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Thunderbird won't retrieve mail from comcast anymore

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 1 view
  • Last reply by Matt

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Thunderbird has stopped retrieving email from my Comcast accounts (4 accounts) last retrieval was at 4:45PM January 9th 2016.

I get no error messages, no messages at all really it just does not retrieve anything. I can still login to the Comcast Xfinity email portal using my browser and so my account and passwords are still valid.


 Application Basics
   Name: Thunderbird
   Version: 38.5.1
   User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/38.5.1
   Profile Folder: Show Folder
             (Local drive)
   Application Build ID: 20151228123010
   Enabled Plugins: about:plugins
   Build Configuration: about:buildconfig
   Memory Use: about:memory
 Mail and News Accounts
   account1:
     INCOMING: account1, , (pop3) mail.comcast.net:110, alwaysSTARTTLS, passwordCleartext
     OUTGOING: smtp.comcast.net:587, alwaysSTARTTLS, passwordCleartext, true
   account2:
     INCOMING: account2, , (none) Local Folders, plain, passwordCleartext
   account3:
     INCOMING: account3, , (pop3) mail.comcast.net:110, alwaysSTARTTLS, passwordCleartext
     OUTGOING: smtp.comcast.net:587, alwaysSTARTTLS, passwordCleartext, true
   account4:
     INCOMING: account4, , (pop3) mail.comcast.net:110, alwaysSTARTTLS, passwordCleartext
     OUTGOING: smtp.comcast.net:587, alwaysSTARTTLS, passwordCleartext, true
 Crash Reports
 Extensions
   Lightning, 4.0.5.1, true, {e2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103}
 Important Modified Preferences
   Name: Value
     accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0
     browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false
     extensions.lastAppVersion: 38.5.1
     font.internaluseonly.changed: true
     font.name.monospace.el: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.tr: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-baltic: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-central-euro: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-cyrillic: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-unicode: Consolas
     font.name.monospace.x-western: Consolas
     font.name.sans-serif.el: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.tr: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-baltic: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-central-euro: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-cyrillic: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-unicode: Calibri
     font.name.sans-serif.x-western: Calibri
     font.name.serif.el: Cambria
     font.name.serif.tr: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-baltic: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-central-euro: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-cyrillic: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-unicode: Cambria
     font.name.serif.x-western: Cambria
     font.size.fixed.el: 14
     font.size.fixed.tr: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-baltic: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-central-euro: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-cyrillic: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-unicode: 14
     font.size.fixed.x-western: 14
     font.size.variable.el: 17
     font.size.variable.tr: 17
     font.size.variable.x-baltic: 17
     font.size.variable.x-central-euro: 17
     font.size.variable.x-cyrillic: 17
     font.size.variable.x-unicode: 17
     font.size.variable.x-western: 17
     gfx.direct3d.last_used_feature_level_idx: 1
     mail.openMessageBehavior.version: 1
     mail.winsearch.enable: true
     mail.winsearch.firstRunDone: true
     mail.winsearch.global_reindex_time: 1356299440
     mailnews.database.global.datastore.id: 70e9e0c1-e86a-4084-b89d-1937b83efd9
     mailnews.database.global.views.conversation.columns: {"threadCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"1"},"flaggedCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"3"},"attachmentCol":{"visible":false…
     mailnews.database.global.views.global.columns: {"threadCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"1"},"flaggedCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"3"},"attachmentCol":{"visible":false…
     network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true
     network.predictor.cleaned-up: true
     places.database.lastMaintenance: 1452092186
     places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858
     plugin.importedState: true
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_bgcolor: false
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_bgimages: false
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_colorspace:
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_command:
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_downloadfonts: false
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_duplex: 0
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_edge_bottom: 0
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_edge_left: 0
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_edge_right: 0
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_edge_top: 0
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_evenpages: true
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_footercenter:
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_footerleft: &PT
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_footerright: &D
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_headercenter:
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_headerleft: &T
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_headerright: &U
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_in_color: true
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_margin_bottom: 0.5
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_margin_left: 0.5
