MAC mail client issue

[Shuie]

This is the 2nd time this has happened to my machine in the last two months. The MAC mail client icon in my dock just shows a big '?' when I click on it. No error message, no warning, nothing except '?' The last time this happened it was fixed with a OS 10.4 upgrade. Well, I ran my updates this morning and rebooted and it still just shows '?' when I click on it. Id post a screenshot, but you MAC guys already know that the damn MAC keyboard doesnt have a print screen button that windows converts are accustomed to using to accomplish such simple things.

This is recogulous. Im not inept with a computer at all and I dont mind troubleshooting things but I seriously feel like Im having to work a little too hard to check my email. Sometimes I dont have a clue what you MAC people are raving about. Sure, its nice. Its Cadillac. Its basically UNIX. Wooohoo! Its NOT anymore reliable than any of my previous windows 2000 or XP machines have been. This machine patches itself everytime I boot it up and I still have regular issues with applications like iTunes and mail.

So what do I need to fix this? Another OS X upgrade?

any help is appreciated

[nostatic]

Drag the icon from the dock...it will go poof. Go to the finder into the applictions directory. Find Mail, and drag it onto the dock. You should have the proper icon now. Also, go to applications -> utilities and run disk utility to "repair permissioins."

[jyl]

Does Mail show up in the Applications folder, and can you launch it normally by double-clicking on it there? If yes, then I'd try the process outlined below. When reading, replace "Internet Explorer" with "Mail".
Caveat: I'm no Apple guru, do at your own risk, if it gives you herpes that's your problem, etc etc.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106469

Mac OS X 10.1: Question Mark Appears in Dock
A question mark may appear in the Dock where an application formerly appeared. This affects Microsoft Internet Explorer when upgrading to Mac OS X 10.1.

Symptom

The Dock may have one or more question mark (?) icons.

Products affected

Mac OS X 10.1
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.1.2 (3707)

Solution

This occurs whenever an item in your Dock cannot be found. An item may not be found when:

An installer replaces an application with a different version in a new location.
You remove the item from your computer.
The item in the Dock was stored on a disk that is no longer present or available (mounted). This includes items dragged to the Dock from a previously-mounted disk image.
If the Applications folder is renamed or moved when started up from Mac OS 9. You should not rename or relocate Mac OS X-installed folders.

For example, the Mac OS X Installer replaces Internet Explorer with a new and improved version. If you had Internet Explorer in the Dock, you would follow these steps to delete the question mark and replace it with an icon of Internet Explorer:

1. Drag the question mark from the Dock to the desktop. It disappears.
2. Click the Finder icon in the Dock.
3. Choose Applications from the Go menu.
4. Drag the Internet Explorer icon to the Dock.

Edit: Oops, nostatic beat me to it and better too. I'll leave this post up, for the link.

[id10t]

Real men telnet to port 113 on the mail server to read their mail.... and telnet to port 25 to send it.

[jyl]

Real men teleport.

[Shuie]

Thanks guys. the Applications folder was the first place I looked. I dont see anything that resembles a mail program in there. I thought maybe the wife had deleted it since she only uses webmail but i dont see it in the wastebasket.

[Shuie]

oh, and I dont use IE. I even ditched Mozilla and started using Safari exclusively afterthe last OS upgrade

[bryanthompson]

Originally posted by id10t
Real men telnet to port 113 on the mail server to read their mail.... and telnet to port 25 to send it.

Real script kiddies, you mean! You probably still have to type in a password in your telnet LOLROFL!

Real men ssh to port 993 to read their mail, and hop over to 2525 to send it.

Phj33r my 31337 H4x0r ski11Z!

[Shuie]

59 6F 75 20 67 75 79 73 20 61 72 65 20 66 75 63 6B 69 6E 67 20 68 69 6C 61 72 69 6F 75 73 21

[nostatic]

Well, that would explain the question mark. I don't know that you can download mail.app from Apple since it is part of the OS package. I made a zip file of it if you're interested. It is 16MB, so you'd need to ftp it from me.

[stomachmonkey]

Id post a screenshot, but you MAC guys already know that the damn MAC keyboard doesnt have a print screen button that windows converts are accustomed to using to accomplish such simple things.

Uhm, incorrect, it's been there for a decade.

command+shift+3, all on the left hand, thumb, pinky and middle finger, leaves a file named Picture 1 on your desktop in png format. Automatically numbers them if you take more than one shot.

Compared to Windows Print Screen which dumps to the clipboard requiring you paste the contents into an application and then save as I'd say the Mac way is easier.

If you want more functionality then go into Applications/Utilities and launch Grab which will let you capture either a specific window, a selection, the entire screen or timed screen.

[nostatic]

and cmd-shft-4 gives you a crosshair that you can click and drag to snap a portion of the screen.

[Shuie]

Like I said. Its Cadillac. It is not always real intuitive for someone that is coming from the windows world. Im still learning this machine. Thanks for the help. It could have been there for another decade before I figured out that command + shift + 3 was the same as the windows print screen button.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally posted by nostatic
and cmd-shft-4 gives you a crosshair that you can click and drag to snap a portion of the screen.

Oh yeah, forgot that one.

If you open the files in Preview, nice fast lite app, you can save in any format that you want.




And Preview is Grab enabled so you can envoke it right from the File menu without launching the actual Grab app.



Scott