Debugging
Unfortunately, despite best efforts to prevent them, K-9 may, like all software occasionally encounter an issue.
K-9 Mail has controllable debug logging. Users can activate logging to help diagnosing problems and errors.
As an open source privacy-conscious project we don't implement an always-on logging system that reports all the device's activity to a central server. While this would make issues easier to fix it would also be costly to host the server and compromise the privacy of our users.
Instead we ask, if you find an issue, and are willing to help, you provide the logs yourself. We realize the procedure is currently complex and difficult on newer devices.
Details
Step 1: Activate Debug Logging in K-9 Mail
At the accounts screen of K-9 Mail press the menu button, then choose "Settings". Under the heading "Debugging" check the "Enable debug logging" checkbox. Hit the back button twice to save the changes.
If K-9 is crashing, don't worry about about enabling debug logs.
Step 2: Trigger error
Do whatever causes the problem/error.
Step 3: Get Debug Log
To fetch the debug log you have to attach the device to your PC and use the tool adb from the Android SDK.
- Install adb and connect to your device.
-
Find the process ID of K-9 Mail:
adb shell ps -A | grep k9 -
The output will be similar to:
u0_a153 5191 587 4468612 112380 SyS_epoll_wait 0 S com.fsck.k9.debug -
In this example the PID is 5191
- To capture the debug log in a file named
k9-log.txt, enter the command:adb logcat -d --pid=<PID> > k9-log.txt
Step 4: Create an Issue in our Bug Tracker
To be able to fix your problem we need to know about it. Please create a new issue in our bug tracker. Attach a copy of the debug log you just created.
It's okay to remove your password from the debug log. Other than that, please give us as much of the log as you possibly can.
Important: Include the exact version number of your installed K-9 Mail in the bug report. Read GetVersionNumber if you need help on finding out which version of K-9 you're running.