#86 Fast Path to a Deadlock in Mail

[John P]

Have you ever wanted a mind-boglingly odd deadlock in Mail? Well,
today is your lucky day! Here is how to make your very own:

First, make sure that HTTPmail-plugin is set to check for updates at
startup.

Second, make sure that your computer has a Manual IP address, then
unplug the network cable. This ensures that your computer thinks its
on the internet, but isn't. A particularly bad AirPort connection also
works.

Third, start Mail. No windows will open, but when you select "New Mail
Viewer" from the file menu, all will seem well... until you try to quit.

You now have Mail, running happily, that will not, under any
circumstances, quit. After you tell it to quit, it will still work as though
you hadn't told it to quit. You can try quitting it via the Dock, the
Menu, the Key-Combo, Activity Monitor, even by logging out! Nothing
will work, and logout will fail. You will have to Force Quit it, which will
result in all the mail that you downloaded while Mail was happy, will be
downloaded again... leaving duplicates of everything. If you're clever,
you can even get 5 or more copies!!! (Your milage may vary, only tested
to 5 duplicates.)

But remember, the console log is your enemy! It might spoil your fun
by displaying errors such as the following:

2005-12-01 11:17:11.392 Mail[5836] Installing HTTPMail Preferences
panel
2005-12-01 11:17:11.394 Mail[5836] Installing HTTPMail Account
Setup Assistant
2005-12-01 11:17:11.534 Mail[5836] enabling global exception
handler
2005-12-01 11:17:11.534 Mail[5836] Daniels httpmail plugin loaded
2005-12-01 11:17:11.535 Mail[5836] Checking OS version
2005-12-01 11:17:11.535 Mail[5836] registering account type
2005-12-01 11:17:11.633 Mail[5836] registered account type
2005-12-01 11:17:11.657 Mail[5836] NSExceptionHandler has
recorded the following exception:
Socket Error -- Could not find host: www.automagic-software.com
Stack trace: 0x9637df10 0x928f543c 0x0177cef0 0x0177bb50
0x0177bbe8 0x0177d8b4 0x928da7b4 0x9002b200
2005-12-01 11:17:11.659 Mail[5836] NSExceptionHandler has
recorded the following exception:
Socket Error -- Could not find host: www.automagic-software.com
Stack trace: 0x9637df10 0x928f543c 0x0177dbf0 0x0177c950
0x01778790 0x0176afc8 0x0176a414 0x909bf670 0x909bf31c
0x909bf1f4 0x928c298c 0x928c26a8 0x000e6d18 0x000051f4
0x000e672c 0x928e5218 0x90770ae0 0x9075d458 0x9075ca0c
0x93182260 0x931818f4 0x93181760 0x9367f904 0x9367f5c8
0x9367bb0c 0x9376c618 0x00002888 0x000a4da0
2005-12-01 11:17:11.659 Mail[5836] *** NSRunLoop ignoring
exception 'Could not find host: www.automagic-software.com' that
raised during posting of delayed perform with target 429740 and
selector 'reallyFinishLaunching'
CurrentSet updated to 0 (Automatic)

Using the defaults command from the command line (or using Property
List Editor) to set "Check For Updates" to 0 in person.djlp.mail.plist will
return Mail to its happy self. Or, of course, you could plug back in your
internet connection. That doesn't, however, work if you are using the
Bad AirPort Connection method.

Enjoy!!

JP

[John P]

Logged In: YES
user_id=390699

Poor me, I somehow missed the bug four spots down, 1250898, which reports
this issue in broken english. Oh well, I like my dramatic interpretation better
anyway. :-)

JP

[Tom Pearce]

Logged In: YES
user_id=322654

I am currently experiencing this exact problem. Is there any kind of work
around. I opened mail today and no screen. Also noticed my hotmail
account mysteriously disappeared. Tried a new account and nothing will
download from the hotmail account now. How can I uninstall the
program?

[Nobody/Anonymous]

Logged In: NO

Thank you.

[Nobody/Anonymous]

Logged In: NO

Way too much ego, and not enough direction.
If you are having this error: mail doesn't load page automatically, or you lost
hotmail account, or mail.app stalls when finding mail, or won't quit, do this

find this file: person.djlp.mail.plist
usually in: Library/preferences/person.djlp.mail.plist

open file with text editor, and change this line from:
<key>Check For Updates</key><true/>
To:
<key>Check For Updates</key><false/>
then save.

restart mail.app. this should fix your problem.

Cheers.