Chapter 2. Sylpheed FAQ - Installation and Configuration
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## Chapter 2. Sylpheed FAQ - Installation and Configuration

2.1. What does it take to compile Sylpheed?
2.2. How do I set up Sylpheed?
2.3. Why did the creation of the mailbox fail?
2.4. How do I set up an account?
2.5. How many accounts can I set up in Sylpheed?
2.6. Can I set up an account for sending mail only?
2.7. Why does Sylpheed not delete my mails when I press "Delete"? I set a filter, and Sylpheed does not filter. I moved a mail to a different mailbox and it did not move.
2.8. Can I set up special addresses/ports for my mailserver/newsserver?
2.9. Does Sylpheed have options for threading messages?
2.10. Can I create multiple levels of subfolders to store mail?
2.11. Why isn't Sylpheed sending my mail out?
2.12. How do I apply a patch after downloading it?
2.13. How do I compile in support for compface pictures?
2.14. How do I make my own compface image?
2.15. How can I tell my browser/newsclient/other program to use Sylpheed as email program?
2.16. How do I enable GPG support in Sylpheed?
2.17. Mutt does not recognize Sylpheed's MH structure
2.18. Viewing a GIF file within Sylpheed causes a segmentation fault.
2.19. How Sylpheed checks for new mail?
2.20. How can I make Sylpheed notify me when new mail arrives?
2.21. Can I use a spell checker with Sylpheed?
2.22. How can I make Sylpheed send my compface image in the mails?
2.23. How can I get the newest source code from the Sylpheed Subversion (SVN) repository?
2.24. I checked out the sources using SVN and can't find any configure script.
2.25. Running "autogen.sh" gives error messages that "AM_PATH_GDK_PIXBUF" or "AM_PATH_(whatever)" is not found.
2.26. I don't want to compile in support for (...) any longer, but after running "configure", those libraries are still used.
2.27. How can I select different applications to open with specific MIME types?
2.28. How can I change the suggested mimetype for attachments?
2.29. The folder list is not updated after I manually moved/copied folders.
2.30. How can I revert original settings, e.g. for fonts, key bindings, etc.?
2.31. What environment variables have effect on Sylpheed?
2.32. Special characters (e.g. umlauts) are not displayed correctly.
2.33. How can I convert my old mailbox/address book from (some mail client).
2.34. What config files are there, and what are they used for?
2.35. How do I change the location of user profile directory under Windows?
2.36. Can I run multiple instances of Sylpheed?
2.37. What to do when printing an email prints off the paper?

2.1. | What does it take to compile Sylpheed?

Any POSIX compliant UNIX or similar OS, e.g. Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris. GTK+ 2.4.0 or later (GTK+ 2.6.0 or later is recommended). A recent ANSI C compiler (gcc 2.7.2.3 should also work).

### Note

It is reported that Sun C will not compile Sylpheed.

Optionally:

- compface (for X-Face)

- GPGME (for GnuPG)

- OpenSSL for SSL support

- GtkSpell for a spell checking feature

- cURL for allowing Sylpheed to check for updates

- JPilot

- LDAP

- the equivalent of GTK+-devel and Xfree86-devel

- you may also require flex (lex) and bison (yacc).

Otherwise ./configure will fail. See also the `INSTALL` file that is being distributed with the Sylpheed tarball.

Note that as Sylpheed now supports the Windows platform, you can also compile it using MinGW.

2.2. | How do I set up Sylpheed?

When you run Sylpheed for the first time, it will ask you where you want to store your mailboxes. The default is `$HOME/Mail` (or `%APPDATA%\Sylpheed\Mailboxes\Mail` under Windows). You can change this to anything you like as long as it is a valid directory name.

### Note

When Sylpheed is executed for the first time, it automatically creates the configuration files under `$HOME/.sylpheed-2.0/` (or `%APPDATA%\Sylpheed\` under Windows), and asks you the location of mailbox. As stated above, the default is `$HOME/Mail`, or `%APPDATA%\Sylpheed\Mailboxes\Mail` under Windows. If some files, which are non-MH format, already exist on the directory, you will have to specify another location.

Furthermore, you need to create at least one account to be able to receive or send messages.

