[Big Mac]

I'm starting to get quite annoyed here because I can't figure this one out. Here's the situation. On my self-built Windows desktop I have Mac OS X running in VMWare (if you're curious about that please PM instead of asking in this thread), and I have Thunderbird running in Windows.

Here's the problem: I can get incoming MobileMe mail in Thunderbird on Windows just fine, but I can't for the life of me get it to send outgoing mail. Meanwhile, Mail running on OS X in VMWare on the very same computer sends out going mail through the same account just fine. I have tried to match the settings in Thunderbird to the Mail SMTP settings, but although the two configurations look identical nothing works. I just get a "Mail could not be sent. Check your Account Settings" dialog in Thunderbird.

I've also tried to turn off the Windows firewall, but that doesn't help. I guess the next things to try are a different Windows mail client, since it almost seems like Thunderbird should be prompting me for my SMTP password but never does (and the SMTP settings area only shows a field for the SMTP user name but not one for the password like in Mail). And if a different email client doesn't work I'll have to try sniffing to see if a packet includes a more descriptive error message. (I recently solved another annoying problem with a different mail provider that way.)

But if SMTP works under virutalization on the same box and on the same network, I know it's not a LAN or WAN problem. It's got to be a Windows 7 Thunderbird issue, right? What's going on here?

[Big Mac]

Well, I confirmed that Thunderbird is brain dead dumb when it comes to SMTP. I just got Opera Mail up and running, and without any configuration other than the initial assistant questions, it can send mail from my MobileMe account just fine.

That was highly annoying. No wonder people question Thunderbird's future - which is unfortunate.

[Big Mac]

Opera Mail has been a huge improvement over Thunderbird, and it has a lot of nice features I'd love to see incorporated into Apple Mail as well. One thing I can't figure out, though, is why it's not displaying my MobileMe Sent folder. All the other IMAP folders (like Drafts and Trash and all my personal folders) appear under the "Mail for <email address>" list on the left side pane, except for Sent. Kind of annoying, especially because I can't think of a reason why Sent would be singled out now to show up.

[Snow-i]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

I'm starting to get quite annoyed here because I can't figure this one out. Here's the situation. On my self-built Windows desktop I have Mac OS X running in VMWare (if you're curious about that please PM instead of asking in this thread), and I have Thunderbird running in Windows.

Here's the problem: I can get incoming MobileMe mail in Thunderbird on Windows just fine, but I can't for the life of me get it to send outgoing mail. Meanwhile, Mail running on OS X in VMWare on the very same computer sends out going mail through the same account just fine. I have tried to match the settings in Thunderbird to the Mail SMTP settings, but although the two configurations look identical nothing works. I just get a "Mail could not be sent. Check your Account Settings" dialog in Thunderbird.

I've also tried to turn off the Windows firewall, but that doesn't help. I guess the next things to try are a different Windows mail client, since it almost seems like Thunderbird should be prompting me for my SMTP password but never does (and the SMTP settings area only shows a field for the SMTP user name but not one for the password like in Mail). And if a different email client doesn't work I'll have to try sniffing to see if a packet includes a more descriptive error message. (I recently solved another annoying problem with a different mail provider that way.)

But if SMTP works under virutalization on the same box and on the same network, I know it's not a LAN or WAN problem. It's got to be a Windows 7 Thunderbird issue, right? What's going on here?

Big Mac,

What port is outgoing set to, and what server?

I betcha you have some oddball backup outgoing port set for SMTP in thunderbird. That and check SSL settings against mobileme's optimal configuration.

[Snow-i]

Oh yeah, and also check to see if mobile me requires authentication for outgoing mail, and whether these settings are correct in thunderbird.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Snow-i 

What port is outgoing set to, and what server? I betcha you have some oddball backup outgoing port set for SMTP in thunderbird. That and check SSL settings against mobileme's optimal configuration. Oh yeah, and also check to see if mobile me requires authentication for outgoing mail, and whether these settings are correct in thunderbird.

All good points, Snow-i, but I tried every which way to get MobileMe SMTP in Thunderbird and nothing worked. I tried every different combination possible of standard and non-standard ports, and every combination of authentication (non-encrypted, encrypted, SSL and the less common type). Nothing at all worked, whereas Opera Mail worked immediately.