Subject: PC-Pine hangs while entering index mode in INBOX

From: Atle Weibell <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 11:39:36 +0200 (METDST)

Hi,

I just installed PC-Pine 4.21 on my laptop, and it worked fine for two
days...

When I start, I get "INBOX opened with x messages" and everything seems
fine. I can compose or go to other folders and read messages, but when I
access INBOX and press I for index, the program hangs, and all I get is
the hourglass... :( The header changes to "MESSAGE INDEX" but nothing else
happens. The Windows Task Manager reports "Not responding". The debug
files all ends with the config-line "no-show-cursor".

Anyone experienced something similar?

Regards,
-- 
Atle Weibell | [email-masked] | pr 51690007 | mo 90690010 | fx 51690431 |

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From: "Aaron S. Hawley" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 12:17:21 -0400 (EDT)

> Anyone experienced something similar?

yeah, when my Inbox is huge.  i.e. when x==(a freakin' huge number)

is yours freakin' huge?

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From: Atle Weibell <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 18:31:07 +0200 (METDST)

> yeah, when my Inbox is huge.  i.e. when x==(a freakin' huge number)

No, it only contains 8 messages... Two of them were large, aprox. 2MB
each, so I tried to delete 4 of them through the web-based interface, and
then it actually worked well! I wouldn't say that it was huge anyway,
though.... I'll let you know if it happens again...

What should be the normal limit of the inbox? I don't usually keep
messages there, but sometimes it could easy get over 4MB if you get some
large attachments...

Regards,
Atle Weibell

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From: James <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 21:56:35 -0700 (PDT)

> messages there, but sometimes it could easy get over 4MB if you get some

I think I have the same thing.  Are you accessing your inbox on a remote
machine over a dial-up connection?  Apparently what happens is that
PC-Pine has to download every message before it can display the index,
then download each message again to save it to your local machine.

I use the tricks on Nancy's web page to set it up for offline reading,
then just go do something else while it transfers the contents of inbox
to my machine.

James

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From: Atle Weibell <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 09:28:01 +0200 (METDST)

> machine over a dial-up connection?  Apparently what happens is that
Yes, and for a while just by a 28.8-modem...

> then download each message again to save it to your local machine.
It probably doesn't actually hang, then - even though Windows think so....
(Why am I not surprised..?)
Maybe PC-PINE should be programmed to contact the OS every now and then
while transferring the messages, so that Windows would understand that it
is working...?

> then just go do something else while it transfers the contents of inbox
This solution is only temporary for me, so I'll manage with it until I get
up a linux box with ISDN, I think...

Thanks for your help, anyway!

Regards,

Atle Weibell

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From: James <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 21:20:16 -0700 (PDT)

> (Why am I not surprised..?)

No, it doesn't hang for me, though at first I certainly thought it had.
If you're actually getting it hanging, or disconnecting the line, you
might look for timeouts on your dialup connection settings or something
like that.

> while transferring the messages, so that Windows would understand that it

Yes, something like this really needs to be done.  It also won't redraw
while it's downloading, accept input to kill mistaken commands, or
similar things.

James

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From: Nancy McGough <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 09:16:07 +0100 (BST)

On 00-08-01 James <[email-masked]> wrote:
> Apparently what happens is that

I thought that one of the beauties of IMAP and of Pine, which is 
the queen of IMAP clients IMHO, is that only the headers are
downloaded. So my question is: Is the server with these speed
problems serving the folders using IMAP or POP? If it's POP,
maybe that is the root of the problem. If it's IMAP, then the
question is what folder format is the problem folder in? 
According to Mark Crispin and others in comp.mail.imap, the
most efficient folder format to use is mbx format and one of
the least efficient is good ol' Berkeley mbox format. So another
way to fix this problem would be to switch to mbx folder format
on your server (but maybe you aren't the admin). Finally, you 
can try using the speed tips I give here:

 http://www.ii.com/internet/messaging/pine/pc/#speed

Good luck,
Nancy

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From: Atle Weibell <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 13:54:19 +0200 (METDST)

> maybe that is the root of the problem. If it's IMAP, then the
I just realized that I was using POP3, which was what I found in
the example-text that I read somewhere. I haven't got a lot of messages
since changing to IMAP, but it seems like it's downloading only the
headers first, as you say. Great!

> on your server (but maybe you aren't the admin). Finally, you 
I'm not the admin, but I've asked my ISP what format they use (is there
any other way to find it out?)

>  http://www.ii.com/internet/messaging/pine/pc/#speed
Already found them, but haven't had the time to try everything yet... -
Great pages!

When I disconnect my dialup-line while I'm still in the open INBOX, I get
'INBOX closed' at the next check for new mail, I suppose. Is this a wrong
way to do it, or are there any way to open the inbox again, next time I
get connected, without having to quit Pine?

Regards,

Atle Weibell