Problems with Mail

[Vermonter17032]

Hi, all,

Sorry to bother you with this support question, but I’m wondering if anyone else has had this problem. My Mac upgraded to the latest OSX version this morning, 10.5.8, and now when I try to run Mail, I get a message that says: “You cannot use this version of the application Mail with this version of Mac OS X.”

Has anyone experienced this problem, and, if so, any suggestions how to fix it? If not, does anyone know a good website with information about this kind of thing?

Thank you.

Steve

[Kendric]

@Vermonter17032

Hi, all,

Sorry to bother you with this support question, but I’m wondering if anyone else has had this problem. My Mac upgraded to the latest OSX version this morning, 10.5.8, and now when I try to run Mail, I get a message that says: “You cannot use this version of the application Mail with this version of Mac OS X.”

Has anyone experienced this problem, and, if so, any suggestions how to fix it? If not, does anyone know a good website with information about this kind of thing?

Thank you.

Steve

Sounds like it failed to update Mail.app. I’d try downloading the updater and reinstalling it.

[Vermonter17032]

Kendric,

Thank you for the response. I tried running the mail updater, but as I was going through the process it said this: “You cannot install Mail Update on this volume. This volume does not meet the requirements for this update.”

This doesn’t bode well, does it? All the other software I’ve tried seems to be working well.

Any other suggestions.

Thank you, again.

Steve

[Kendric]

All I’ve got left at this point is for you to pull out your install disk, archive and install, update again and see what it gets you.

An OS reinstall is kind of pulling out the big guns as far as troubleshooting goes… I’d wait to see what advice other folks around here might have for you before you go down that route.

[AmberV]

I did not see any specific solutions to your problem here, but this thread at MacFixIt is collecting issues. At least one person is having problems with Mail.app, it seems.

[Vermonter17032]

Amber and Kendric,

Thank you for your responses. Still a mystery as to what the problem is.

Steve

[AmberV]

Not that it is of any help to you now, but I’m always a fan of downloading the combo updates manually instead of using Software Update to upgrade the core system or any other updates that require a restart. With core updates, I like to wait about two weeks before applying them. If an update is critical to security, they will publish these as small patches as soon as they can, rather than wait for a large system update—so for most people there is no rush to go up a point.

You might have luck using the combo update at this point—but it might just look at your version ID and come back with a “Can’t do that” type message.

[bashosfrog]

Also of no immediate help, but I’ve found it extremely useful to set Gmail to harvest all the mail delivered to my POP address, which I normally handle through Mail. In a situation like this, with Mail conked out, you’ve got all your email readily available via Gmail. Not to mention the flexibility it allows in accessing mail from other computers while on the road. I prefer Mail as my primary email client, but Gmail is a great backup.

[Vermonter17032]

Once more, thank you for the advice.

I tried fixing this by downloading and installing the combo update, but it won’t work. I think the permissions on my hard drive are messed up and the repair permissions function returns an error too. I think I’m going to have to throw up my hands and take the computer to my dealer – he’ll probably charge me a bunch of money to reinstall the operating system or something.

It’s the last time I’ll use the software updater… which has worked well for over a year up until this disaster.

Thanks, again.

Steve

[Kendric]

Dealer? Woah, woah woah.

If you have the disks that came with your computer or the disk you bought from Apple to upgrade, you have everything you need to perform an “Archive and Install,” which does this:

Available in Mac OS X 10.2 and later, an Archive and Install installation automatically moves existing system files to a folder named Previous System, then installs Mac OS X again. (See tip 3.) You cannot start up your computer using a Previous System folder, nor can you “re-bless” the Previous System folder. (See tip 1.)

You can choose to preserve your user and network settings before installing. This option automatically moves existing users, Home directories, and network settings. This also skips the Setup Assistant after installation.

You get a fresh system, fresh Apple apps, and all your old user and network settings.

Here’s the link for that, “How to” also included: support.apple.com/kb/HT1710

No need for the dealer.

BTW: The best advice anyone can give you before you consider any kind of system reinstall is this: back up your data. Seriously.

(By “Dealer” I take it you didn’t buy at the Apple store? They’ll book an appointment with an Apple Genius for you if you have a Mac of any kind, but until you’ve at least tried archive and install even that’s overkill.)

[Vermonter17032]

Kendric,

Thank you for the information about Archive and Re-install. I will try that before heading to my vendor – correct, he is not an Apple Store. We do not have one of those in Vermont, but my dealer has been selling Macs for over 20 years, so I hope he knows what he’s doing!

Thanks, again.

Steve