User Name
Password
AppleNova Forums » Genius Bar »

Mail can't connect to Road Runner SMTP


Register Members List Calendar Search FAQ Posting Guidelines
Mail can't connect to Road Runner SMTP
Thread Tools
Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-01-20, 15:32

My accounts won't log into the SMTP server for my road runner account. Connection doctor says "log into this SMTP server failed. please make sure username and password are correct." I don't know what to do, the login information is correct, the server information appears to be correct, it's using default ports.

I called RR they said it's an Apple problem, I don't wanna call apple because they'll just shrug me off too. I think this started to happen after the latest OS X patch. I could try posting the "details" from connection doctor, but I'm not sure if this would help, or if it would compromise my information security in any way.

What do I do next? Could this be a firewall issue? Right now I'm stuck logging into webmail if I wanna send an email from that account.

User formally known as Sh0eWax
  quote
Taskiss
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: St. Louis, MO
 
2009-01-20, 16:28

Is this a new account, or has this been working in the past?

If it's something that has worked forever, how long has it been messed up?
  quote
Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-01-20, 16:57

It's worked in the past, I noticed it stopped working about 2-3 weeks ago, I could have happened after I installed 10.5.6. It must be an incompatibility somewhere between my Macs and their server. It works on the windows laptop, just not on either of my Macs (unibody MBP or G4 PB).

EDIT: However, it might be as old an issue as just being due to a Leopard upgrade. Weren't there some changes in mail? Although this seems less likely to me.

User formally known as Sh0eWax

Last edited by Maciej : 2009-01-20 at 17:27.
  quote
FFL
Fishhead Family Reunited
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Slightly Off Center
 
2009-01-20, 18:49

what authentication method is listed in the "Advanced" tab of the "Edit Servers" portion of Outgoing Mail Server?
  quote
Taskiss
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: St. Louis, MO
 
2009-01-20, 18:51

Interestingly enough, when looking at my mail connection doctor report, a smtp server connection to mac.com (the second, there are two for some reason) reports that it can't connect, and there are connections there that I no longer have accounts for...you may want to double check, perhaps even remove and re-create the account you are trying to access. I figure it would have removed them when I deleted the accounts.

real hackers don't use sigs
  quote
Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-01-20, 19:04

Authentication is password, and I've made and remade the servers. But I haven't deleted and preferences or anything. Problem is that this is happening on two separate computers. What is the likelihood it's a glitch?

User formally known as Sh0eWax
  quote
Taskiss
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: St. Louis, MO
 
2009-01-20, 19:09

You're connecting to a roadrunner pop, right? You're not trying to do this from some other isp's connection?
  quote
Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-01-20, 19:19

Yeah, its a pop, but the pop works. The SMTP is a no go. Its at home through my RR modem.
  quote
Taskiss
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: St. Louis, MO
 
2009-01-20, 21:03

Does it receive but not send?
  quote
Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-01-20, 21:30

Exactly. Incoming mail through pop works, outgoing mail via SMTP won't go.
  quote
Taskiss
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: St. Louis, MO
 
2009-01-20, 21:58

Are you enabling SSL? It's on the advanced tab. If not, try that, but from what I can tell it's not supposed to be on...also, from what I can tell you should be using port 25...

From an iPhone forum...

"My RR mail stopped sending after several weeks working perfect with the 587 fix. I had been warned by a RR CSR that this might happen. I'm not sure why or if it was something else that went wrong but i tried everything I knew to get it going again, re entering everything, trying the 465 number, trying the cwmx.com alone etc etc. Finally after rereading much info on this thread and the various links I got it working again today.

What finally worked for me was entering cwmx.com:25 in the smtp box with no username and password and setting the SSL to off. Bingo I could send mail again and all mail stored in out box went on through. I do not know if the :25 is the vital part of it or not and don't want to risk testing to see if it works without it -- am leaving well enough alone for now!!!!!!!"

http://www.everythingicafe.com/forum...e-3331-10.html

real hackers don't use sigs
  quote
Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-01-21, 00:42

Yeah, SSL is no go. What is cwmx.com? I've never heard of it?
  quote
Taskiss
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: St. Louis, MO
 
2009-01-21, 06:22

That's the mail server, I take it. The port number, as well as how it was formated as part of the host identifier and not as a check box "use well known port numbers" or whatever, seems to give clues that may help.

