See attached mage that would not upload with my first question.

Hi These instructions from Vodafone may help: https://broadband.vodafone.ie/download/files/thunder.pdf They do mention Eircom, and they say it is not a good idea to have multiple outgoing servers set up in Thunderbird. I would suggest deleting any that you know do not work, and try setting vodafone as the default. Good luck, Agnes (volunteer, Thunderbird user)

Thank you for your reply, but your suggestion does not work. Already tried. Are you able to pass on my request to Mozilla Thunderbird support as mentioned in the title above, if so have you done so, and if not, do you know how I can actually contact them please? Their "contact us" & "submit new support ticket" sections only take me around in circles..or to this community support. It seems like Mozilla support do not want any of their users to annoy them with any questions!..

> Vodafone told me that they no longer supported my previous outgoing server (mail1.eircom.net) and that I had to find a different one. After a lot of trying and searching I tried mail.iol.ie, as outgoing server and it fixed the problem. I have been able to send emails since then, until today, for some inexplicable reason, when i has stopped working again.

1. This is absolutely not a bug in Thunderbird.

2. If you retitle your support request, perhaps someone who understands iol.ie or message sending issues in general will be attracted to helping your real issue.

3. This venue IS Thunderbird support, provided by volunteers. It is hosted by Mozilla, which is why you see that name plastered here - but it is misleading because the actually help is not coming from Mozilla.

This link explains how Tbird support works. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-faq#w_where-can-i-get-help-with-using-thunderbird Welcome to the open source community - where a lot of people work together to create and maintain a great program across multiple platforms and in many languages, and they are (almost all) unpaid volunteers. That's just how open source works. Best wishes, Agnes (Librarian and open source advocate)

The links says that "Thunderbird does not offer support via email, fax, chat, phone, remote, nor paid support."

How pathetically unhelpful, useless, inconvenient, frustrating, time-wasting, unprofessional and totally unacceptable that is!

So what are users supposed to do when there is a problem with Thunderbird that the support community can not help with and that Thunderbird will remain unaware of since they cannot be contacted tto know about it or to resolve it??!! What typical useless unjustified nonsense..

You keep ranting but your replies don't seem to demonstrate you want assistance from those who are offering their best advice to you in real time.

This is a volunteer effort and you a using a free product. Make of that what you will.

Furthermore, F1 in the Thunderbird Help menu takes you directly to the support site where asking a question is one click away, so your claim that things are hidden is rubbish.

That said, I'll see if someone I know understands any of the ericom eir.ie garbage .

You should try and contact your outgoing mail provider, e.g. iol.ie, and see what settings they support.

I can't imagine that your current settings using port 25, no authentication and no connection security are correct and it may very well be that your ISP blocks connections on this port.

If you do have a mail account with iol.ie, I suggest you try to switch to SSL/TLS or STARTTLS security and specify your username and password to login and see if that helps.

I've changed the topic to something more helpful.

Also, it occurs to me there may be misunderstanding. Yes, people here are volunteers, but they are not idiots. Most have been helping Thunderbird users for many years, and many are IT professionals with decades of experience. In short, we are pretty effective in helping users. Onno is one such person.

Wayne Merry,

explaining my predicament is not "ranting" and I have had no helpful assistance here to my problem yet.

F1 in Thunderbird help takes me directly to the support site, where it took me half an hour to find the hidden (very difficult to find) "submit a new request" button, which does nothing but keep opening pages to bring you back to the same page once again, going around in circles for another half hour! There is no way to contact Mozilla support themselves, that I can find. So it is your claim that is incorrect rubbish.

In fact, the link I was provided with above, as already mentioned above, states that "Thunderbird does not offer support via email, fax, chat, phone, remote, nor paid support."

I never claimed people here were idiots. I just stated that it is impossible to contact Mozilla Thunderbird support, which are the ones who should be made aware of my problem in order to resolve the technical errors they may as yet not be aware of. This is why I already stated that "I look forward to hearing from Thunderbird official support (not a volunteer please) with a solution as soon as possible ..

