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Certain attachments are being corrupted, but not on fresh T-Bird install on different PC

  • 7 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 30 views
  • Last reply by ralphslate

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I am experiencing a strange problem. On my desktop (Windows 10, 64-bit Pro), when I open a message from my web camera (Amcrest) that has an attachment which is a jpg file, the attachment is coming through as corrupted. Even if I saved the attachment, it was being saved as a 1-byte file. I could open up the attachment using a different mail client (for example, web-based Squirrel Mail).

This behavior started with the release following Thunderbird 42 - so I stayed on version 42 for the past year or so. I read there was a change with how attachments were handled at that point, and I assumed that my Amcrest camera was doing something non-standard since this was the only attachment I had an issue with (and I still think that - I have attached a file that shows the start of the MIME portion, it is different than other MIME messages).

However, I recently purchased a Microsoft Surface Pro, and installed Thunderbird 60 on it. The attachments were *not* being corrupted - they were displaying just fine, even inline.

I immediately downloaded Thunderbird 60 on my desktop, but the attachments are still not working!

So my immediate reaction is, maybe I need a clean install of Thunderbird? Unless someone has a better idea?

How can I do that so that I ensure that all Thunderbird settings are cleared out, but also retain all my local mail folders so that I can re-import them or something?

Thanks in advance for the help!

I am experiencing a strange problem. On my desktop (Windows 10, 64-bit Pro), when I open a message from my web camera (Amcrest) that has an attachment which is a jpg file, the attachment is coming through as corrupted. Even if I saved the attachment, it was being saved as a 1-byte file. I could open up the attachment using a different mail client (for example, web-based Squirrel Mail). This behavior started with the release following Thunderbird 42 - so I stayed on version 42 for the past year or so. I read there was a change with how attachments were handled at that point, and I assumed that my Amcrest camera was doing something non-standard since this was the only attachment I had an issue with (and I still think that - I have attached a file that shows the start of the MIME portion, it is different than other MIME messages). However, I recently purchased a Microsoft Surface Pro, and installed Thunderbird 60 on it. The attachments were *not* being corrupted - they were displaying just fine, even inline. I immediately downloaded Thunderbird 60 on my desktop, but the attachments are still not working! So my immediate reaction is, maybe I need a clean install of Thunderbird? Unless someone has a better idea? How can I do that so that I ensure that all Thunderbird settings are cleared out, but also retain all my local mail folders so that I can re-import them or something? Thanks in advance for the help!
Attached screenshots

All Replies (7)

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I would like to follow up on this. I uninstalled Thunderbird from my desktop PC. I then renamed my profile folder, and used the Profile Manager to delete reference to it from Thunderbird. I started up Thunderbird as though it was fresh.

I then copied over my Mail folder, my ImapMail folder, and my prefs.js file to the new profile that Thunderbird created. I am still having the problem with the attachments.

Maybe this will give someone a clue? I am running Version 60.0, but this behavior started with Version 45, and if I downgrade to Version 42, I don't have the problem anymore.

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Please add the troubleshooting information to your post To find the Troubleshooting information:

  • Open Help (or click on three-line-icon and select Help)
  • Choose Troubleshooting Information
  • Use the button Copy to clipboard to select all. Do not check box "Include account names"!
  • Paste this in your post.

Please also add the result of these troubleshooting steps to your post

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Here it is, I removed my email account info.

 Application Basics
   Name: Thunderbird
   Version: 60.0
   Build ID: 20180731173940
   Update Channel: release
   User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:60.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/60.0
   OS: Windows_NT 6.1
   Multiprocess Windows: 0/0 (Disabled)
   Web Content Processes:
   Stylo: content = true (enabled by default), chrome = true (enabled by default)
   Enterprise Policies:
   Google Key: Missing
   Mozilla Location Service Key: Missing
   Safe Mode: false
 Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days
 All Crash Reports
 Extensions
     Name
     Version
     Enabled
     ID
       Archive This
       1.4.11.11
       true
       archive-this@roach.at
       Lightning
       6.2
       true
       {e2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103}
 Security Software
   Type: Name
     Antivirus:
     Antispyware:
     Firewall:
 Graphics
     Features
     Compositing: Basic
     Asynchronous Pan/Zoom: none
     WebGL 1 Driver WSI Info: EGL_VENDOR: Google Inc. (adapter LUID: 000000000000a0d7)

