Sometimes cannot send messages, seems to occur when Thunderbird is performing a scheduled POP query but this problem did not start until only recently
Most of the time, Thunderbird works just fine but on occasion when I try to send out an email, the software will tell me that the password was not accepted and ask me to enter the password manually. At that point, I hit cancel and the Send button on the composed email stays dimmed for about a minute or so (seemingly because of some time-out clock finally expiring). If I then hit send, the email will send out just like normal.
It seems that the problem comes up when I just so happen to be sending out an email at the same time that Thunderbird is polling the various accounts for incoming mail. The problem I see is that this never happened at any time over the past several years that I have used Thunderbird and started only within the last few months, once some of the most recent updates to Thunderbird were installed.
This problem most frequently happens with Gmail but on occasion will also happen with my webhosting provider's servers (for the domains that I have registered). All accounts are set up as POP and I have no interest in or intention of using IMAP.
So, any ideas as to what is going on?
Chosen solution
Well, folks, I guess no one has any idea what the problem with the recent patches happens to be since no one has addressed this in over a week. Last week, after my last post, I decided to solve the problem myself: after using Thunderbird for 15 years, I replaced it with another email client. Since doing so, I have not had any problem with sending emails, whether the software is receiving emails at the time or not. It just works.
Before any Doubting Daves ask, yes, the new client is set up just as I had configured Thunderbird with the same polling intervals and all else. As I said, the problem is with Thunderbird, not with any settings or with the servers. It was Thunderbird that had changed.
I hope that in the future someone out there is actually able to track things down and resolve them rather than try to push the error onto the user. I won't be around to see it, though. This lack of support has shown that the hassle and Thunderbird are not worth my time.
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Is there another device accessing the accounts? Most providers limit the number of concurrent connections. 5 is the popular limit, but it is something that is set by the server, not the clients.
With poor providers like outlook.com and yahoo I am seeing refusals because I am trying to connect more than their allotted connections in 15 minutes. (in the case of outlook one connection per 15 minutes and they do not appear to distinguish between pop and SMTP.
No, that is not the issue. I have used the same configuration and the same phone for over three years without that problem. This has been something new over only the last few months. As I said, it seems to be only when I am sending an email in Thunderbird and it turns out that it is also attempting a scheduled polling of the servers to receive emails. In all the years that I have used Thunderbird (and, prior to that, Netscape Communicator), I have never had this issue. It is only in the past few months. I noticed that it happened not long after Thunderbird performed a software update. As such, this leads me to believe that there is something that changed within the software itself that has caused this issue to occur.
Restart Computer in 'Safe Mode with Networking' Start Thunderbird.
Run in that mode for long enough to determine whether you get a failed smtp send whilst polling new mail. Please report back on results.
Two issues: first, that is not practical since it happens only about once a week and I cannot afford to run my primary business administration station in Safe Mode for that long. Second, as the problem seems due to a change in Thunderbird software itself, not a change in the other aspects of this computer, I am not sure what you would hope to accomplish by using Safe Mode with Networking. If you could explain your thoughts to me, I could probably either tell you what it is you hope to learn by this or find another way to discover that information.
Please be aware that I am not a "run of the mill" typical end-user. I am a Network Engineer who has been working professionally in the computer sales and service field since 1989, own a computer store that I started at that time, and have earned over a dozen professional certifications in the networking and service fields. As such, if it were as simple as some sort of malware infection or other such malady, I wouldn't be looking here for assistance. So, if that is what you were thinking, then let's move to the next step.
Chosen Solution
Well, folks, I guess no one has any idea what the problem with the recent patches happens to be since no one has addressed this in over a week. Last week, after my last post, I decided to solve the problem myself: after using Thunderbird for 15 years, I replaced it with another email client. Since doing so, I have not had any problem with sending emails, whether the software is receiving emails at the time or not. It just works.
Before any Doubting Daves ask, yes, the new client is set up just as I had configured Thunderbird with the same polling intervals and all else. As I said, the problem is with Thunderbird, not with any settings or with the servers. It was Thunderbird that had changed.
I hope that in the future someone out there is actually able to track things down and resolve them rather than try to push the error onto the user. I won't be around to see it, though. This lack of support has shown that the hassle and Thunderbird are not worth my time.
cillchaoi said
I hope that in the future someone out there is actually able to track things down and resolve them rather than try to push the error onto the user. I won't be around to see it, though. This lack of support has shown that the hassle and Thunderbird are not worth my time.
For a developer to track down an issue they must be able to duplicate it. As you are the only person I have seen in this forum, the issue is clearly not a common one. so it is quite possible that there is a need to have a number of software and hardware factors aligned to duplicate it. What are they do you think? I have no idea as I do not have the issue.
The next step is logging the connection to see what is happening exactly. https://wiki.mozilla.org/MailNews:Logging#Windows However I wish you luck in your choice of mail client.