I'm good to try this, but in snow mail there's no export choice under mailbox or other menus...shud I pick archive?

Sorry, I should have said Archive and was thinking in terms of 10.7 menu names.

's ok, bro...I did the archive from Snow Leopard Mail, imported into Lion mail.

Still the same, incorrect mail count.

I thank you for that idea, too!

a

Okay, this next step is guaranteed to solve nothing. What it will tell us is whether the Lion file system has all of the messages and, if so, if the issue is simply how Mail is reading them. I'll admit right now that no matter what the answer, I'm not certain what the next step would be, but I figure this could give us some potentially helpful information.

Let's say you have a mailbox called Stuff with no sub-mailboxes. You know from Thunderbird it should have 20 messages, but Lion Mail only shows 15.

1. In the Finder, click on the Go menu, then press Option and select Library.
2. Open the Mail folder, then the V2 folder, then the folder for the account. It will say something like IMAP-Acme@MailIsDrivingMeNuts.com.
3. Find the folder for Stuff.mbox and open it.
4. You'll see a folder with a name consisting of letters and numbers. Open it.
5. Now there is a Data folder. Use the Search field at the top of the window (not the one at the top of the screen) and enter this exact text:
   
   Code:

   ---

   kind:mail

   ---

6. In the narrow area just below the Search field, select Data (instead of This Mac or Shared, etc.).

Using my example from the beginning, does the count match what Mail says (15) or what we want Mail to say (20)?

Another test I should have thought of sooner: In Lion, create a brand-new user account and try setting up the account in Mail. If necessary, copy those screen shots of your Preferences to /Users/Shared beforehand to help you in the new user account. This will at leats tell us if the issue is Lion or (somehow) your usual user account.

Edit: Seems more logical to take this step and, if no different, then try the idea outlined in my previous post.

I have done that several times including yesterday.

thank you!

a

your procedure produces a number of 926 items. looking in Mail is easy cuz I only have the 1 account set up at the moment. Mail says there are 897.

Thunderbird for the very same account - and reading at the "Inbox" level in both apps...thunderbird says it's 897

now, the way I have some of my rules is that, even if I get a mail into MailA@domain.com, I have the rules put those emails into mail folders under other email addresses.

The reason for this is, say I have a folder for "Mac Trubble." I might get emails on my various email address but all dealing with mac problems. for ease of finding, I have the 1 folder.

after this experiment, I can't tell if t-bird is right or not..I guess I can go to the web mail and consult it?

did this provide us with the potentially helpful information?

one other tidbit I may have mentioned...I had a friend with the same computer as me (09 MPRo) and Lion get into one of my accounts using all my information.

He got the same result I do: Lion Mail has the wrong count, and he got the same wrong numbers as I did. Sorta proves it's not my machine, and that I'm not in a wormhole here..

a

Okay, so at least we know the Mac file system has the messages. Why Mail doesn't see the same number of messages is another issue.

I do the same, so this makes sense to me and my own setup indicates this shouldn't be a cause of the problem.

May as well check the web. Not sure what we'll do no matter what you see there, but I can't see how that information could hurt us.

I was going to ask if doing this was available to you, so it's good to hear you already took this step.

All in all, I'm at a loss for what to try next. Certainly, if I think of anything else I'll share it. Dare I ask: Are you anywhere near an Apple Store where you could meet with a Genius? I've always had good experiences when I've met with them, though I realize who you get helping you can be a little bit of a crapshoot. Sorry if you mentioned meeting with a Genius in another thread and I've forgotten.

I've received some of the most rude treatment in life from Apple "Geniuses."

They're more aptly called Apple Out Of Control Ego-monsters. I won't bore you, but the experiences have been like getting backhanded, metaphorically. More than once, the "Genius" has been dead wrong. And getting my rig to the Apple store is a huge PITA.

You, NaOH, and others have gone far beyond the call of helping fellow Mac users with these ideas.

Here is where it sits with apple....I've tried many hours' worth of exhaustive experiments and procedures with no luck.

The apple engineers are said to be looking into it but as I appear to be the only Lion user with this exact problem, it likely isn't high up on their list.

I've either told them all I've told you, or they've seen it with their own eyeballs, in the form of screen grabs, or that Apple assistant thing they do where they can view your screen.

I'm not going to drop the issue, but I am going to proceed using T-bird and hope that something changes...10.7.3 whenever it arrives, new host, if I switch..I can do little tests here and there but I've poured plenty of time and energy into that already and I just need to be in a stable OS environment so that I can get some work done.

I will try to report back if there are any developments..especially if they solve this snarky issue.

cheers!

a