First, "unable to write," then "unable to open the summary file"
I'm dealing with a properly updated 'bird: 140.5.0 (32-bit) running on an equally updated Windows 10 desktop. First thing this morning, out of nowhere, I started getting an "unable to write the email to the mailbox..." message when sending, thus I could send but not save. And then I realized I wasn't receiving either, on all three accounts in my Thunderbird. I stopped everything and focused on trying to fix this. It's been an all-day, losing effort. So far.
I tried the various quick checks and fixes recommended here and there: I'm running the program as an administrator. I restarted the program. I rebooted the computer. I think I have enough disk space, but to be sure I deleted some bloat from possibly overly large files. I compacted, even though the program is configured to do that regularly. I temporarily disabled my antivirus program. I went into my webmail and deleted all messages that have arrived since my Thunderbird stopped receiving, in case one of them was corrupted. And probably some other attempts as well. Nothing has helped.
And now a second, even worse issue has fallen from the sky. Thunderbird opens. The folder list is where it always has been. The number of unopened messages in each folder is there in boldface, as always, but...the folders are all blank and I get the dreaded popup: "unable to open the summary file...." Have I lost my years' worth of carefully curated emails?
I've tried folder repair. I've deleted parent.lock. Etc. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
I will be super-grateful for any wisdom sent my way.
All Replies (20)
If anyone in the expert category is lurking and--I hope--planning to swoop in and save me, I note one other (to me) oddness that may help to localize the cause of my woes. As I said, the folders are all visible, but I can also report that 1) the address book is fully usable, and 2) the search function turns up whatever emails I'm looking for in those folders--it's just that I can't read them. Or any emails at all.
Does that tell anybody anything? Anybody? Anything?
Thank you for asking. Each time I reopen Thunderbird, a popup asks if it's OK to make changes to my hard drive, followed by "unable to write the email to the index..." and "unable to open the summary file for inbox..." on one one account, then on another. If I click Troubleshoot, the program goes through the same popups and reopens formatted somewhat differently from my usual (with sidebars I normally don't use and bars I normally keep at the top missing) but otherwise as I've described: All the folders (and subfolders and subsubfolders) of all three of my accounts are where I normally see them, on the left, with numbers of unread messages therein indicated by boldface, but if I click on anything it's "No message found" and that's that. Only the Address Book remains intact: searchable and with all info. And a Troubleshooting Information tab is open. If I click on Clear Startup Cache in it, nothing happens--no restart. Maybe that's because it has just restarted? Or does that indicate something else?
So I'm totally lost. Anything in Troubleshooting Information I should be looking for?
Looking through the suggestions in the Troubleshoot Mode link you gave, I haven't yet tried Windows in safe mode. I have tried disabling my antivirus program; nothing. I don't think it can be my mail provider, because I have one account from one and two others from a different one, and all are affected the same, plus all are fine in their web versions. I haven't tried a new profile or a new Thunderbird installation, which I consider last resort because my web email does not have my full archive of messages and my great fear is that I might do something wrong and never again see the emails that apparently are still hiding somewhere in Thunderbird.
Many thanks for your involvement.
> a popup asks if it's OK to make changes to my hard drive
Did you say yes to that?
Try this:
Open your TB profile:
- TB menu > Help > Troubleshooting Information
- click the Application Basics > Profile Folder 'Open Folder' button
- close TB
- in the profile folder, rename the folderTree.json file
- start TB
Excuse my skittishness, but I should just right click on it and rename it? I shouldn't delete it, or anything? What should I rename it? I trust this doesn't risk losing those hidden messages....
NoImprovement said
Excuse my skittishness, but I should just right click on it and rename it? I shouldn't delete it, or anything? What should I rename it? I trust this doesn't risk losing those hidden messages....
Yes, R. click > rename to anything. Doing this rebuilds the folder tree.
Hold on. I just noticed there are three folderTree.json files: folderTree.json (dated a couple of days ago), folderTree.json.corrupt (dated a year and a half ago) and folderTree.json.temp (dated about 9.5 hours ago).
NoImprovement said
Hold on. I just noticed there are three folderTree.json files: folderTree.json (dated a couple of days ago), folderTree.json.corrupt (dated a year and a half ago) and folderTree.json.temp (dated about 9.5 hours ago).
Rename folderTree.json only.
I renamed it folderTreerenamed.json and reopened TB. Same as before.
FWIW, I notice that the original file's date has no moved up to the current time. The renamed file still is dated a couple of days ago, as the original was. So I guess it has rebuilt, as you said it would. But that doesn't solve the problem.
NoImprovement said
I renamed it folderTreerenamed.json and reopened TB. Same as before.
Next (assuming account is set up as IMAP):
- close TB
- in the profile/ImapMail folder, delete the INBOX.msf file
- start TB
My two very least important accounts are IMAP. The by far most important is POP, I'm afraid.
NoImprovement said
My two very least important accounts are IMAP. The by far most important is POP, I'm afraid.
I'm not too familiar with POP. See if INBOX.msf file is present in the profile/Mail folder.
I'm sorry, I don't know what is meant by "profile/Mail folder" here. I have two profiles, one of which hasn't been used in years. The other is the one I use all the time, with three accounts. That's the one that opened into the folder where I find the .json files and many others. A search shows about a dozen INBOX.msf files, covering different accounts at different times. I do see that three are dated from two days ago, when the problem began. One is for each account. As I said, two of them are IMAP. Shall I delete the one that applies to one of the IMAP accounts and we can see if that account goes live? Will it rebuild or do I have to do something further?
NoImprovement said
I'm sorry, I don't know what is meant by "profile/Mail folder" here. I have two profiles, one of which hasn't been used in years. The other is the one I use all the time, with three accounts. That's the one that opened into the folder where I find the .json files and many others. A search shows about a dozen INBOX.msf files, covering different accounts at different times. I do see that three are dated from two days ago, when the problem began. One is for each account. As I said, two of them are IMAP. Shall I delete the one that applies to one of the IMAP accounts and we can see if that account goes live? Will it rebuild or do I have to do something further?
Mail is just a another folder in the profile.
There is a Mail folder. It contains five folders: Local Folders plus four more, three having to do with my pop account (one, quite full of folders and files, dated yesterday, the others from earlier years and not as well populated) and one called smart mailboxes (also with an old date). There are inbox.msf files in several places, with several dates. The chief one seems to be in the pop account file dated yesterday.
NoImprovement said
The chief one seems to be in the pop account file dated yesterday.
Rename that one and the two latest ones in the IMAP accounts.
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