Why is it impossible to contact Mozilla Thunderbird themselves for support on their product, whether it is free or not? What's the problem? It seems that they do not want to be bothered by their users, and this is why they make it impossible to contact them, even though they have a "contact us" button and "submit a new support request" button, that all lead to endless sets of irrelevant articles we have to wade through for another half hour again. I had to type nonsense into the question box in order to bypass the help articles and access the support forum, which is not contacting Mozilla themselves.

Again.. How typically, pathetically unhelpful, useless, inconvenient, frustrating, time-wasting, unprofessional and totally unacceptable!

davidjcaron said

explaining my predicament is not "ranting" and I have had no helpful assistance here to my problem yet.

I just got here and I have no idea what your problem is. Perhaps you did not explain it as well as you think you did in the first instance. I gather is has something to do with not being able to send mail from an @eircom.net email address. What this iol.ie is I really have no idea, but it appears to be some poor configuration decisions from the distant past that have come home to roost. Vodaphone as you provider should be able to tell you what SMTP server to use. ASking in a forum other than one provided by the account provider makes confirming the correct settings very difficult, especially when dealing with folk that think mail on port 25 without authentication is reasonable. Those settings belong in a previous century.

F1 in Thunderbird help takes me directly to the support site, where it took me half an hour to find the hidden (very difficult to find) "submit a new request" button,

Do you want support with some issue or do you want to debate how Mozilla run their support site. If it is the latter, you are wasting your time here. No one here works for Mozilla or sets their policies. We (the Thunderbird project) use their site because they are good enough to allow it's use by the Thunderbird project without charge. But it is a self help arrangement, you are offered support articles based on your question. You put in a rubbish question, so I assume you were offered rubbish support articles that were not relevant as you did not ask your real question. Garbage in Garbage out. Perhaps one of the oldest and truest adages related to computers.

In fact, the link I was provided with above, as already mentioned above, states that "Thunderbird does not offer support via email, fax, chat, phone, remote, nor paid support."

Correct. but I really don't get your point at all. You are in the official Thunderbird support site. It is an internet forum. This is it, it does not get better than this.

I never claimed people here were idiots. I just stated that it is impossible to contact Mozilla Thunderbird support,

What part of you are there do you not understand. I have no idea what your expectation are, but this forum is it. You have contacted "Thunderbird Support" and apparently want to labor your point that has nothing to do with what is causing you trouble with your email.

which are the ones who should be made aware of my problem in order to resolve the technical errors they may as yet not be aware of.

I see no technical error. What I see is a problem with account settings. Perhaps because your provider is providing a level of support equivalent to the price you pay. I have no idea what they agreed to provide you with when you signed up for broadband, but most offer 24/7 phone support. The issue with most of those phone support things is the people paid to answer the phones are usually reading from a script. If you don't ask the right question, they have no idea.

This is why I already stated that "I look forward to hearing from Thunderbird official support (not a volunteer please) with a solution as soon as possible ..

You will look forward for ever because you still apparently don't get it.

You are at Thunderbird support, you have had your say and to be honest have belabored a point in a manner that I find difficult to comprehend.

Why is it impossible to contact Mozilla Thunderbird themselves for support on their product, whether it is free or not?

Here we go again, your again on the same topic you have belabored since your first posting. But I will try again in the hopes that is yet another person tells you the same thing in a different manner you will get it.

This forum is Thunderbird support. You have made contact, and stated your case. I really don't know how to make that more plain. Regardless of your personal feelings or opinions, there is no "Thunderbird support" where people who draw a salary or wage can be contacted. Such a place does not exist. So you need to get over the idea that someone is hiding it from you. You vision of Thunderbird support does not exist. You are here.

What's the problem?

It would appear folks are talking, but you are not listening, as what they are saying is not what you want or accept to be the case.

