Macintosh

[kmacafee]

I have an Imac with Lion installed.  I use Apple's mail program and have had no issues until last night when outgoing mail stopped working.  The error message says that the "port timed out".  I read thru the setup on the Xfinity site and the port I have been using is 993, instead of the 587 they recommend.  My incoming mail server is mail.me.com and the outgoing simply says "mobile me".

I havent changed anything so am not sure what is going on.  Any suggestions?

Thanks

Kevin

[kmacafee]

EG -- the link sends me to a non-response.  Am I missing something?

Kevin

[EG]

I moved someone else's post (hijack) from your thread here to the E-Mail Help Forum. This is a Macintosh forum, they were using a P.C. That link goes there. I don't know why it doesn't work for you, it works for me. We have several regulars here who are Mac experts, someone should be along to help you.

[kmacafee]

Thanks.  Sorry for the confusion.

[Baric]

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kmacafee wrote:

I have an Imac with Lion installed.  I use Apple's mail program and have had no issues until last night when outgoing mail stopped working.  The error message says that the "port timed out".  I read thru the setup on the Xfinity site and the port I have been using is 993, instead of the 587 they recommend.  My incoming mail server is mail.me.com and the outgoing simply says "mobile me".

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You are mixing up your ports.  993 is the IMAP SSL encrypted port, it has nothing to do with SENDING messages, and that is correct for Mobile Me accounts (soon to be iCloud).  In Mac Mail, you are probably just looking at a label you created, "mobile me", when the SMTP server was first created.  If you look into the actual SMTP setttings, you will probably see server smtp.me.com on port 587, which is correct.  Verify that you are using the proper SMTP server name, on port 587, and using password authentication.  I would also recommend SSL be turned on, just to be safe.

Not sure what you are talking about with regard to Xfinity, this is a Mobile Me account and has nothing to do with Comcast (other than using the basic Internet connection).

[kmacafee]

Baric

Thanks for the help and sorry for the confusion.  How do I see what SMTP server and port are being used?

Kevin

[Baric]

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kmacafee wrote:

Baric

Thanks for the help and sorry for the confusion.  How do I see what SMTP server and port are being used?

Kevin

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Mail -> Preferences -> Accounts

Select your account on the left

Select Account Information tab

Check Use only this server

Click on the name showed for Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) and drop-down list should appear

Select Edit SMTP Server List...

Select your "mobile me" server

Select Account Information tab and verify the server Name is smtp.me.com

Select Advanced tab

Select Use custom port and provide 587 as the port number

Check Use Secure Socket Layer (SSL)

For Authentication, select Password

Provide your Mobile Me userid and password

Press OK.

[kmacafee]

That still doesnt do it.  I turned Mail off and rebooted the computer and when I reopen mail, the spinning

gears appear next to the Sent box -- and stay spinning.  I tried a test email out and it just sits in the inbox.  I can send emails thru Mobile Me and everything else seems to work.  

I am pretty diligent about downloading software updates -- could a recent one have screwed this up?  This is the version of Mac Mail I am using --Version 5.0 (1244.2/1244.3).

I am using OS X 10.7.1.

Thanks

[Baric]

Are you sure this message that won't send is going through Mobile Me and not trying to use someother server?  If you are sure and smtp.me.com is still no responding (I tested it here and had no issues), try turning off SSL and see if that works.  If still no joy, then try deleting the account and recreating it from scratch.

[kmacafee]

If I delete that account, will I lose all the emails and email folders I have?

How do I check to see if it is using the right server?

[Baric]

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kmacafee wrote:

If I delete that account, will I lose all the emails and email folders I have?

How do I check to see if it is using the right server?

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Mobile Me is an IMAP account, the messages are stored on the server, so deleting the local account definition does NOT effect the messages actually stored on the server.  If this was a POP account, the messages are LOCALLY stored, and deleting the account in Mac Mail will also remove the Inbox and various other folders related to that account.  In your situation, it should be fine to delete the account.  The only caveat is if you have saved messages in your local Sent folder for that account.  If you want to save those messages, move them to one of the folders listed in "On My Mac" before you delete the account.

To determine if this is the actual account you are using, when you create a new message, make sure the From: field is set to the actual account you want to send with.  For example, I have 5 accounts setup in Mail on my MacBook Pro.  When I send a message, I normally use my Comcast account, but when I want to send a message through Mobile Me, I simply drop down the From list and select my Mobile Me account.  When the message is sent, Mail uses the SMTP setup for my Mobile Me account.  If you followed my previous instructions, then your Mobile Me account is setup to use the regular Mobile Me SMTP server.

[kmacafee]

Ok -- I deleted and recreated the account and it still does not work, even after going through your excellent instructions.

One thing I noticed -- when you click on the accounts page and then advanced, there is a field called IMAP path prefix that is blank.  Directly below that, the port field automatically defaults to 993.  SSL is checked. Below that a box is checked to use IDLE Command.

Everything else matches what you suggested.  I do have a number of other old servers that I no longer use -- Qwest, MSN etc.  I also verified that in a new message, the correct server is being accessed.

Any ideas?

Kevin

[Baric]

Your problem is SENDING email, it has nothing to do with the IMAP setup which is for RECEIVING email.

What does Connection Doctor say (Window -> Connection Doctor)?