Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

mpancha · Feb 14, 2006, 02:14 PM

Ever since I updated to 10.4.4 (from 10.4.3) I haven't been able to send email in Mail. I have 5 accounts setup in Mail, one is Gmail and that one works fine. But the rest use the default SMTP port (25) and I can't send period through them.

At first I thought it was just me, but now one of the employees at a client of mine informed me he's having the same problems.

I've recreated the email accounts more times that I care to, and I have formatted completely my laptop since I originally noticed this problem (for other reasons, but formatted nonetheless). When I formatted I kept my Mail, but no preferences at all to avoid any possible issues there.

The error I get when I try to send through any account via port 25 is "cannot send message using server mail.xxxxxxxx.com", this is true for 4 seperate accounts. ALl of these accounts work fine on any 10.4.3 account I set them up on, and on Windows machines.

Anyone know what might be going on?

mpancha · Feb 15, 2006, 08:48 AM

*bump*

I'm still having the same problems after 10.4.5 update.

fisherKing · Feb 15, 2006, 08:56 AM

then it's not 10.4.4...

have you tried contacting your provider, and going thru advanced settings?
something must be set wrong...

it's unlikely the os update is the problem.

wish i had more info 4 u...

JKT · Feb 15, 2006, 10:08 AM

Is the Firewall blocking port 25 perhaps?

mpancha · Feb 15, 2006, 10:58 AM

fisherking >> I am the provider for all 4 accounts (servers which I set up), nothing has changed on the server end, the settings are the defaults, port 110 for in, 25 for out, mail.isp.com for the mail servers, usename/password. All the basics. The accounts work fine on all computers at offices running 10.4.3 and below (even 9.x), and windows 9x-xp. Its the 10.4.4s that are having problems. I combed through the advanced settings and have come up with nothing there. On the server end, 2 mail servers are on Linux boxes, 2 are Windows 2003 server machines, and nothing has changed there, and the settings on the servers are fine.

JKT >> nope, doesn't work even with firewall disabled.

The thing that makes no sense to me is it happens on my ibook and a client's Powerbook, both happened right after installing the 10.4.4 update. Worked fine in 10.0.x-10.4.3.

For now my workaround is using gmail as the SMTP for all my mail accounts, which works, but there still has to be a reason for this, and a better fix than piping everything through gmail.

mpancha · Feb 15, 2006, 11:09 AM

fisherking >> I am the provider for all 4 accounts (servers which I set up), nothing has changed on the server end, the settings are the defaults, port 110 for in, 25 for out, mail.isp.com for the mail servers, usename/password. All the basics. The accounts work fine on all computers at offices running 10.4.3 and below (even 9.x), and windows 9x-xp. Its the 10.4.4s that are having problems. I combed through the advanced settings and have come up with nothing there. On the server end, 2 mail servers are on Linux boxes, 2 are Windows 2003 server machines, and nothing has changed there, and the settings on the servers are fine.

JKT >> nope, doesn't work even with firewall disabled.

The thing that makes no sense to me is it happens on my ibook and a client's Powerbook, both happened right after installing the 10.4.4 update. Worked fine in 10.0.x-10.4.3.

For now my workaround is using gmail as the SMTP for all my mail accounts, which works, but there still has to be a reason for this, and a better fix than piping everything through gmail.

JKT · Feb 15, 2006, 04:53 PM

Have you tried nuking your preferences and starting afresh (or setting up a test user account with the same - but fresh as its a new account - settings) to see if it works in that account?

ChrisF · Feb 15, 2006, 05:20 PM

Originally Posted by mpancha

For now my workaround is using gmail as the SMTP for all my mail accounts, which works, but there still has to be a reason for this, and a better fix than piping everything through gmail.

Assuming your mail servers are not on the LAN, it's most likely your ISP is blocking outbound port 25 and the timing of your OS update is purely coincidental. Try setting your SMTP server to that of the ISP you're connected to when the problem occurs. Alternatively, you may be able to have them unblock port 25 for your account. For example, SBC here in the states blocked port 25 but will unblock it by request.

mpancha · Feb 15, 2006, 06:39 PM

JKT >> haven't tried that yet, but I'll give it a shot under a new user on my iBook.

ChrisF >> I've tested on and off the LAN of the mail servers. At home, my ISP does not block port 25 (Rogers). At work, we have Bell Business class, and port 25 is not blocked on that. I checked at client's offices, and their ISPs don't block 25 either.

JKT · Feb 16, 2006, 11:19 AM

FWIW, I'm looking into an issue I am having with iChat that may be related to my router and while reading the troubleshooting section for it, I noticed this:

Cannot Send Email

This might be a problem with MTU size, particularly if left at the default setting. See MTU, Partial Loss of Internet Connection, and Performance for details, or contact your ISP to find what settings they prefer.

May be something to look into if nothing else is working.

mpancha · Feb 16, 2006, 06:14 PM

JKT >> thanks for the info, I'll check that out next week when I'm back in the office.