What does the "improper connections" warning at the Mail Account Setup mean?
At the Mail Account Setup dialog, the IMAP autodetect works, but after clicking "Done", a warning appears (see image), stating "Thunderbird can allow you to get your mail using the provided configurations. However, you should contact your administrator or email provider regarding these improper connections. See the Thunderbird FAQ for more information.". I checked the Thunderbird FAQ (or what information I found) but there is no explanation of this warning.
About the used connection:
- it is a working IMAP with STARTTLS on port 143
- the server uses a self signed certificate (not expired), which Thunderbird does not complain about in the warning
- using an existing SMTP setting of another account (no check in the Mail Account Setup dialog)
So I wonder, what this warning really is about. Best Regards
Modified by rkat
Chosen solution
The shown dialog seems to occur only if:
- A mail account exists, outgoing SMTP has self-signed certificate
- The new mail account uses that existing outgoing SMTP
This might be a defect in Thunderbird 31.7.0, because there is only one such warning dialog at the Mail Account Setup which is used for reporting several different problems. The code (Thunderbird source: mailnews/base/prefs/content/accountcreation/emailWizard.js) switches on/off messages for incoming and outgoing, but in this special case, it seems to switch off all messages - which leaves just the text shown in the screenshot - compare to https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/server-doesnt-use-encryption
When using a new profile without any accounts in Thunderbird 31.7.0, creating the new account works without such a warning.
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re : it is a working IMAP with STARTTLS on port 143
It may have something to do with your Connection Security and port selection. By default, the IMAP protocol works on two ports: Port 143 - this is the default IMAP non-encrypted port Port 993 - this is the port to use if you want to connect using IMAP securely
Usual port: Imap incoming port 993 and SSL/TLS Authentication Method; Normal Password.
re: Port 143 - this is the default IMAP non-encrypted port
Yes, but STARTTLS makes use of it. The usual IMAP port for STARTTLS is 143, too - since STARTTLS begins the connection unencrypted and upgrades it to TLS (still using the same port).
I used Thunderbird version 31.7.0 which comes with Ubuntu 14.04. With Thunderbird version 38.01, the Mail Account Setup dialog does not give any warning.
Modified by rkat
Chosen Solution
The shown dialog seems to occur only if:
- A mail account exists, outgoing SMTP has self-signed certificate
- The new mail account uses that existing outgoing SMTP
This might be a defect in Thunderbird 31.7.0, because there is only one such warning dialog at the Mail Account Setup which is used for reporting several different problems. The code (Thunderbird source: mailnews/base/prefs/content/accountcreation/emailWizard.js) switches on/off messages for incoming and outgoing, but in this special case, it seems to switch off all messages - which leaves just the text shown in the screenshot - compare to https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/server-doesnt-use-encryption
When using a new profile without any accounts in Thunderbird 31.7.0, creating the new account works without such a warning.
Modified by rkat