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help with mail. cannot send messages!

A

amanda kathryn

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 18, 2008
211
0
just got my first mac on friday, i'm loving finding out how to do everything, but one thing has become extremely frustrating. i can't send my email! i have no trouble receiving it, and i've read everything i can get my hands on and all my settings seem to be correct. i've tried port 25, port 587, tried using smtp.mac.com, mail.mac.com, mail.optonline.net (my ISP) tried with SSL and without, everything i could change i've changed. my username and password and all account information must be correct since i'm able to receive mail, it's just the sending that's the problem. i'm using a dot mac email account if that makes any difference.

one thing that concerns me is that under mail preferences, accounts, and account information, next to "outgoing mail server (SMTP)" it says "(offline)" next to the selected server. should this say offline?

here is the exact message i'm getting, and no matter how i change it the message stays the same...

cannot send message using the server (null)

this message could not be delivered because your SMTP settings are not set. please use the account preferences panel to set the SMTP options for your account.

select a different outgoing mail server from the list below or click try later to leave the message in yout outbox until it can be delivered.

what am i doing wrong? :(
 
You know quite honestly, .Mac hasn't been that reliable lately. There are just days where I can send e-mail really fast, and then there are some days where I can't because it says that the server is offline.

I'm not that advanced when it comes to SMTP mail, but the thing that I did was instead of using .Mac as the server to send outgoing mail, I used the server for my ISP e-mail: example, I have AT&T DSL/Pacbell internet, so I use smtp.pacbell.yahoo.com.


And to answer your question, NO nothing should be offline. If you can, just re-setup (if thats even a word) your .Mac mail and then go from there.


Welcome to the Mac family, especially females (assuming your name holds true to your gender)


Edit: That is so trippy, I just bought the "Bueller.... Beuller..... Edition" of Ferris Beuler's Day Off earlier this evening on DVD!
 
cannot send-

Here is a compilation of 3 posts that helped me fix this issue:
After deleting and recreating an account in Mail, you might not be able to send emails even if you can receive them. When you try to send a message, this alert may appear: "Cannot send message using the server smtp.xxxxx.com"
This happens if the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) server, used for outgoing messages, was incorrectly entered with the first account even if it was correctly entered for the replacement account.
Resolution
You should first verify that the network connection you're using is the correct one for the ISP that you want mail to communicate with.
1. Open Mail.
2. From the Mail menu, choose Preferences
3. Click Accounts.
4. On the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) pop-up menu, choose Edit Server List.
5. Delete all entries for the SMTP server that is mentioned in the error
7. Send a test message to your email address.

In Mail > Preferences > Accounts > Account Information > Server Settings, set the outgoing mail server for your .mac account to whatever your ISPs outgoing mail server is. for example - smtp.mac.com used by XXXX@mac.com
Use server port 587 (make sure thats open in your firewall for TCP/UDP)
From www.apple.com/support/
Quote: Note: Some ISPs restrict access to the TCP port (25) used by SMTP. If your ISP is blocking port 25, you can use your email application to change the port to 587 and try again. If you continue to have trouble sending mail using smtp.mac.com, switch back to your ISP's SMTP server.
 
sett12 said:
Here is a compilation of 3 posts that helped me fix this issue:
After deleting and recreating an account in Mail, you might not be able to send emails even if you can receive them. When you try to send a message, this alert may appear: "Cannot send message using the server smtp.xxxxx.com"
This happens if the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) server, used for outgoing messages, was incorrectly entered with the first account even if it was correctly entered for the replacement account.
Resolution
You should first verify that the network connection you're using is the correct one for the ISP that you want mail to communicate with.
1. Open Mail.
2. From the Mail menu, choose Preferences
3. Click Accounts.
4. On the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) pop-up menu, choose Edit Server List.
5. Delete all entries for the SMTP server that is mentioned in the error
7. Send a test message to your email address.

In Mail > Preferences > Accounts > Account Information > Server Settings, set the outgoing mail server for your .mac account to whatever your ISPs outgoing mail server is. for example - smtp.mac.com used by XXXX@mac.com
Use server port 587 (make sure thats open in your firewall for TCP/UDP)
From www.apple.com/support/
Quote: Note: Some ISPs restrict access to the TCP port (25) used by SMTP. If your ISP is blocking port 25, you can use your email application to change the port to 587 and try again. If you continue to have trouble sending mail using smtp.mac.com, switch back to your ISP's SMTP server.
Click to expand...

