Sending Mail Hurdle: "Mailbox unavailable"
I've been using Thunderbird with AOL. I created a new profile to use with Mail.com.
The Mail.com one has made it so that I can't send emails from Thunderbird, only from the browser. I've worked with their tech reps. All of the settings are in order.
Now I received a variation of the Mail.com error message with my AOL profile:
"An error occurred while sending mail. The mail server responded: Request failed; Mailbox unavailable. Please check the message and try again."
The support forum covered this topic once, I see, but without a satisfactory response: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1169271
(Nevertheless, there was one suggestion that was a little different than my settings -- as the problem-solver kindly explained in this attached image: https://prod-cdn.sumo.mozilla.net/uploads/images/2017-07-31-08-19-37-140f14.png -- the idea was to add a different "Description" name in the "SMTP Server" window. That did not help.)
The only other place this topic was covered that I could find was in another forum, and I thought I hit the jackpot: https://forums.att.com/t5/AT-T-Internet-Email-Security/Unable-to-send-mail-in-Thunderbird/m-p/5403198#M31891
"Try recreating the password again. Open TB's preferences, security, passwords tab, saved logins. Click on the entry for (EXAMPLE: smtp://outbound.att.net) and remove it. The next send attempt will prompt you for the password. Enter it and be sure to click the checkbox to update the password manager. See if you can send now."
In my version of Thunderbird, the pathway was TOOLS > OPTIONS > SECURITY> PASSWORDS> SAVED PASSWORDS. I followed the rest of the directions, and the problem remains.
If anyone has ideas, I would appreciate them.
As we all know, when it comes to computer problems, sometimes the problem resolves itself. Probably I will be able to send the AOL mails through Thunderbird again, after waiting a while. (I don't understand why the problem started with AOL, however.) Yet the "Mail.com" profile has always provided a roadblock to sending emails.
Only briefly, after setting up the Mail.com account, and the after repeated attempts of deleting the account and setting it back up again, was I able to send a couple of emails. Then I kept getting hit with the "mailbox unavailable" notification.
To eliminate possibilities, in the Mozilla Support page, Moderator Matt had written:
"That is a server error. so we are left with only a couple of options. 1. The settings a wrong. 2. Your anti virus or other software is messing with the connection. 3. The server is actually having issues."
In my case:
1. The settings are 100% correct 2. The anti-virus has never offered problems with the AOL account. I tried disabling (Avast) anyway, and it made no difference 3. I suspect the server may be having issues as I've written, as probably the AOL profile will start working again. On the other hand, the Mail.com profile has always presented a problem, so it's not the server. (I am able to send, again, emails through the browser method of Mail.com.)
My Thunderbird version is 60.6.1; I was surprised to read the "(32-bit)" notation, because I don't understand why I wouldn't have installed the correct 64-bit version. Could that have anything to do with it? I can't imagine so, because, again, everything with the AOL profile had been working well for a long enough time. (If I have to reinstall, I am worried that all of the stored emails/folders/information may not return.)
Thank you very much.
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Chosen solution
See if this helps. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1260234#answer-1226149
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (5)
Dear Christ1:
First, I would like to thank you (as well as Matt; but this one was your baby, as you were the first to respond) for being a gentleman, and to keep spending your time on this bugaboo.
I'll get into a little detail, to help those in the future with this same problem.
In my second from last reply from above (5/26), I had written that I searched the archives for this TB forum, desperately trying to figure out the "OAuth2" business; 12 results came up on https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1259692.
One of them was the link you helpfully provided, and I quickly recognized the words within. I remember paying good heed to this one.
The last entry from the "Question Owner" revealed he could only make the "OAuth2" change for the SMTP server, not for the POP server. As I wrote above, there are two places to make the change, not just in the Account Settings > Edit SMTP server (for the SMTP server), but also on the "Server Settings" page (accessible from the left pane, which opens up once one right-clicks on the account from the main TB page and chooses "Settings").
The "Question Owner" also revealed what he felt was the importance of accepting cookies. I recall making sure (from TB's main page, Tools/Options/Privacy/Web Content/Show Cookies) that the "Accept cookies from sites" box was checked (it was so, by default), and to make sure, I recall clicking on the "Show cookies" button; the AOL site was among a handful listed.
So it looked like back to the drawing board, but then I paid note to the last entry of the helper's, which I had originally missed or dismissed:
"Are you using a different reply-to address then you are sending with?"