2.3. | Why did the creation of the mailbox fail?
| Sylpheed reports such an error if it can't create the default mailboxes (inbox, outbox, etc.). This can be because `$HOME/Mail` (or `%APPDATA%\Sylpheed\Mailboxes\Mail` under Windows) already contains files with the same names. This occurs when switching from Kmail to Sylpheed, in this case backup and remove the existing Mail directory or use another name for the Sylpheed mail directory.
2.4. | How do I set up an account?

After loading Sylpheed for the first time, you can add an email account by clicking the Configuration menu. Select the option Create new account and let the configuration assistant help you with the initial setup. In a few easy steps, the assistant allows you to conveniently configure your POP3, IMAP4, or Gmail account.

### Tip

If you want later to change your account configuration, just select Configuration->Preferences for current account..., or Configuration->Edit accounts...

2.5. | How many accounts can I set up in Sylpheed?
| The number is unlimited. The limit is reached when your computer stops responding.
2.6. | Can I set up an account for sending mail only?
| Yes, add a new account using Configuration->Edit accounts...+Add and set the Protocol to None (local).
2.7. | Why does Sylpheed not delete my mails when I press "Delete"? I set a filter, and Sylpheed does not filter. I moved a mail to a different mailbox and it did not move.
| You have to click the Execute button. The other solution: in the configuration settings (Common preferences...->Details->Interface), you have to check the Execute immediately when moving or deleting messages box.
2.8. | Can I set up special addresses/ports for my mailserver/newsserver?
| Yes, you can. Under Configuration->Preferences for current account...->Advanced, you can specify the exact port addresses you want to use.
2.9. | Does Sylpheed have options for threading messages?
| Yes. You can switch it on and off in the View menu, just select Thread view or press Ctrl-T.
2.10. | Can I create multiple levels of subfolders to store mail?
| Absolutely. This is no problem.
2.11. | Why isn't Sylpheed sending my mail out?
| You need to create at least one account in order to send. (This is a wonderful gotcha on LAN installs with only a local mailbox feed).
2.12. | How do I apply a patch after downloading it?
| Copy patch to sylpheed directory. Apply the patch as follows: % patch -p0 < some.patch Or, if it's gzipped: % gzip -dc some.patch.gz | patch -p0 Run `./autogen.sh`, remove the generated `/config.cache` file (unless you want to install in prefix `/usr/local`). Run `./configure` with the appropriate options and then `make`. (Text as found on the former Sylpheed patches page.)
2.13. | How do I compile in support for compface pictures?
| You have to have a package called `libcompface` installed, so this is available for compiling into Sylpheed. Note that the exact name of the package depends on OS or distribution you use.
2.14. | How do I make my own compface image?
| The faces package contains a program called xbm2ikon script, which converts a 48x48 xbm to the format suitable for compface. Thanks to Jeff Dairiki, you can have a complete online course in this. Visit this page for the details.
2.15. | How can I tell my browser/newsclient/other program to use Sylpheed as email program?

In the settings part of the program, write sylpheed --compose

Specific options for typical browsers:

- Opera: sylpheed --compose [mailto:%t][?subject=%s]

- Galeon: sylpheed --compose "mailto:%t?subject=%s"

2.16. | How do I enable GPG support in Sylpheed?
| When compiling Sylpheed, make sure you add `--enable-gpgme` in the ./configure command. When that completes successfully, there is a Privacy section in the Common Preferences.
2.17. | Mutt does not recognize Sylpheed's MH structure
| For this to work you need to use the touch command in every MH folder. "touch" the file `.xmhcache` and Mutt should do just fine.
2.18. | Viewing a GIF file within Sylpheed causes a segmentation fault.

In case this happens, you can easily fix that by adding the following to `/etc/mime.types`:

    image/gif gif

2.19. | How Sylpheed checks for new mail?

New mail can be retrieved either manually or automatically.

To check for new mail the manual way, you can:

1. Either press the Get button on the toolbar to incorporate new mail for the current account only, or use the Get all button to incorporate new mail for all configured accounts.

