Hey guys,

I face the following problem: Two weeks ago my Evolution mail-client was upgraded to version 3.0.2-1 (Debian Sid 32bit with GNOME desktop environment 2.30.2). I received the information that a migration to a new format for mail directories (maildir) was to be performed. Well, since then I cannot launch Evolution as a normal user. The command line gives me the following error message:



The last sentence would be something like 'time-out reached' in English.

By accident I realized that Evolution would start when I launch it as root. So I figured the problem seems to lie in my HOME-directory and renaming the appropriate files and directories would get me back to square one, that is the initial setup dialogue. Thus I renamed all folders with 'evolution' or 'mail' in their name. Still Evolution won't start. Apparently there is still some corrupted stuff in my HOME-directory preventing it from starting correctly.

Does someone know, where else to look? Did anyone encounter the same problem? I searched on the internet and the only relevant result was a post on the Fedora Forum about pretty much the same issue, but no solution there (http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=267131)

Any help would be appreciated. If you need further information, I'll be more than happy to provide it.

Backup your contact list and record the mail settings. Then uninstall and reinstall the new version from scratch.

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@ ITPhoenix:

I don't think your solution would work, as I'm running on Debian. The Aptitude - package-manager would not only uninstall evolution but also remove my whole desktop environment GNOME because of dependency issues. The distribution is not modular like Gentoo or ArchLinux. Or do you know a way to bypass this problem?

The solution is, if you want to reinstall Evolution, is to take out the desktop as well. In fact, since there are dependencies, the problem may actually lie in one of the desktop files!

I use openSUSE so I am not familiar with your distro. If I recall, installing the desktop was done during OS install where it was selected. That seems to me that you may be able to get away with an upgrade, using the same install disk you used on the current system. This will wipe out all patches and updates but may be easier than a clean install from scratch, since all your files should be left alone.

I know this is not desireable, but trying to hunt down the problem may take millennia, if at all. Knowing the necessity of a reinstall or upgrade (repair) procedure at any time an update comes along, has prompted me to have a full system image backup available just before updating or any new program installation. I use Image for Linux which is fast and works perfectly. If somthing blows, I can recover in minutes and re-evalute the situation with a properly functioning system.

Your idea of having an image backup to get to a functioning system again immediately is definitively a good one, but I don't have such a backup right now. I once read about saving versions of config files via GIT, but so far I haven't implemented this strategy.

I'm not sure I want to uninstall my whole desktop, it would remove nearly 800 packages. A fresh install of the whole system would probably mean less work. The funny thing is that all of a sudden Evolution can be started again. I don't know why. So it can't be a problem with the desktop einvironment per se. Sadly though, it has become so buggy as to be unusable. I constantly get error messages when fetching mail from the servers, cannot view the calendar and not even import the old settings I had backed up. So far I couldn't find a solution for these issues. I guess I will wait for a new, more mature version of Evolution to come out and see if it works again after an upgrade.
Until then I will have to put up with Debian's version of Thunderbird.
Thanks for your help.

What I would do in this case is the same I do in Windows. SUSE does not have a disk cleanup but there is a CL command to delete the Temporary file folder (/Temp). When I tried this in SUSE, deleting everything without regard for any particular program data, nothing bad happened except some of my desktop preferences had to be reset.

The other thing I do in Windows is resetting, well, all the settings in a particular program. While in many cases there is no one-click reset, I do it manually. This takes out bugs or errors often enough for it to be worth a try. So in Evolution, just go into all the areas where user settings can be made, change them to anything, save, maybe a reboot, then return the settings to where you need them to be. Error messages in mail could be corruption in the SMPT and POP areas, since you had them set and were working before the update. This procedure has saved me a few times! I like to avoid clean installs since it takes me most of the day, and usually into the next as I become tired of it.

In Windows we have registry cleaners, which if the wrong one is used, or some of the files set to be deleted are unchecked, it may cause problems rather than solving any. All I see in Linux is the Temp folder, resetting things (as above) and reinstalling programs.

I am a newb as well, and this is all I have to date. One more point on backups: I have had best results when the disk is wiped before a clean install. Apparently, at least my distro leaves some data behind to make the reinstall process "easier". I use Diskpart "clean all" for this operation once I am sure focus is on the disk or partition where the OS resided. A mistake here will wipe out the wrong partition forever. Imagine wiping out your backup drive or another OS!