Manip folders in Outlook XP = can't access in FM web's interface..?

DaveHanson · 5 May 2002, 06:05 AM

I deleted a couple of IMAP folders in Outlook XP. They still show up on my list of folders in the web interface, but they can't be deleted. Instead I get, for instance, "Could not select folder 'dhgu' to find existing messages."

My account is davehanson, in case Jeremy or other staff people need to take a look...

Anything I'm missing here? Is there only 1 preferred technique for this kind of maintenance?

TIA, Dave

Jeremy Howard · 5 May 2002, 08:35 AM

Try using the "Login problems" link at http://fastmail.fm . That will do a full reconstruct of your mailboxes and clean up any problems with folders.

DaveHanson · 6 May 2002, 03:47 AM

Thanks Jeremy, but alas, it didn't do the trick. I passed all the tests, then got

"Could not select folder 'trhz' to find existing messages" on the folder page, and

"Could not access the folder 'trhz'. Returning to Inbox" when I tried to select the folder in the mailbox page.

Seems bizzare that the folder still shows up in the list, but can't be accessed or deleted.

Jeremy Howard · 6 May 2002, 12:38 PM

I've updated the Verify script to account for this particular problem now, and I've run it on your account, Dave. It is now correctly removing those orphaned folders.

DaveHanson · 6 May 2002, 10:43 PM

Thanks Jeremy! Out of curiosity, is there a short explanation for why it wasn't working before/what changes you made?

Jeremy Howard · 7 May 2002, 07:07 AM

There's an ongoing problem with the Cyrus IMAP server that we haven't yet identified, where deleting or renaming folders in certain situations causes Cyrus to only partially remove the old folder. We haven't been able to reliably replicate the problem consistently, which makes it very hard to fix.

When the problem occurs, Cyrus ends up in a state where it's internal mailbox DB includes the name of a folder which does not actually exist on the file system. Obviously this should never happen! Cyrus comes with a tool called 'reconstruct' to fix mailbox DBs, but it doesn't fix this particular problem. When you click 'Login problems' 'reconstruct' is one of the tools that gets run. I've written an extension to 'reconstruct' so that it now also fixes this problem.

5 May 2002, 06:05 AM	#1
DaveHanson Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 149	Manip folders in Outlook XP = can't access in FM web's interface..? I deleted a couple of IMAP folders in Outlook XP. They still show up on my list of folders in the web interface, but they can't be deleted. Instead I get, for instance, "Could not select folder 'dhgu' to find existing messages." My account is davehanson, in case Jeremy or other staff people need to take a look... Anything I'm missing here? Is there only 1 preferred technique for this kind of maintenance? TIA, Dave

5 May 2002, 08:35 AM	#2
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	Try using the "Login problems" link at http://fastmail.fm . That will do a full reconstruct of your mailboxes and clean up any problems with folders.

6 May 2002, 03:47 AM	#3
DaveHanson Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 149	Thanks Jeremy, but alas, it didn't do the trick. I passed all the tests, then got "Could not select folder 'trhz' to find existing messages" on the folder page, and "Could not access the folder 'trhz'. Returning to Inbox" when I tried to select the folder in the mailbox page. Seems bizzare that the folder still shows up in the list, but can't be accessed or deleted.

6 May 2002, 12:38 PM	#4
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	I've updated the Verify script to account for this particular problem now, and I've run it on your account, Dave. It is now correctly removing those orphaned folders.

6 May 2002, 10:43 PM	#5
DaveHanson Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 149	Thanks Jeremy! Out of curiosity, is there a short explanation for why it wasn't working before/what changes you made?

7 May 2002, 07:07 AM	#6
Jeremy Howard Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Australia Posts: 11,501	There's an ongoing problem with the Cyrus IMAP server that we haven't yet identified, where deleting or renaming folders in certain situations causes Cyrus to only partially remove the old folder. We haven't been able to reliably replicate the problem consistently, which makes it very hard to fix. When the problem occurs, Cyrus ends up in a state where it's internal mailbox DB includes the name of a folder which does not actually exist on the file system. Obviously this should never happen! Cyrus comes with a tool called 'reconstruct' to fix mailbox DBs, but it doesn't fix this particular problem. When you click 'Login problems' 'reconstruct' is one of the tools that gets run. I've written an extension to 'reconstruct' so that it now also fixes this problem.