help! Mail is dying!

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
for the last few days, Mail won't start up. It 'unexpectedly quits' every time i try to start it. I've restarted the computer several times and relaunched finder within on run to see if maybe that was the problem... nothing is working! and I get important emails through this program! please help!

Asaph

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Asaph

    for the last few days, Mail won't start up. It 'unexpectedly quits' every time i try to start it. I've restarted the computer several times and relaunched finder within on run to see if maybe that was the problem... nothing is working! and I get important emails through this program! please help!

    Asaph




    Hi,



    Have you tried repairing permissions? If that doesn't work you could create a new user account, and set up Mail there. If it works correctly with the new account, then one of your Mail preference files got hammered somehow. If the new account doesn't solve the problem, then Mail.app itself is hosed. There should be instructions somewhere on how to extract the Mail package and reinstall it. Good luck.



    Regards,

    Marc
  • Reply 2 of 11
    asaphasaph Posts: 176member
    Thanks, I just finished the long process of all the permission stuff when i saw your reply. Still doesn't work, and for some reason photoshop wont make a new file either... Are there virii for mac currently?im getting confused and pretty frustrated

    -Forrest



    P.S. i didn't really thank you, thanks for taking the time to help me!
  • Reply 3 of 11
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Asaph

    Thanks, I just finished the long process of all the permission stuff when i saw your reply. Still doesn't work, and for some reason photoshop wont make a new file either... Are there virii for mac currently?im getting confused and pretty frustrated

    -Forrest



    P.S. i didn't really thank you, thanks for taking the time to help me!




    Hi,



    No problem, I understand your frustration, my frustration comes from having to work on a Windows machine all day.



    As far as I know there are no virii for Mac OS X; there were one or two "proof of concept" trojan horses, but that was about it. Try creating a new user account, and see if that solves the problem. At least that will tell you where the problem lies. Good luck.



    Regards,

    Marc
  • Reply 4 of 11
    costiquecostique Posts: 1,084member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mslifkin

    Try creating a new user account, and see if that solves the problem. At least that will tell you where the problem lies.



    A bit of clarification. If Mail works in other accounts, then either its prefs or one of the mailboxes got corrupted in your account. If not, it's a system-wide problem, related with Mail.app itself or some system files or frameworks.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    asaphasaph Posts: 176member
    Yeah, it works on other accounts, but i dont have my password anywhere but in the mail program itself

    I know it was foolish of my to contain the password to a program inside the very program it unlocked, but i did. I need to know a way to fix it as i get loads of email and with this thing not cooperating i have a feeling it's piling up. Any help would be gretly appreciated!
  • Reply 6 of 11
    costiquecostique Posts: 1,084member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Asaph

    Yeah, it works on other accounts



    Good

    Quote:

    but i dont have my password anywhere but in the mail program itself



    In fact, Mail does not keep any passwords 'in itself'. All your passwords are stored in a keychain and may be accessed through Keychain Access utility. If you forgot your password, just launch it.

    Quote:

    Any help would be gretly appreciated!



    First of all, find com.apple.mail.plist in ~/Library/Preferences (in your home directory), move it out of the prefs folder, say, to the Desktop. Then make a back-up of the whole Mail folder in ~/Library (again, in your home directory) and try launching Mail. If it runs OK, set up your accounts and see if your mail messages are there. If it turns out that all your messages have disappeared, you can import them from the back-up.



    If Mail still unexpectedly quits, you need to mess a little with your mailboxes. For example, you can drag the Mail folder out of ~/Library and when Mail runs, import your messages from the back-up.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    Quote:

    Originally posted by costique

    .....



    Like i said in another thread: IT SMELLS LIKE CORUPTED LOCAL CACHE!!!



    8)



    How to trash bad cache files:

    ~/library/Cache



    drag the whole "Cache" folder into bin, log out and back.



    if that doesn't work, than you could run some cron scripts. Don't worry.

    It's easy.

    Open Terminal, type in:



    sudo periodic daily weekly monthly



    hit enter



    you get asked for admin password.

    type in your admin password, hit enter, there you are!

    (Takes a while, so don't worry.)



    perhaps...
  • Reply 8 of 11
    asaphasaph Posts: 176member
    Well, i think the app is corrupted... doesnt work at all

    even on the other user it shuts down when im checking mail.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    asaphasaph Posts: 176member
    Okay, I gave up on mail and started using microsoft. im not proud, but it at least works. yet another problem solved by running away from it!
  • Reply 10 of 11
    I have used mail with four accounts and several hundred emails on a daily basis for the past year without any issues. *knocks on wood*.



    Try reinstalling the application from the main disk. Do the steps recommended by Vox Barbara. Update your software to the latest patch 10.3.5.
  • Reply 11 of 11
    Quote:

    Originally posted by talksense101

    I have used mail with four accounts and several hundred emails on a daily basis for the past year without any issues. *knocks on wood*.





    Dito four accounts, hm, well, do we know each other
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