Fixing Checkgmail

Write tutorials for Linux Mint here
More tutorials on https://github.com/orgs/linuxmint/discu ... /tutorials and (archive) on https://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial
Forum rules
Don't add support questions to tutorials; start your own topic in the appropriate sub-forum instead. Before you post read forum rules
viking777

Re: Fixing Checkgmail

Post by viking777 »

Well just over 2 weeks since the last time checkgmail broke and now it has happened again. Slightly different this time in that it still notifies new mails, but you can't do anything with them any more. All the features which make checkgmail the best mail notifier (when it works) are gone. Mark Read, Archive, Report Spam, Delete and the preview mode just hang indefinitely. I have redone all the things I mentioned in my own tutorial (and also the later fixes) and nothing makes any difference.

It makes you wonder if checkgmail is worth it any more :(

Edit. Some further investigation of this indicates that it is trying to view the message preview (by clicking the message title) that is freezing checkgmail. If I restart the app all other functions are available again, but if I try and view the preview again it just freezes and all the other functions fail. There are no error messages in the terminal, when I click on the title to view the preview it just says 'There is one new message', nothing more.
justagirl20

Re: Fixing Checkgmail

Post by justagirl20 »

There has been a bug opened on the checkgmail website:
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=de ... tid=738663
viking777

Re: Fixing Checkgmail

Post by viking777 »

justagirl20 wrote:There has been a bug opened on the checkgmail website:
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=de ... tid=738663
Thanks for that andra, I hadn't seen it until now. At least I know it is not just me :)
viking777

Re: Fixing Checkgmail

Post by viking777 »

andra, I just had a look at your proposed patch on sourceforge and for me it works. So first of all thanks a million for working that out, and second of all, I hope you won't mind me adding it to this topic as yet another checkgmail 'fix'.

So with all thanks due to andra as mentioned above, here is how you fix checkgmail this time around - don't ask me how long this one will last :(

Shut down checkgmail to start with then:

Code: Select all

sudo mv /usr/bin/checkgmail  /usr/bin/checkgmail.old
Just in case anything goes wrong. Then download this file: http://pastebin.com/DUDhfATJ. This will give you the file checkgmail_patched.txt in your Downloads folder.

In your terminal cd to the Downloads folder then run the following command:

Code: Select all

sudo mv checkgmail_patched.txt /usr/bin/checkgmail
Then make it executable:

Code: Select all

sudo chmod a+x /usr/bin/checkgmail
Restart checkgmail and it should work again.

One thing is on the horizon, at least for those of you who use Ubuntu as well as Mint and that is that in Raring checkgmail no longer appears in the Unity panel. I think the reason for this is quoted here:
An option allowing applications lacking App Indicator support to show in the system tray has been removed from Ubuntu 13.04.

Applications and services not using the feature were hidden by default in Ubuntu 11.04 – but could be manually re-enabled through a hidden settings option.

Now, in requesting the removal of this configurable ‘whitelist’ from the up-coming Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu’s Matthew Paul Thomas argues that developers have had enough time to adopt the App Indicator spec.
So obviously Matthew Paul Thomas doesn't use checkgmail or realise the speed of their responses :(

Hopefully it should still work in Mint though.
sevkoz

Re: Fixing Checkgmail

Post by sevkoz »

Brilliant work, Viking777 and birchy. Checkgmail's performing flawlessly.
alexboss
Level 1
Level 1
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2012 8:10 am

Re: Fixing Checkgmail

Post by alexboss »

Thanks for the tips guys, it also fixed my checkgmail ! Now, it only remains the problem of transparency of the icons in the system tray... did someone manage to fix that by any chance ?

Best regards,

Alexboss 8)
alexboss
Level 1
Level 1
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2012 8:10 am

Re: Fixing Checkgmail

Post by alexboss »

OK, as apparently it's complicated to handle the transparency of the tray icons, here is what I did:
  • Create 2 icons with gray background - let's say checkgmail-mail.png and checkgmail-nomail.png and place them in /usr/share/icons/Mint-X/apps/22/
  • Modify the preferences of checkgmail to use the custom icons created
  • Edit the script checkgmail (/usr/bin/checkgmail in my case)
  • Replace

    Code: Select all

    $tray_hbox->set_border_width(2);
    with

    Code: Select all

    $tray_hbox->set_border_width(0);
  • Restart checkgmail and voilà !
Please find attached the icons I created:
checkgmail-mail.png
checkgmail-nomail.png
And a preview of the result:
checkgmail-trayicons-preview.png
Best regards,

Alexandre 8)
cherry316316

Re: Fixing Checkgmail

Post by cherry316316 »

Ok, I am using Ubuntu 13.10
i updated perl and followed all the commands given in tutorial.
also downloaded the txt file from http://pastebin.com/DUDhfATJ.
and followed that. yet, i get the plain checkgmail, the kinda you get with no_cookies.
how can i enable cookies, to get the nice old checkgmail?

thanks
Post Reply

Return to “Tutorials”