Hello:

[quote user="bfluet"]I can't say for certain that the lack of a printer is the cause ...[/quote]

I found the problem.

Indeed, PMail looks for a printer and I use CUPS in my Devuan installation.

I had overlooked that (!) and was only looking at the System Messages window in PMail.

The problem was caused by my limiting the number of clients to 2 in the Advanced Server Settings CUPS configuration.

The printer is not shared so I guessed that 2 was enough.

I was not taking into account the concept of 'clients' in the context of a Linux OS.

The CUPS server reached the limit at the very start and thus did not give PMail a place.

W [31/Oct/2018:17:57:35 -0300] Max clients reached, holding new connections...

 Now everything seems to be OK (apparently).

Thanks you very much for your input.

Best,

S.

Hello:

Through the various rigs that I have set up at home, I have managed to update/transfer my PMail installation and all it's folders safely.

I've had more than a scare when things did not go too well but managed to recover gracefully, even a rather difficult move to Linux and PMail under Wine.

I've recently come upon a small but annoying issue that involves PMail start up.

After booting the rig, I start up PMail and it takes a good 30/45 seconds to appear on the screen.

It's not a Wine issue as this does not happen with the only other irreplaceable application I have from my days as a MS minion: IrfanView.

Trying to see what was going on, I went looking through some of the files I could open with a text editor and came across stuff I did not even have a recolelction of.

eg: email account data from 2002, data about multiple folders that have long been deleted from the various HDDs my rigs have used to the point of not being part my oldest backups.

That got me thinking about doing some cleaning up, so to speak.

But, if at all possible, I would like to do it without doing a new installation.

The approach I envisage is one that would transfer the actual folder contents to identical folders in an external drive.

 ie: same tree structure.

Once I know that the content is safe and accesible, I would delete the existing PMail folder structure and the three email accounts I have set up.

I expect this would be a *cleaned up* installation which, for it to be as clean as possible, would have to have it's directories inspected for rogue files that do not respond to the modifications I have made and this is one area that I fear it's easy to bugger up.

Once this is done, I would recreate the email accounts I had previously and once I see they are accessible and working correctly, recreate the folder structure I had before.

I know that hierarch.pm is something to take care of but I'd like to make anew one ie: recreate it in this manner: will it work?

Up to this point I think I can manage adequately but I now have to bring back the folder's contents into the new folder structure, something that sort of gives me the jitters.

Am I missing something here?

Does the process sound reasonable or do I risk thrashing everything? (I ask because ...)

I'd appreciate any comments.

Thanks in advance,

S.

IMHO, the best approach would be to do a clean install and then copy over just the data you want from the previous install.  The old mailbox directory could be placed on an external drive for access when needed by adding that directory as an added mailbox.  The process you envision would help clean up your folder list but wouldn't do anything to resolve any problems that are the result of settings in any of the configuration files.  There is a whitepaper in the downloads section of this site that was created to serve as a guide for restoring data from an old installation to a new one.  Here's the direct url:

http://community.pmail.com/files/folders/whitepapers/entry41852.aspx 

As for the slow startup, Pegasus Mail looks for a default printer on startup.  Not finding one can slow it down.  Another common cause for slow startup is a large number of messages new mail folder.  All unread messages get processed through the new mail filters on every opening of the new mail folder which can compound this slowdown.

Hello:

Thanks for the fast reply.

Much obliged.

[quote user="bfluet"]IMHO, the best approach would be to do a clean install ... [/quote]

That's what I was wanting to avoid, would be my last resource.

[quote user="bfluet"]The process you envision would help clean up your folder list ...[/quote]

I made a tidy backup and went through all the files, cleaning up where I saw it would probably be a good thing and deleting files which were in odd places.

Fortunately I didn't screw up anything.

This page http://www.vandenbogaerde.net/pegasusmail/pf_pmfiles.html was a great help.

[quote user="bfluet"]http://community.pmail.com/files/folders/whitepapers/entry41852.aspx [/quote]

Thanks, I'll download it later.  =-)

[quote user="bfluet"]As for the slow startup, Pegasus Mail looks for a default printer ... [/quote]

Yes, I had read about that.

But I have been managing without a printer for the longest time and did not have a slowdown.

It actually came after I installed one, which I keep turned off as I do not use it much.

Now, something I did resulted in the slowdown going away but the printer being on/off was not  it (I think).

[quote user="bfluet"] Another common cause for slow startup is a large number of messages new mail folder. All unread ... [/quote]

 I don't think it could be that as  I try to run a tidy PMail instalaltion and usually get rid of unneeded e-mails. I keep deletions and clean up once a fortnight or so.

I used to keep a lot of e-mail stored in folders and trays but one day I saw I had over 10 years' worth and decided to do a severe pruning.

I kept only very relevant data I had received.

What I need to do now is to be able to change the order of the folders/files in the folder tree.

I know this is stored in hierarch.pm and can (supposedly) be modified by opeining Folders -> Right-click -> Move selected entry but have not managed to get it done. I also recall one having done it via 'drag&drop' but that was in Windows XPSP3 (long ago) and now I'm running PMail through Wine in Devuan Linux.

Unfortunately it does not seem to be working.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

S.

The folders in the folder tree are sorted alphabetically.  There isn't any way to change that.

A workaround is to be creative with folder names.  For example, I use the folder name " 01_Junk or suspicious mail" to keep my junk mail folder at the top of the list rather then down with the "J's" (notice the space before the zero).  Another one is "!_Main folder".  I think this one started as a test to see how it would sort and it worked out nicely so it stuck.

The Move selected entry function is only valuable for moving folders into, out of, or between trays.  Drag and drop works for that as well.

Hello:

[quote user="sawbona"]

 ... something I did resulted in the slowdown going away ...

[/quote]

Spoke too soon ...

The problem (slow startup) is back.

But only once for every time I reboot the rig.

ie: If I exit PMail, when I restart it (if I have not rebooted) there is no slow startup.

[quote user="bfluet"]

... the folder tree are sorted alphabetically.  There isn't any way to change that.

[/quote]

OK.

I just understood "Move selected entry" to mean any selected entry to any part of the tree.

[quote user="bfluet"]

... workaround is to be creative with folder names.

[/quote]

I tried that, but I think I'll leave it as it is.

With respect to the slow loading of PMail after a fresh boot: long ago, when working from home, I had a Deskjet 520 installed in my W95/98/2000 rigs.

Because I only used every so often, it was off most of the time.

In all those years (roughly 5) and through all the Pmail updates/re-installations, I never experienced this slow to load problem.

Then I started to work elsewhere and the Deskjet started giving me problems, so I retired it and still, no slow to load problem.

Any idea as to how to avoid this? eg: keeping PMail from looking for a printer? (if this is indeed the reason for the slowstart up)

BTW: something is making some strings in your posts appear in a larger font size.

Thanks in advance.

S.

I can't say for certain that the lack of a printer is the cause for your slowdown.  It's just one of the causes in the list.  In days long past I remember having to install the Generic Text Printer driver on PC's that weren't connected to a printer just so that a default printer existed. 

Unfortunately my experience with running Pegasus Mail with Wine is limited to playing with it under Mint.  I got it working but that was short lived and I haven't invested time into figuring out the problem.