gt5223b@prism.gatech.EDU (Doug Berkland) (03/09/91)
Recently whenever I try to run elm, I get the following:
Waiting to read mailbox while mail is being received: attempt #N
Where N = 0 to 7.
What does this mean?
How do I fix this?
Thanks in advance.
--
Doug Berkland Internet: gt5223b@hydra.gatech.edu Phone: (404)676-9068
uucp: ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt5223b
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta GA 30332 <<Electrical Engineer>>
"If I don't have it, how do I know I don't want it?" --memarkw@gvlf8.gvl.unisys.com (Mark H. Weber) (03/10/91)
In article <23939@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt5223b@prism.gatech.EDU (Doug Berkland) writes: >Recently whenever I try to run elm, I get the following: > >Waiting to read mailbox while mail is being received: attempt #N > >Where N = 0 to 7. > >What does this mean? >How do I fix this? > Hmmmm.... Sounds like a BSD-type Unix. Look for a file named 'user'.lock in your mail spool directory (maybe /usr/spool/mail). This file is created to prevent multiple simultaneous updates to the user's mailbox. A failed process (like a crashed elm) can leave this file hanging around. You should be able to delete it, and the problem should go away. Mark