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Outgoing email failure - PROBLEM SOLVED. User error!

N

nhcowboy1

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 5, 2008
294
2
NH
The problem: can no longer send outgoing email, keep getting error message "server not responding"

The computer: mac mini G4 1.5, OS 10.4

The email server: eudora and thunderbird both show the same error

The email settings: are accurate and have not been changed.

The incoming email: is not affected and works just fine.

The difficulty: a second computer, using the same internet connection, using the same email program (eudora) and the same settings is sending email successfully, so much as I'd like to blame this on the ISP, it looks like it's not their fault.

I have, btw, rebooted the mini, to no avail. What do I do now?
 
Ok go into the system preferences. Then click on security. Check in there to see if it has anything about your app name or you outgoing mail server name.
 
That is where you would see if something is blocking your connection to your smtp server. That is where I would start
 
Sorry, still don't know what the "something" is that I'd be looking for . . . .:confused:
 
More information would be useful. Which OS? Who is your email provider? Has outgoing mail ever worked with the setup which currently isn't working?

A quick thing to try is to make a new OS X user account for testing purposes. Log into it and set up your email account there and then see if you can send email. This will determine if it is a system-wide problem or something specific to your home folder for the OS X account on which sending email isn't working.
 
This is usually a problem where your ISP is blocking port 25 to force you to use their outgoing e-mail servers. You say that another computer is working fine. Is this for the same e-mail account or a different one?

If they're the same, please double check what port is being used for outgoing mail on each of them.

If it is a port 25 blockage, there are several options you can try. One is to contact your ISP and ask them to unblock the port. Another is to see if you can use an alternate port for access...your e-mail provider should have information on this somewhere in their setup info. Finally, you could just use your ISPs outgoing mail server settings.
 
MBHockey said:
More information would be useful. Which OS? Who is your email provider? Has outgoing mail ever worked with the setup which currently isn't working?

A quick thing to try is to make a new OS X user account for testing purposes.
Click to expand...

As stated in my original post, OS is 10.4. Email provider probably not at fault, since I'm able to access their server using the exact same settings from another Mac. However, if you want me to name names, it's TDS (may they spend an eternity getting what they deserve . . . . !)

Settings in Eudora are unchanged from what they've been for the past 9 months (and they've never failed before). Set up an email account in Thunderbird using the same settings. No go.

Have not tried setting up a new OS X user account . . . I'll go do that!
 
First, in response to MBHockey, have tried setting up a different user account, to no avail. Still couldn't access the smtp server.

WildCowboy said:
This is usually a problem where your ISP is blocking port 25 to force you to use their outgoing e-mail servers. You say that another computer is working fine. Is this for the same e-mail account or a different one?
Click to expand...

Same account, same settings.

WildCowboy said:
This is usually a problem where your ISP is blocking port 25 to force you to use their outgoing e-mail servers . . . please double check what port is being used for outgoing mail on each computer.
Click to expand...

Okay, two questions . . . first, how do I find out what port I'm using for outgoing mail? I have both computers up and running at the moment - and they're both using Eudora 6.2.4. How do I check the port?

Second, I though I was using my ISP's outgoing mail servers. Didn't know I had any choice. The ISP is TDS - the outgoing mail server is smtp.tds.net.

Please explain . . .
 
Okay, if both the ISP and e-mail provider are the same, that eliminates a major source of problems. I haven't used Eudora in years, but as I recall, there's an option somewhere in the Sending Mail settings where you can tick a box to use submission port 587 (instead of port 25). But if the settings between your two computers are identical, there shouldn't be a problem. I'm stumped.
 
WildCowboy said:
I haven't used Eudora in years, but as I recall, there's an option somewhere in the Sending Mail settings where you can tick a box to use submission port 587 (instead of port 25).
Click to expand...

Okay, I'll try switching to 587 . . .

And that did not work. Still can't access the server.

I've tried rebooting . . . is it time to re-install Tiger?

Or could I try using a different email server? I wouldn't know how to do that, but if there were a way to send mail using someone other than TDS, then it wouldn't matter that I can't access their outgoing mail server . . .
 
Yeah, it's either 587 or 25 for smtp. Does your ISP have a setup page for email client configuration? I'd like to take a look at it to see if there's any special settings (I know you said it's working fine on the other computer with the same settings -- but humor me).
 
My ISP, Shaw (I'm in Canada) will not allow outgoing mail through any mail server other than Shaw's own. So even if I have my own Domain and it runs a mail server, I can't use that for outgoing mail. I have no choice but to use Shaw's.

So they block any outgoing packets on port 25. the way they get customers however is to tell us all to use their mail server.

Their mail server allows mail forwarding, so you don't need an account on it to use it.

The mail server address is: shawmail.vc.shawcable.net . I'm not sure that it'll work for you, but try substituting your outgoing mail server with that and see what happens.

Secondly, firewall. Do you have the Mac firewall enabled? If so make sure it's allowing mail out. Also check the firewall on your cable or DSL router to make sure that the port is not blocked.