EGL_VERSION: 1.4 (ANGLE 2.1.0.7edc21933ef1) EGL_EXTENSIONS: EGL_EXT_create_context_robustness EGL_ANGLE_d3d_share_handle_client_buffer EGL_ANGLE_d3d_texture_client_buffer EGL_ANGLE_surface_d3d_texture_2d_share_handle EGL_ANGLE_query_surface_pointer EGL_ANGLE_window_fixed_size EGL_ANGLE_keyed_mutex EGL_ANGLE_surface_orientation EGL_NV_post_sub_buffer EGL_KHR_create_context EGL_EXT_device_query EGL_KHR_image EGL_KHR_image_base EGL_KHR_gl_texture_2D_image EGL_KHR_gl_texture_cubemap_image EGL_KHR_gl_renderbuffer_image EGL_KHR_get_all_proc_addresses EGL_KHR_stream EGL_KHR_stream_consumer_gltexture EGL_NV_stream_consumer_gltexture_yuv EGL_ANGLE_flexible_surface_compatibility EGL_ANGLE_stream_producer_d3d_texture EGL_ANGLE_create_context_webgl_compatibility EGL_CHROMIUM_create_context_bind_generates_resource EGL_EXT_pixel_format_float EGL_KHR_surfaceless_context EGL_ANGLE_display_texture_share_group EGL_ANGLE_create_context_client_arrays EGL_ANGLE_program_cache_control EGL_ANGLE_robust_resource_initialization EGL_EXTENSIONS(nullptr): EGL_EXT_client_extensions EGL_EXT_platform_base EGL_EXT_platform_device EGL_ANGLE_platform_angle EGL_ANGLE_platform_angle_d3d EGL_ANGLE_device_creation EGL_ANGLE_device_creation_d3d11 EGL_ANGLE_experimental_present_path EGL_KHR_client_get_all_proc_addresses

     WebGL 1 Driver Renderer: Google Inc. -- ANGLE (NVIDIA Quadro K420 Direct3D11 vs_5_0 ps_5_0)
     WebGL 1 Driver Version: OpenGL ES 2.0 (ANGLE 2.1.0.7edc21933ef1)
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     WebGL 1 Extensions: ANGLE_instanced_arrays EXT_blend_minmax EXT_color_buffer_half_float EXT_frag_depth EXT_sRGB EXT_shader_texture_lod EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic EXT_disjoint_timer_query OES_element_index_uint OES_standard_derivatives OES_texture_float OES_texture_float_linear OES_texture_half_float OES_texture_half_float_linear OES_vertex_array_object WEBGL_color_buffer_float WEBGL_compressed_texture_s3tc WEBGL_compressed_texture_s3tc_srgb WEBGL_debug_renderer_info WEBGL_debug_shaders WEBGL_depth_texture WEBGL_draw_buffers WEBGL_lose_context
     WebGL 2 Driver WSI Info: EGL_VENDOR: Google Inc. (adapter LUID: 000000000000a0d7)

EGL_VERSION: 1.4 (ANGLE 2.1.0.7edc21933ef1) EGL_EXTENSIONS: EGL_EXT_create_context_robustness EGL_ANGLE_d3d_share_handle_client_buffer EGL_ANGLE_d3d_texture_client_buffer EGL_ANGLE_surface_d3d_texture_2d_share_handle EGL_ANGLE_query_surface_pointer EGL_ANGLE_window_fixed_size EGL_ANGLE_keyed_mutex EGL_ANGLE_surface_orientation EGL_NV_post_sub_buffer EGL_KHR_create_context EGL_EXT_device_query EGL_KHR_image EGL_KHR_image_base EGL_KHR_gl_texture_2D_image EGL_KHR_gl_texture_cubemap_image EGL_KHR_gl_renderbuffer_image EGL_KHR_get_all_proc_addresses EGL_KHR_stream EGL_KHR_stream_consumer_gltexture EGL_NV_stream_consumer_gltexture_yuv EGL_ANGLE_flexible_surface_compatibility EGL_ANGLE_stream_producer_d3d_texture EGL_ANGLE_create_context_webgl_compatibility EGL_CHROMIUM_create_context_bind_generates_resource EGL_EXT_pixel_format_float EGL_KHR_surfaceless_context EGL_ANGLE_display_texture_share_group EGL_ANGLE_create_context_client_arrays EGL_ANGLE_program_cache_control EGL_ANGLE_robust_resource_initialization EGL_EXTENSIONS(nullptr): EGL_EXT_client_extensions EGL_EXT_platform_base EGL_EXT_platform_device EGL_ANGLE_platform_angle EGL_ANGLE_platform_angle_d3d EGL_ANGLE_device_creation EGL_ANGLE_device_creation_d3d11 EGL_ANGLE_experimental_present_path EGL_KHR_client_get_all_proc_addresses

