Login to server failed

[PeterRobertson]

I have been using the same email server for years without problems until just over a week ago.
Receiving email works without difficulty, but suddenly, after successfully sending several emails, Thunderbird started to respond with "Login to server smtp.virginmedia.com failed.". Retrying or resending the password usually has no effect.

I have discovered that I can send email occasionally; waiting a while after a failure and retrying sometimes lets the email through. More often than not, the failure appears to be solid.

I have contacted VirginMedia and they have checked my settings and have confirmed that they are all correct.
The last I had from them was that they are 'looking into it', but I have little confidence that that was anything but a polite "get lost" message.

Is there anything I could be doing wrong with Thunderbird? I am running V17.0.7

[DanRaisch]

If you have Thunderbird set to store the password(s) for that account, try the following:

Go to TOOLS > OPTIONS >SECURITY > PASSWORDS tab> SAVED PASSWORDS button and there you can delete old passwords. Restart Thunderbird to ensure that the stored password is cleared from memory. The next time you "Get Mail" Thunderbird will ask for the password and you can check the box to remember the value.

If you don't have the password(s) saved for automatic entry, what security software are you using on that system?

[PeterRobertson]

I have already tried deleting saved passwords - nothing changes.

[DanRaisch]

If you don't have the password(s) saved for automatic entry, what security software are you using on that system?

[PeterRobertson]

I answered only the first part of your response as I am using saved passwords.

[DanRaisch]

OK, but since you've already tried deleting the passwords, that second question now become of more interest.

[PeterRobertson]

I am using AVG Internet security Business Edition

[DanRaisch]

OK, in that case, make certain that AVG is set to NOT scan outgoing emails.

[PeterRobertson]

It is Disabled for outgoing messages

[DanRaisch]

The intermittent nature of the problem and having ruled out an invalid saved password or anti-virus scanning delay, it seems that issues on the server side are more likely than a problem in Thunderbird. As the settings in Thunderbird don't change between outgoing messages (at least not without user interaction), it's hard to see how sending would be successful one time but not another, particularly with the same outgoing message, unless there are issues on the receiving side of the outgoing process.

[PeterRobertson]

Thanks for your comments. That was my conclusion.

[DanRaisch]

You're welcome. And good luck.

[VincentC]

Hello,

I have the same problem as PeterRobertson on the same version of the TB: 17.0.7.

I can not send e-mail since yesterday: "Connect to smtpa.xxxx.com server failed."
In my business, at least one person uses the same version of Thunderbird has no problem on the same smtpa with the same password.

The problem appeared without changes on my computer, I tried to delete all passwords, but nothing changes.

Does anyone have an idea?

Thank you for your replies.
Vincent

[PeterRobertson]

Assuming that xxxx in the previous message is not VirginMedia, this extra information suggests that the problem is in Thunderbird as different servers are unlikely suddenly to exhibit the same fault.

Intermittent symptoms like these suggest strongly that there's an unassigned variable lurking in the code.

Is there any way to turn on monitoring to see exactly what is happening between Thunderbird and the server?

[DanRaisch]

See this article -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Session_logging_for_mail/news