Apple Mail shuts down

Question

Hi, Like others here I'm having trouble with Mail shutting down. Sometimes it shuts down without leaving a dialogue box behind, sometimes it posts the Mail unexpectedly quit message. Sometimes I'm using the program at the time, sometimes I'm away from my desk.
This problem began happening right after I downloaded the 10.4.8 update. In fact,I was loath to do the update because the same thing happened the last time I updated, and I ended up trashing the update and stepping back to the previous system. But I was having trouble with iTunes crashing, so I went ahead. I could trash the prefs file I suppose, but don't want to have start all over configuring. Anyway, here's what the crash log said.
Thanks so much for any help you can offer.
Date/Time: 2007-01-10 13:26:38.494 -0500
OS Version: 10.4.8 (Build 8L127)
Report Version: 4
Command: Mail
Path: /Applications/Mail.app/Contents/MacOS/Mail
Parent: WindowServer [91]
Version: 2.1 (752)
Build Version: 10
Project Name: MailViewer
Source Version: 7520000
PID: 2355
Thread: 1
Exception: EXCBADACCESS (0x0001)
Codes: KERNPROTECTIONFAILURE (0x0002) at 0x00000020
Thread 0:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x9000ab48 machmsgtrap + 8
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x9000aa9c mach_msg + 60
2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x907dcb78 __CFRunLoopRun + 832
3 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x907dc47c CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 268
4 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x93205740 RunCurrentEventLoopInMode + 264
5 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x93204dd4 ReceiveNextEventCommon + 380
6 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x93204c40 BlockUntilNextEventMatchingListInMode + 96
7 com.apple.AppKit 0x936e7ae4 _DPSNextEvent + 384
8 com.apple.AppKit 0x936e77a8 -[NSApplication nextEventMatchingMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue:] + 116
9 com.apple.AppKit 0x936e3cec -[NSApplication run] + 472
10 com.apple.AppKit 0x937d487c NSApplicationMain + 452
11 com.apple.mail 0x000871d8 0x1000 + 549336
12 com.apple.mail 0x00087080 0x1000 + 548992
Thread 1 Crashed:
0 <<00000000>> 0xfffeff18 objcmsgSendrtp + 24
1 ...apple.AddressBook.framework 0x94dc6bd0 -[ABIndexer updateAsyncRequests:gotoRunLoop:] + 440
2 ...apple.AddressBook.framework 0x94dc7030 -[ABIndexer beginAsyncIndexSearchForRecordsMatching:withDelegate:] + 584
3 ...apple.AddressBook.framework 0x94dc710c -[ABIndexer searchIndexForRecordsMatching:] + 96
4 ...apple.AddressBook.framework 0x94de329c -[ABSmartGroup members] + 168
5 ...apple.AddressBook.framework 0x94d34de0 -[ABGroup(ABGroupAdditions) allAssociatedMembersAndSubgroups:] + 304
6 com.apple.MessageFramework 0x9a0808ec +[Library emailAddressesForGroupCriterion:] + 244
7 com.apple.MessageFramework 0x9a081d18 +[Library expressionForCriterion:context:depth:enclosingSmartMailboxes:] + 4424
8 com.apple.MessageFramework 0x9a080f2c +[Library expressionForCriterion:context:depth:enclosingSmartMailboxes:] + 860
9 com.apple.MessageFramework 0x99f8fe5c +[Library expressionForCriterion:tables:baseTable:] + 116
10 com.apple.MessageFramework 0x99f8f9e4 +[Library queryForCriterion:options:baseTable:isSubquery:] + 116
11 com.apple.MessageFramework 0x99f8d974 +[Library sendMessagesMatchingCriterion:to:options:] + 780
12 com.apple.MessageFramework 0x99f8d5ec +[Library messagesMatchingCriterion:options:] + 108
13 com.apple.MessageFramework 0x9a082218 +[Library filterContiguousMessages:forCriterion:options:] + 604
14 com.apple.MessageFramework 0x9a077958 -[LibraryStore handleMessagesAdded:] + 260
15 libobjc.A.dylib 0x90a441f4 objc_msgSendv + 180
16 com.apple.Foundation 0x9295ac88 -[NSInvocation invoke] + 944
17 com.apple.MessageFramework 0x99f93e80 -[InvocationQueue _drainQueue] + 416
18 com.apple.Foundation 0x9295f194 forkThreadForFunction + 108
19 libSystem.B.dylib 0x9002b508 pthreadbody + 96
Powerbook G4 15"   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

Answer 1

Hi macbea.
Mail is crashing because of a problem with an Address Book smart group. It’s not uncommon for Mail to crash when evaluating a rule that involves an AB smart group, but in your case Mail doesn’t appear to be evaluating any rule when it crashes. Under which circumstances does it crash?
Problems arising right after installing a system update are usually the result of the problem already being there, or not having installed the update properly, or ignoring Apple’s "Important: Please read before installing" warnings, etc., rather than being caused by the update itself. In order to ensure that the update is installed properly, proceed as follows.
Verify/repair the startup disk (not just permissions), as described here:
The Repair functions of Disk Utility: what's it all about?
After having fixed all filesystem issues, if any, reinstall the update that appears to not have been installed properly using the combo installer for the type of computer and the version of Mac OS X you’re using:
About the Mac OS X 10.4.8 Combo Update
Mac OS X 10.4.8 Combo Update for PPC
Mac OS X 10.4.8 Combo Update for Intel
Take a look at the following articles for guidelines on how to properly install system updates:
Troubleshooting installation and software updates
Installing software updates
Basically, you should verify/repair the startup disk before installing the update, no applications should be running while installing it, and you may experience unexpected results if you have third-party system software modifications (not normal applications) installed.