(edited to add some screen grabs)
since it took me about an hour to work it all out with untold google searches, forums etc here’s what to do if you open up the mail.app on the iphone and get a blank screen which reverts to the desktop about 20 seconds later
assuming you have installer.app – update it
install:
openbsd
community sources (if not already)
openssh
power down the iphone completely
download putty (windows) and start the iphone
connect the usb lead to your pc & iphone
connect to your wifi and note your ip address
open up putty and put the ip address in, click on open
you’ll have to wait around 30 seconds for the key to be generated, when it is and the certifcate prompt comes up say yes
login as: root
type in the password: its either dottie or alpine depending on which version of iphone you have
once you’re logged in (you’ll see the # prompt) type passwd and change it to “whatever you want your new
password to be”
retype your new password
type:
chown -R mobile:mobile /private/var/mobile
press return
turn off & power down and back up and you should be sorted
I used your instructions and they followed thru without a hitch except that the mail still is inoperative and now I get that annoying “Edit Home Screen” alert every five seconds.
same problem with my one.
is there a way out ?
worked here – thanks
Thnx for help. My mail is fixed. Greeting from Croatia Adriatic Sea ( Island Hvar )
mail fixed thanks
Same problem as Steve. Now whenever I turn on my iPod, the “Edit Home Screen” alert constantly pops up and then the iPod reboots on it’s own.
Ugh.
greetings from Italy. worked a charm. thx for the intro to putty!
It works! Thanks bro…
I’ve tried this and am now wishing i hadn’t.
The iphone now pops up the Edit Home Screen – Dismiss screen every5-10 seconds, i can only reboot the iPhone by holding down both the Sleep and Home buttons, and i can’t get into any menus or do anything at all with it. It’s not dea, but it might as well be.
Can’t see it in iTunes so i can’t do a restore, can’t see it in ZiPhone so can’t try do-it-all again
Any suggestions ?
Works great thanks!
Guys DON’T do this fix. It only makes your phone go into many restart cycles.
It took me ten freaking minutes to get into recovery mode
omfg
i’ve avoided commenting on this post but felt i should
“worked great”
“It works! Thanks bro…”
“mail fixed thanks”
etc
life is shit and some things work and some things dont – if anyone finds a foolproof way (100%) of fixing the mail.app crash i’m more than happy to replace this post
DON’T do this fix!!!! I had to recover my iPhone (see ).
This fix works (from http://www.modmyifone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43301):
MAC:
Right click on Mail to set the permission to 777 or simply check all selection boxes.
1) Download OpenSHH in iPhone (make sure it’s ON by using Services or Boss Prefs).
2) Open Fugu on your Mac and connect to your iPhone.
3) You may get an error message “Warning: Remote Host Identification Has Changed”. If so, you won’t be able to connect. If not, skip to step 7.
4) On your Mac, click on the User/Home folder and hit CMD+Shift+G and type “.ssh”.
5) Delete the “known host” file.
6) Go back to Fugu and connect to your iPhone.
7) Go to var/mobile/Library/Mail.
WIN:
Step 1, connect to your iPhone, then steps 7 and 8
You should now be able to open Mail on your iPhone!
sorry, to recover your iPhone see: http://www.iphonealley.com/tips-and-tricks/save-your-iphone-with-recovery-mode
DEAD IPHONE, press and hold the home and power buttons for about 20 sec or until your phone restarts and displays on the screen a cable and the itunes symbol then itunes will recognize your phone in recovery mode, restore and thats it, hope it works any questions xamarante@gmail.com
THANK YOU – connected via SSH and type chown -R mobile:mobile /private/var/mobile and VUPTI – mail is working again.
thanks for this. it worked like a charm.
This worked like a champ for me. Thank you very, very much.
wow! i haven’t changed the passwd but it worked, thanks =)
I logged through WINSCP and just put the command. It worked out perfectly. Many thanks for this great advise!
thanks man,
Works like a charm. I’m very happy that my iphone is full operational again.
Worked perfect for me thanks!!
Wow! Great, it worked for me! iPhone 3G with 2.0.1 firmware. thanks!
THX from Vienna.. Mail Fix works perfectly.!
Thanks! This worked great. After restoring with pwnage tool to 2.0.2, mail didn’t work, and I didn’t want to restore again because I had already spent a lot of time installing stuff. This saved me!
There is also an “app” in installer that fixes this issue. It’s called asMailFix2, it did the trick for me. Install and reboot afterwards.