Let me know how you make out.

Cheers.

<EDIT>
Sorry, just re-read your post about the other computer working.

If you're using Mail.app, select Window, Connection Doctor and with that window open, try to send mail again and post back here what it says. You should get some kind of message saying what's wrong.

Cheers again.
</EDIT>
 
MBHockey said:
Does your ISP have a setup page for email client configuration?
Click to expand...

Not that I could find.

However, I did find info on how to access my TDS email account when I'm using another computer. There's an alternate server address provided: offnetsmtp.tds.net. And, surprise, surprise, it worked! Now what the hell does that tell us???

I don't believe that's a permanent fix, by the way, because the prerequisite for accessing email from a remote computer is that you must actually attempt to access your email. Since I use my email account to access mail from multiple accounts, this might not allow me to check those other accounts . . . . okay, gotta go try and figure this out. :confused:

But what does it mean that the alternate outgoing mail server worked?
 
nhcowboy1 said:
Not that I could find.

However, I did find info on how to access my TDS email account when I'm using another computer. There's an alternate server address provided: offnetsmtp.tds.net. And, surprise, surprise, it worked! Now what the hell does that tell us???

I don't believe that's a permanent fix, by the way, because the prerequisite for accessing email from a remote computer is that you must actually attempt to access your email. Since I use my email account to access mail from multiple accounts, this might not allow me to check those other accounts . . . . okay, gotta go try and figure this out. :confused:

But what does it mean that the alternate outgoing mail server worked?
Click to expand...

From TDS's site:

TDS allows customers to send or receive e-mail while connected to another provider’s connection as long as you are using offnetpop.tds.net as the incoming mail server and offnetsmtp.tds.net as the outgoing mail servers as well as your TDS e-mail address and password. These settings allow any TDS customer that has an email account to relay e-mail through TDS when they are not connected to TDS.
Click to expand...

Basically, TDS is your service provider, your ISP correct? Like most ISPs, you can't use their systems unless you are connected to them. What they are saying here is that if you should be elsewhere, not using TDS to connect to the internet, that you can use those settings to send/receive mail.

Is this a dial-up provider?

How are both computers connected to TDS?

If you are connected to TDS, you should be able to open terminal and type the following:

telnet pop.tds.net 25

If you are on their network, it should return a connected message, then a warning about connecting to pop before sending and it will disconnect you.

This check won't work unless you are connected, using TDS as your provider. For example, I'm using Comcast and can't reach that server.

However I can reach the other server by typing this in terminal:

telnet offnetsmtp.tds.net 25

So first, I'd say that for some reason, TDS doesn't think the computer in question is connected to their network.

Let me know how you do with that.

-Kevin
 
Okay, vanmacguy, I don't know how to check for firewall. Can you help me with that?

I also tried to use Connection Doctor, but had problems with it. I initially couldn't set up the mail.app account at all because the outgoing server was (of course) not working. So I used a different outgoing server, then tried switching them once the account was set up, but wasn't able to get the new one to work. Every time I tried Connection Doctor, it just checked the incoming server, but couldn't seem to see the outgoing one.

Also tried shawmail, but couldn't get that to work either.

The "offnetsmtp" server continues to work, but - as I anticipated - will not allow me to send email using the return addresses of any of my other accounts. Since I have at least a dozen addresses (and use them all for different purposes), that's a real problem.

So, I really need to get the original "smtp.tds.net" address to work again . . . .

This is, btw, DSL service, and the only difference between the two computers I'm using is that the one that works has a wired connection to the DSL router, and the one that doesn't work has a wireless connection. (Keep in mind, though, the wireless computer is still receiving mail, accessing the internet, etc.)

Seems like it keeps coming back to some kind of a problem with the mini . . .

The TDS service tech earlier today suggested that it must have picked up a virus . . . c'mon! :mad:
 
kbmb said:
You need to focus on the machine and the connection, not the email client.
Click to expand...

Indeed. kbmb and MBHockey are correct . . . the answer is in the connection.

Having just spent an hour on hold for the TDS tech support team, I finally succeeded in reaching someone who was able to solve the problem that's plagued me all day in less than a minute.

And here, in a nutshell, is the answer:

If the outgoing mail server thinks you're not using its own network to access its server, maybe it's because you aren't.

Several days ago, late at night (and shortly before my outgoing emails started stacking up in my "out" box), I had trouble getting a signal from my wireless router at the other end of the house. So, in frustration, and not really expecting to use it as a long term solution, I just switched to one of the several unsecured wireless connections that was available to me. Then I fell asleep and forgot what I had done . . . .

And, of course, never corrected it.

So, when a problem (such as the one I described here today) makes no sense and seems to elude any reasonable solution . . . . the problem may simply be that the user is a complete idiot! :(

So, many thanks to all of you who tried to help me, and I apologize for wasting your time. :eek:

User error strikes again . . . .
 
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