Replace Aspire One Mail with Thunderbird

Just switched over to Thunderbird instead of using Aspire One Mail (ASM seems to have poor imap capabilities). Here's how to do it.

Download thunderbird using add/remove software

In terminal:
cd .config/xfce4/desktop
nano group-app.xml (You'll have to have nano capabilities installed)

Scroll down to <id>5</id>
Find the line that begins <app sequence="3" acs="email">
Change AME.desktop to mozilla-thunderbird.desktop
Restart computer

To stop Aspire One Mail from checking for new messages:
Open Aspire One Mail
Tools>Options
Uncheck: "Check for Messages Every:" and "Play sound when new messages arrive."

:?: The only thing I haven't figured out is how to get the new message number under the email icon on the desktop to display the new messages in Thunderbird. Also, I'd love to me able to minimize Thunderbird to the tray so it can still check for new messages without being "open." I looked at the minimize-to-tray function, but it doesn't work with my current version of Thunderbird (2.0.0.14). Any suggestions on either item? :?:

 

This modification works very nicely for me.

Thanks.

Phil

 

Great result!

Take a bow - you've made it easy for me to my first Linux changes when I actually understood what and why I was doing them!! I've been battling for a while trying to get my head around how things work below the hood. You've made my day my friend. Thanks a lot.

 

hi there,, hope you can read this soon,, i just wanted to ask how can i have nano capabilities?

im new to linux so im not aware what nano is,, thx,,

oh i was able to install thunderbird,, i just want to put it in "Connect" section,, thanks,,

 

nano is just a basic command line text editor, you can use any other text editor instead if you prefer.

 

I have done more or less the same as you (the original poster) and have the same 'problems' as you have (the ones in the "? ... ?" section at the bottom of your post).

I also have some additional 'problems':

- A "mailto:" URL, for example in Firefox, still invokes Aspire one Mail (AoM).

- Clicking on an e-mail address, for example in Firefox, still invokes Aspire one Mail.

I have tried (in Advance mode): Right-click on the desktop -> Settings -> Preferred Applications, but whatever I do in the Mail Reader section, the above actions still invoke AoM.

I have tried to set the Mail Reader to "Mozilla Thunderbird" and tried to set it to "Other..." and fill in "/usr/bin/thunderbird "%s"" (without the outer quotes), but nothing helped.

Of course these are minor points, but it would be niced if they could be solved.

Ozlover a.k.a. Frank

 

Thanks, so far so good, but how can I save the changes i made in the config file with nano. I dont find how? I replace with mozilla-thunderbird.desktop, but after the restart everything is gone.

Thanks for helping new linux user like me. I really enjoy this little machine and would like to stay away from MS as long as possible. I even manged the RAM uprage...If I would have know how much dissasembly is needed, i never would have started...hehehhe....but its works as you can see....

 

Hi,

just figured out how to fix this: in Firefox, enter about:config in the address bar. Then filter for a value called network.protocol-handler.app.mailto and change its value to /usr/bin/thunderbird and everything works smoothly as it should

Cheers!

 

I installed thunderbird on my one as I was starting to get annoyed with the one mail application (no keyboard shortcuts, can't move more than one email at once. etc) the problem I had with thunderbird though is that when adding or editing a contact the window is to large for the desktop and extends of the screen with no scroll facility, even when I maximise the window. Does any one know haw to resolve this?

Thanks

 

I didn't have that value (in Firefox 3) but the mail client can be simply changed in Firefox via the menus: edit-preferences-applications

 

does the configuration utilitie not work xfce-setting-show (from xterm, then select desktop and the second tab ...... ) :?:

 

hmm, I am sure this all makes sense, but it doesn't to me as I have never even seen a line of Linpus code until yesterday. I was okay up to the point where it said that nano needs to be enabled. Unfortunatley, I don't know what nano is, where to get it and how to install it so it seems I have fallen at the first hurdle. Could someone please explain (very simply) what I need to do to install thunderbird, otherwise theres not going to be much chance of me being able to learn this rather strange and unusual O/S.

thankyou,
Scooble

 

As stated somewhere above, nano is simply a text editor used here to edit the file "group-app.xml". If you don't have nano, you can use mousepad which is an editor on the A1 by default.

 

thanks for your response, that has clarified things for me. However, after replacing the word nano for mousepad, I edited the code as instructed, however, I now have no email icon on my desktop and when I right click and look down the menu, I still have the default email client installed.
I tried to add the software by going through the system menu add/remove software, but this doesn't work at all because when I try to add or remove anything at all, it says that it can not resolve dependencies (whatever that means).
However, I did download thunderbird from the website and its sitting in my downloads folder, but I have now idea how to install it as it has no setup.exe file like you do in windows.

Therefore, I am still stuck....how do you install thunderbird?

 

All you have done is edit a configuration file for the desktop. As you didn't managed to install Thunderbird beforehand, the config file is pointing to something which doesn't yet exist. That is why there is no icon.

As for installing the package that you have downloaded, I can't really help. I was lucky enough to install it via the add/remove programs route without any dependency problems.

 

Here is another Thunderbird problem.
I have installed Firefox 3 as described here. http://jorge.ulver.no/2008/08/06/acer-a ... ngFirefox3
I have then installed Thunderbird as described in this discussion.
I have the Thunderbird account IMAPed to my remote SMTP server. But I cannot receive email Thunderbird (IMAP) neither can I send any via remote SMTP. It does not even ask my password.
I can use windows XP Thunderbird to send/receive remote emails via the same SMTP server. The account settings are the same.
Thunderbird gives the appearance of no errors.
Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[quote="ozorba"} I cannot receive email Thunderbird (IMAP) neither can I send any via remote SMTP. It does not even ask my password.[/quote]

Check that the port and SSL/TSL settings are exactly right (they are different for the IMAP and SMTP servers).

I made the mistake of accepting the defaults when setting up the account: they don't work with GMail, and either incorrect ports or incorrect security type settings will lead to no request for a password.

 

Thanks daldred.
Solved the problem.
OZ

Edit: I thought I solved the problem. However, When I tried to upgrade Thunerbird 2.0.0.6 to 2.0.0.16 I stop getting any mails. BTW. I have tried Thunerbird 2.0.0.16 from fedora 8 repository as well as the fedora 8 remi repository one. Both gave the same results. No IMAP acces!

 

OK... so don't ask me to explain this because I can't... but I have discovered that the incorrect message count number is driven by this part in the group-app.xml:

<app sequence="1" acs="email">usr/share/applications/mozilla-thunderbird.desktop</app>

If you change that acs="email bit (e.g. by removing it, or renaming it) and restart then you get no message count shown at all. I reckon no message count is better than an incorrect message count?

It would be nice to have it displaying properly. Presumably the acs bit is pulling the parameter from the Aspire Mail app... where can it get it from Thunderbird?

 

Hi,
same problem with SSL or TLS with my Acer One. Installed Thunderbird 2.0.0.16. When I try to get the folders on the IMAP server there is no reaction. Thunderbird should ask for a password but it does nothing. Any solution yes?