Folders Enumerate but do not populate
THUNDERBIRD 154 - IMAP MESSAGE LIST EMPTY AGAINST MERAK MAIL SERVER 8.5.0 ============================================================= SUMMARY Account sets up successfu… (read more)
THUNDERBIRD 154 - IMAP MESSAGE LIST EMPTY AGAINST MERAK MAIL SERVER 8.5.0
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SUMMARY Account sets up successfully. Folder tree enumerates. Message counts and unread counts are correct (folders render bold for unread). No messages are ever displayed in the message list pane, in any folder, regardless of size.
ENVIRONMENT
Client : Thunderbird 154.0, Windows 10 Enterprise 22H2 (19045) Server : Merak Mail Server 8.5.0 (2006), IMAP 143 STARTTLS Auth : CRAM-MD5
SERVER CAPABILITY STRING
IMAP4rev1 AUTH=CRAM-MD5 AUTH=DIGEST-MD5 AUTH=LOGIN AUTH=PLAIN SORT THREAD=ORDEREDSUBJECT UIDPLUS QUOTA ACL NAMESPACE CHILDREN IDLE UNSELECT STARTTLS
Note: no CONDSTORE, LIST-EXTENDED, ESEARCH, MOVE, LITERAL+, SPECIAL-USE.
REPRODUCTION
1. Add IMAP account (autoconfig finds 143/STARTTLS correctly). 2. Wait for folder discovery to complete. 3. Click any folder. Message list pane is empty.
OBSERVED
- Empty on every folder, including a 7-message folder and a 19-message folder, so this is not a volume or indexing-time issue. - Reproducible on a brand new profile with only this account configured. - All folders confirmed subscribed via Subscribe dialog. - Error Console (Ctrl+Shift+J) shows nothing when a folder is clicked. - "Run search on server" + Search returns nothing, AND no SEARCH command ever reaches the server (confirmed in server log). The request is never put on the wire. - Setting mailnews.imap.jsmodule=false has no effect.
CONTROL - SERVER IS HEALTHY
The exact command Thunderbird issues works correctly from curl on the same machine, same credentials, same account:
curl.exe -v -u stem --url "imap://<server>/INBOX" \
--request "UID FETCH 1:* (FLAGS)"
Returns all 2932 messages with UIDs and flags. SELECT INBOX reports: * 2932 EXISTS * OK [UIDVALIDITY 1435733459] * OK [UIDNEXT 45598]
Bounded FETCH (FETCH 1:5 (FLAGS)) also returns correctly.
CONTROL - CLIENT IS OTHERWISE HEALTHY
CardDAV and CalDAV from the same Thunderbird install to a Nextcloud server work correctly - address book and calendars sync fine. Outlook (with the same mailbox) reads this server without issue.
LOGGING NOTE
MOZ_LOG=IMAP:5 produces no log file at all in 154 (tried via batch file, as administrator, with Thunderbird fully exited, log path outside any redirected folder). The MozillaWiki instructions for IMAP logging appear to be out of date.
SERVER-SIDE LOG
Below: sessions for user "stem" only. Other users on this server have been removed, all SASL credential blobs redacted, duplicate sessions dropped, sorted by time.
IMAP server-side log - sessions for user "stem" only Server: Merak Mail Server 8.5.0 (2006) Other users and all SASL credential blobs removed.
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192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 Connected 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 >>> * OK ABC CBA IMAP4rev1 Mon, 24 Aug 2026 15:33:19 -0600 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 <<< 19 capability 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 <<< 20 authenticate CRAM-MD5 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 >>> + [REDACTED-SASL] 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 <<< [REDACTED-SASL user=stem] 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 >>> 20 OK AUTHENTICATE Completed 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 <<< 21 capability 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 <<< 22 select "INBOX" 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 <<< 23 getquotaroot "INBOX" 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 >>> 23 OK GETQUOTAROOT Completed 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 <<< 24 UID fetch 1:* (FLAGS) 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 >>> 24 OK UID FETCH Completed 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 <<< 25 logout 192.168.191.2 [26EC] 15:33:19 >>> * BYE IMAP4rev1 Server terminating connection SYSTEM [26EC] 15:33:19 Disconnected
174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 Connected 174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 >>> * OK ABC CBA IMAP4rev1 Mon, 24 Aug 2026 15:33:24 -0600 174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 <<< EF1 CAPABILITY 174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 <<< EF2 STARTTLS 174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 >>> EF2 OK STARTTLS Ready to start TLS 174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 <<< EF3 CAPABILITY 174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 <<< EF4 AUTHENTICATE CRAM-MD5 174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 >>> + [REDACTED-SASL] 174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 <<< [REDACTED-SASL user=stem] 174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 >>> EF4 OK AUTHENTICATE Completed 174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 <<< EF5 CAPABILITY 174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 <<< EF6 NAMESPACE 174.90.223.162 [26EC] 15:33:24 <<< EF7 LIST "" "*" SYSTEM [26EC] 15:33:24 Disconnected
174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 Connected 174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 >>> * OK ABC CBA IMAP4rev1 Mon, 24 Aug 2026 15:39:23 -0600 174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 <<< HR1 CAPABILITY 174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 <<< HR2 STARTTLS 174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 >>> HR2 OK STARTTLS Ready to start TLS 174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 <<< HR3 CAPABILITY 174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 <<< HR4 AUTHENTICATE CRAM-MD5 174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 >>> + [REDACTED-SASL] 174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 <<< [REDACTED-SASL user=stem] 174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 >>> HR4 OK AUTHENTICATE Completed 174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 <<< HR5 CAPABILITY 174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 <<< HR6 NAMESPACE 174.90.223.4 [26EC] 15:39:23 <<< HR7 LIST "" "*" SYSTEM [26EC] 15:39:23 Disconnected