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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Applications > Mail is hosing my system. HELP!

Mail is hosing my system. HELP!
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LagunaSol
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May 22, 2008, 10:37 AM
 
A couple of days ago I sent a calendar event invitation via Mail from iCal. I had never attempted this before, and things didn't seem to go as they should. It hung up my system for a disconcerting amount of time before sending the message with the calendar attachment.

Things immediately went sour from there. I was unable to CMD-TAB to other applications. Safari was the only app I could make active - all others would stay in the background and refuse to come to the forefront. I figured quitting Safari would solve that problem but it didn't - instead, the menu bar disappeared completely and I was unable to do anything, including shut down. So I powered down manually. After restarting all was back to the way it should be. Up until I ran Mail again, which repeated the whole fiasco.

I've been using OS X since 2001 and have never experienced an OS glitch of this nature and have no idea how best to troubleshoot/fix. Any ideas? I thought about dumping my Mail prefs, but worried I'd lose all my account settings (and mailboxes) if I did.

All seems to work as it should as long as I don't launch Mail.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

UPDATE: the problems continue even when Mail isn't running. Exposé shows all my active applications, but clicking any of them always brings Safari back to the front. CMD-TAB does nothing at all (it doesn't even appear), and clicking the icon of any running application in the dock does nothing either. I can click on a window in a background application to bring it to the front, and that application becomes usable except the Safari menu bar still shows - not the menu bar for the active application. Truly bizarre, and I have no idea how to fix this.

UPDATE: Safari seems to be a culprit too (or perhaps is the sole culprit). The Safari menu stays active regardless of which application is at the forefront. If I quit Safari, the menu bar disappears entirely and I'm unable to launch any other application (or switch to any other running application). My only option is a reboot.

Update: It's not just Safari, Firefox gets me into the same bind.
( Last edited by LagunaSol; May 22, 2008 at 11:11 PM. Reason: Updated Info)
     
besson3c
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May 22, 2008, 12:02 PM
 
There are way too many variables at play here, LagunaSol. What I would suggest doing is figure out exactly how to reproduce this problem, if there is a way at all. Because of OS X's protected memory an app such as Mail or Safari should not cause others to hang - this sounds more like a kernel extension or OS related problem to me, but it's almost impossible to say for certain based on what you've shared with us.

The first thing I would do is setup another OS X account to see if you can reproduce the problem there. If you can, this tells us the problem is not with your application preferences or any userland files, but something at the OS/hardware level. Could you try this and report back?
     
jmiddel
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May 22, 2008, 09:10 PM
 
Before you go to great trouble, download 'Applejack' here: AppleJack Project Page install it and then reboot in single user mode, holding down Command-S as soon as the screen shuts down. You will find Applejack ready to run, do 1, 3, 4, 5. You can skip permissions. AJ will tell you how to restart, and see whether that fixes the problem. AJ is free, and I have no investment in the company other than much gratefulness for having fixed crap easily.
     
besson3c
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May 22, 2008, 09:30 PM
 
I don't agree with jmiddel's suggestion. I don't think it is smart to just randomly run stuff when you don't know what it is that they do. For starters, you might be wasting your time, but you may also be doing potential harm to your system.

I'm not suggesting that jmiddel doesn't know what Applejack does, I just think it is good practice to look before you leap.
     
turtle777
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May 22, 2008, 09:32 PM
 
Well, Applejack - Single User Mode version of Cocktail. Basically.

-t
     
besson3c
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May 22, 2008, 09:39 PM
 
So, it repairs permissions which almost always accomplishes nothing, deletes caches which can be be tested for corruption by creating a new account, runs the system cronjobs, what else?

In addition to my generally advocating understanding what is being done, I think that these little so-called maintenance utilities are a waste of time anyway. Modern OSes are no longer like old cars that need tuneups.

Just my two cents...
     
turtle777
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May 22, 2008, 09:48 PM
 
I'm a being believer in voodoo and Repair Permissions.

I've gotten rid of some really funky problems with that. Hey' it doesn't cost a cent.

-t
     
Randman
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May 22, 2008, 09:52 PM
 
Rebuild your mailboxes as well. Can do wonders.

This is a computer-generated message and needs no signature.
     
LagunaSol  (op)
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May 22, 2008, 11:10 PM
 
No go on AppleJack - doesn't support Leopard yet.

I'll try rebuilding the mailboxes - thanks.
     
   
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