I don't understand this port stuff

[Dioxazine]

I have my settings written down when I use Thunderbird 14.0.

Incoming mail server is IMAP

Outgoing mail server is SMTP

Incoming mail server port is 993

Outgoing mail server port is 587

Now I've been experimenting with Mailbird and the incoming server port has to be set to 995 which I am told is a POP3 setting. If I set it to 993 I get a could not connect to the server error message.

I don't understand why with one email program I enter 993 but with the other email program I have to enter 995?

And is it possible to have an incoming server a POP3, but have the outgoing server an IMAP?

[tanstaafl]

"And is it possible to have an incoming server a POP3, but have the outgoing server an IMAP?"

No. The POP3 or IMAP protocol is used to fetch/download messages while the SMTP protocol is used to send messages. Note that if you send a message from a IMAP account it uses the SMTP protocol to send the message but uses the IMAP protocol to save your copy of the sent message in a remote Sent folder (name can vary). The sending of the message and the uploading of your copy are typically independent threads. Its possible for the send to fail while you saved a copy of the message in Sent and vice versa.

Thunderbird 14.0 is ancient. It might not even support the ciphers you need for a secure connection. Why are you using it? The current Thunderbird version is 95.1 which you should be able to use since you appear to be using Windows 8.1. You can download the latest setup program from https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/ .

Port 993 is used with IMAP and a SSL/TLS connection. Port 995 is used with POP and a SSL/TLS connection. Port 587 is used with SMTP and a SSL/TLS connection. Some SMTP servers might support port 465 instead of 587, but that is just for legacy support.

I suspect with Mailbird you're using a a POP account.

[Dioxazine]

Thunderbird keeps asking for my password. I don't see anywhere in Preferences or Accounts where I would enter my password. Where do I gotta look to enter in that information?

And when I open Thunderbird and that password dialog box comes up asking you to enter your password, I tick the box that says Use password manager to remember password. But it does not do any good. Because every time I open Thunderbird that same dialog box comes up. Makes no sense to me.

[DanRaisch]

Who is your email provider? That is what comes after the @ symbol in your email address?

[tanstaafl]

Its tough to help somebody using such a obsolete version of Thunderbird. July 17, 2012 was a long time ago. If you want to stick with 14.0 we'll still try to help you but it would help to understand why you want to use version 14.

Thunderbird doesn't have any way to add the password. Its designed to prompt you for one as needed, and then give you the option to save it (and have the password manager automatically use it). Recent versions let you edit a stored password but there is still no way to just add one.

You should keep your username and password private, and shouldn't offer to let somebody make a remote connection to your desktop to fix things, but there is no risk in sharing what your email provider is when asking for help.

[Dioxazine]

I currently have version 95.5.1 or something like that installed. I can't use Thunderbird if it is always going to ask me for a password. That is a pain in the butt. And password manager does not seem to work. Even if I check the box that says use password manager to remember it, the dialog box still comes up anyway.

Mediacom is my email and internet service provider.

Thunderbird 14.0 works for me and I never had to keep entering in a password. That is good reason enough to keep using it.

[tanstaafl]

Understandable. Just be aware your first post was confusing because you gave the impression you were using 14.0 and it was having the problem. That makes it harder to help you. I assume each version has its own profile.

http://mediacomcc.custhelp.com/app/answ ... r-settings
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Password_not_ ... hunderbird

Look in your profile (for 95.1.0). If you have a pkcs11.txt file delete it. That file can cause saved passwords to be ignored. Its the most common culprit.

In tools -> preferences scroll down to the config editor and open it. Check that signon.rememberSignons is true. If its false toggle the value to true, exit Thunderbrid and restart. That setting controls whether passwords are stored in logins.json.

Do you have a logins.json and key4.db file in the profile? You should if the password wizard is going to work. You could try deleting both of them (don't delete just one, they're a set) and restarting Thunderbird. New versions of those files would be created. Its possible though unlikely logins.json got corrupted. Also check (right click on the file in windows explorer, select properties and look at the security tab) that your system has "full control" of that file.

[Dioxazine]

Signon.remember signons is already true. I found the profile folder and looked and there is no pkcs11 text file there. I do have a key4 file but I do not have a logins.json file. It appears that my system has full control of the key4 file.

[tanstaafl]

I don't understand why you don't have a logins.json file but that is what is preventing you from using the password wizard. Try deleting key4.db and cert9.db.

[Dioxazine]

I deleted those two files and wrote an email and sent it to myself. Another problem I've had with this newer version is the Sending Message box does not go away. Finally it says login to server smtp.mediacombb.net with username tkangas failed. And the sending message box with the progress bar never goes away. It just sits there.

It also says sending of the message failed. The message could not be sent because the connection to the outgoing server smtp.mediacombb.net was lost in the middle of the transaction.

I'm probably going to either use Windows Live Mail or Thunderbird 14.0 or Sylpheed. All of those work.

[tanstaafl]

http://mediacomcc.custhelp.com/app/answ ... r-settings states "The login name or “identity name” should be the full email address, subscriber@mediacombb.net or subscriber@mchsi.com."

[tanstaafl]

If you decide to give up on Thunderbird (14 and 95.1) you might try the free version of "em client" (limited to 2 accounts). I use it for troubleshooting when I need to figure out if Thunderbird or the mail server is to blame.

[Dioxazine]

It looks to be working now.

[Dioxazine]

http://mediacomcc.custhelp.com/app/answ ... r-settings states "The login name or “identity name” should be the full email address, subscriber@mediacombb.net or subscriber@mchsi.com."

I tried that and now it seems to be working better. Thing is I cannot remember where I changed the username!

I'm looking at account preferences and I don't see anywhere that says xxxxxxxxx at mediacombb.net.

Did I change the box at the top where it says account name? Nothing in there says xxxxxxxx at mediacombb.net except where it says email address. Beats me where I changed it.

All the boxes in account settings that say Username still say xxxxxxx, and that's all they say.

[Dioxazine]

Ah it's still asking for my password. I thought for a moment it was totally fixed.