darkmoebius
Level 1 (1 points)

Q: Mail cannot log into accounts after El Capitan

Mail repeatedly popup asks for both my email account passwords. When i enter them, it says "Unable to verify account name or password"

I have also re-entered the passwords in Mail>Accounts. Same results

 

But, I can sign into my Network Solutions webhost mail website with both the account names and passwords. Both also work perfectly on my iPhone Mail

So, the problem is clearly with Mail and the updates in El Capitan, since it worked fine for years prior to the update today

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11), 15" Late 2011, 2.3GHz i7, 8GB RAM

Posted on Sep 30, 2015 8:09 PM

by darkmoebius,Solvedanswer
darkmoebius darkmoebius
Level 1 (1 points)
A:

Ok, this is going to sound crazy....But, considering all the email problems popping up from El Capitan, maybe  not

 

But, for at least 3 years all my POP settings have been unchanged - port 995, use SSL. This was due to Network Solutions have some server problems years ago and their tech support suggesting that setting. I just never changed it back

 

Anyway, their mail setup webpage says:

  • Username = user@yourdomain.com
  • Password = the password you set up when you configured your mail box
  • Incoming Mail Server = mail.yourdomain.com
  • Outgoing Mail Server = smtp.yourdomain.com
    • Outgoing Server Requires Authentication (typically found in advanced options or settings)
    • Do NOT check "Log on Using Secure Password Authentication"
    • Use the same Username and Password as Incoming or select "Use Same Settings as Incoming"
  • Outgoing Server Port = 2525 or 587
    • This is subject to change based on the individual preferences of your ISP
Note - Make sure you are not choosing and SSL type, this option should be turned off, or "None" should be selected.

 

But, Mail will not save the changes appropriately. I enter port 587, uncheck SSL, and "password" authentification, and as soon as i save it, it would change to port 110 APOP authentification. Then, smtp does not work. Back and forth it has gone for hours.  Closing Mail, re-opening, rebooting, anything in the hope that settings stick.

 

Suddenly, 5 minutes ago, I open Preferences and it is back to port 995, SSL checked, Authenticated POP (APOP), the original settings and.......It works!

I'm guessing it reverted back to those settings because I checked "Automatically detect and maintain settings". i had unchecked that earlier today trying to get settings to stick.

 

Bottom line - the El Capitan update screws with Account Settings - check them. If it won't accept changes, uncheck "Automatically detect and maintain settings" under Accounts>Advanced. See if it eventually works. Then, try re-checking that

 

Unfortunately, I cannot say for fact what got my mail working again. I've changes way to many things in frustration to know

Posted on Oct 1, 2015 5:49 PM

Close
darkmoebius

Q: Mail cannot log into accounts after El Capitan

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

first Previous Page 4 of 8 last Next

  • by darkmoebius,

    darkmoebius darkmoebius Oct 9, 2015 8:54 PM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 8:54 PM in response to darkmoebius

    Ok, I think I have this thing figured out

     

    When trying to change anything in your email account settings:
    1) Go into Preferences>Accounts>Account Information>Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)>Edit SMTP Server List (from pulldown menu) and delete any unnecessary or redundant server listings

    2) Go into Preferences>Accounts>Advanced and uncheck "Automatically detect and maintain account settings"

    3) Enter the proper account settings - password, port, authentification type, etc

    4) save and exit preferences, see if you can send an email

    5) if it works, go back into Preferences>Accounts>Advanced and check "Automatically detect and maintain account settings"

     

    In my case, Network Solutions wanted us to use port 587, uncheck SSL, password authent,

    I make those changes, successfully sent a couple of emails from each account. Then, went back into Preferences>Accounts>Advanced and checked "Automatically detect and maintain account settings" and sent  few more.

     

    Now, here's the kicker...settings are now set to - port 110, Authenticated POP(APOP), SSL is still unchecked

    But, it works and I have no problems...............for now

  • by SergeM,

    SergeM SergeM Oct 10, 2015 10:55 AM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Oct 10, 2015 10:55 AM in response to darkmoebius

    I've been having similar issues since the upgrade, namely my outgoing mail wasn't working. I read through many forum threads and none of the tricks I tried helped. If you are still stuck with this problem, make sure you contact your ISP! In my case it took all of 3 minutes with their tech support and the problem is gone... All I had to do was edit the smtp server for the account: turn off auto-detect of settings, change the outgoing smtp server name and port, and activate SSL. According to them, the old config I had is still valid, but there is some sort of compatibility issue with the new version of Apple Mail. I could have saved myself a week of headaches if I had just contacted them earlier...

  • by Albert_S,

    Albert_S Albert_S Oct 10, 2015 2:30 PM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 10, 2015 2:30 PM in response to darkmoebius

    Thanks for your fix to this problem. Corrected email server access for me on two accounts.

  • by retiredatlast,

    retiredatlast retiredatlast Oct 10, 2015 4:03 PM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 10, 2015 4:03 PM in response to darkmoebius

    Darkmoebius'  middle item in outgoing server is what solved it for me ( However on my system it says "Allow insecure authentication" and when I checked it, send mail worked again.)

