james January 20th, 2010
The conclusion here is that there is little to no reason to upgrade to TB3 when using large gmail imap accounts. In fact, TB3 is a serious downgrade unless the default settings are heavily changed. In another bout of poor performance, I found that whenever copying messages to/from various folders or accounts in TB, I get the message “The current command did not succeed. The mail server responded:could not parse command.” When this occurs, the entire process is killed. Moving 1,000 messages? Nope, now you have to try and do it in smaller chunks and take great care in trying to move chunks properly.
The single benefit I have identified so far, is the improved password system that does not continue to ask your username/password when having connection problems as in TB2. I am still debating and trying to look at the benefits of migrating to TB3 but the reasons are slim at best.
So, if you have a large imap account and want to go to TB3 you will need to take some pro-active steps to un-f#@# your computer before TB3 sticks it to you. Here are the preliminary steps:
1) Go offline right away after upgrading, do not download anything. (File -> offline - Work Offline)
2) Turn off Global Search and Indexer. Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> General -> Enable Global Search and Indexer.
3) Determine which folders, if any, you would like to sync. Tools -> Account Settings -> choose any imap account -> Synchronization & Storage -> Message Synchronizing -> Advanced. I recommend only your inbox, sent mail, drafts and any frequently used folders. Sub-folders must be expanded and unclicked manually to prevent massive, all-consuming syncing. You can also look at only syncing messages that are recent or below a certain size. Just remember that if you choose poorly, it will hurt and you will need to start deleting the cached folder .msf files directly to correct this or rebuild the index of each folder you need to reduce.
4) Go back online again and let TB3 work for a LONG period of time re-downloading and re-indexing many of your folders and thousands of messages.
5) Get used to rebooting often after trying to read or send a message as TB3 just freezes in process with an extremely long timeout. However, if you restart TB3 and try the same action it seems to work often. TB3 works well when initially started and gets fouled quickly with heavy imap use, bogging down and eventually becoming useless until you restart it again.
6) When doing large folder copies, I find it is easiest to go offline, then copy or move bulk information, then go online again. It doesn’t run into the “The current command did not succeed. The mail server responded:could not parse command.” error and completely fail the process but rather keeps trying until success is achieved.
james January 19th, 2010
After having used TB3 as my primary email client for about a week, I have concluded that TB3 is a MAJOR step backwards for email function. I will be rolling back all syncing / downloading of imap folders and only syncing a select few folders on this workstation.
Here are the major issues (as a supplement to my prior TB3 post):
1) Massive processor utilization even on powerful 64bit, 8gb of ram, ssd drive, 3ghz multi-core machines. TB3 kills laptops and endlessly tries and fails to perform its function.
2) Failure to send, failure to copy, freezing. As I write this, TB3 is using 60% of my processor and sending of messages is failing. My smtp is not down and everything else regarding that mail account is functional. If I were to restart TB3, it would work for a few emails before eventually failing on some particular email or freezing entirely.
3) 20gb of usage to massively sync up email on this workstation has only led to constant failure with TB3, I will be rolling back all syncing and only selecting a few common folders as I had done with TB2.
4) TB3 rarely ends its process when closed. I have to manually go to Windows 7 Task Manager and kill the process manually.
james January 13th, 2010
I am upgrading my primary workstation to Thunderbird 3. This process is a hopeless failure though I hope to create the necessary step changes to be able to upgrade other employees here as there are many features in TB3 that I like. Let’s start with a step by step of the failure:
1. Upgrade from TB2 to TB3. The default setting is to sync all folders. To put our demand in perspective, we have corporate google accounts with our sales account sitting at over 330,000 messages and 10GB. My work account is lower than this but still over 50k messages and my personal gmail account is over 100k messages. That is three accounts climbing to 480k messages and over 20GB of stored email. We use email a LOT and search with it often. This is part of why we were excited to see new features in TB3. However, this means all 480k messages and 20GB will be downloaded on my local station AGGRESSIVELY, bogging down the processor and everything on this workstation for days. NOT GOOD!!!! This should NOT BE A DEFAULT SETTING and should not be this aggressive (or there should be options for how aggressive this process is). Gmail trash, all mail and spam folders should not be cached by default as they are either redundant or uncessary.
2. While other programs like Google Chrome have shown the beauty of a lightweight, simple, fast UI with multi-process infrastructure and it’s own task management system, TB3 is a throwback to single-threaded evil. While aggressively downloading 20GB and 480k messages, it is nearly useless for other functions. NOT GOOD.
