Jag mail has destroyed my home folder!!

edX

edX

mac shaman
ok, my copy of jag just showed up today and at first all was going well with an upgrade install. but then i went to check my mail and all went well. until i got to checking my different accounts. all of a sudden i started getting a palm desktop background error that wouldn't go away no matter what. so i went to quit mail and it took my whole desktop with it. i had to force reboot to get rid of the error box. when it cam eback up, my hime folder was gone!! over a Gb more room on my drive. so i booted to os 9 and replaced it with a backup from last week. i try again. again i go to mail. this time all my mail just disappears as i am looking at it. so i quit mail and again it takes the whole home folder.

what could this be??
 
something didnt go so well with the upgrade. my advice, install jaguar cleanly. it takes more time reinstalling everything but i dont think you'll run into these little idiosyncrasies with different apps.

also, turn on file journaling when you upgrade to 10.2.3.

sudo diskutil enableJournal /
 
ok, i've figured out it has nothing to do with jag, it happened to me when i tried to delete a certain account. i have determined that this account has a folder marked 'users' nestled inside of it. i am currently attempting to remove this users folder and see what happens.
 
a clean install will do nothing for this problem if i'm expecting to move my home folder back and keep my accounts and everything as i have them now. the problem is in the home folder itself.
 
how can you home folder be gone? you shouldnt be able to long in without a home folder. where do you go?
 
it gets rebuilt somehow. only a minimum number of folders are there on reboot. i have replicated this effect under 10.1.5 so i know it is this specific account in mail that is causing this problem and not the system. right now i've got it working and leaving well enough alone for the time being. i'm aware of what NOT to do in order to make sure it doesn't happen. eventually i'll figure out what to do be able to delete the account without it taking all the others with it. The only real big thing i lost other than a few recent downloads on my desktop were all my macosx.com emails from feb 1 til today.
 
1 gb home folder - includes photo library, itunes library, mail, prefs, desktop pics, etc. - try getting info on your home folder and see if it's not about that size or bigger
 
Originally posted by kendall
something didnt go so well with the upgrade. my advice, install jaguar cleanly. it takes more time reinstalling everything but i dont think you'll run into these little idiosyncrasies with different apps.

also, turn on file journaling when you upgrade to 10.2.3.

sudo diskutil enableJournal /
Click to expand...

Ugh, bugger off with your clean installs. I bought a Mac to get away from the clean install garbage, not to experience it a second time around. My own Jaguar was installed as an upgrade and I have NO PROBLEMS.

Andre
 
uh? i had problems with finder when i installed jag.. finder didn't work at all. so i installed jag again and it worked.
 
Originally posted by cellfish
Ugh, bugger off with your clean installs. I bought a Mac to get away from the clean install garbage, not to experience it a second time around. My own Jaguar was installed as an upgrade and I have NO PROBLEMS.

Andre
Click to expand...

my thoughts exactly - a clean install is a last resort, not the first line of defense. it is a problem of it's own, not a solution. diagnosing and repairing is always the first thing i'm going to do. and in case nobody's following the diagnosis, this is a problem that would not be cured by a clean install unless i was willing to lose all the mail i have saved in my accounts. the parts of the system that upgraded are working fine. i found the problem as far as i can tell. i'm just not going to mess with it anymore till i have the new set up backed up again. and right now i'm having problems with large file transfers to my external like i used to have between my externals in 10.1.5. this is a different issue and one i have read about and was hoping wouldn't effect me but it is most likely because of the age of my drives.
 
i dont care if youre mac os, linux, windows, freebsd, or whatever, upgrading your OS is just WRONG. (unless you're in a server environment and cant afford the downtime) a clean install will 9/10 times produce a better result than upgrading.

i've been through both with each one of those OSs and more. upgrading is just a waste of time. when something goes wrong, you spend a week racking your brain trying to fix it only to reinstall cleanly in the end. its just not worth it. especially if ed hadn't of had a backup. hed be up shit creek without a paddle then.

what has happened is serious enough. id hate to see what other surprises lie in store.
 
oh btw - thanks kendall for giving me the instructions on journaling. it is now enabled.

all i can say is that i haven't had to reformat a drive in the last 10-12 years and i like it like that. i run regular maintanence and repairs and keep my system and drives in good shape. i don't see the point in reformatting. my only problem that a clean install might help is not getting chimera to run. hell, it might run now, i haven't tried. it's not a big deal to me. i have no intention of trying to talk people out of doing reformats if that's what they're into, but i also think there are other ways to sollve every problem you could encounter that they would fix. and in cases like mine, often nothing is really gained when they are performed.
 
I'm hoping to receive a copy of OS X 10.2 Jaguar in the next few days.

What precautions should I take to avoid the kind of problems encountered above? Obviously, I need to make a complete back-up of my disk – anything else?

I've read elsewhere that Apple recommend you shouldn't need to do a clean install... any advice welcome!
 
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