I have a "ghost" message in my netmail message area that I can't get rid of. I've deleted all messages in the area and the Indexed Message Reader still shows 1 message remaining. When I select the area, there are no messages left.

I've run the "PurgeMessageBases" and "PackMessageBases" items in a maint.ini file with no luck. I've restarted "mis" and nothing changes. I can send an "areafix" netmail and receive a response from a hub with no problem except the "ghost" message is still there. I've run this version of Mystic for months without any problems until the last few days. I'm out of ideas to try. Can anyone suggest something else to try?

|11ogg
|11SysOp, Altair IV BBS
|11altairiv.ddns.net:2323

... What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Windows/64)
* Origin: Altair IV BBS (21:2/147)

I have a "ghost" message in my netmail message area that I can't get rid of. I've deleted all messages in the area and the Indexed Message Reader still shows 1 message remaining. When I select the area, there are no messages left.

The message may be addressed to another user on your BBS, or perhaps the name is misspelled.

Mystic will not show messages to you unless they are addressed to you, even if you are the SysOp.

You might have to inspect the jam base files and figure out who the message is addressed to and then change your user name or alias and then log in to read the message and also delete it. Then you can pack and purge your message base to get rid of it.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106)

On 10 May 2025, Al said the following...

I have a "ghost" message in my netmail message area that I can't get rid
I've deleted all messages in the area and the Indexed Message Reader stil
shows 1 message remaining. When I select the area, there are no messages
left.

The message may be addressed to another user on your BBS, or perhaps the name is misspelled.

Mystic will not show messages to you unless they are addressed to you, even if you are the SysOp.

You might have to inspect the jam base files and figure out who the message is addressed to and then change your user name or alias and then log in to read the message and also delete it. Then you can pack and
purge your message base to get rid of it.

Your suggestion to inspect the files yielded the issue. It appears that one
of the files had become corrupted and actually had a copy of another base
file message embedded within it. Since it was a full copy of another message, it must have appeared to be a proper message. Deleting the offending portion didn't correct the issue. I actually deleted the netmail echo area including the data and recreated it. That took care of it. Thanks for the lead!

|11ogg
|11SysOp, Altair IV BBS
|11altairiv.ddns.net:2323

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Windows/64)
* Origin: Altair IV BBS (21:2/147)

Your suggestion to inspect the files yielded the issue. It appears that one of the files had become corrupted and actually had a copy of another base file message embedded within it. Since it was a full copy of another message, it must have appeared to be a proper message. Deleting the offending portion didn't correct the issue. I actually deleted the
netmail echo area including the data and recreated it. That took care of
it. Thanks for the lead!

Glad you got it sorted. :)

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7
* Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (21:4/106)