3. The download process appears to be happening in small blocks. I have fast fios and many work environments have good connections. For massive transactions like most new TB3 users will experience who have over 50k messages, there should be some sort of a mass import/export or large block operation available. There has to be a better way than this silliness of 20 messages at a time that account for only a few kb per transaction.
4. Lightning with google calendar. Explicit guide / process for google calendar please… it’s hugely popular and a function many, many people will be using so this should have far greater automation.
Here are the solution steps:
1. DO NOT ALLOW SYNC. Add one directory at a time over a period of several days and load up several each night. TB3 should be smart enough to do this on it’s own but failing such advancement I may try to write scripts for rollout.
2. No solution. I am 1/4 of the way through importing now and the main db file is already 1.5GB. This is not efficient and is a major blow to larger email accounts and/or corporate systems with large email volumes. Though this may be a good system for the average user with less than 10k messages and a few GB stored, it is a nightmare scenario for IT in serious environments.
3. I know there are block size settings which I changed in TB2 and I will likely be working on this and will post recommendations as I find them for larger blocks. browser.cache.memory.capacity was already 30720 and all fetch_by_chunks variations were false. I changed browser.cache.memory.capacity to 32768 which I do not forsee having any effect.
4. I will have to dig for the steps in the current version and figure it out.
I am not even able to get to a review of this software because the initial steps are simply broken. My typical rule is to wait 6-12 months after a release to buy or install but the supposed improvements to gmail and searching would be a huge benefit for our staff. In the end, this is the very cause of the failure and clearly sufficient testing has not been done. I feel for the average user with large amounts of email who will enter a s&!@storm when installing and using this software as compared to the TB1 or TB2 experience.
NOTE: This was written quickly and mid-failure which should help explain the broken, convoluted English… good luck with the translation to proper English grammar!
james January 13th, 2010
I purchased a cheap Harbor Freight (HF) 1195 Lb. Capacity 48″ x 96″ Heavy Duty Foldable Utility Trailer with 12″ Wheels, pn 90154 several years ago. It has served my needs over the years but after many failures, I would have been better off buying a nicer trailer in the beginning. Being fresh out of college at the time, I had little money hence the choice.
So, here are the issues and resolutions:
1. Constant bulb burnouts - Solution: LED submersible lights from Northern tool for $60 as well as new crimps, adhesive heat shrink and weatherproof connectors on the lights.
2. Weak frame - Solution: 1/8″ diamond plate steel top instead of plywood - $100 - 200. Reduces capacity by about 200 lbs (1450 GVWR - 262 for trailer - 197 for plate = 991 lb payload which is still fine for two sportbikes). I also put thin shims under the middle framing so that there would be a flat deck for the steel sheet for additional structure.
3. Dust cap falling off - Solution: $2.99 Revised design dust cap from HF, pn 93833 or bearing buddy pn 2047 with cap / protector pn 19b ( I chose the bearing buddy at around $30 shipped for both parts)
4. Bearing Failure - Solution: $4.99 bearing from HF, pn 93834 or pn 30205 from bearingsdirect.com at $11 ( I chose the later, hoping for a better quality part)
5. Bearing Oil Seal - Solution: 30×52x7TC from bearingsdirect.com at $6 (not offered by HF)
6. Sticking Ball Coupler - Solution: 1-7/8″ x 2-1/2″ Ball Coupler from almost anywhere. The new HF ones are nicer than the older design which was sticky from day 1
7. No trailer jack - Solution: Wheeled trailer jack from many sources. I welded a plate on the inner frame for more support for the wheeled type jack.
8. No sides or ramp - Solution: Lots of options, basic instructions are in the manual now (I don’t think they were years ago) HF Trailer Manual
9. Electrical faults - Solution: Find the fault and fix it or replace the whole harness as it is of very poor quality
10. 4 pin connector length - Solution: Get an extension or adapter with some length if your truck doesn’t have a 4 pin connector
11. No spare wheel - Solution: Spare wheel carrier from HF, pn 93341 or other companies. 12″ wheel from HF or Northern Tool.
12. Not many tie down points - Solution: Lots but I chose removable ancra tie-downs in for the flooring, you can also use bed bolts. Then large fixed, circular bits for the sides.
I had to search for a while for some of the parts like bearings, oil seals, etc. Hopefully this list will help others out there with similar issues and bring together a lot of the information required to own and operate one of these trailers for thousands of miles.