It seems that they do not want to be bothered by their users, and this is why they make it impossible to contact them, even though they have a "contact us" button and "submit a new support request" button, that all lead to endless sets of irrelevant articles we have to wade through for another half hour again. I had to type nonsense into the question box in order to bypass the help articles and access the support forum, which is not contacting Mozilla themselves.

Here we go again. The Thunderbird project is allowed the use of this forum by the Mozilla foundation to support the Thunderbird product. Mozilla do not have anything to do with Thunderbird. They dropped it in 2012. The announcement by the Chair of the Mozilla foundation on the 6th July 2012 can be read here https://blog.lizardwrangler.com/2012/07/06/thunderbird-stability-and-community-innovation/

Since Mozilla pulled out Thunderbird has been developed by a volunteer community in the past couple of years with some paid development support provided by folks that work from home as the project has no paid support staff, no office and no telephones.

I suggest you update your perceptions so that your support request can actually get past your misconceptions to the actual issue that hand.

Again.. How typically, pathetically unhelpful, useless, inconvenient, frustrating, time-wasting, unprofessional and totally unacceptable!

I could say that about your behaviors in this forum. lots of words written and basically none of them about what is causing you issues with your mail client.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Now to your apparent mail sending issue. I hope I have explained the situation to you in a manner that you can understand and accept. But be assured I have no intention of covering that ground again. That topic is closed.

To the best of my knowledge mail1.eircom.net. is the outgoing server name to use, or it can sometimes be mail2.eircom.net. That would be based on google searches because you provider does not appear to publish the setting you need to use in a place I can access it. I can not access the PDF file Agnes provided but the cached copy google provided, without images, would appear to use mail.vodafone.ie and that is the only official information anyone has from Vodaphone.

It would appear that you MUST be connected to the internet using their internet service and the use of some anti virus/ Internet security suites will cause that to fail, as will subscribing to a Virtual Private Network (VPN) as the mask the true connection to "hide" you.

I strongly suggest you ring your internet service provider and ask them what SMTP setting users of @eircom.net should use. It is their email system, and their servers. I have manged to confirm that mail1.eircom.net appears to be an SMTP server, but I am unable to actually test the server to determine anything further. all ports appear to be closed, so I assume I would have to be in Ireland to access the server.

I do see some information on the vodaphone web site about email relays being closed in 2018, but I am afraid it is all gibberish to me and does not appear to be related to them providing standard POP and SMTP services. Although If it is like here in Australia they are a bargain basement provider of services sub contracted from a third party.

Do you have an anti virus product scanning email? might be a very good idea to disable that or any VPN while you work through your issues.

Just to be clear, I have read some very poor information in researching this, mostly from folk that should be offering better (vodaphone) Email addresses come as a paired service. So if you get an email address from say Google it comes with a Google SMTP server. If you get one from outlook.com it comes with an outlook.com SMTP server. likewise you get one from vodaphone it should come with a vodaphone outgoing server. Not some third pary relay that even if it worked would probably see your mail flagged as SPAM.

So I strongly suggest you delete all entries in your outgoing server (SMTP) for any server for which you do not have an incoming account.

If you can not make eircom.net work, I suggest you get an account with Google and get them to collect incoming mail from that eircom.net email address and write it off as a dead loss.

Some additional diagnostic steps you can take;

• Restart Thunderbird with add-ons disabled (Thunderbird Safe Mode). On the Help menu, click on "Restart with Add-ons Disabled". If Thunderbird works like normal, there is an Add-on or Theme interfering with normal operations. You will need to re-enable add-ons one at a time until you locate the offender.
• Restart the operating system in safe mode with Networking. This loads only the very basics needed to start your computer while enabling an Internet connection. Click on your operating system for instructions on how to start in safe mode: Windows 10

davidjcaron said

In fact, the link I was provided with above, as already mentioned above, states that "Thunderbird does not offer support via email, fax, chat, phone, remote, nor paid support." Why is it impossible to contact Mozilla Thunderbird themselves for support on their product, whether it is free or not? What's the problem?

Short version.

