[X4U] MAIL APP Question

[Randy B. Singer]

On Mar 10, 2009, at 3:04 PM, Ed Gould wrote:

> Sigh... I have COMCAST as my ISP and it seems that COMCASTS mail  
> server is down more than almost any other ISP's server I have run  
> into.

 From MacFixIt:

Mail.app: Cannot send mail, fixes

Apple's Mail.app can suddenly and inexplicably fail to send e-mail  
through SMTP (outgoing) servers. A few relatively simple fixes for  
this issue are as follows:
Delete outbox folder In some cases, the Mail.app outbox folder -- or  
messages contained therein -- can become inexplicably corrupt. In  
order to rectify this issue, use these steps:

Quit Mail.app
Navigate to ~/Library/Mail/Mailboxes/ (~ represents the current  
user's home directory, e.g. /Users/username)
Move the folder named Outbox.mbox to a separate location.
Relaunch Mail.app
Try sending mail again
Delete Mail caches Mail.app caches can become corrupt, interfering  
with proper mail sending routines. In order to delete these  
potentially problematic caches, use these steps:

Quit Mail.app
Navigate to ~/Library/Caches
Delete the folder Mail
Relaunch Mail.app
Try sending mail again
Switch ports In some cases outgoing mail issues can be solved by  
switching the SMTP port through which you access your ISP's sendmail  
server.

In order to change this setting, use the following process:

Launch Mail.app
Under the "Mail" menu, select "Preferences"
Click "Server Settings" under to the "Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)"  
heading
Set the SMTP port to the one specified by your ISP (for users of  
Comcast [and some other ISPs], try port 25)
Back in the Mail.app preference window, click the "Advanced" tab
Set the appropriate port number (for users of Comcast [and some other  
ISPs] try 110)
Note that you may also need to turn off SSL (secure socket layer) in  
both of these areas (for the SMTP server and the incoming server).


___________________________________________
Randy B. Singer
Co-author of The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th, and 6th editions)

Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html
___________________________________________