  • by ChristinaNT,

    ChristinaNT ChristinaNT Oct 12, 2015 6:47 PM in response to bren_nan
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 12, 2015 6:47 PM in response to bren_nan

    Thank you sooo much for your step by step guide. After 3 days of email **** it is now working and I can once again get back into business. Thanks ben_nan

  • by Shebco,

    Shebco Shebco Oct 14, 2015 6:47 AM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 2 (205 points)
    Oct 14, 2015 6:47 AM in response to darkmoebius

    Had a similar problem, would not take known valid passwords.  Gmail updates were no problem but most of my accounts are with 1and1 (smtp config).

    After reading this thread (and nothing worked) this worked for me:  Go to Internet Accounts, click on the email account you want to get going and type the password directly into the open password box.  All my failures were when i typed it into the popup box asking for the password.  If that happens, hit 'cancel' and enter it directly 

     

    All good now!  Too bad, this bug could be a real time killer trying to solve!

  • by darkmoebius,

    darkmoebius darkmoebius Oct 14, 2015 5:22 PM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 14, 2015 5:22 PM in response to darkmoebius

    A new problem popped up this morning out of nowhere. I started up my laptop, logged in, and immediately started getting repeated popups needing a password for "Local Items" Keychains. Essentially every service that needs access to the internet - iMessage, Mail, etc, etc. It wouldn't accept any password I use.  Using Applications>Utilities>Keychain Access, I was able to see "Local Items" was locked and there were not keychains or passwords stored in it

     

    I called Apple Support and the tech walked me through unlocking "Local Items" and resetting the password. It worked for a while, then started the popups again. But, now seems to have worked. That only took 4 hours this morning

  • by James Welland,

    James Welland James Welland Oct 15, 2015 4:19 AM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (45 points)
    Oct 15, 2015 4:19 AM in response to darkmoebius

    Despite entering the correct email passport and smtp password, both were rejected by mail after update to el capitan. This rejection was instant - no attempt to connect to server.

     

    The solution for me was to reset to a new password  with my hosting company and then put the new password into the mail settings both outgoing and incoming fields (mail preferences)

     

    Now rebuilding mail to sort search failure!

  • by dibbin,

    dibbin dibbin Oct 15, 2015 5:33 AM in response to bren_nan
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 15, 2015 5:33 AM in response to bren_nan

    Once I upgraded to El Capitan my Gmail worked fine but my BT/Yahoo accounts did not work at all.  They just gave the message "Login Failed"  Like the other user I could log in successfully via the internet and could get them all on my phone as usual.  Tried Apple Support and they could not help so I tried the community, found your answer used it and, Hey Presto, I now have all my emails up and running again.  Many thanks for the info, you should bill Apple!  Crazy that they release a supposed update that does not work with an outfit as big as Yahoo and then cannot fix it.

  • by boonchek,

    boonchek boonchek Oct 15, 2015 1:56 PM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (0 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 15, 2015 1:56 PM in response to darkmoebius

    I had this problem too. Fixed by checking keychain for expired certificates and including checking this gmail settings with a browser.

    1. Click on "Other Google account settings".

    2. Click on "Connected apps and sites".

    3. Turn on the "Allow less secure apps".

     

    Question is, when did Apple Mail turn to a less secure app?!

     

    image.jpeg

    image.jpeg

    image.jpeg

  • by jperegrino,

    jperegrino jperegrino Oct 22, 2015 1:22 PM in response to Shebco
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 22, 2015 1:22 PM in response to Shebco

    wow this worked!  thanks!

    ps: as part of my debugging I also made the change in Gmail itself to allow less secure app access.  I tried toggling that setting off and it broke the fix, so now it's back to "Allow less secure apps: ON"

  • by phil38555615,

    phil38555615 phil38555615 Oct 25, 2015 1:44 AM in response to icemantx
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 25, 2015 1:44 AM in response to icemantx

    Yep same

  • by billpg1899,

    billpg1899 billpg1899 Oct 27, 2015 6:54 PM in response to JJMc32
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 27, 2015 6:54 PM in response to JJMc32

    Thanks JJMc32. Finally got my POP Gmail working in El Capitan Mail. Strange that I did not have to turn it on before.

  • by billpg1899,

    billpg1899 billpg1899 Oct 27, 2015 6:58 PM in response to JJMc32
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 27, 2015 6:58 PM in response to JJMc32

    JJMc32, THANKS!!! My Gmail POP account now working! Strange why this was not required before El Capitan. Thanks again.

  • by JJMc32,

    JJMc32 JJMc32 Oct 27, 2015 7:04 PM in response to billpg1899
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 27, 2015 7:04 PM in response to billpg1899

    If you don't like the idea of the less secure apps idea, you can turn it back on and create an app specific password for Mail. That worked for me as well.

    Edit - If you have 2 step authentication turned on, the app specific password should work.

first Previous Page 4 of 8 last Next