2. Or choose File->Mailbox->Check for new messages, or Check for new messages in all mailboxes.

3. Or select Message->Receive->Get from current account, or Get from all accounts.

### Tip

If you have a POP3 account and don't want to retrieve all the new messages stored on remote server to your computer, you can manage your account remotely (e.g. open or delete individual messages) by choosing Message->Receive->Remote mailbox...

If you prefer autochecking for new mail instead, first of all, make sure that you have checked Configuration->Common preferences...->Receive+Autocheck new mail every `10` minute(s). Optionally, you can adjust the interval value (in minutes) as well.

Also check your settings under Configuration->Edit accounts... You will find this at the top: Check the boxes on the 'G' column to enable message retrieval by 'Get all'. The setting applies on both manual and automatic mail checks.

2.20. | How can I make Sylpheed notify me when new mail arrives?
| Download Gkrellm or a similar program that is able to notify you of new incoming mail. Gkrellm is available at the Gkrellm page.
2.21. | Can I use a spell checker with Sylpheed?
| Yes. You need to have GtkSpell installed prior to Sylpheed compilation. The support for GtkSpell is enabled by default in configure. (If you want to disable it, make sure you add `--disable-gtkspell` in the ./configure command.) The GtkSpell option is not supported in Sylpheed for Windows (yet), so you will have no spell checking under this OS.
2.22. | How can I make Sylpheed send my compface image in the mails?
| In the Configuration->Preferences for current account...->Send check Add user-defined header and press Edit button. A dialog appears, add a header named "X-Face" and fill the value field with your face data. Note that if you paste the data from a terminal into the field, some spurious newlines can be added, and these can mangle your face, be careful.
2.23. | How can I get the newest source code from the Sylpheed Subversion (SVN) repository?

Move to an appropriate directory, and after you run the command specified below, a source tree named `trunk` will be created under that directory:

svn checkout svn://sylpheed.sraoss.jp/sylpheed/trunk

The subdirectories under the `sylpheed` directory are as follows:

- `trunk/` - main tree

- `branches/` - miscellaneous experimental branches

- `tags/` - release-tagged branches

To update to the newest source tree, run the following command in the target directory:

svn update

2.24. | I checked out the sources using SVN and can't find any configure script.

The SVN versions are meant to be used by developers rather than "normal" users, so the source (or binary) distributions are easier to use.

> Yeah, but the latest features from SVN really look sexy...

You need to generate the configure script by running `autogen.sh`. Be sure to have autoconf and automake packages installed for this.

2.25. | Running "autogen.sh" gives error messages that "AM_PATH_GDK_PIXBUF" or "AM_PATH_(whatever)" is not found.

There are some `*.m4` files in the `ac/missing` directory. Try to copy them into the `ac` directory and run `autogen.sh` again.

If there are still some `.m4` files not found (e.g. those from GTK+), try to run % locate m4 | less or % locate aclocal | less to find additional directories containing those macros. If you find e.g. a `gtk.m4` in `/opt/gnome/share/aclocal`, change following line in `autogen.sh` from

    aclocal -I ac \

to

    aclocal -I ac -I /opt/gnome/share/aclocal \

and run it again.

2.26. | I don't want to compile in support for (...) any longer, but after running "configure", those libraries are still used.
| Remove the `config.cache` file and run ./configure again. You should also use make clean to avoid undefined references.
2.27. | How can I select different applications to open with specific MIME types?
| The MIME-type to application associations are kept in `/etc/mailcap`.
2.28. | How can I change the suggested mimetype for attachments?
| The extension to MIME-type associations are kept in `/etc/mime.types`
2.29. | The folder list is not updated after I manually moved/copied folders.
| You need to update Sylpheed cache. Right click on the mailbox and choose Rebuild folder tree.
2.30. | How can I revert original settings, e.g. for fonts, key bindings, etc.?
| Sylpheed keeps its configuration files in `$HOME/.sylpheed-2.0/sylpheedrc` (or `%APPDATA%\Sylpheed\sylpheedrc` under Windows) and creates default entries, if none are found. So the easiest way is to quit Sylpheed, temporarily renaming your `$HOME/.sylpheed-2.0` (or `%APPDATA%\Sylpheed\sylpheedrc`) e.g. to `*.bak` and restarting Sylpheed in order to get default entries.
2.31. | What environment variables have effect on Sylpheed?

