I have Mail set to fetch manually - i.e. only when I click "Get Mail" but it fetches automatically, I think when it's asleep! It doesn't seem to fetch while I'm using the machine but if I leave it and it goes to sleep, when I wake it there's often new mail already downloaded.
I will have to test this, but I think the wake-up ignores the not auto, much like quitting Mail, and later launching it.
Ernie
It never used to happen before Mountain Lion and Mail 6 - I've always had it set to fetch manually
Are you using IMAP? Do you have IMAP idle turned on in the account settings? Note that IMAP idle is effectively "push" - if there's new mail, the Mail application will be notified and it will show up in your Inbox.
You can disable IMAP idle if you don't want this.
No, all accounts are POP
I am not able to relicate this. I took three of my POP accounts, selected in Mail 6 to have two of the three not check for new mail automatically, and for those two accounts, putting the MBP to sleep, and later waking it DID NOT result in getting messages I sent from still another of my accounts, nor at any other time while other accounts were getting new mail.
Ernie
Thanks Ernie. Two things:
1) I put the machine to sleep and checked for mail using my phone. When notification of your reply arrived, I woke it but it did not automatically download the message. (I may have been wrong about it being connected with sleep).
2) How can you select manual fetch on an individual account basis - I can only find the global setting in Preferences>General
How can you select manual fetch on an individual account basis - I can only find the global setting in Preferences>General
Mail Preferences/Accounts/ Advanced -- select or deselect to include when auto checking for new email.
Ernie
I had wrongly assumed that although it says "when auto checking" it would stop it fetching when Get Mail is pressed but I've just tested it - it doesn't. If I notice it continues to fetch without my clicking Get Mail, I'll turn this off in each account - though I didn't have to do that pre-Mountain Lion
Actually, that hasn't fixed it. I've been out all day and left the machine asleep. I pressed the mouse to wake it and it instantly fetched mail on four of my accounts all of which I changed yesterday by unticking "include when auto checking". (The Fetch Mail on the Genral tab is still set to Manual). So something, somewhere is making my Mail override my manual fetch settings and fetching it anyway.
But - and it gets worse - by checking on my phone before using my Mac, one of the accounts had two messages and the Mac downloaded one but not the other and another account had four and it downloaded two and left two! The "missing" messages downloaded OK when I clicked Get Mail.
I have never experienced this prior to Mountain Lion.
Further info - it's not consistent. I've just had the machine asleep while I had a meal and on waking it it did not automatically download the mail that was waiting on the server.
I am wondering if something else is going on.
For next day or two, please do this check before putting the Mac to sleep: control-click on the Inbox of one of the accounts and choose Get Account Info, and use this to check what messages are currently on the server with a blue dot beside them indicating they have not yet been downloaded.
Next whenever awaking from sleep immediately make this same check.
Are you able to check the date recieved for any of the messages that download spontaneously upon wake up -- were any received (this will be the server date) prior to the Mac being put to sleep?
Ernie
Ernie - many thanks for your continued interest.
I can perform that check - and I will - but:
1) I would normally have downloaded mail before putting the Mac to sleep so there would not be any that have not been downloaded - but I can leave some if it helps.
2) On waking from sleep, if mail is downloaded automatically, I hear the beep of received mail before my screen comes on (Mac Pro & monitor) so before I could repeat the check.
3) I don't think mail is being downloaded before sleep because I have Mail set to delete from server immediately after download. If I check with my phone and I can see it, the Mac has yet to download. And I can usually see mail waiting when checking with the phone.
What I am looking for is an incomplete download of messages when you last checked, and perhaps it is the remaineer that is coming in upon waking. I asked this because you said some but not all messages had downloaed, and others required the Get Mail command.
Ernie
I don't think I've ever had a partial download.
I've tried a test which may or may not throw some light on what is happening:
1) At 22:16 yesterday I sent an email from one of my little used accounts to my main account.
2) At 22 :27, I established that it was waiting on the server but did not download.
3) At 22:37 I sent an email from my main account to the other four accounts and having checked that all four had arrived (so now five waiting to be downloaded) put the Mac to sleep.
4) At approximately 23:00 I woke the Mac but no mail downloaded so I put it to sleep again and went to bed.
5) When I woke the Mac this morning, all five mails (plus one other that had been sent by someone else early this morning) downloaded.
Using the columns Date Sent and Date Received, I see that all those mails show the time sent as the time I sent them and the time received as either the same time or a very few minutes later. If the time in the Date Received column is the time received by the server rather than the time my copy of Mail received them, then this is correct.
It seems the length of time asleep may be of relevance.
I've upgrade my laptop to Mountain Lion and as far as I can tell, the Mail settings are all identical. I've now changed all accounts to leave mail on the server for one week before deleting.
I've just had both machines asleep for six hours. On waking, the Mac Pro downloaded mail the laptop didn't.
Is it time to just give up and accept it?
Mail - manual fetch
