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vitalprogeny · 10:40 AM

Hello all,

Wondering if someone could provide some assistance:

I've been using AOL Imap / SMTP mail servers on Mail.app and iPhone Mail just fine for over a month now and all of a sudden, the outgoing mail server for AOL does not function on either device yet I can receive mail just fine and send it using the Bellsouth (Owned by ATT) outgoing server just fine but it wont work with the AOL server.

I've looked into all the AOL support on the website I could find = no solution.

It doesn't appear their outgoing servers are shut down since I have other friends who don't have my set up still working.

I also looked into changing all the ports (587, 25, 465, etc.) on Mail.app and it didn't fix it either.
I've restarted my Mac, deleted and re-configured the account like new and still same problem.

I've looked around on the internet for a little while now and found no solution, I've seen similar posts with no solution.

Here are my specifics:

iMac
Mac OS X Leopard - Version 10.5.7
Processor - 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Ram - 1 GB
iLife 08 - Mail Version 3.6 (935/935.3)

The same problem is occurring on my iPhone 3G 8GB 2.2.1 (5H11).

Like I mentioned above, the problem just began occurring recently... it was all working just fine and I hadn't changed any settings or received any major update to the iPhone OS or Mac OS X.

Thanks in advance.

- I forgot to mention that I am connected to the internet just fine, when the Mail.app window pops up asking for me to select another outgoing server and I do the test to check which outgoing servers are working (from the list of several I have) all of them work including the smtp.aol.com server (it says it tried to connect and was successful). I know these results are "accurate" because the MobileMe server appears as unable to connect since I no longer am subscribed to the service... so in my opinion the AOL server is working but something is not right. This has been happening for several days now.

ibook_steve · May 28, 2009, 12:17 PM

Have you been authenticating when connecting to the outgoing server? In Mail preferences in the account under the pop-up list for servers, select Edit Server List and click the advanced tab for your server. Maybe previously you didn't have to authenticate and now you do.

Steve

vitalprogeny · May 28, 2009, 12:24 PM

Steve,

I always had to authenticate with username and password. The option was previously already selected and as per the instructions of AOL it says that authentication must be enabled.

Thanks for the suggestion Steve.

-Chris

angelmb · May 28, 2009, 12:38 PM

Does this also happens with the AOL Desktop software?, I know, it is not Mail but may bring some light into the issue.

Have you ran AOL Service Assistant?, I am not sure if it is still an option to consider…

BTW, I have no issues here with 993 as port value on Apple's Mail.

vitalprogeny · May 28, 2009, 12:47 PM

Well I have never used the AOL desktop software since I have Mail for that... my hopes are to use Mail instead of any other third party software but in order to experiment I will download and try it out... Webmail of course has no apparent problem sending mail.

I believe the 993 port is for incoming and the outgoing port would be 587.

I have no troubles with the incoming emails... they come in just fine... all my IMAP enabled folders sync just fine as well and I can move folders around and move messages to different folders in the server folders all from my Mail.app however when an actual outgoing email messages is composed... no luck.

I tried a couple of the AOL wizards on the website and those that ask u...

Did you try the following:
A
B
C
D

Did it work?

I did all that and none of those really answered my questions...

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm going to download the AOL desktop software if available for Leopard and see if it sends ok.

besson3c · May 28, 2009, 01:41 PM

Are you behind a firewall blocking outbound connections? What happens when you:

telnet <AOL imap or smtp server> 993 or 587 or 25?

vitalprogeny · May 28, 2009, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Are you behind a firewall blocking outbound connections? What happens when you:

telnet <AOL imap or smtp server> 993 or 587 or 25?

I am sorry... but I have no idea what you mean about the telnet part... whatsoever.. could you explain?

I am not behind a firewall blocking outbound connections because then I would not be able to send via other smtp servers right? Yet I can...
I have not touched or modified my firewall settings on Leopard and it was working before...

besson3c · May 28, 2009, 04:15 PM

The telnet trick is just a way to test connectivity to a port. It is a great troubleshooting step that takes the whole obfuscated communication layer facilitated by the app out of the picture. If you can't get a telnet connection to the port you are trying to connect to, there is absolutely nothing that you can do within Mail to get this to work, the problem is a networking related problem.

turtle777 · May 29, 2009, 12:40 AM

I think Besson means to use the Terminal app ,and type

telnet imap.aol.com 993 (then hit enter)

What's the result ?

-t

turtle777 · May 29, 2009, 12:42 AM

Btw, I can telnet the above mentioned AOL server on port 993, but not on 587 or 25

-t

besson3c · May 29, 2009, 01:22 AM

Thanks trusty sidekick Turtle!

besson3c · May 29, 2009, 01:25 AM

Originally Posted by turtle777

Btw, I can telnet the above mentioned AOL server on port 993, but not on 587 or 25

-t

Why would the SMTP server be accessible under imap.aol.com? It works under smtp.aol.com on port 587. If the telnet connection works for the original poster as well, his Mail app is hosed, misconfigured, or both. I'd try getting it to work in a virgin OS X account as a test.