TB corrupts a pdf when downloading: diff with the correct pdf
Rahul
Thunderbird (IMAP) are corrupted. If I try opening (Adobe Acrobat Pro,
WinXP) I get the error:
"There was an error opening this document. This file is damaged and cannot
be repaired"
xpdf (Linux) provides a more descriptive error message for the same pdf:
xpdf via_Thunderbird.pdf
Error: PDF file is damaged - attempting to reconstruct xref table...
Error: Couldn't find trailer dictionary
Error: Couldn't read xref table
The same pdf file attachment when downloaded using my university's
webclient opens correctly. So it is either Thunderbird or the IMAP server
which is mangling the file. Not sure which.
In order to debug more I wanted to see where exactly in the file the
corruption is happening. I tried a simple "diff -a" but since they are both
binary files not much useful to my eyes (see diff below). Wanted to see if
people can see anything obvious via this diff.
diff -a via_Thunderbird.pdf via_webclient.pdf
I'm uploading it online to make it easier to read the binary blob:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/118481/pdf_diff.txt
Of course, I have 10-15 other similar corrupted versus non-corrupted pairs
of pdfs. My next option is to try to get their diffs too and see if there
is a pattern.
Any other debug sugesstions?
--
Rahul
Mike Easter
> Every so often (say, 1 in 10) pdf's that come as attachments in
> Thunderbird (IMAP) are corrupted.
> The same pdf file attachment when downloaded using my university's
> webclient opens correctly. So it is either Thunderbird or the IMAP server
> which is mangling the file. Not sure which.
> Any other debug sugesstions?
In this example, how big is the .pdf?
What is the mail server domain in question? Is it your wisc.edu? ie
wiscmail.wisc.edu for the imap?
How big is the .pdf in the other problem ones?
--
Mike Easter
Rahul
news:BIWdnagzkp7ADuvR...@mozilla.org:
> In this example, how big is the .pdf?
32K via Thunderbird and 45K via the webclient.
rpnabar@polaris:~>ls -alh via_webclient.pdf
-rw-rw-r-- 1 rpnabar users 45K Aug 25 12:24 via_webclient.pdf
rpnabar@polaris:~>ls -alh via_Thunderbird.pdf
-rw-rw-r-- 1 rpnabar users 32K Aug 25 12:24 via_Thunderbird.pdf
> What is the mail server domain in question? Is it your wisc.edu? ie
> wiscmail.wisc.edu for the imap?
Yes. wiscmail.wisc.edu and smtpauth.wiscmail.wisc.edu
Using the following settings:
http://kb.wisc.edu/page.php?id=12904
> How big is the .pdf in the other problem ones?
Let me check. But from what I remember there is no strong size correlation.
Most are pretty small.
Our helpdesk does have a advisory about TB-attachment corruption but it
seems more like black magic.
http://kb.wisc.edu/page.php?id=12472
I have "mail.imap.fetch_by_chunks" set to false as reccomended but this
hasn't fixed it.
I haven't tried toying with "mail.imap.mime_parts_on_demand" and
"mail.server.default.parts_on_demand". Worth a shot? Or irrelevant?
--
Rahul
Mike Easter
> Mike Easter
>> In this example, how big is the .pdf?
>
> 32K via Thunderbird and 45K via the webclient.
That isn't big. But it looks like a significant amount is missing.
> Let me check. But from what I remember there is no strong size correlation.
> Most are pretty small.
>
> Our helpdesk does have a advisory about TB-attachment corruption but it
> seems more like black magic.
I don't think things should be getting chunked for those rather small .pdf.
Do you have an AV filter working in realtime on your mail you could turn
off? Or spam for that matter.
--
Mike Easter
Rahul
> I don't think things should be getting chunked for those rather small
> .pdf.
Is there a way to force a redownload of just that email?
> Do you have an AV filter working in realtime on your mail you could
> turn off? Or spam for that matter.
>
I do have Symantec running in the background. I can try turning that off.
But how can I force TB to redownload this pdf attachment.
I dont have any external spam blockers except what's inbuilt into TB and
also in the webclient by UW.
--
Rahul
Rahul
> I don't think things should be getting chunked for those rather small
> .pdf.
>
> Do you have an AV filter working in realtime on your mail you could
> turn off? Or spam for that matter.
>
More experiments:
TB->forward-> gmail : corrupted
TB->forward->TB : corrupted
TB->forward->webcliend: corrupted
webclient->forward->TB: OK
Then I had a friend send me the same pdf as an attachment multiple times
but it always opens OK.
So, the same email has the corruption in a very particular case that is
hard to replicate. Even with the exact same pdf. I wish there was a way to
force it to redownload the old pdf just to check if it corrupts it or not.
--
Rahul
Ken Whiton
*-* In Article <Xns9DE067C2B97AD66...@216.196.97.169>,
*-* Rahul wrote
*-* About TB corrupts a pdf when downloading: diff with the correct pdf
> Every so often (say, 1 in 10) pdf's that come as attachments in
> Thunderbird (IMAP) are corrupted. If I try opening (Adobe Acrobat
> Pro, WinXP) I get the error:
>
> "There was an error opening this document. This file is damaged and
> cannot be repaired"
>
> xpdf (Linux) provides a more descriptive error message for the same
> pdf:
>
> xpdf via_Thunderbird.pdf
> Error: PDF file is damaged - attempting to reconstruct xref table...
> Error: Couldn't find trailer dictionary
> Error: Couldn't read xref table
>
> The same pdf file attachment when downloaded using my university's
> webclient opens correctly. So it is either Thunderbird or the IMAP
> server which is mangling the file. Not sure which.
This, or a very similar problem, has been reported here on at
least two prior occasions:
<http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.support.thunderbird/browse_thread/thread/d7a9f2261f89f774>
<http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.support.thunderbird/browse_thread/thread/9d807d3e83518fc5>
neither of which seems to have been resolved. There are also at least
two similar bugs on file at Bugzilla, one, like yours, involving only
.pdf files and the other involving multiple file types:
<https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=560346>
<https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=512693>.
Ken Whiton
--
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