I haven't further muddied the waters.

 

BirdieBob

My about:config had no "mailnews" setting at all. I added the string and set it for true and it works fine.

Maybe you need to delete the one you have and reenter for it to work. You might also try a reboot. I have found that some things you change in FF or TB do not take without a reboot.

 

Hmmm, I don't think I've ever found that to be the case, but I use only the zipped nightlies, which create far fewer registry entries than do the installer (.exe) builds.

Also, have you tried just logging off and back on, rather than rebooting? It takes far less time, and frequently clears temporary problems.

 

I am using TB1.0+ nightlies, and the neat thing is that 1.0.6 and the future 1.1 (or whatever) are completely independent, with their own profiles, of course.
It is not 1.0.6, but it is a nightly, and I found this line in C:\Archive\TB1.1 8-8-2005\defaults\pref\mailnews.js. So, it is there!
pref( "mailnews.show_send_progress ", true); //Will show a progress dialog when saving or sending a message


Note: I have never seen the necessity to reboot the computer, but I agree about a program restart.
And, I love TB1.1. It caught two successive "fishing" attempts from a SCAMdinavian address, i.e. .no
I am implying that scandinavian countries produce large amount of spam, But I could not help it associating fishing with Norway.
Throw those fishes back!

 

FWIW,

default setting DO NOT SHOW in the profile prefs.js - only "user set" entries, that is why I said

if you remove ALL "user_pref( "mailnews.show_send_progress" from the prefs.js file, while TB is completely closed , it WILL revert back to the default setting from mailnews.js ---ie "true "

I stand by my original suggestions

regards:captjlddavis

 

Hello All:

Sorry to be absent from the thread for so long - commitments last night and this morning took me out of the loop. Thank you all for your thoughts and recommendations. I'm happy to say that the good 'ole Send Progress box is now back in action once again!

After reading through all of the replies during my absence, I did the following.

1. First, re-tried bringing-up about:config in the TB start page, being sure I used the entry supplied by captjlddavis. About:config came up successfully in the message pane, so I assume I previously made the error you pointed out in the message -- i.e., apparently used ".xul" rather than ".xul" Thanks for pointing that out.

2. Verified through about:config that the default was set to true.

a. Then checked the profile and deleted the pref appearing there that was sent to false.

b. Launched then closed TB, and verified that the profile then contained no entry for mailnews.show_send_progress.

c. Launched TB again and sent a test message. The Send Progress did not appear but the message was successfully sent. Given the default and profile pref settings. I had assumed it would appear, so that was a surprise and left me believing there had to be a registry issue.

3. As Bmoore1129 suggested, I also rebooted to see if it would have an impact, but the test results were once again the same.

4. Next, I downloaded RegSeeker as Jim suggested to be used in cleaning up the registry.

5. Since I'm always reluctant to deal with the registry until other options are gone, I decided try Westside's suggestions first.

a. I uninstalled TB using Add/Remove Programs, then re-installed it from my archived file. And Jim, I had used a zipped build rather than an installer build, so it was used again in this re-installation.

b. Launched TB, set-up the email account, and tried a test message. Once again, no Send Progress appeared but the message was sent.

6. Next, I tried setting-up a new profile and sent a test message. Lo & behold, the Send progress Box appeared!

a. Copied in files from the backed-up copy of the prior profile: mail (non-msf), address books & other .mab files.

b. Launched TB. Verified presence of the mail and address books, and access to both.

c. Closed TB and copied the prefs.js file from the prior profile to the new. Relaunched TB and all preferences were correctly in place.

d. Sent one final test message and the Send Progress was still functioning.

So, that profile appears to be back in business and creation of the new profile seems to have resolved the issue. I then backed-up the TB profiles (there are 2 on the machine -- one that had the issue and one that did not) and deleted the prior problem profile.

I do have a two additional questions:

1. Jim, the link on your message for the nightly zipped Aviary builds did not connect and timed-out each time I tried it. Would you please check it out and give it to me again? I'd like to use the installer builds going forward.

2. Both of the current profiles carry names in the Profile Manager that are different from the respective profile file names. For example, my "Bob" profile points to the file currently named "xxxxx.default ". The profile.ini file contains the profile's file name. For sake of simplicity, I'd like to have the files named the same as they appear in the Profile Manager. Can I change the profile's file name and the profile.ini file to accomplish that without creating other problems? In other words:

a. Can I change the file name from "xxxxx.default" to "xxxxx.Bob ", and

b. Change the profile.ini file from "path=profiles/xxxxx.default" to "path=profiles/xxxxx.Bob" ?

Not really an issue but something I'd prefer to do if it's that straight-forward.

Thanks again to all of you for your thoughts and input. I suppose we'll never know why the change occurred to begin with, but you all have my sincere appreciation for helping me straighten it out!

 

BB,

glad you got it......

regards:captjlddavis

 

Bob,
I use this link for my nightlies . The Aviary ones are for the current versio, and the trunk are for the next version, being worked on.
As for the names, I am not so sure. If you use the Profile Manager you will see only the name of the profile. I seem to have at least four profiles in my hard drive, but one of the is not listed, because I deleted it, though I kept the files.
It seem that the old nomenclature was Profiles|profilename|.slt, but with at least TB1.0, it has change to Profiles|.slt profilename.
Since I use more than one profile, and I deal with the situation at the Profile Manager level, and then modify the shortcut property by adding the profilename, even if saddled with the .slt. I add -p profilename to the Target line, like the old days.
Thus, although one of my profiles is xxxxxx.slt genericX on the hard drive, I use only "genericx ". So, don't look at the confusing mess on the hard drive, and you will be ok.
My ego is satisfied that the uninstall/reinstall would not help, and the profile creation would. I go that route, first.
As for the use of a registry cleaner, it is a religious experience. You must have faith, and use a good program like Jim mention. I know nothing about it, but I have been using, over the years a number of program which do the job.
As long as they don't destroy the computer, and back up my changes, they are good.
A registry cleaner is essential in cases where more than form of the same program is present, even if installed. While an unzipped does not require registry cleaning, and installed program must get a thorough going over.
I delete the file, and then go after the registry. The other installed species is not bothered a bit.

 

BirdieBob ...

Glad to hear that your problem is solved.

The links Westside and I provided link to the same page, and both links work for me. In any event, it's

http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/thunderbird/nightly/​

For some reason, the BBS software is leaving out some necessary letters. It works as a link, but if you wish to type it into your browser's address window, what's missing is /mozilla.org/thunderbird/.

I've never crashed my computer because of RegSeeker. I use it frequently, as Add/Remove will not remove all of the registry entries installed by any program. Reversal of its removals is easy as long as the "Backup before deletion" box in the lower left corner of the window is checked (default setting). Backups are found in the RegSeeker\Backup folder ... just double-click to reinstall the backup's removed registry settings.

Last, but not least, since you use more than one profile on your computer, to access either without having to go through the profile manager each time, add -p <profilename> to the end of the target line in the respective shortcut. As an example, the profile folder for my primary TB profile is labeled "JSS ", so the target line in the desktop and Start menu shortcuts reads E:\Mozilla\Programs\Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe -p JSS.

NOTE 1: The profilename is case sensitive.

NOTE 2: Different profiles can also be used with Firefox. With either TB or FF, one profile must be closed before another can be opened.​

 

Westside & Jim:

Thanks for the info. I now have the link for the nightlies and will use it going forward. I will also do some experimentation with RegSeeker and the profile naming questions -- since that's now wandering off the original line of this thread, I'll come back on a new thread(s) with any questions that develop. Better to avoid the "Wrath of Ramona" by staying on point!!!

Thanks again for your help and best regards.