From: davey@example.invalid
On Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:20:57 -0500
Paul wrote:
> On Fri, 2/21/2025 10:51 AM, Davey wrote:
> > On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 07:10:31 -0500
> > Paul wrote:
> >
> >> On Thu, 2/20/2025 4:59 AM, Davey wrote:
> >>> On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:26:51 -0500
> >>> Paul wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> On Mon, 2/17/2025 6:32 AM, Davey wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> cd ~
> >>>>> ls -a
> >>>>> (bunch of stuff)
> >>>>> .mozilla
> >>>>> (bunch more stuff)
> >>>>> cd .mozilla
> >>>>> ls
> >>>>> extensions
> >>>>>
> >>>>> No sign of Firefox (nor TB, but that's probably in snap).
> >>>>>
> >>>>> In all, this is pointless. I will try something different,
> >>>>> whether it's Ubuntu 24.04, or Linux Mint, which I am currently
> >>>>> downloading.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> More later, thanks for help.
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> I'm going back outside in a moment, but I'll make the general
> >>>> comment that these two things, are stored in different areas.
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> Big snip for brevity.
> >
> > Another big snip.
> >
> >> sudo dmesg # If it complained on the first attempt
> >>
> >> and you can see notations of things amiss in there. But
> >> not all conditions (like the missing swap) are immediately
> >> apparent. The "top" command can show the state of swap,
> >> whether the quantity of swap is zero, or some swap is now
> >> in service.
> >>
> >> Paul
> >
> > Returning to my Thunderbird problem. remember that it works almost
> > completely on the Desktop, including Local Folders. But on the
> > laptop, I cannot get the Local Folders to work. I shut down TB,
> > then copy the Local Folders files from the backup into the correct
> > folder in the working TB profile's folders, but they don't appear.
> >
> > I was wondering whether to:
> >
> > 1. Create a new fresh profile, as there are some extra files and
> > remnants of old profiles floating around.
> > Or:
> >
> > 2.a. Purge Thunderbird, to get rid of anything that is incorrect.
> > Google seems happy to restore my .gmail accounts.
> > 2.b. Reinstall TB from scratch. Use snap?
> >
> > I have also found that my backed-up Local Folder files are not
> > complete, which puzzles me. They were done nightly using an rsync
> > script. What's gone is gone.
> > But I have some .msf files, which appear to contain loads of
> > messages. I need to see if I can convert them into individual
> > messages again.
> >
> > Any help welcome.
> >
>
> .msf is Mork Summary File. It contains the headers of the messages.
> in a database format. If a .msf is erased for example, a new one
> can be re-built from available information.
>
> In particular, if you had a large Inbox, and the Inbox.msf got
> erased, Thunderbird will scan the Inbox file and make a new Inbox.msf
> . The "status" of messages, such as whether they have been Read or
> not, would not necessarily be correct.
>
> The Inbox itself, is a text file, and it has a couple Mozilla status
> lines at the top of each message. These are inserted by Thunderbird,
> so that when a .msf is derived later, those status lines can provide
> some of the information needed. (Thunderbird also supports separate
> .eml files in a folder, and can scan all of those to make a .msf .)
>
> An IMAP account, may not have the same local file content as a POP3
> account would. One stores content on the server (such that multiple
> clients can be used to read emails without conflicting with one
> another). The POP3 is likely to populate a master client with the
> emails, and can remove them from the server so that the server is not
> clogged.
>
> GMail is different, in that GMail stores internal mails in the AllBox
> (Google Server). GMail uses comment lines like Mozilla Thunderbird
> does, only with GMail they are "tags" indicating which boxes should
> receive a copy of the message in the AllBox.
>
> AllBox#1 Sent, Inbox # When you send an email to
> yourself, no TCPIP traffic results. # The server simply adds the
> "Inbox" tag, to the "Sent" tag # already associated with the message.
>
> # You can examine your AllBox,
> using Google TakeOut # for download of the box as a ZIP file. This is
> how I know # what the tags are. I did a TakeOut to get my file.
>
> Because GMail has this clever scheme, this can result in the odd
> surprise for the user. Just as long as you remember that GMail has
> only one box, it may be easier to understand how parts of the scheme
> work.
>
> Recent versions of Thunderbird, do not particularly tolerate foreign
> file types in the folder structure. I have had .7z files removed from
> such folders -- the files used to be tolerated, but they get removed
> on newer versions of the software.
>
> The Inbox should be an MBOX format. There could be rules about
> what character sets are allowed. It might be important, if manually
> editing an MBOX file, to not change the character set to UTF-8 from
> ANSI or similar. You want the file to be recognizable as an MBOX file.
> If in doubt, use a hex editor, to see if any foreign material is
> present in the file.
>
> To give an example, I was having troubles one day. Using a hex editor,
> I quickly scrolled through the file in question. *There was a hunk of
> binary* This can happen on a file system error, a disk problem, and
> so on. Once I cleaned up the mess manually and removed the binary
> material (I can do that with the hex editor), the file worked again.
> I've only had one corruption like that, in a lot of years usage.
>
> You can use the Linux "file" command on an MBOX
>
> file Inbox
>
> and it will tell you what kind of text file it is. There are more
> than 100 declaration types available from the file command, concerning
> the contents of Text files. Some of the declarations indicate a
> problem with the file that needs your attention (and in particular,
> a quick check with a hex editor, to determine whether a major
> corruption is present).
>
> For further help, you can try this group. It was created after
> the private Mozilla domain was disconnected. There is a group
> with a similar name, for Firefox.
>
> alt.comp.software.thunderbird
>
> Paul
>
Briefly, as it's bedtime:
All of the problem messages were in Local Folders. so are not on the
Google server.
I want to unravel the .msf files I do have, rather than recreating
them. If it only contains the headers that's not much use.
I will certainly look at that group, many thanks.
I have just exported my current Profile, maybe tomorrow I will create a
new one from scratch and see what happens. At least I can use the
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