Mail Crashes Every Day

Question

Hi, Since upgrading to Tiger 10.4.11, I find that mail is very unstable, crashing nearly every time I use it. From the log, here is the information about the crashed thread. Anyone able to interpret this? Thanks!
Date/Time: 2008-02-04 22:44:51.160 -0600
OS Version: 10.4.11 (Build 8S2167)
Report Version: 4
Command: Mail
Path: /Applications/Mail.app/Contents/MacOS/Mail
Parent: WindowServer [89]
Version: 2.1.2 (753)
Build Version: 2
Project Name: MailViewer
Source Version: 7530000
PID: 20133
Thread: 0
Exception: EXCBADACCESS (0x0001)
Codes: KERNINVALIDADDRESS (0x0001) at 0xabababff
Thread 0 Crashed:
0 libobjc.A.dylib 0x90a594c7 objc_msgSend + 23
1 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x90860369 __CFRunLoopPerformPerform + 82
2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x9082cfe2 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1413
3 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x9082ca56 CFRunLoopRunInMode + 61
4 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x92df0878 RunCurrentEventLoopInMode + 285
5 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x92deff82 ReceiveNextEventCommon + 385
6 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x92defdd9 BlockUntilNextEventMatchingListInMode + 81
7 com.apple.AppKit 0x93276485 _DPSNextEvent + 572
8 com.apple.AppKit 0x93276076 -[NSApplication nextEventMatchingMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue:] + 137
9 com.apple.AppKit 0x9326fdfb -[NSApplication run] + 512
10 com.apple.AppKit 0x93263d4f NSApplicationMain + 573
11 com.apple.mail 0x00094e62 0x1000 + 605794
12 com.apple.mail 0x00094d89 0x1000 + 605577

Answer 1

In the Finder, go to each of the following folders (if they exist). What do you see there?
/Library/InputManagers/
/Library/Mail/Bundles/
~/Library/InputManagers/
~/Library/Mail/Bundles/
To make accurately reporting this information easier, you may open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal, type the following command (you can just copy it here and paste it in Terminal), and press <Return>. You may then copy the output of that command from Terminal and paste it in your reply to this post:
ls -1 /Library/InputManagers /Library/Mail/Bundles ~/Library/InputManagers ~/Library/Mail/Bundles
Note: For those not familiarized with the ~/ notation, it refers to the user’s home folder. You can easily locate any of the folders referred to in this post by copying the folder path here, doing Go > Go to Folder in the Finder, and pasting the folder path there.
<hr>
According to the crash report you posted, Mail is crashing while merely processing events. If a plug-in isn’t causing that, I can only guess there is something wrong with your Mac OS X installation or with Mail itself, in which case you may be able to fix the problem as follows.
Quit all the applications and verify/repair the startup disk (not just permissions), as described in the following article:
The Repair functions of Disk Utility: what's it all about?
After having fixed all the filesystem issues, if any, reinstall the Combo Update for the type of computer and the version of Mac OS X you’re using, unless this is the version of Mac OS X that came with the computer:
About the Mac OS X 10.4.11 Update
Mac OS X 10.4.11 Combo Update for PowerPC
Mac OS X 10.4.11 Combo Update for Intel
After installing the Combo Update, the computer may restart twice and the first restart may take several minutes. This is normal.
It may also be necessary to reinstall any Security Updates released afterwards that included updates for Mail if you had previously installed that as well:
About Security Update 2007-009
Security Update 2007-009 (10.4.11 PowerPC)
Security Update 2007-009 (10.4.11 Universal)
You may want to 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 and back up 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.