[Lebodde]

Mail.app has been working great for me for a number of years now.

But all of a sudden a couple of months ago, it stopped retrieving most of my emails coming to my ISP's address. The ones coming to my .mac address and the ones coming to my wife's are still being retrieved by Mail just fine.

The only thing that changed is that I started to periodically check my mail from work through my ISP's webmail app. My emails all show up there but do not show up in Mail anymore. The ISP is Cox Internet in Southern California if it makes any difference.

Any idea of what might be happening?

Thanks for any help!

Bo

[TheIceMan]

From what I understand, Mail does not work with web-based email accounts, such as Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. It only works with POP or IMAP. This is from Apple's Help.

Mail works with the following account types: POP, IMAP, .Mac, and Exchange (only if configured as an IMAP server). You can't log in directly to Hotmail, AOL, or any service that does not support POP or IMAP access, and retrieve email using Mail.

[mdc]

how does .mac mail work?
do you think your work blocks pop access? my college won't let me retrieve mail through my pop account, nor send through my email hosts, nor isp's, nor localhost smtp. they must block the port on their firewall.

[Lebodde]

Thanks guys. Mail worked just fine with this account for a couple of years. So I don't think it's an issue of "working with a webmail account".

I just noticed that it's since I recently started to also check this account directly via my ISP's webmail option that Mail stopped retrieving messages that it handled fine just a couple of months ago. Nothing in the settings of the account has changed.

It's almost as if Mail was saying "Oh, somebody has already checked this account via a separate webmail app so I don't need to retrieve anything anymore. Or else, the ISP saying "Someone is checking this account via our webmail so we will hide these messages from any other app that tries to download them." Neither of these options makes much sense to me but that's what it feels like...

[dennisbolt]

Comcast (which is a webmail) website has FAQ about setting it up for Mac Mail..maybe the settings would be the same but with your isp name inserted where you see Comcast??

http://faq.comcast.net/faq/answer.js...tegory=Mail%20(Mac)

Here is a discussion about using Mail at home and then using a the web at another computer

http://faq.comcast.net/faq/answer.js...&subcategory=1

[Briareus]

Check the options/preferences when logged in to your webmail account - there should be an option to leave messages on server. If it's unchecked, the mail you receive via the web interface won't be in your inbox when you check from Apple Mail (because you've obviously already received it).

At least this is the case with my ISP's webmail. Hope it helps.

[Chinasaur]

Mail suddenly stopped retrieving mail from Comcast. Can't connectt error msg.

Thunderbird retrieved mail but not mail.app. Comcast rep states "it's your problem.not us".

Finally, changed to "pop3.comcast.net" from "mail.comcast.net" and email begins downloading.

Bizarre.

I suppose at some time in the future I'll have to change it back to mail but .. WTF?

[i-Moi]

Let me explain (and excuse my english, I'm french, writing from Paris)

Mac OS X 10.3.9 and Mail.app 1.3.11

This week, after years of good services, on wednesday, Mail.app stopped retrieving one of my POP account's messages (the "Job" one). I have several, and except that professional one, the others worked just fine.
I checked my mail through Webmail : OK.
I checked my mail through Telnet and Terminal : OK
I did the same using Thunderbird : OK
So the problem definitely was on Apple Mail.app

I tried deleting the account in Mail's Preferences.
I restarted the Mac. Re-created the account under a different name. Tried again. Nope.

So I observed what Mail.app did exactly : it DID retrieve the mail, but the mailbox just remained empty. The messages weren't in the Trash folder nor the Spam one. They'd just vanished.

After tearing my hair apart for a few hours, I checked something : the Rules. And there's was one, created by me a long time ago, telling Mail to store the messages from this account (Job) to the so-named mailbox : Job (and coulour it in red, btw). Well, this rule had changed ! It said that the mail corresponding to my deinfed criteria had to be transferred to a mailbox with a strange name, which I had never created, and was invisible in the Mail's drawer. So, in fact, Mail did fetch the mail, retrieved it, and because of that "corrupted" rule, stored it in a place which I couldn't see nor access to. I modified the mailbox where the mails should be stored, and since then, everything works fine again.

Now, the probable reason of the Mail's rule corruption.
The day before, my internal hard disk had gone completely out of space, making OS X warn me about it. I made more room available, and the Mail.app problem began just afterwards. It's not a definitive evidence, but maybe it can help someone...

Bye, au revoir

i-Moi

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Lebodde

Thanks guys. Mail worked just fine with this account for a couple of years. So I don't think it's an issue of "working with a webmail account".

I just noticed that it's since I recently started to also check this account directly via my ISP's webmail option that Mail stopped retrieving messages that it handled fine just a couple of months ago. Nothing in the settings of the account has changed.

It's almost as if Mail was saying "Oh, somebody has already checked this account via a separate webmail app so I don't need to retrieve anything anymore. Or else, the ISP saying "Someone is checking this account via our webmail so we will hide these messages from any other app that tries to download them." Neither of these options makes much sense to me but that's what it feels like...

Webmail is just an interface that should have no effect on other mail clients, unless you're opting to delete messages while using webmail. Why not try another client like thunderbird?

[Lebodde]

Thank you very much i-Moi.

That is a very interesting possibility. I will try this when I get home tonight.

Merci encore pour le travail de détective.

Lebodde.