Here are the most common variables:

- `HOME` - location of `.sylpheed-2.0` (config directory) and default folder for Mailboxes.

- `LANG`,

- `LC_ALL`,

- `LC_CTYPE`,

- `LC_MESSAGES` - locale settings, e.g. language and date format.

For more information on how to make Sylpheed display your language, see the relevant question.

2.32. | Special characters (e.g. umlauts) are not displayed correctly.

In most cases, this is caused by fonts that use an unsuitable encoding on a not Unicode-based system. (On a Unicode-based system, fonts should support all thinkable characters for the vast majority of languages.)

Choose Configuration->Common preferences...->Display->General, and click the button right to Text font. Now, a special dialog appears that allows you to pick a desirable font family, style, and size.

You should also make sure that your environment variables regarding locale settings have sensible values.

2.33. | How can I convert my old mailbox/address book from (some mail client).

You can try to export your old mailbox to MH, MBOX or EML format.

### Tip

Take a look at the Add sender to address book... item from the Tools menu, it could be a useful alternative or addition, when importing your old contacts.

2.34. | What config files are there, and what are they used for?

Sylpheed config files can be found in `$HOME/.sylpheed-2.0` (under Windows, the path is `%APPDATA%\Sylpheed`). They are in plain text format and quite easy to understand, so don't fear to take a look into them using a text editor.

- `sylpheedrc` - main configuration: nearly all options from the settings window, e.g. mailbox location, font entries, etc.

- `accountrc` - settings for POP/IMAP/NNTP accounts

- `actionsrc` - user-defined actions

- `addrbook-*.xml` - contents of your address book

- `customheaderrc` - contains user-defined header lines

- `dispheaderrc` - headers to display above the mail body

- `filter.xml` - filter settings

- `folderlist.xml` - folder specific settings, e.g. hiding read messages, sort order, etc.

- `menurc` - key bindings

2.35. | How do I change the location of user profile directory under Windows?

The configuration files and the mailboxes are saved under the following location (`%APPDATA%\Sylpheed`) by default:

- Windows 2000/XP: `C:\Documents and Settings\`(user name)`\Application Data\Sylpheed`

- Windows Vista/Seven: `C:\Users\`(user name)`\AppData\Roaming\Sylpheed`

If you want to change the location of the configuration files, you can specify it by the command line option `--configdir "`directory name`"`. Create a shortcut of `sylpheed.exe`, and append the option to the link target like the following:

    "C:\Program Files\Sylpheed\sylpheed.exe" --configdir "D:\Sylpheed"

If `sylpheed.ini` file exists at the same location as `sylpheed.exe`, it will be loaded at startup. With this approach, you can make Sylpheed completely portable independent of drive letters etc., and you can install it in removable media such as USB memory.

### Note

The installer version, and GnuPG and GPGME use registry.

The sample INI file is included in the Sylpheed for Windows installation package as `sample-sylpheed.ini`. Please copy or rename it to use. `ipcport` specifies the port number of socket for IPC (default is 50215). `configdir` specifies the location of configuration files as a relative path from the folder in which `sylpheed.exe` is located, or an absolute path.

(The text above is a slightly modified excerpt from the `README-win32.txt` file, which you should find within the `C:\Program Files\Sylpheed` directory.)

2.36. | Can I run multiple instances of Sylpheed?

Yes, Sylpheed 3.1 adds support for this often requested feature. The format of the multiple instances command is as follows:

sylpheed --instance-id `ID` --configdir `path-to-alternative-configdir`

Default `ID` is set to `sylpheed`, so you can specify any other instance `ID`. The `ID` is used for the name of unix domain socket (under UNIX), or mutex name (under Windows). `configdir` specifies the configuration directory, i.e. the location of configuration files you want to use with the given instance.

### Warning

Do not share same configuration directories or mailboxes across multiple instances as this may lead to an unexpected application behavior!

2.37. | What to do when printing an email prints off the paper?
| You can use enscript for this. Use enscript %s to print everything on one page, or enscript -U2 %s for printing two logical pages on one physical page.

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