Just clutching at straws at this point.

edit: cwmx.com is for the iPhone's smtp server, apparently it's the "cingular wireless mail" (exchange) server or something... it's the formatting I was referring to though... so if you used something like "smtp.rr.com:25" (or whatever your smtp server's name is followed by the port number) and leave off the port info... then check the details in the connection doctor's output and see what it's doing.

It's really not supposed to be this hard...I've never had a problem even with all the crap that looked to have polluted my server list. I cleaned that all out, by the way - I'm left with my 2 incoming server connections and my 1 outgoing connection... still works like a champ.

Here's some discussion on Apple's forum about roadrunner issues:
http://discussions.apple.com/message...sageID=7002666

which leads to the following (claimed) solution:
Quote:
My mom uses RoadRunner by Time Warner. She was able to receive email using Leopard and Mail but not send. SMTP server was the big problem like everyone else here experienced. We finally were able to get it to work using many ideas here. What we did:

1) Delete com.apple.mail.plist from the User/Library/Preferences folder (BACK UP YOUR EMAIL FIRST)
2) Open Mail and create a new account but disable the automatic set-up feature, put your info in manually.
3) Uncheck " Use only this server" from the outgoing mail
4) Under the Advanced tab on Mail Prefs "port set to 25", Uncheck "SSL" box, and uncheck "Use Authentication"
5) Now hit Create

It took Mail about 20 minutes to contact the SMTP server, but it did and now I can send and receive Mail without any problems on her computer.

Bad Apple...stop criticizing MS and Vista when your own house is not in order yet. Hope this helps someone out there.....
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....sageID=6964913

real hackers don't use sigs

Last edited by Taskiss : 2009-01-21 at 08:51.
  quote
Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-01-21, 12:57

Taskiss, thanks for your patience. And thanks to everyone else that made a contribution, FFL.

It turns out that the information that RR provides is in conflict with what their servers require. After reading those two threads you posted I decided to simply turn off authentication. And although I could swear I'd tried this before (it must have been with other settings changed too) this time it finally worked.

So summing up, RR asks for you to authenticate but the server doesn't require it and bogs down when you try.

User formally known as Sh0eWax
  quote
Taskiss
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: St. Louis, MO
 
2009-01-21, 13:09

cool! Glad you're back on the air!
  quote
LLC333
 
 
2009-02-15, 23:33

I started having the same problem a few days ago. I do remember having this happen a while back so I will need to follow the instructions. If I check my notes it seems familiar to delete the com.apple.mail.plist.

I wonder if this happens to a number of people at the same time with a RR account on a Mac?
  quote
Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-02-16, 00:41

Quote:
Originally Posted by LLC333 View Post
I wonder if this happens to a number of people at the same time with a RR account on a Mac?
Haha, funny you would say that. I was at my local Apple store recently and I overheard a gentleman complaining about not being able to access his RR from his Mac at all. He said he got the "its not a TWC problem, its an Apple problem" speech. Made me wonder how many people this happens to...

In my case it really was a TWC problem.

User formally known as Sh0eWax
  quote
LLC333
 
 
2009-02-16, 21:54

I am going to check back on my notes & see what I can put together. The Mac is new to me & I am just starting to make sense of it so I'll see if I made coherent notes. Just a few days ago both my iMac & Mac Book Pro lost the ability to send from Road Runner. I will get back to you. Thanks for posting your experience.
  quote
Gargoyle
http://ga.rgoyle.com
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: In your dock hiding behind your finder icon!
 
2009-02-17, 10:30

Unauthenticated SMTP
  quote
Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-02-17, 12:13

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gargoyle View Post
Unauthenticated SMTP
  quote
psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2009-02-17, 12:19

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maciej View Post
Haha, funny you would say that. I was at my local Apple store recently and I overheard a gentleman complaining about not being able to access his RR from his Mac at all. He said he got the "its not a TWC problem, its an Apple problem" speech. Made me wonder how many people this happens to...