Thank You, I just got my iMac yesterday and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't send. I am using Eastlink. The tech couldn't figure it out either, this worked. Many thanks, now I can send and receive. :D
 
<< Amanda Kathryn she can't send email but has no trouble receiving it. She is also positive that all her settings seem to be correct. She tried using her .mac as well as her own ISP mail accounts. Everything she could change, she did. Username, password and all account info had to be correct since she was able to receive emails. Sending, that was the problem. >>


I have a similar issue. My hotmail account seems to work okay but my gmail and my own ISP mail account will not send. I tried all the 101 solutions and repeated them with the level 1 tech with my ISP. I recall someone saying, when Leopard came out, I think, that Apple had changed something in the Mac Mail program and that it still, to this day, can't be remedied without going to some Apple forum that has managed to elude me all this time.

I'm tired of arguing with my ISP Techs and tired countless pages of useless info, wives tails and checking out chicken end-trails. I would LOVE to get and send me messages from all my account in one place but it is insane that Apple could make it so difficult.

Is there some command I should be inputing into the Terminal to wake it up or a sturdy whack up the side with a 2 by???

PLEASE HELP!!
 
my solution

hi

I just fixed this by:

1. changing the Authentication from "none" to "password".

2. insert the user name and password for the account

3. press ok

Done.

Hope it will help for others.
 
tranz said:
hi

I just fixed this by:

1. changing the Authentication from "none" to "password".

2. insert the user name and password for the account

3. press ok

Done.

Hope it will help for others.
Click to expand...

Against advise, I tried it with the same result. A person I spoke with flat out proclamed that it was NOT necessary, yet the problem persists. I'm Told it a Apple/Mac Mail issue due to a change that was done a couple years back, or whenever. I need to go look for answer on Apple's support site. The irony is that when my wife had issues with her Windows Vista and subsequent Windows 7, the walked her through it and made sude she was satisfied before hanging up the phone.

Is this a new form of segragation?? Do we, mac user, have to sit at the back of the bus and on the Mac side of the internet cafe?? ;0

Altough I can receive hotmail.. mmost of the time, Gmail and my own ISP are not reliable to receive and forget about dending. sheesh.
 
Me too

I have intermittent send problems with mail. It is very frustrating because one minute I can send and the next minute I get the "cannot send message using server____" message. I don't know what the fix is, but I wonder if anyone else experiences it as an intermittent problem?
 
People posting in this (3 year old) thread should realize that Email settings are not a "one size fits all" affair. If you're having issues, you should make sure to mention who your email is provided by to get more focused help.

Chances are good that your email provider (Gmail, Yahoo, your ISP) has a support website that lists the settings necessary for a number of different Email clients. You should look there first.
 
hard to locate

Darth.Titan said:
People posting in this (3 year old) thread should realize that Email settings are not a "one size fits all" affair. If you're having issues, you should make sure to mention who your email is provided by to get more focused help.

Chances are good that your email provider (Gmail, Yahoo, your ISP) has a support website that lists the settings necessary for a number of different Email clients. You should look there first.
Click to expand...

I realized that this thread may have been started a while back BUT some of the issues which prompted the original message were as I experienced.

For those who have problems with Live Mail, now that smart phones are everywhere, know that your phone, if logged onto your accounts, may cause a disconnect. Gmail has been experiencing some problems of late, as Live has, and it has caused the occasional glitch. As far as the ISP mail, I had to do a rendering of my earlier post and ask why they were SOOO helpful in helping my wife set-up her mail on her new Win7 AIO PC but were refusing to help with my issue. I played it out and, as some say, persistance is the key. After screwing around for 1/2 hr, I finally got transferred to someone "in the know" who helped me set it up, though I think either the new Mac Mail or Mail protocols for my ISP are becoming less frustrating. The guy had me set up and working in about 4 minute.

and Darth, ... when I ran my original search for answers, this post was the only one that came up with my exact issue AND people, like you, did respond.

With my regards, to all a great day

Mike RL
 
when you send a message the "from" address and "stmp" should be the same

I think I solved a mystery that goes back a few years. I couldn't understand why sometimes I couldn't send emails from apple mail, when other email clients had no problem. I would go into connection doctor and at times that would remedy the problem and at times not. Suddenly, I noticed that there are two pull-down menus with two addresses when sending or replying to an email. The first is the email address you are sending from and the next is the stmp address. For what reason I cannot fathom, but sometimes they are different and belong to different accounts. Once set the email address and stmp server address are synchronized the mail goes through with no problem. Frankly, Why anyone would chose a server that didn't belong to the address of the email is beyond me.

Hope this helps, it's very frustrating I know.
 
Had the same problem starting yesterday on a Win 7 Dell laptop, Could receive email via the IMAP me server, but couldn't send from the smtp.mail.me server. Did a quick google search and found that changing to

p06-smtp.mail.me.com

works now.
 
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