I did some more tests
I moved the following to a backup location: ~/.icedove ~/.thunderbird ~/.cache/icedove so it should create a completely new profile. Then I run it in safe mode to avoid any plugins: $ icedove -safe-mode The main window appears but it is unresponsive to any mouse clicks on any of the buttons or menus. I looked for any modal popup windows or dialogs that may have blocked mouse clicks on the main window but I couldn't find any. I attach a screenshot. The console output is: $ icedove -safe-mode (process:7319): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_slice_set_config: assertion 'sys_page_size == 0' failed TypeError: nounDef is undefined -- Exception object -- * -- Stack Trace -- gloda_ns_newQuery@resource:///modules/gloda/gloda.js:1897:5 ContactIdentityCompleter@resource://gre/components/glautocomp.js:178:7 nsAutoCompleteGloda@resource://gre/components/glautocomp.js:493:5 XPCOMUtils__getFactory/factory.createInstance@resource://gre/modules/XPCOMUtils.jsm:271:11 glodaSearch_XBL_Constructor@chrome://messenger/content/search.xml:75:1 I used strace to capture all activity during startup and tried to work out what else it may have been looking for in $HOME. There were over 1500 references to distinct files in $HOME
