IMAP performance and double-saved Sent messages

[garyfritz]

Last year I posted a request for help with an IMAP issue I'm having: viewtopic.php?f=39&t=2899637

I didn't get any responses, but this is still driving me bonkers, so I thought I'd try again.

My ISP's IMAP server (MagicMail) and TB don't seem to play together too well. When I send a message, about 1/3 of the time it's quick and works properly. About 2/3 of the time the message gets saved twice in the Sent folder. Actually sending the message is usually fast, but then saving it to Sent usually takes about 30 seconds, after which it gets a timeout message and says "There was an error sending the message to Sent. Retry?" (But in reality it probably saved it TWICE.) While it's waiting to time out, you can't do anything with any other folder.

Also, checking for new mail or otherwise updating any IMAP folders is usually very slow, 20 sec or more.

Only TB is bothered by this. I can send mail with the ISP's web client, my Android email client, and my iPad. Sometimes they will see a long delay when sending, but they don't get any errors and they don't double-save in Sent. I nagged my ISP about it for months, but finally they said "It works fine with other mail clients, so it's TB's fault. That's not our problem."

Any suggestions for ways to make TB less sensitive to this?

[tanstaafl]

What IMAP server is used by the MagicMail software?

The only workaround I know of depends upon a email provider supporting the ability to configure the SMTP server to save a copy of the message when used with a email client. If they support it you specify it for a personality (From: email address) in webmail. If you do that you need to configure Thunderbird not to also save a copy, or you get duplicates. Besides being more reliable, it is also quicker as it cuts the number of bytes sent in half. I'm using it with Fastmail.fm. Gmail does that automatically (you can't even disable it).

[garyfritz]

I'm not sure what IMAP server they're using.

I *wish* they supported the auto-Sent feature. That would be perfect. But they say MagicMail doesn't do that.

Sigh. Maybe I should use this problem as the arm-twisting to finally move over to gmail. My ISP is unfortunately moving away from serving end clients like me, and their support isn't what it once was. But I've had this email address for 20 years.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[tanstaafl]

You could move over to Gmail and keep the same email address, though it takes a bit of work. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Replace_sever ... ne_account . It describes how to replace several accounts with one account using the optional Mail Fetcher (to automatically fetch mail from your ISP's mailbox into your Gmail inbox) and multiple identities (to let you still send email using your ISPs email address), but it would also work in your case.

[garyfritz]

Am I the only one who has troubles with this? The ISP's setup may be problematic, but it's ONLY a problem with Thunderbird. My Android emailer has no problem, nor does my iPad or a webmail client. SOMEthing in Tbird seems to be hypersensitive to this. If the problem is genuinely in Tbird, then moving to gmail is not the right way to solve it. But If the problem is genuinely in Tbird, I would think other people would see it...

[wsmwk]

You also posted viewtopic.php?f=39&t=2928437 where you wote "My ISP has an issue with their IMAP server. They've acknowledged there's a problem and they expect to have it fixed within a few weeks. Of course, they've been saying that for 3 months......." and later wrote "they must be testing an updated IMAP server today, since most of the tests ran quickly and without error. No timeouts, only one double entry in Sent, and folders load quickly."

So what happened? And why now blame Thunderbird.

Not magicmail not an ISP, it IS an imap mail server implementation.
AFAICT you've never told us your ISP. Can you tell us please?

In lieu of knowing your ISP, see http://www.emerytelcom.com/support/email-support.html which uses magicmail and ...
1. Thunderbird is listed as a popular choice, and presumably supported
2. lists several possible causes of problems for a user seeing mail delivery problems

And it never hurts to try safe mode, although it seems to be way too often ignored and not recommended ...

Start *Windows'* safe mode with networking enabled
- win7 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... =windows-7
Still In Windows safe mode, start thunderbird in safe mode
- http://support.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/kb/safe-mode

Does problem go away?

[garyfritz]

You also posted viewtopic.php?f=39&t=2928437 where you wote "My ISP has an issue with their IMAP server. They've acknowledged there's a problem and they expect to have it fixed within a few weeks. Of course, they've been saying that for 3 months......." and later wrote "they must be testing an updated IMAP server today, since most of the tests ran quickly and without error. No timeouts, only one double entry in Sent, and folders load quickly."

So what happened? And why now blame Thunderbird.

Unfortunately I can't answer that. ONE support guy said there was a problem almost a year ago. Nobody else has been willing to admit there's a problem. Since only TB has the multi-Sent problem, they say it must be a problem with TB. I can't argue with that logic, though I suspect TB is just more sensitive to the problem they have there. I just noticed my Android mailer added a status message while it's sending emails, and it is ALSO taking 30-40 seconds to send. Given TB's more informative messages, I suspect the Android mailer is actually doing the *send* fast, but the **copy to Sent** is taking forever.

No idea why occasionally everything seems to work fine. Though I may have been fooled by a behavior I noticed a while back -- if I send a bunch of messages to test the system, the first might take forever to send. Then subsequent messages, sent right away, send quickly. It's like the mail server is in a sluggish "asleep" state until I kick it with a message, and then after that it's "awake" and responds quickly -- until I quit testing and it "goes to sleep" again.

AFAICT you've never told us your ISP. Can you tell us please?

It's a local regional ISP, FRII.com. I've been with them for 20 years. For 15+ years they were fantastic. For the last few years, less so -- but I've had this address for 20 years and I hate to have to change.

In lieu of knowing your ISP, see http://www.emerytelcom.com/support/email-support.html which uses magicmail and ...
1. Thunderbird is listed as a popular choice, and presumably supported
2. lists several possible causes of problems for a user seeing mail delivery problems

No, those are all pretty basic suggestions. I'm certain I don't have trouble with any of those.

And it never hurts to try safe mode, although it seems to be way too often ignored and not recommended ...
Does problem go away?

Nope. No change.

Thanks for the suggestions!