Mail.app is KILLING me!

[Rower_CPU]

I thought I'd post this here first, before I check the kbase (exercise in futility that it is):

Every so often my Mac.com account in Mail comes up with error messages saying "Authentication failed". I re-enter my password, correctly mind you, and still, no dice. I try quitting the app and then relaunching, no dice. Sometimes if I look at it cross-eyed, mumble Druish incantations under my breath and unchek the "Use authentication when sending mail" option, under SMTP, and then take my account back online it comes back up...sometimes it doesn't. I've never been able to find a concrete action that fixes it. It's completely random.

This is happening on two separate machines, so I know it's not a corrupted prefs problem (I tried trashing it anyway, no dice). Is the new webmail service screwing me up? It seems like I've only really begun seeing these symptoms last Friday, when the new BETA service started.

Any thoughts?

[Beej]

Dude, just go out and buy a few dice. They're pretty cheap. ;)

I can't help with your problem, but I will jump on the anti-Mail bandwagon with you. Like I've said many times before... if Mail wasn't an Apple app, I'd have obliterated it from my system within minutes of first using it.

[Rower_CPU]

Actually, I'm more partial to cards, but that's another story...:D

The thing is it's only doing it with my Mac.com address. My other POP accounts are working just fine. I looked around on some other boards (arn forgive me) and I saw a couple of similar cases...all within the last couple of days...

I'm starting to think the Beta Webmail might still have some bugs to work out...:(

[Beej]

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
I looked around on some other boards (arn forgive me)TRAITOR!!! Off with his head! ;)

[Rower_CPU]

Originally posted by Beej
TRAITOR!!! Off with his head! ;)

Shall I perform 1,000 "Hail Arn"s or maybe genuflect for an hour facing North (Cupertino)...:confused:

Seriously, though...anyone heard anything?

[blackpeter]

I've heard that if you start using Entourage X you'll never go back...

[Rower_CPU]

Originally posted by tfaz1
I've heard that if you start using Entourage X you'll never go back...

Using Word, Excel and Powerpoint are bad enough...maybe I'll have to swallow my pride and try it, but I think (hope) that the problem is on the Mac.com server side, and not on the client side...

[Beej]

Originally posted by tfaz1
I've heard that if you start using Entourage X you'll never go back... I have it, but I just can't bring myself to make the move from an Apple product to a m$ product...

[alex_ant]

Rower, have you tried checking your mac.com e-mail with another email client, like Mozilla or Netscape Mail?

I'm sorry about the problem you're having. I'm happy that Mail.app works properly for me... I actually quite love it - it's so lightweight and simple and cute. And it's got antialiased text and spell checking and... and... OK, it's a little buggy. (Which is kinda strange - you'd think that having been in existence for over a decade as NEXTSTEP's email client, they'd be able to work most of the bugs out.)

Alex

[ejm625]

Dude, I started using Mozilla Mail. It's pretty cool. Ditch IE and try it.

[mac15]

Hey beej
use M$ entourage its totally cool
I used it on OS 9 for ages until I went to X I used it

[Beej]

Originally posted by mac15
Hey beej
use M$ entourage its totally cool
I used it on OS 9 for ages until I went to X I used it And you don't use it now because...? Oh, right, I think I know. Well you won't have to worry for much longer! :D

I used to use it in 9, too. It just seems like overkill for what I use it for. I'll just keep hoping that someone at Apple will take a debugger to it one day...

[Rower_CPU]

Here're my main reasons for wanting to stay with Mail:
1) As far as I know, no other mail client will import my Mail mailboxes. Since my email for work are all cached on the university mail-server, I would get like 500+ messages that I would have to sort through all over again.
2) It's free, it's standard on every OS X install, and it's Apple.

[Geert]

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
Here're my main reasons for wanting to stay with Mail:
1) As far as I know, no other mail client will import my Mail mailboxes. Since my email for work are all cached on the university mail-server, I would get like 500+ messages that I would have to sort through all over again.
2) It's free, it's standard on every OS X install, and it's Apple.

Rower_CPU, may I suggest something?
If you autoforward your mail to an account that has not given you any problem the problem is gone (it isn't really solved, but you won't run into the error message again)
One more thing, after I did the .1.4 update somehow my password got reset, don't ask me why and how, but it was just reset. (Have you tried to change passwords in the accounts itself, and if mac account is your primary system prefs/internet tab email, that is what I did and after that it worked again)

[Rower_CPU]

Originally posted by Geert
Rower_CPU, may I suggest something?
If you autoforward your mail to an account that has not given you any problem the problem is gone (it isn't really solved, but you won't run into the error message again)
One more thing, after I did the .1.4 update somehow my password got reset, don't ask me why and how, but it was just reset. (Have you tried to change passwords in the accounts itself, and if mac account is your primary system prefs/internet tab email, that is what I did and after that it worked again)

Autoforwarding is a possbility, but I'll save it as a last resort.

I double-checked my Internet prefs, and everything is hunky-dory (that means OK). It seems to be behaving today, so maybe Apple straightened things out...

[cris]

I had the same problem with the mail app after I erased My hard drive and tried to replace my preferences in the library/mail folder. Today I noticed that it created another acount under another name. Because it doesn't really exist it can't validate it's password, however the real acount des get through.
I haven't figured out how to erase the other phantom account.

[cris]

I solved my problem with mail
I came upon the keychain manager and found the phantom acount and it's supposed password, I erased it and did the same in the library where the mail app's preferences are. Voila! my problem is solved!

[Rower_CPU]

My problem seems to have worked itself out as well. It seems Apple straightened things out on thier end...:)