Despite Mozilla in the name Mozilla Thunderbird it is not a Mozilla product anymore for a while now. https://blog.thunderbird.net/2017/05/thunderbirds-future-home/ .. https://blog.thunderbird.net/2019/01/thunderbird-in-2019/

Mozilla has been generous in providing a place on support.mozilla.org for Thunderbird users to get support since February 21, 2014 as Thunderbird support used to be on the Get Satisfaction support platform.

The Thunderbird project community is small compared to Mozilla so they do not have the means to provide direct contact by way of phone, chat, email etc. It is not that they are avoiding contact per say but rather cannot do so what you are asking for.

Even the company Mozilla does not have the resources to have the staffed call centres that would be needed to do one on one support for their own products like the desktop Firefox and mobile versions for iOS and Android.

The vast majority of free to use and open source products out there do not have one on one support options. It is generally the pay for products that you buy from a retail store or in paying for activating a digital download with a subscription or key or such (like say antivirus clients and Microsoft Windows) that can have one on on support options..

Thanks.. but my email error issue still remains.. It seems no-one here is able to figure out the problem or provide a solution.. and having no support for a product is no use to anyone..

Perhaps we could take a step back and get a fuller picture of relevant information

• Did it break when an updated occurred to Thunderbird, or did it happen out of the blue?
• What conclusion can be drawn from the answer?
• What forum post URLs show the vendor's attempts to resolve this issue?
• Are you willing to capature a protocol log for a developer to analyze?

Can you please also share with us your Account Settings from your webmail.eircom.net account? Go to Tools > Account Settings and click on webmail.eircom.net on the top left. Specifically, what is set under Outgoing Server (SMTP). Is that you Default server or is it set to something else?

And can you please stop saying you're not getting any support? This is Thunderbird support and you're getting it and stating otherwise without helping us giving you support won't get you any close to a solution.

My issue seems to have resolved itself by itself today. Apparently Eircom had a known email problem that some of their support staff were not made aware of..

Thank you to all who tried to help anyway.. If I have any further issues, I will be back..

I have the same problem once again. I use Thunderbird to access my emails. My email address is puzzzle@eircom.net & I have a Vodafone home broadband package. I am able to receive emails but not send them from Thunderbird, as I have been able to do for the last few months, after the previous same problem suddenly resolved itself.

My outgoing server is still mail.iol.ie, port 25, no authentication. I have not changed any settings since or before. 2 days ago my emails stopped sending from Thunderbird, even though I am able to log into eir.ie and send emails from there, which is inconvenient due to having 1000's of emails and folders stored in Thunderbird that I need to access and reply from.

Whenever I send an email from Thuunderbird, I get this error message :

An error occurred while sending mail: The mail server sent an incorrect greeting: Cannot connect to SMTP server 193.95.142.37 (193.95.142.37:25), connect error 10060.

I phoned eircom, who said they could not help. It seems that Vodafone no longer support my previous outgoing server, which was mail1.eircom.net or the one previous to that which was mail.vodafone.ie. I since then, (over a year ago) discovered that mail.iol.ie worked instead, but this has now stopped working 2 days ago. Can anyone help to suggest what the problem is and why this keeps happening every few months, or how to resolve it please?

Hi David,

If you really think this is a Thunderbird problem, please answer the questions Thunderbird support asked before, so that we have enough information to help you.

Maybe you can try with another e-mail client (not webmail!!) to send messages using the settings you specified? That way you can check yourself if it's a problem with Thunderbird or with your settings.

Onno

Hi Onno,

As far as I am aware I have already answered the questions asked before. I have already provided above my outgoing server details from my Thunderbird tools account settings, if that is what you mean?

My default outgoing server is still mail.iol.ie, port 25, no authentication. This has been working fine for many months until 2 days ago. I have changed nothing since or prior to this.

Is there anything else you need to know? If so please specify and I will do my best to answer that too..

I do not have any other email client. Which one would you suggest trying? Is Thunderbird support perhaps able to remote access my laptop to see what the problem may be? Thanks..