Update TB from 3.1.20 to latest version?

[Clueless in Seattle]

Earlier today I swear I posted a message to this forum, but just now I checked "View your posts" and there's no record of my post, so I'll try again:

I'm still using Thunderbird 3.1.20 because my motto is "if it works, don't fix it."

However in the last few days Thunderbird has stopped working. It appears that gmail is flagging Thunderbird as a hacker when I try to download my email.

I've saved a copy of my Thunderbird Profiles folder to an external hard drive. But the contents of the folder puzzle me. It contains two sub-folders:

• j87ta46v.default
  ojnium7m.OldMicronProfile
  

What's puzzling is that the folder with the "default" extension contains no files newer than 05/13/2014. Whereas the folder with the extension OldMicronProfile contains files with today's date, i.e. 02/22/2018. I suspect that I mistakenly renamed one or both profile folders four years ago when I transferred Thunderbird from my old Micron PC to the machine I'm using now.

Can you tell me if having these two folders in my Profiles folder could mess up an attempt to update Thunderbird?

Also, I tried using the Help>Check for updates..., but got an error message: Update server not found (check your internet connection). Well, my Internet connection seems to be working, because I'm logged in here posting this message. I've tried turning off my firewall, but I still get the error.

I'd be grateful for some help getting my antique version of Thunderbird up to date.

[DanRaisch]

Can you tell me if having these two folders in my Profiles folder could mess up an attempt to update Thunderbird?

Very unlikely. Note that the term "default" in the profile name is not functional. It does not mean that that profile is the default profile to be used, only that it was the first profile created in that installation of TB.

Before updating, however, it may be possible to get your existing version of TB working. What error message are you seeing when trying to access Gmail through Thunderbird?

[tanstaafl]

It might be security related. Try logging into Gmail webmail with a browser. If they set a captcha (Thunderbird doesn't know how to deal with one) due to suspicious activity that will give you a chance to eliminate it.

[Clueless in Seattle]

Before updating, however, it may be possible to get your existing version of TB working. What error message are you seeing when trying to access Gmail through Thunderbird?

Hi Dan! Thanks for helping me sort this out. Here are some of the error messages:

• * Sending of password did not succeed. Mail server pop.gmail.com responded: Username and password not accepted.
  
  * Thunderbird is not responding. If you close the program, you might lose information. I checked Windows Task Manager and found Thunderbird frozen at 50% of CPU. The only solution seemed to be to click the "Close" button, and then when I ran Thunderbird again, all the "new message" markers had disappeared, so I had to manually open each inbox. This morning Thunderbird locked up and had to be restarted three times in a row before I was able to check my mail.
  
  * Sending of password did not succeed. Mail server pop.gmail.com responded: Web login required: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78754
  
  * Enter Your Password (Not Responding)
  
  * Login to server pop.gmail.com failed. (7 identical error messages)

In addition to multiple iterations of the above error messages generated by Thunderbird, I also receive these warnings from gmail in my inboxes:

• * New device signed in to [email.address}@gmail.com
  
  * Critical Security Alert: Sign-in attempt was blocked
  
  * Security alert for your linked Google Account: New sign-in to your linked account
  

I've repeatedly gone to the gmail web interface to log in to my accounts, but the problem just comes back again and again. I seem to recall reading somewhere that gmail has begun blocking POP access from older versions of Thunderbird, because those old versions don't meet current security requirements. But now I'm unable to find that article. Do you know anything about that?

I'm afraid my health is failing these days, so I'm severely limited in the amount of time I can spend sitting up at my PC. I hope I've given you enough info to work with in this post.

[makaiguy]

* Sending of password did not succeed. Mail server pop.gmail.com responded: Web login required: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78754

This relates to the possible issue taanstafl mentioned. Try logging into your account via Firefox or other browser and see if there is a CAPTCHA security entry you must make. If that is the only problem, once you've done that TBird should be able to log you in normally.

[Typos fixed. Gawd, I hate typing on these mobile device virtual keyboards ...]

[tanstaafl]

Gmail doesn't support OAuth2 authentication yet with POP accounts, AFAIK. You might be remembering parts of http://kb.mozillazine.org/Gmail . Did you enable "Allow to let less secure apps access your Google account" in google.com (using a browser)? Please check that its still set correctly.

Are you using multiple devices to log into Gmail? If you try to use multiple devices with POP accounts at the same time you need to replace username@gmail.com with recent:username@gmail.com as the username in Tools -> Account Settings -> Gmail -> Server Settings.

Did you enable two step verification? That would require you to generate and use a application password with Thunderbird.

One possibility is that they are rejecting a tcp-ip connection because your version of Thunderbird doesn't support a recent enough version of TLS but I think if that occurred we'd have heard about it. I suspect you just have a configuration error of some type or didn't clear a Captcha.

Are you using a vpn? I gave up trying to use a vpn because gmail and outlook kept complaining that somebody else was using my password (due to them detecting my tcp-ip address was from a far away location) and made me jump through hoops too often to keep the accounts working in Thunderbird.

[morat]

I had trouble using normal password authentication with an IMAP account with Thunderbird 59.0b1.

I had to allow access for less secure apps again. I'm sure I allowed access a few months ago.

Sign-in & Security
http://myaccount.google.com/security

[Clueless in Seattle]

Thanks, tanstafl, makaiguy and morat, for all those ideas!

As far as I can recall, I haven't used any other device to access my gmail accounts. The only way I access them is from Thunderbird on my main PC.

I'm going to try enabling "Allow to let less secure apps access your Google account" in google.com. I've got a hunch that may solve the problem.

I'll keep you posted, but right now it's nap time. ;o)

[Clueless in Seattle]

I found a gmail web page that describes gmail's current policy of blocking POP access by Thunderbird:

If an app or device doesn’t meet our security standards, Google will block anyone who tries to sign in from that app or device. Because these apps and devices are easier to break into, blocking them helps keep your account safe.

Some examples of apps that do not support the latest security standards include:

The Mail app on your iPhone or iPad with version 6 or below
The Mail app on your Windows phone preceding the 8.1 release
Some Desktop mail clients like Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird

https://support.google.com/accounts/ans ... 0255?hl=en

[allande]

If you enable that Allow to let less secure apps access your Google account, I hope it may work. Please post back an update after trying it.

[DanRaisch]

I have no problem accessing a Gmail account via POP access through Thunderbird. It's just a matter of telling Gmail to permit access by what they consider "less secure" programs.

[tanstaafl]

Same with me (no problem). I have a POP Gmail account just for testing purposes.