Mail won't send but Connection Doctor says smtp account OK.

Hi,

I can only offer the discussion and fix that resulted with Keith in the topic that can be found at the link below:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8818910#8818910

I have not understood your issue to be the same as what Keith had in the above topic, but perhaps that is my failing to not detail the difference between your and Mick's problem, either.

Ernie

Well, I had a similar problem, but different manifestation of it, earlier this week. Apple Support walked me through the following:

Click on Mail drop down menu, open Preferences

Click on Accounts

Check that the Outgoing Mail Server is correct (which is usually is).

Click on the drop-down arrow to the right of the outgoing server box, which should expand to show an "Edit Server List" selection. Click on that.

If "Use customer port" is not active, click on that radio button, then enter 25 in the box.

Close and click "Save"

See if that works.

The explanation I got was that sometimes auto updates or something similar will change the setting and cause problems (for example, will check the "Use default ports" when you had previously had "custom port" checked).

Hope this helps.

Been having the same problem for a few weeks now. This has been working just fine, and all of a sudden - nothing. The update to 10.5.6 didn't do anything to fix this either.

I've spent numerous hours on the phone with the Apple support. Seeing as the two other accounts that I have configured work with no problem, they say that this is a problem with the provider which is also the ISP. I then called the support line for the ISP and informed them of this and they say that it's a problem with the software.

Interestingly, if I send a message to somone with the same ISP, the message will go. But I can't send a message outside of the provider. Does anyone else have this problem?

Also, from another forum, they suggested rebuilding the LaunchServices database. The Apple support didn't see what that would do. But I tried it anyway and the problem still exists.

Another intesting thing is certificates. It's only happened twice, but I've received the message saying that Mail can't verify the certificate XXXXX which validates the identity of the smtp. Anyone else get this? I thought perhaps I could delete the certificate and it would magically reappear. But when I go into KeyChain, the certificate is listed only under System Root and I can't delete it.

ideas?

Hi chaps, I've been having the same problem before and after the .6 update and have tried all of the fine suggestions recommended in this thread. I also spoke to my ISP and they were convinced it's not them. (BTW I can send a mail to their address ... their support team ... but not to my wife who is with them also) ... I'm also receiving mail. I've deleted all odd accounts and re-created just the original one (my wife with a different user account is having the same problem). I tried with my little netbook pc and I get this message: "Server response 550-REJ-RELAY-001 relay not permitted, Port 25, Secure(SSL) No. Server Error 550 Error Number 0x800CCC79" I don't know if this means anything to anyone ! I'll keep digging and report any progress but I've subscribed in the hope that someone brighter than me will come up with a solution (I have my Christmas ecards to send out) ! Regards Roger

Bonjour! Well Roger, from you say, it seems as though the problem isn't really with the Mac. If I understood correctly, you tried sending a message with a PC (shivers) running windows (double shivers) and it still didn't work. Should that be the case, I would most certainly get back in touch with your ISP and let them know that.

Husband encountered same outgoing mail problem today on his MacBook Pro, 10.5.5. I suspected a corrupt pref file. Logged husband out, logged in on my account, problem gone. Suspicion confirmed. Logged back in husband's account. Went to Home>Library>Preferences, put com.apple.mail.plist in trash. Opened mail app, had to reenter account settings, pain, but worked. Nice fresh new plist, and mail goes out just fine. Hope this helps!

Anne

Thanks Anne! Unfortunately I've tried that, and also with Apple Support... no luck. I still cannot send mail outside the ISP. This is VERY strange. This happened before the 10.5.6 update and is still going on.

Hi chaps ... me again .... well I had a long chat with the guy on the end of the 'phone at my ISP who was really good, I reinstalled mail on the mac and outlook on the PC and still got the problem ... he set up MY mail account on a mac in his office (I gave him the password) and on a PC and he tried to send a mail to one of the addresses that had failed with me and, of course, he didn't have a problem, they went ! ... so we were all confused. I then had to break off the conversation to go Christmas shopping (oh what fun) he said he'd carry on digging and get back to me when he had any news ... when I returned home all was working and I figured he'd found a solution but today the problem has returned, it seems a little intermittent (ie at 7 this am I sent a mail to my son and it went OK, tried a little while ago, to send him another and it wouldn't send on the mac or the PC , and I've tried everything and, of course, the ISP was saying it's not them ('cause they could send from my account on their mac and pc) so I'm hoping someone else can think of something .... Happy Christmas ... Roger

I think that is a bit harsh -- I can think of several differences where the setup instructions some providers issue for, say, Outlook Express, are not so straightforwardly translated into what is needed in Mail. And the fact remains that the tech support of many ISPs cannot get it right. I have on more than one occasion explained to tech of small ISPs how their own SMTP is in fact Authenticated, and therefore must be set in Mail 😟

Ernie

Same nonsense here.

None of the suggestions above worked, nor any that I've tried myself previously.

I also have a Mac Pro running 10.4.11 with a more or less identical mail set-up and it's just fine, I can send no problem, and without the 60 second wait-to-send which showed up in 10.5.

Andy,

The delay in sending with some networks and 10.5/Mail 3.x is related to negotiating the DNS address -- it can be cured by getting a primary and secondary DNS address from your ISP, and assuming you have an addressable modem, entering it there. A test for this is to prepare two messages ready to send, and then send one of them. As soon as the first one goes swoosh, send the second -- if the second is sent immediately, then the DNS will cure the typical delay. All users do not experience this delay, and I believe it is specific to certain provider networks -- it was to mine.

Having said that, do you have specific issues only introduced with the Upgrade to 10.5.6 and Mail 3.5 (930.3)?

What does more or less identical setup mean?

Ernie

Well I added a new client but that doesn't work for sending either ... am quite confused now and my brain is hurting ... thanks to all who tried to aid me I can only think that I'll have to stick to web mail for the time being. Best Roger

I've been having problems and I'm very wary of suggesting anything on this forum because the grief I've been having may well be self-inflicted but, at present, my problem has been solved by deleting the account and setting it up again but ticking "use authentication" .... now I can't be sure but I THINK I previously didn't tick authentication ... I may be wrong because I'm getting old and can't even remember what I had for breakfast and that was only 10 minutes ago .... hope it helps someone Roger (there are a couple of other threads on this subject so I'm going to paste this into them, I hope it doesn't break any etiquette rules)!