thunderbird 'folders' text corrupted

[Jarrett Chisholm]

Binary package hint: thunderbird

Almost every time I open Thunderbird the 'folders' text is garbled up and corrupted (see attached screenshot). It is not readable. To corrupt the problem, I only need to hover my mouse over the text and it corrects itself. Alternatively, opening a new window will fix it, sometimes just minimizing and maximizing thunderbird fixes it, etc.

1) The release of Ubuntu you are using, via 'lsb_release -rd' or System -> About Ubuntu
11.04

2) The version of the package you are using, via 'apt-cache policy pkgname' or by checking in Software Center
Installed: 3.1.8+build3+nobinonly-0ubuntu1
Candidate: 3.1.8+build3+nobinonly-0ubuntu1

3) What you expected to happen
The text to be legible

4) What happened instead
The text was all corrupted and unreadable. Looks like a bunch of lines or something going through the text.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: thunderbird 3.1.8+build3+nobinonly-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-1.28-generic 2.6.38-rc2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-1-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Fri Feb 25 18:02:51 2011
ExecutablePath: /usr/lib/thunderbird-3.1.8/thunderbird-bin
LocalLibraries: /home/jarrett/.thunderbird/le4fqbrr.default/extensions/{e2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103}/components/libcalbasecomps.so /home/jarrett/.thunderbird/le4fqbrr.default/extensions/{9533f794-00b4-4354-aa15-c2bbda6989f8}/components/libnptray_i686.so
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_CA:en
 LANG=en_CA.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: thunderbird

[RedSingularity (redsingularity)]

Thanks for reporting this. From what you said it seems that you get this anomaly frequently. Is the bug occurring on a fresh install of Natty?

[Jarrett Chisholm (chisser98)]

Hi,

Yes this happens almost every time I open Thunderbird,

My current Natty install isn't fresh, I upgraded from 10.10 and have been updating regularly.

[RedSingularity (redsingularity)]

Ok, was thunderbird installed on 10.10 before you upgraded?

[Jarrett Chisholm (chisser98)]

yup.

[RedSingularity (redsingularity)]

I have tested this on my system with no issue. I opened and closed thunderbird 10 times to be sure. 10/10 times the font was rendered fine. This leads me to believe there is a local issue. I am going to help you remove thunderbird and ALL its config files. Before we do that I assume you have emails on your machine you would like to save. Do you know how to backup these email files? If not, I will help you do that as well. (If you dont have thunderbird set to remove emails from the mail server then you wont need to back up anything.)

[Jarrett Chisholm (chisser98)]

Hi,

weird. Okay, I've backed up my profile and email files. I'm guessing removing Thunderbird and all of the config files is a little more intricate than just uninstalling, so I'll wait to hear from you before I do anything else.

Cheers

[RedSingularity (redsingularity)]

Ok, so first thing, yes lets uninstall it via:

sudo apt-get autoremove thunderbird

then after that run this command:

sudo find / -name *thunderbird* > ~/Desktop/Find1

Attach the output file that will be on your desktop to your next post. (That command will search for any residual files.)

[Micah Gersten (micahg)]

Thank you for reporting this to Ubuntu. This is most likely caused by either your video driver or some bad interaction with Thunderbird and your video driver. Could you please post the output of:
lshw -C video

[Jarrett Chisholm (chisser98)]

Hi Micah,

Here is the output from 'sudo lshw -C video':

  *-display:0
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
       version: 03
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
       resources: irq:16 memory:eff00000-eff7ffff ioport:eff8(size=8) memory:d0000000-dfffffff memory:efec0000-efefffff
  *-display:1 UNCLAIMED
       description: Display controller
       product: Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2.1
       bus info: pci@0000:00:02.1
       version: 03
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
       resources: memory:eff80000-efffffff

I don't know if it's related to my video card, but sometimes the 'bar' along the top of my open windows will disappear (the bar that has the minimize, maximize, and close buttons)..I haven't reported that as an error (yet)..

[Jarrett Chisholm (chisser98)]

Micah,

I've attached a screenshot (named 'desktop1.png') that shows the bar along the top of 2 windows (Mozila Firefox and an open Terminal) not displaying.

[Jarrett Chisholm (chisser98)]

Hi RedSingularity,

Thanks for the instructions.

I have attached the output file 'Find1'.

[RedSingularity (redsingularity)]

Ok, run the following command to remove the proper files: (copy and paste the whole thing if you want)

sudo rm -r /etc/thunderbird ; sudo rm -r /home/jarrett/.thunderbird ; sudo rm -r /home/jarrett/.mozilla-thunderbird ; sudo apt-get clean

Then reinstall thunderbird:

sudo apt-get install thunderbird

See if that solved the issue. Also feel free to put your mail back in the proper folder.

[RedSingularity (redsingularity)]

Oh and the missing window boarder is caused by your window manager. It probably is not starting up. When you have no boarders, try this in a terminal:

compiz & exit

[Jarrett Chisholm (chisser98)]

Hi RedSingularity,

I followed your instructions and put my mail back in the proper folder. However, the issue has not gone away.

Also, the borders are not returning after executing 'compiz & exit' in a terminal window.

[RedSingularity (redsingularity)]

I know this is not a "compiz" bug report, but try running this command for the borders:

emerald --replace & exit

[Jarrett Chisholm (chisser98)]

Hey,

I logged out and then back in, which corrected the window problem. If/when it happens again I'll give that a try.

[Jarrett Chisholm (chisser98)]

Hey Red,

The bar disappeared again. I tried that command but to no avail. :S

Cheers

[RedSingularity (redsingularity)]

Try this in a terminal:

metacity --replace & exit

See if that fixes the window issue and thunderbird

[Jarrett Chisholm (chisser98)]

Hi RedSingularity,

Sorry for the late reply. The command 'metacity -- replace & exit' did not correct either issue.

Regards

[RedSingularity (redsingularity)]

Seems it is not a compiz issue then. Added the intel video driver.

[RedSingularity (redsingularity)]

Sorry, my mistake. Marking back to "new" for the Xorg team.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[tb (ksu92me)]

I have this issue as well, but only the main window listing received emails is affected and only Thunderbird exhibits this behavior; no other programs nor the Desktop Environment itself. Scrolling or moving the mouse pointer over the corruption causes the window to re-paint correctly. It is very hit and miss, otherwise I would have attached a screen shot. I have had this phenomena for at least six months if not longer. Maverick Meerkat with standard window manager, running 2.6.35-31-generic, Thunderbird 3.1.16. Running the FGLRX driver for my ATI Radeon HD 5450 card. I also use the FireTray extension that reduces Thunderbird to a panel icon showing the number of unread emails.