Help with Netscape Mail

hello,

i have been having numerous problems with netscape after upgrading to 7.1. i have read through the boards here and i've been able to fix most of them, but i have had a persistent issue with nescape mail.

i have a gateway box with P4 2 GHz, 30 G HD, 512 Mb RAM, WInXP home (sp1 i think, i have installed all the recommended updates as they came along). Cable modem, Comcast Broadband.

my problem is that when i open the mail client, i get an error message that says, "This folder is being processed. Please wait until folder finishes processing to receive messages." so, some weeks ago i waited and waited, but it seems that the folder never finishes processing. i tried the above suggestions to back up my user prefs and edit the POP and SMTP server addresses. i tried deleting and adding a new mail account. i even reinstalled netscape over itself (because i was having an issue with the downlod manager, and the reinstallation fixed both problems initially, but the mail issue has returrned. fortunatley, and unfortunately i guess, i have been able to check my mail through the comcast website. in fact, i found that when i emptied out my mailbox there, netscape mail will work until i get new mail. then the next time i check my mail, i see in the progress bar that it is getting a x messages, but stops and gives me the processing folder error message.

any help would be greatly appreceiated.

 

This seems to be a problem with the ATTBI/Comcast mail server.

SEE http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=205379

 

Welcome to the Forum, n33!

Hi n33,

Have you tried deleting the MSF files in your Mail Folder? If not:
Close Netscape
Navigate to your salted folder\Mail folder and do so.
Don't delete any files without an MSF extension.
For your salted (*.slt) folder location, look HERE.

Delete the Cache Folder
Delete the history.dat file
Delete all *.tmp files

Open Netscape:
Disable "Empty Trash on Exit" in:
Edit | Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings | Server Settings

Revert to Modern Theme if you are using any Theme other than Modern.

These are the Mail settings which are posted on the Comcast site:
# E-mail Settings:
# POP3 (Incoming Mail) Server: mail.comcast.net
# SMTP (Outgoing Mail) Server: smtp.comcast.net
# Your E-Mail address: e-mail ID@comcast.net
# News Groups: netnews.comcast.net
# Port settings when on the Network: POP port 110 and SMTP port 25
# SSL(Port settings when traveling): POP port 995 and SMTP port 465

Did you check the prefs.js file for these entries:
user_pref( "mail.server.server6.realhostname ", "netnews.comcast.net ");
user_pref( "mail.server.server6.hostname ", "netnews.comcast.com ");
to ensure that attbi is not entered?

Let us know if you continue to have problems.

Ramona

 

thank you alice and ramona,

i did as you instructed and deleted all the .msf files, my cache floder and the history.dat file and it worked. you guys are great. another question, just in passing, in my mail folder, there are 2 folders for the old attbi.com account, my guess is i should just leave them alone if they aren't causing a problem, but are they necessary?

 

Hi n33,

Glad your mail problem is solved!

You can look in the attbi folders (without the MSF extension) and see if there is mail that you might want.

If there is, then rename the file (without the MSF extension):
For example: Inbox to InboxATTBI.
You can then copy this file to the Comcast Mail Folder.

You must close Netscape when editing these files.

If you don't rename the files, they will overwrite your existing Mail files. If there is no Mail that you wish to salvage, then just leave them alone for the time being. You have your Mail working, so let's don't break what we just fixed! When you see that your Mail is stable, then delete the ATTBI Folders.

Ramona

 

It could just be a coincidence that deleting the .msf files, cache and history "solved" the problem. Here is a recent newsgroup thread on this issue describing other possible causes:
snews://secnews.netscape.com:563/bge79r$ffe12@ripley.netscape.com

 

hi ramona,

i'm back. 7.1 really does have problems doesn't it? it almost seems as if it was released early to beat the aol announcement that they were dumping netscape.

so, where to begin? well, thanks again for the workaround with the "folder bing processed error." it has recurred twice since you helped me, the second time this morning. last time i repeated the steps above and no problem. however, i noticed that after i regained control over my inbox that sites requiring cookies (like my bank, comcast, etc) have been complaining that i must have my browser set to accept cookines in order to load. well, it is set to accept cookies based on privacy and i get a worning before saving one. but the problem is that netscape is either still refusing cookies or reporting to websites that it is not accepting.

this in addition to the folder processing errors, and an earlier problem with my download manager (that i fixed by reinstalling over the existing version), all makes me think that i have some corrupted libraries in here somewhere. so, what i was thinking was that unless you have a better suggestion, i'm planning to uninstall 7.1 (and any other versions i find in here) and clean install. does this sound reasonable?

also, i read the bug report and board entries alice provided, and it looks like others have been having similar problems. so, why isn't there a clear fix for this somewhere? that patch listed on bugzilla is nice but what would i do with it? it's not self executing.

so, sorry to go on and on, and thanks in advance. it's just frustrating that the browser i've been using trouble free for nearly a decade has suddenly developed problems, it's developers are fired by the behemoth that owned it and the future is uncertain. i'm no alarmist, but this stinks of M$ interference.

 

Hi n33,

Sorry to hear you are still having problems with your Mail. As for Bug 205379 a fix for this bug is checked into the tree and tested, and shows Fixed/Resolved in May. I wonder if you have been in touch with Comcast? I think you should stay on them about this issue. I have seen suggestions to delete and recreate the Mail account. I understand this must be done thru Comcast, and wondering if you have done so? You might also try creating a new Profile, which may, or may not help. Since the MSF workaround does help, and should be the fix, then it appears to be a problem at the Comcast end.

For your Cookie situation, have you tried using other settings: Enable cookies for the originating web site only, etc.? Also, when you are on a site that is problematic, click on Tools | Cookie Manager | Unblock Cookies from this site. Does this help? What you may need to do is delete the cookies.txt file, which is located in the *.slt folder.

I can imagine that this is very frustrating, as I'm seeing that the issue has been resolved for most Comcast users.

Ramona