Hey all, I'm usually a lurker here, but i've finally run into a problem I can't fix. I finally upgraded my mbp to leopard, and my mail will not work for some reason. Nothing shows up in the inbox, and I triple checked the preferences/settings. It is my school email, and it worked just fine before the upgrade. The program also does not respond, and cancels my shutdowns. I'm really stuck here!
Mac Specs: MacBook 2.4 GHz, 4 Gb, 320 GB 7200 RPM WD Scorpio, OS X 10.6.2, Win 7
When upgrading from Tiger to Leopard without doing a clean install, there always a chance that the sort of thing you're experiencing with mail can occur.
You can try to completely remove mail (including the left overs from Tiger) and then reinstall it. However, you'll need a third party utility to extract mail from the Leopard DVD without having to reinstall everything along with it.
Thanks for the link. I installed pacifist, and tried removing mail and reinstalling it from the leopard disc twice, but both times I got the same result. I must not be removing everything, because all the preferences are the same, and the imap account is still there. How can I be sure that the program and all its associated files are removed?
Reading posts like this makes me extremely nervous about upgrading from Tiger with my new Mac Box Set. I have hundreds of emails that are important business documents that I cannot afford to lose. Is there a way for me to copy my current and saved emails and the folders I've put them in? I'd like a back up copy just in case something goes wrong with Mail. Any suggestions for protecting these emails will be appreciated.
I'm hoping Mail will be a more pleasant experience after the upgrade. It's been a big frustration in Tiger, hanging frequently and crashing.
Reading posts like this makes me extremely nervous about upgrading from Tiger with my new Mac Box Set. I have hundreds of emails that are important business documents that I cannot afford to lose. Is there a way for me to copy my current and saved emails and the folders I've put them in? I'd like a back up copy just in case something goes wrong with Mail. Any suggestions for protecting these emails will be appreciated.
I'm hoping Mail will be a more pleasant experience after the upgrade. It's been a big frustration in Tiger, hanging frequently and crashing.
You don't have much to be nervous about because this doesn't happen all the time, just in rare cases. I'm sure this guy will find a solution to his problem in no time.
I was afraid this would happen. I have NO mail or ability to use Mail after my upgrade. All of my accounts and folders appear in the window but all of the contents are gone. Mail won't quit unless I use Force Quit. It will not send or receive emails. I'm glad I have a laptop for backup until I get this resolved. It's too late to call AppleCare.
I found instructions about correcting this but thus far the Rebuild option is not working.
Like several people who posted I'm unsure where to move the three files from the library. I've drug all three to my desk and I can see that the files are still there, so I'm not in an all out panic.
Everything else about the install seems to have gone OK.
It just got worse. I clicked to Rebuild one email address (I have several, most aliases) and two or three of my folders. It didn't appear that anything was happening. I quit Mail and quit worked. When I reopened Mail, my list of accounts was wiped clean from the list and from my Preferences folder except for the one email address I'd asked to Rebuild. Only two of several folders of stored emails still show up on my left panel.
I guess I should have clicked on each in the list and then clicked on Rebuild in the Mailbox menu before I quit Mail.
Upon starting, emails were restored to the .mac email address I'd selected to Rebuild so I now have a about half of my old emails that weren't in folders and I can send and receive emails from that account. Luckily, it is my .mac account (old school, I still can't get used to Mobile Me) and I have most people used to sending there.
I have the folders with old emails on my desktop so I know I'll get it fixed. I just need some hand holding before I do any more damage. I'm done for tonight.
Mac Specs: Late 2008 2.4GHz Core2Duo MacBook Pro, 4GB RAM
I remember there being an issue where they would seem empty but not be. Open mail, go to preferences and disable junk mail filtering. Close mail then start mail again and re-enable junk mail filtering.
Does your mail come back?
Last edited by Desdemonica; 02-02-2009 at 05:25 AM.
Reason: added item
I am glad I stopped where I was last night and didn't do anymore damage. I knew I was in a precarious situation when the newly created Mail folder in my Library had different contents than my Mail folder I'd drug to my desktop from the Library.
Here's what the tech said I did wrong in following the less than adequate instructions from the AppleBlog link in my previous post; inadequate because it didn't say where to move the folders and plist to. I was advised that I needed to QUIT Mail before dragging ONLY the Library>Preferences>com.apple.mail.plist file to my desktop. The other two folders need to stay in the Library.
After you are out of Mail, on the desktop click on the plist to highlight it. Use Control-click to display the popup menu and select Copy for the plist. Open finder window with ONLY Preferences (~Library>Preferences) highlighted. Go to the Finder>Edit>Paste drop down menu of the toolbar. It will ask if you want to replace the newly created plist with the one you just copied. Select replace. Relaunch Mail and that should restore all your Mail Profiles and retrieve your messages.
This process even brought back my mail folders and put all my saved messages back where they were filed. I didn't have to get into my archived messages file after all.
I did have to rebuild my ISP email profile because it got wiped out in my haste last night. Make sure you know your email passwords in case you end up rebuilding your accounts. Luckily, it restored all the rest of the information as soon as I put in my password. It's even working to let me send from that account for the first time in months.
YIPPEE! I'm using Leopard, iWork 9 and iLife 9!
Last edited by MacLoyal; 02-03-2009 at 02:01 AM.
Reason: clarification
Hey ..I am new here, been lurking for a while....been using my ibook g4 and Imac for about 3 years. My 2 cents regarding Leopard...I upgraded from Tiger, had no problems but what for, if I had it to do over I would have stayed with Tiger...it was fine. I don't use Time Machine ,I do a complete bootable backup with Carbon Copy...works for me. Everybody sees it differently but Leopard did very little for me. Hope you solve your mail problem.
I just had the same problem and HERE'S HOW TO FIX IT. J ust go under library>mail and drag the 2 following files: MessageRules.plist and MessageRules.plist.backup on your desktop.
Restart mail and that's it. U can put back the 2 files in place (overwriting the 2 new one) if u want ur junkmail setting back....Desdmonica was not far from the problem. This is a junkmail filtering related problem...
I just had the same problem and HERE'S HOW TO FIX IT. J ust go under library>mail and drag the 2 following files: MessageRules.plist and MessageRules.plist.backup on your desktop.
Restart mail and that's it. U can put back the 2 files in place (overwriting the 2 new one) if u want ur junkmail setting back....Desdmonica was not far from the problem. This is a junkmail filtering related problem...
My buddy at work and I both just upgraded to Leopard, and both had this exact same problem, so it doesn't seem too rare. He bailed on Mail and went to Entourage, which he likes better.
Alainb's solution was easy and pie and worked flawlessly for me. Thanks!
I just had the same problem and HERE'S HOW TO FIX IT. J ust go under library>mail and drag the 2 following files: MessageRules.plist and MessageRules.plist.backup on your desktop.
Restart mail and that's it. U can put back the 2 files in place (overwriting the 2 new one) if u want ur junkmail setting back....Desdmonica was not far from the problem. This is a junkmail filtering related problem...
This worked for me perfectly too. It took about 5 secs and all my emails were there.
Murphy's Law - I'm one of the rare cases
I have NO mail or ability to use Mail after my upgrade. 
All of my accounts and folders appear in the window but all of the contents are gone. Mail won't quit unless I use Force Quit. It will not send or receive emails. I'm glad I have a laptop for backup until I get this resolved. It's too late to call AppleCare.
Fixed it - Just got off the phone with AppleCare
