Bug #12580

Nothing happens when I start Thunderbird

Added by sajolida 2017-05-22 14:35:47 . Updated 2017-06-12 16:10:09 .

Status:
Resolved
Priority:
Elevated
Assignee:
Category:
Target version:
Tails_3.0
Start date:
2017-05-24
Due date:
% Done:

100%

Feature Branch:
bugfix/12580-thunderbird-migration-fix
Type of work:
Code
Blueprint:

Starter:
Affected tool:
Email Client
Deliverable for:

Description

After upgrading to 3.0~rc1, when I start Thunderbird, either from the activities overview or from the terminal nothing happens. Still, my folder is renamed to ~/.thunderbird.

I’m attaching the output of bash -x thunderbird.

Assigning to anonym who wrote this script.

Files

thunderbird (4445 B) sajolida, 2017-05-22 14:43:53

Subtasks

History

#1 Updated by sajolida 2017-05-22 14:44:01

#2 Updated by intrigeri 2017-05-22 17:27:38

  • Priority changed from Normal to Elevated

Sounds like this is worth higher priority. Local/hackish workarounds would be welcome. I’ll try to reproduce.

#3 Updated by sajolida 2017-05-22 22:33:08

Today I started it from a terminal or Alt+F2 doing:

/usr/bin/thunderbird -P default

#4 Updated by cacahuatl 2017-05-22 23:59:50

In `/usr/local/bin/thunderbird` line 3 `set -e` means if any command returns non-0 the script terminates.

In `/usr/lib/thunderbird/thunderburd-wrapper-helper.sh` on line 140 the `grep` command will return 1 if there are no matches.

Anyone who doesn’t have a `mimeTypes.rdf` file with something to change in it will be unable to launch thunderbird because it will exit at that point due to `grep` returning 1.

#5 Updated by cacahuatl 2017-05-23 18:56:17

In the case outlined above, a simple workaround is just to create a file in /home/amnesia/.thunderbird/ called .migrated so that it skips the checks, since that’s what the script was about to do before launching thunderbird anyway.

e.g.

cat < /home/amnesia/.thunderbird/.migrated
This is an automatically created file by /usr/bin/thunderbird, it will be
recreated by every start of Thunderbird if the wrapper is not find it.
Remove that file only if you know the propose of this file.

/usr/share/doc/thunderbird/README.Debian.gz will hold some useful information
about this dot file.
EOF

#6 Updated by intrigeri 2017-05-24 06:13:02

  • Status changed from New to Confirmed

I’ve seen multiple people report this here and on XMPP.

#7 Updated by emmapeel 2017-05-24 18:01:28

I have one Tails 3.0~rc1 when I can reproduce this bug, and another where I can’t.

The USB stick were I can start Thunderbird had a very small mailbox setup. The one that can’t open has a lot of email.

#8 Updated by emmapeel 2017-05-24 18:17:08

`/usr/bin/thunderbird -P default` did not work for me.

`touch /home/amnesia/.thunderbird/.migrated` does

#9 Updated by intrigeri 2017-05-25 05:52:44

  • Priority changed from Normal to Elevated

(Reverting priority change caused by subtask.)

#10 Updated by emmapeel 2017-05-25 09:52:45

Not all users seem to have this problem.

I can provide my WhisperBack logs for ‘non-working’ install ust after upgrade, and from the working install, but that last one will not be the first log after update.

#11 Updated by anonym 2017-05-25 12:05:58

  • Status changed from Confirmed to In Progress
  • Assignee changed from anonym to intrigeri
  • % Done changed from 30 to 50
  • QA Check set to Ready for QA
  • Feature Branch set to bugfix/12580-thunderbird-migration-fix

First: to every one who has worked around this problem with touch .thunderbird/profile.default/.migrated: your migration is successful so you can forget about this issue.

I managed to reproduce the exact situation from the submitters bash trace with: touch .thunderbird/profile.default/mimeTypes.rdf (the only important thing is that it exists and doesn’t contain the strings icedove nor /usr/bin/iceweasel). With the fix in the feature branch the migration will succeed and Thunderbird will start (see the commit message in commit:01419602d9e2d99cb74717695d08f527c51d7f10 for the full details).

#12 Updated by intrigeri 2017-05-25 17:08:35

  • Status changed from In Progress to Fix committed
  • % Done changed from 50 to 100

Applied in changeset commit:9e14fafcea19bb8a937ea0df77bdeabb70df2956.

#13 Updated by intrigeri 2017-05-25 17:08:57

  • Assignee deleted (intrigeri)
  • QA Check changed from Ready for QA to Pass

#14 Updated by sajolida 2017-05-25 18:11:29

So my workaround was to:

  • mv .thunderbird/profile.default/mimeTypes.rdf ~/Persistent/
  • Start Thunderbird
  • Close Thunderbird
  • mv ~/Persistent/mimeTypes.rdf thunderbird/profile.default/
  • Start Thunderbird again
  • Be happy!

#15 Updated by intrigeri 2017-06-12 16:10:09

  • Status changed from Fix committed to Resolved