That was like a "EUREKA" moment, because I recall being on the phone with the "Mail.com" tech representative who had performed a "computer assist." (A nice lady from the Philippines.) When she noticed the "reply-to address" (accessible by right-clicking on the account from the main TB page, and choosing "Settings") had a different address than the main address listed directly above (for "Email address"), she informed me that Mail.com does not support the "reply-to address."
At that point, I inwardly laughed at her, perhaps with a touch of cruelty, because I knew from my AOL account in Thunderbird that I had an email address in the "reply-to address" section, and everything worked fine. (Logic told me that if it worked with AOL, it should also work with Mail.com.)
But now that things were getting desperate, I swallowed my pride and thought I should get rid of the "reply-to address," to see what would happen.
Son of a Gun! The "Send" worked... no more "mailbox unavailable"!
What... who.... huh... why? Which? When? Waddle?
Why would that have never given trouble in the past, and would wind up being the key, now?
So perhaps the anti-virus was not the issue, and nor was the "OAuth2"; I am aware the latter proved unnecessary, because I have two other AOL accounts on TB, and they remain intact with "Normal password."
Who knows? (Damned computers.)
Anyway...
This one looked like it was going to be unsolvable, so...
How can I thank you, Christ1, my lord and savior? (Jiminy Crickets. I'm not even Christian.)
.
Here is the answer to this problem: In Thunderbird go to
Tools-->Account Settings
Highlight your email account in the left hand pane, e.g. MyName@SBCGlobal.net
There are three text boxes in the right-hand window, one above the other:
Your Name: John Smith Email Address: JohnSmith65@SBCGlobal.net Reply To Address: LEAVE THIS BLANK!!!!!
AT&T's servers previously allowed you to include a "Reply To" address, e.g. officeaccount@gmail.com
NO LONGER. AT&T has recently changed its servers to reject any email sent to the outgoing smtp server att.outbound.net that has ANY entry in the "Reply To" text box. AT&T will react to any reply to address with a "Mailbox Unavailable" error message.
Completely remove any characters of any type from the TBird "Reply To" text box and close account settings, and you will again be able to sent email through AT&T servers assuming that all your other settings and passwords are correct.
FYI this fix worked for me on my SBCGlobal.net AT&T account accessed via the att.outbound.net outgoing SMPT server.
Yep, that indeed did the trick, Flythundy. It all indeed hinged on how the "Reply to Address" needed to be left blank. Thanks for clarifying, for future visitors.
It now occurred to me there was another user, "Flybob," that had the same problem on the first page, and then Christ1 asked Flybob to beat it and start his own page. ("Flybob, please start a new topic for your problem.")
I got curious if Flybob indeed did so, and when I clicked on his name, I noticed he began his own thread for the same problem, on the same day, May 22 (and only ten minutes after Christ1's post):
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1259805
His issue was resolved on the very next day, May 23rd, and he solved his problem himself. It was the same resolution as the one we arrived at, here.
Yet the thing I am now grappling with is...
Matt!
You were privy to the "Leave the 'Reply to Address' blank" solution, as you were helpfully communicating with Flybob on his thread. So why the HECK did you keep this solution a secret on this thread, making me sweat for an additional six days, until I finally figured out what to do, with Christ1's help?
(You helpfully arrived on this thread on May 24, one day after Flybob had announced his solution, and then we had to do the "Avast" anti-virus dance, and then I had to go through the "OAuth" torture, thanks to your suggestion, and...)
MATT !!!!!!
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I am subscribed to 14866 thread on this forum. While you thread is important to you, I just sort of keep up with the new postings. I rarely have time to go back. However it is your provider that changed the setting you are required to use. I am neither a US resident, not have I ever been there. Therefore I guess I am not a customer being treated poorly by ATT/Yahoo/AOL/Verizon. My internet service provider is rubbish, but not to this level.
I suggest you seek redress from your provider for not informing you. Instead of offering dates and criticism of why I did or did not do what I can to solve an issue for you, created by your choice of mail provider.
Hoo-boy, those guys (ATT/Yahoo/AOL/Verizon) get plenty of blame (inasmuch as the middle two have offered their services internationally, so that there would be other sufferers throughout the globe); sorry to learn the service from your country does not seem to offer much of an improvement.
When I noticed your valuable helping hand on the other thread addressing the exact same problem, it seemed the problem would have been fresh on your mind, including possible solutions. Beyond that, I definitely took note of your pristine record, as of this writing, "3155 solutions, 21506 answers." You are a wonderful person for being so giving of your time, and for unselfishly helping so many others. You cannot be commended too highly, or enough times, Matt. .