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_margin_right: 0.5
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_margin_top: 0.5
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_oddpages: true
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_orientation: 0
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_page_delay: 50
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_paper_data: 1
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_paper_height: 11.00
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_paper_name:
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_paper_size_type: 0
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_paper_size_unit: 0
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_paper_width: 8.50
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_plex_name:
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_resolution: 0
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_resolution_name:
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_reversed: false
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_scaling: 1.00
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_shrink_to_fit: true
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_to_file: false
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom: 0
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_unwriteable_margin_left: 0
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_unwriteable_margin_right: 0
     print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_unwriteable_margin_top: 0
 Graphics
     Adapter Description: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250
     Vendor ID: 0x10de
     Device ID: 0x0615
     Adapter RAM: 1024
     Adapter Drivers: nvd3dumx,nvwgf2umx,nvwgf2umx nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
     Driver Version: 9.18.13.4181
     Driver Date: 8-17-2015
     Direct2D Enabled: false
     DirectWrite Enabled: false (6.2.9200.17568)
     ClearType Parameters: ClearType parameters not found
     WebGL Renderer: false
     GPU Accelerated Windows: 0
     AzureCanvasBackend: skia
     AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0
     AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo
     AzureContentBackend: cairo
 JavaScript
 Incremental GC: 1
 Accessibility
   Activated: 0
   Prevent Accessibility: 0
 Library Versions
     Expected minimum version
     Version in use
     NSPR
     4.10.10
     4.10.10
     NSS
     3.19.2.1 Basic ECC
     3.19.2.1 Basic ECC
     NSS Util
     3.19.2.1
     3.19.2.1
     NSS SSL
     3.19.2.1 Basic ECC
     3.19.2.1 Basic ECC
     NSS S/MIME
     3.19.2.1 Basic ECC
     3.19.2.1 Basic ECC
Thunderbird has stopped retrieving email from my Comcast accounts (4 accounts) last retrieval was at 4:45PM January 9th 2016. I get no error messages, no messages at all really it just does not retrieve anything. I can still login to the Comcast Xfinity email portal using my browser and so my account and passwords are still valid. Application Basics Name: Thunderbird Version: 38.5.1 User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:38.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/38.5.1 Profile Folder: Show Folder (Local drive) Application Build ID: 20151228123010 Enabled Plugins: about:plugins Build Configuration: about:buildconfig Memory Use: about:memory Mail and News Accounts account1: INCOMING: account1, , (pop3) mail.comcast.net:110, alwaysSTARTTLS, passwordCleartext OUTGOING: smtp.comcast.net:587, alwaysSTARTTLS, passwordCleartext, true account2: INCOMING: account2, , (none) Local Folders, plain, passwordCleartext account3: INCOMING: account3, , (pop3) mail.comcast.net:110, alwaysSTARTTLS, passwordCleartext OUTGOING: smtp.comcast.net:587, alwaysSTARTTLS, passwordCleartext, true account4: INCOMING: account4, , (pop3) mail.comcast.net:110, alwaysSTARTTLS, passwordCleartext OUTGOING: smtp.comcast.net:587, alwaysSTARTTLS, passwordCleartext, true Crash Reports Extensions Lightning, 4.0.5.1, true, {e2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103} Important Modified Preferences Name: Value accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0 browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false extensions.lastAppVersion: 38.5.1 font.internaluseonly.changed: true font.name.monospace.el: Consolas font.name.monospace.tr: Consolas font.name.monospace.x-baltic: Consolas font.name.monospace.x-central-euro: Consolas font.name.monospace.x-cyrillic: Consolas font.name.monospace.x-unicode: Consolas font.name.monospace.x-western: Consolas font.name.sans-serif.el: Calibri font.name.sans-serif.tr: Calibri font.name.sans-serif.x-baltic: Calibri font.name.sans-serif.x-central-euro: Calibri font.name.sans-serif.x-cyrillic: Calibri font.name.sans-serif.x-unicode: Calibri font.name.sans-serif.x-western: Calibri font.name.serif.el: Cambria font.name.serif.tr: Cambria font.name.serif.x-baltic: Cambria font.name.serif.x-central-euro: Cambria font.name.serif.x-cyrillic: Cambria font.name.serif.x-unicode: Cambria font.name.serif.x-western: Cambria font.size.fixed.el: 14 font.size.fixed.tr: 14 font.size.fixed.x-baltic: 14 font.size.fixed.x-central-euro: 14 font.size.fixed.x-cyrillic: 14 font.size.fixed.x-unicode: 14 font.size.fixed.x-western: 14 font.size.variable.el: 17 font.size.variable.tr: 17 font.size.variable.x-baltic: 17 font.size.variable.x-central-euro: 17 font.size.variable.x-cyrillic: 17 font.size.variable.x-unicode: 17 font.size.variable.x-western: 17 gfx.direct3d.last_used_feature_level_idx: 1 mail.openMessageBehavior.version: 1 mail.winsearch.enable: true mail.winsearch.firstRunDone: true mail.winsearch.global_reindex_time: 1356299440 mailnews.database.global.datastore.id: 70e9e0c1-e86a-4084-b89d-1937b83efd9 mailnews.database.global.views.conversation.columns: {"threadCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"1"},"flaggedCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"3"},"attachmentCol":{"visible":false… mailnews.database.global.views.global.columns: {"threadCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"1"},"flaggedCol":{"visible":true,"ordinal":"3"},"attachmentCol":{"visible":false… network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true network.predictor.cleaned-up: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1452092186 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 104858 plugin.importedState: true print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_bgcolor: false print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_bgimages: false print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_colorspace: print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_command: print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_downloadfonts: false print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_duplex: 0 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_edge_bottom: 0 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_edge_left: 0 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_edge_right: 0 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_edge_top: 0 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_evenpages: true print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_footercenter: print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_footerleft: &PT print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_footerright: &D print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_headercenter: print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_headerleft: &T print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_headerright: &U print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_in_color: true print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_margin_bottom: 0.5 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_margin_left: 0.5 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_margin_right: 0.5 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_margin_top: 0.5 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_oddpages: true print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_orientation: 0 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_page_delay: 50 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_paper_data: 1 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_paper_height: 11.00 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_paper_name: print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_paper_size_type: 0 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_paper_size_unit: 0 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_paper_width: 8.50 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_plex_name: print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_resolution: 0 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_resolution_name: print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_reversed: false print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_scaling: 1.00 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_shrink_to_fit: true print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_to_file: false print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom: 0 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_unwriteable_margin_left: 0 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_unwriteable_margin_right: 0 print.printer_\\http://192.168.1.117:631\ML-1450.print_unwriteable_margin_top: 0 Graphics Adapter Description: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 Vendor ID: 0x10de Device ID: 0x0615 Adapter RAM: 1024 Adapter Drivers: nvd3dumx,nvwgf2umx,nvwgf2umx nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um Driver Version: 9.18.13.4181 Driver Date: 8-17-2015 Direct2D Enabled: false DirectWrite Enabled: false (6.2.9200.17568) ClearType Parameters: ClearType parameters not found WebGL Renderer: false GPU Accelerated Windows: 0 AzureCanvasBackend: skia AzureSkiaAccelerated: 0 AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: cairo AzureContentBackend: cairo JavaScript Incremental GC: 1 Accessibility Activated: 0 Prevent Accessibility: 0 Library Versions Expected minimum version Version in use NSPR 4.10.10 4.10.10 NSS 3.19.2.1 Basic ECC 3.19.2.1 Basic ECC NSS Util 3.19.2.1 3.19.2.1 NSS SSL 3.19.2.1 Basic ECC 3.19.2.1 Basic ECC NSS S/MIME 3.19.2.1 Basic ECC 3.19.2.1 Basic ECC

Chosen solution

For the encrypted connection your using comcast recommend port 995 not 110

So my guess it you either use connection security of none or change the port. Probably Comacst have had a grace period for folk to change settings which expired at the beginning of the month. Usually they send an email and give you about 6 months or a year to comply.

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (4)

more options

I just realized that this coincides with an update for Firefox that was pushed on January 9th.

more options

Chosen Solution

For the encrypted connection your using comcast recommend port 995 not 110

So my guess it you either use connection security of none or change the port. Probably Comacst have had a grace period for folk to change settings which expired at the beginning of the month. Usually they send an email and give you about 6 months or a year to comply.

more options

Yes I had to set it to use SSL/TLS on Port 995 instead of STARTTLS on port 110 like it used to be.

Thank you.

more options

I do not have access to a Comcast mail account to test, but I would like to make some changes to Thunderbird automatic account wizard based on what you are experiencing. So like all community based project we look to our community for help.

To be sure I get it right.

Could you please try; Port 110 with SSL instead of STARTTLS Port 995 with STARTTLS instead of SSL.

STARTTLS is actually higher security that SSL. so before setting all new accounts to SSL I would like to be sure STARTTLS does not work with port 995 likewise I would like to check if any connection security works with port 110. as any is better than none.