Updating via 10.5.3 combo

A combo updater simply has all the updates that have been issued up to that date. It is used mainly to directly update from a version that is older than the immediately previous version. In cases where you are only updating from the last version to the new version you do not need to use a combo updater. However, some systems may have developed corrupted system components or were not properly updated in the past. In this case using a combo updater may fix extant problems related to those previous updates.

In many cases problems may also be fixed by doing the following:

Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions

Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger and Leopard.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now shutdown the computer for a couple of minutes and then restart normally.

If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger, and 4.1 for Leopard) and/or TechTool Pro (4.6.1 for Leopard) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

I'm sorry, but it's a puzzle as to what's going on. As for the certificate I would contact your ISP and find out if there have been any changes to their mail configuration requirements.

Gnarly,

Using the Combo Update can sometimes repair flaws that developed with either a delta standalone update or from Software Update.

With Leopard, the main difference between Software update and both a delta standalone and Combo is the size of what needs to be downloaded. With Software Update, your specific Mac and system is analyzed and only the necessary components downloaded. With even the standalone delta update package, it must be more one-size-fits-all, and is much larger file size on the download.

Reading your other post there could be an issue with your provider -- is that Gmail and are you accessing it as POP or IMAP?

A test with creating a New User Account on your Mac, and as that New User setting up at least one email account would provide evidence of whether the Mail application is OK or not.

Ernie

Is this an IMAP account, or POP? In either case, but especially if POP, have you used various versions of Mail throughout time with this same Mail folder (or as it may have been migrated)? If so, there may be some factors impacting the proper operation of the index to all the mailboxes.

Ernie

If you have broadband, you might just trying applying the combo update, even though you already have 10.5.3. It's at http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1053comboupdate.html. It may or may not help, but it can't hurt.

-D

Gnarly,

I meant earlier versions of OSX, such as 10.3 or earlier.

I think you should next test with the New User Account on the Mac to see if the Mail application works OK for that User.

Ernie

I don't know why you are in the Terminal? Just double click on the Combo Update dmg, and install over the existing OSX.

Ernie

gnarly wants to try to use SHA-1 digests from the Terminal to checksum the combo dmg.

Yes, you must specify the volume. It might look something like this (assuming my drive was called 'Cucumber':

/usr/bin/openssl sha1 /Volumes/Cucumber/PATH/TO/DMG/MacOSXUpdCombo10.5.3.dmg