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Level 1

19 points

unable to send emails; smtp error message

Since upgrading to 10.8 (10.8.2), two separate users and two separate email accounts on our iMac are unable to send emails out using Mail; but we are able to receive emails. It has only begun since upgrading to Mountain Lion.

I see many posts about this similar issue, with many different possible causes and ways to resolve which none seem to work.

Anyone have any updates or ideas on how to resolve this issue? Everything worked fine until the upgrade.

Below is the error message we receive:

Cannot send message using the server smtp.att.yahoo.com

The SMTP connection to server “smtp.att.yahoo.com” failed.

Select a different outgoing mail server from the list below or click Try Later to leave the message in your Outbox until it can be sent.

---

Trying to log in to this smtp account failed. Verify that the username and password are correct.

Thanks for anyone's help!

iMac (24-inch Early 2009), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), iPhone 3GS

Posted on Oct 2, 2012 9:06 PM

54 replies

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Oct 4, 2012 1:36 PM in response to Teal

Teal wrote:

No they're POP (AT&T) accounts. Not a big fan of AT&T but my wife doesn't want hers changed to something else so for the time being trying to resolve this SMTP issue in Mail.

Thanks

As they are POP accounts do not delete them until you have verified the retention settings, if you have Mail set to save the emails on the server you can delete, if you chose not to (and I am unsure of the default setting) that means that the email only exists on your local machine, so archive it before you delete.

Teal Author

Level 1

19 points

Oct 4, 2012 2:08 PM in response to Teal

Thanks for everyone's comments thus far. I've tried all of these suggestions and combinations of them and still no luck.

Teal Author

Level 1

19 points

Oct 4, 2012 3:22 PM in response to Teal

Forgive me if I an wrong but I thought AT&T uses POP with SMTP settings for outgoing & POP for incoming settings.

When setting up a mail account in Mail and I enter my email in the initial step (an sbcglobal.net account from AT&T) it now automatically configures it as a Yahoo! IMAP account. I'm a little confused here with this.

Using connection doctor in Mail it indicates that, 1) I AM connected to internet, 2) incoming settings are "IMAP.mail.yahoo.com" and 3) outgoing settings are "sbcglobal.net (offline)" and connection doctor states: smtp.mail.yahoo.com

Again, I have tried different combinations of settings here and with no luck.

SO is AT&T now an IMAP account? I've always thought they were POP.

Lanny

Level 6

13,183 points

Oct 4, 2012 3:46 PM in response to Teal

Have you tried searching your ISP's web site or calling their support for the proper e-mail settings? It now appears that you aren't sure what they are supposed to be.

We have no idea who your ISP is or where you live, so only you have a shot of obtaining the correct information.

Teal Author

Level 1

19 points

Oct 4, 2012 3:49 PM in response to Lanny

Thanks Lanny.

I did try calling AT&T who gave me the same settings I found online and of course did not work. They have no tech support for Mac Mail anymore and directed me to Apple.

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Oct 4, 2012 3:52 PM in response to Teal

I second Lanny's suggestion, time to get help from your email provider directly, you need the correct settings for your account, and if you are not using Comcast email anymore delete that smtp server.

Lanny

Level 6

13,183 points

Oct 4, 2012 3:54 PM in response to Teal

It makes no difference whether it's Mail, Outlook, or Thunderbird. They all use the same settings. If you don't have the right ones, nothing is going to work for you.

Try here: http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=33462&cv=820#fbid=UZgzBgCb-dP

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Oct 4, 2012 3:53 PM in response to Teal

Teal wrote:

Thanks Lanny.

I did try calling AT&T who gave me the same settings I found online and of course did not work. They have no tech support for Mac Mail anymore and directed me to Apple.

Ask them for the settings for Outlook then, the settings are the same for all clients.

Lanny

Level 6

13,183 points

Oct 4, 2012 3:56 PM in response to Teal

Also try: http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB401570#fbid=UZgzBgCb-dP

Csound1

Level 9

59,973 points

Oct 4, 2012 3:59 PM in response to Teal

Teal wrote:

Forgive me if I an wrong but I thought AT&T uses POP with SMTP settings for outgoing & POP for incoming settings.

When setting up a mail account in Mail and I enter my email in the initial step (an sbcglobal.net account from AT&T) it now automatically configures it as a Yahoo! IMAP account. I'm a little confused here with this.

Using connection doctor in Mail it indicates that, 1) I AM connected to internet, 2) incoming settings are "IMAP.mail.yahoo.com" and 3) outgoing settings are "sbcglobal.net (offline)" and connection doctor states: smtp.mail.yahoo.com

Again, I have tried different combinations of settings here and with no luck.

SO is AT&T now an IMAP account? I've always thought they were POP.

Try these:

Change the POP server to pop.att.yahoo.com.

Change the SMTP server to smtp.att.yahoo.com.

Use an encrypted connection (SSL) and change the SMTP port to 465.

Use an encrypted connection (SSL) and change the POP3 port to 995.

Confirm the above settings then click OK.

Shootist007

Level 6

16,703 points

Oct 4, 2012 4:44 PM in response to Teal

Your problem may be the Auto Config as IMAP. Don't allow Mac Mail to Auto config, do it all manually.

Incoming Server

pop.att.yahoo.com

Login Usename

YourUsername@YourISPname.net/org/com

Port 995

Outgoing server

smtp.att.yahoo.com

Login Username

Same as above.

SSL/TLS

Teal Author

Level 1

19 points

Oct 7, 2012 7:39 PM in response to Teal

Thanks for all the support. Sounds like it may be a server/issue with AT&T and how they have changed their email accounts and settings recently. For whatever reason the AT&T sbcglobal.net accounts are having issues and a lot of Apple customers are affected.

Shootist007 your recommendation with using Thunderbird may be the best and only option at this point if it is indeed an AT&T issue. Funny though, Thunderbird works just fine with the same settings as Mail!

Thanks Shootist007!

Shootist007

Level 6

16,703 points

Oct 7, 2012 8:29 PM in response to Teal

It's not an AT&T or Yahoo problem. Although they are not immune from having problems.

It is Mac Mail. In my honest opinion it is one of the worst email clients ever. I used it only a short time and found it just did not work correctly. So I switched to Thunderbird. I liked it so much I switch over to Thunderbird on Windows also.

mwearl

Level 1

24 points

Oct 8, 2012 3:18 PM in response to Shootist007

It IS a yahoo/AT&T problem. I called today and at first they said there was no problem. Then, believe it or not, they actually called back about 20 minutes later and said that after receiving additional phone calls, they were able to confirm that SMTP is not working with Mac mail, but it is a problem on there end. They claim it's been esculated and estimate 24 hours to be fixed.

I have a customer who has two iMacs and both simply stopped working end of last week. Doesn't matter which port, whether you our yahoo, outbound or even bellsouth settings. Its broken, however, I can subsitute my Gmail account settings in place of any AT&T settings and it works flawlessly. Thunderbird also works just fine when testing.

Shootist007

Level 6

16,703 points

Oct 8, 2012 3:22 PM in response to mwearl

How can it be a problem with ONE Mail client and no others. That tells me it is the Mail client that is at fault.

You installed thunderbird on the same Mac and had no problems, right. then how can it be an AT&T or Yahoo problem.

unable to send emails; smtp error message