     WebGL 2 Driver Renderer: Google Inc. -- ANGLE (NVIDIA Quadro K420 Direct3D11 vs_5_0 ps_5_0)
     WebGL 2 Driver Version: OpenGL ES 3.0 (ANGLE 2.1.0.7edc21933ef1)
     WebGL 2 Driver Extensions: GL_ANGLE_client_arrays GL_ANGLE_depth_texture GL_ANGLE_framebuffer_blit GL_ANGLE_framebuffer_multisample GL_ANGLE_instanced_arrays GL_ANGLE_lossy_etc_decode GL_ANGLE_multiview GL_ANGLE_pack_reverse_row_order GL_ANGLE_program_cache_control GL_ANGLE_request_extension GL_ANGLE_robust_client_memory GL_ANGLE_texture_compression_dxt3 GL_ANGLE_texture_compression_dxt5 GL_ANGLE_texture_usage GL_ANGLE_translated_shader_source GL_CHROMIUM_bind_generates_resource GL_CHROMIUM_bind_uniform_location GL_CHROMIUM_color_buffer_float_rgb GL_CHROMIUM_color_buffer_float_rgba GL_CHROMIUM_copy_compressed_texture GL_CHROMIUM_copy_texture GL_CHROMIUM_sync_query GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_color_buffer_float GL_EXT_color_buffer_half_float GL_EXT_debug_marker GL_EXT_discard_framebuffer GL_EXT_disjoint_timer_query GL_EXT_draw_buffers GL_EXT_frag_depth GL_EXT_map_buffer_range GL_EXT_occlusion_query_boolean GL_EXT_read_format_bgra GL_EXT_robustness GL_EXT_sRGB GL_EXT_shader_texture_lod GL_EXT_texture_compression_dxt1 GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc_srgb GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic GL_EXT_texture_format_BGRA8888 GL_EXT_texture_norm16 GL_EXT_texture_rg GL_EXT_texture_storage GL_EXT_unpack_subimage GL_KHR_debug GL_NV_EGL_stream_consumer_external GL_NV_fence GL_NV_pack_subimage GL_NV_pixel_buffer_object GL_OES_EGL_image GL_OES_EGL_image_external GL_OES_EGL_image_external_essl3 GL_OES_compressed_ETC1_RGB8_texture GL_OES_depth32 GL_OES_element_index_uint GL_OES_get_program_binary GL_OES_mapbuffer GL_OES_packed_depth_stencil GL_OES_rgb8_rgba8 GL_OES_standard_derivatives GL_OES_surfaceless_context GL_OES_texture_float GL_OES_texture_float_linear GL_OES_texture_half_float GL_OES_texture_half_float_linear GL_OES_texture_npot GL_OES_vertex_array_object
     WebGL 2 Extensions: EXT_color_buffer_float EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic EXT_disjoint_timer_query OES_texture_float_linear WEBGL_compressed_texture_s3tc WEBGL_compressed_texture_s3tc_srgb WEBGL_debug_renderer_info WEBGL_debug_shaders WEBGL_lose_context
     Off Main Thread Painting Enabled: true
     DirectWrite: true (6.2.9200.22164)
     GPU #1
     Active: Yes
     Description: NVIDIA Quadro K420
     Vendor ID: 0x10de
     Device ID: 0x0ff3
     Driver Version: 21.21.13.6939
     Driver Date: 9-18-20

Modified by ralphslate

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Also, starting in Safe Mode does not improve things.

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I have some more data here. I have an older Surface 3 tablet running Windows 10 (like my new surface), and this had Thunderbird 45 installed on it. I uninstalled the software, and deleted the users/username/roaming/Thunderbird folder afterward. In theory, this should have been a 100% clean install.

I installed Thunderbird 60 on this Surface 3, added my email server settings, but the attachments in these emails are still corrupted. When I do a "save all" on them, they are saved as 1KB files, not the 500kb files they really are.

I know that there was a chance in how attachments were handled in Thunderbird 45, and therefore I could understand the change in behavior. However, I do not understand why, when I installed Thunderbird 60 on an out-of-the-box Surface Pro running Windows 10, the attachments worked correctly, but when I install Thunderbird 60 on a Surface 3 that previously had an earlier version of Thunderbird, the attachments are corrupted.

Is there a way to uninstall Thunderbird 100%, as if it had never been there? Maybe I need to delete some registry entries? Or maybe there are some system files that get installed, but never removed?

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Start computer in 'Safe Mode with networking' Then start up Thunderbird

Perform a test. On Microsoft Surface Pro - send a new mail with attachment - use the imap mail account so email is put on server.

On older Surface 3 and desktop PC (ensure both computer has been rebooted to use 'Safe Mode with Networking' ) access imap mail account and report back on results.

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OK, in trying out this process, I discovered something interesting.

On my desktop machine, if I try and open the email in question from the IMAP server, it fails. I cannot even save the attachments to my PC - they save as 1KB files.

If I take that exact same email and move it to a local folder, I can then open it and the image attachments both show and can be saved to my PC.