In my case it really was a TWC problem.
You'd think RoadRunner (or the company itself) would fix this, if it's a simple inconsistency between their instructions vs. "real life requirements".



There's no telling how many people are getting needlessly frustrated (and taking it out on Apple or their new Mac).
  quote
Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2009-02-17, 12:24

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0 View Post
You'd think RoadRunner (or the company itself) would fix this, if it's a simple inconsistency between their instructions vs. "real life requirements".



There's no telling how many people are getting needlessly frustrated (and taking it out on Apple or their new Mac).
I agree, but I don't think they even realize it. Also, I think it authenticates on windows - from what I can tell on my father's laptop. Their whole system is bad. Just bad.

User formally known as Sh0eWax
  quote
psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2009-02-17, 12:43

Well don't they (shouldn't they), then, maybe have a separate set-up procedure for those with Macs? Just seems like it's something easily fixable/avoidable.

"If you're on Windows, do this...

If you're on a Mac, then..."

And how could they not realize it if people are calling in and asking for help with it? It should register, at some point, "hey, we've got a bit of an issue here with quite a few customers; we should probably address it in some way before next year."



This reminds me of my going-in-circles with Earthlink back in about 2000-2001 when I first got DSL through them. What an ordeal...nobody there knew anything, offered no help unless prodded, blamed everything on Pacific Bell, the local Carlsbad telephone lines, Apple, the iMac itself, weather, the apartment complex I was in, etc. After about 42 calls, I finally got it all straightened out...

  quote
Taskiss
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: St. Louis, MO
 
2009-02-17, 12:49

It shouldn't matter what client you use, the server should respond the same to ANY OS client requests with predictable results.
  quote
psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2009-02-17, 12:52

You're right, it should (I've never encountered this problem, setting up my own Macs or a friend or relative's PC).

But there seems to be an exception here, for some reason.

I'm just going on what I'm reading in this thread. When Maciej did the opposite of what was instructed, it worked.

Most people probably wouldn't know that, or ever figure it out (and probably shouldn't).

Might just be an odd, isolated thing between Roadrunner, certain systems, etc.

The Windows comment was because he'd mentioned it did so (the right, expected way) on his Dad's laptop. So there's some sort of odd, inconsistent thing at play.
  quote
Taskiss
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: St. Louis, MO
 
2009-02-17, 12:59

I think RR just has inconsistent administration. It sounds like sometimes it does need auth, sometimes not, possibly different config depending on what server you access, etc.

No corporate consistency = crappy service. That said, I'd never use a providers service for anything other than connectivity. I don't think they charge enough to really do IT right.

I use mac.com 'cause I can change net providers and not change my address or site or anything.

real hackers don't use sigs
  quote
psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2009-02-17, 13:49

Exactly! Same here...

I've been a .Mac (iTools ) user since Day One (back before they started charging), and across three states of residence, 2-3 cable companies/ISPs, etc., I've been pscates [at] mac.com since 2001. No changes, all my mockups or any other stuff I upload has never been lost or shuffled (or moved to a new place and re-linked), etc.

It's just convenient, and the tie-ins with the iPhone and various iLife apps is certainly nice. I'm happy to give them $99 a year if I don't have to think or worry about some of the stuff I'm not good at figuring out (or don't have the patience/savvy to chase down and monkey with).

  quote
Posting Rules Navigation
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Post Reply

Forum Jump
Thread Tools
Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
good ISP, host or service for mass-mail smtp? apple007 General Discussion 5 2007-02-12 22:12
Is it possible to connect to an MSN email account with Mail? zippy Genius Bar 2 2006-11-03 04:25
Slight Mail Problem with SMTP on GMail Jason Genius Bar 3 2006-08-29 23:22
smtp in Tiger Mail.app suddenly dead jsk173 Genius Bar 19 2005-06-24 07:17
F*ck Timer Warner/Road Runner HOM General Discussion 7 2004-11-19 22:01


« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:45.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2024, AppleNova