Authentication fails on one, but not other computer (Linux)

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flabbergasted
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Authentication fails on one, but not other computer (Linux)

Post by flabbergasted »

A few days ago I was given a computer to reformat for a minister of a church. I registered a domain for the church and am hosting it on the same servers my domains are hosted on. I am able to check email and when I setup this new computer with the exact same setting I use, authentication fails. I am able to login into the church email account through webmail, but not through Thunderbird.Below are the setting for both computers.

Both computers are running Ubuntu Linux 20.04 and Thunderbird 68.8.0 64 bit. The incoming and outgoing mail servers are mail.mydomain.com and mail.hisdomain.church. Username for both is the whole email address for incoming and outgoing servers. Port is 110, Connection security is STARTTLS and Authentication method is Encrypted password. Outgoing mail server has the same setting, but the port is set to 587. Mine works, His does not.

I do recall after one update I had to change something to extend the timeout time, because I did have many timeouts after the upgrade. His did timeout a few times, but it mostly fails authentication.

My computer is a system 76 Bonobo Extreme. It is about 8 years old. It is still an awesome laptop. His is a Lenovo Thinkpad 450X (I think, not sure about the X). What should I look for to see why these two computers would be getting different results with the same settings?

I appreciate any help. Let me know what other info may be needed.
Last edited by flabbergasted on June 22nd, 2020, 12:22 am, edited 2 times in total.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Authentication fails on one, but not other computer (Lin

Post by tanstaafl »

Authentication method of encrypted password is unusual these days, and doesn't seem compatible with using StartTLS (which upgrades a insecure connection to a secure one before you send any data over it). I would have expected you to use Auth=Normal password for port 110.

What is the error message you get for failed authentication? If it mentions a email address replace that part of the string with something generic.

Is the other person able to log into webmail using a browser? That will confirm the username/password is valid. Also if a email provider displays a captcha because it saw some suspicious behavior, they will be able to clear it. You can't do that in Thunderbird .

I wouldn't expect what type of computer you use to matter.
flabbergasted
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Re: Authentication fails on one, but not other computer (Lin

Post by flabbergasted »

Thank you for your reply. As I stated in my original post, the other user is able to log in through webmail. All of the settings on each computer match. They work on my computer, but not the other computer. I have tired changing the password type to Normal to no avail. The specific message is, "Sending of password for user pastor.covenantchristiancenter.church did not succeed. Mail server mail.covenantchristiancenter.churh responded: Authentication Failed."

This does not indicate why it failed. Usually, as I recall, the message for a wrong password would be username and/or password invalid.

I do recall that my webhoster told me I had to use port 110 and Normal previously, but mine email is set with password encrypted and it works that way. I am using port 110. I am not going to change mine, because it works and I do not want to risk screwing something. In the mean time, I have changed the password type on the church computer to Normal and am getting the same result.

Again, I appreciate your help.
flabbergasted
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Re: Authentication fails on one, but not other computer (Lin

Post by flabbergasted »

There is something different about the Thundrbird installation on my computer and the Thunderbird installation on the other computer. I setup the pastor's email on my computer in Thunderbird and it works just fine. But it still does not work in Thunderbird on his computer with the same message cited above.
flabbergasted
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Re: Authentication fails on one, but not other computer (Lin

Post by flabbergasted »

UPDATE: I setup this email account for the church on my computer. It worked there. I then copied that sub-directory for that account to a flash drive, deleted the email subdirectory for that account on the new computer, then copied the subdirectory from the computer on which it works to the new computer. I am again, getting the Authentication failed error message. this is the oddest thing I have ever seen. It works on one computer with apparently identical OS and settings, version of the OS and Thunderbird, but authentication fails on one but not the other. There has to be something different.

I have additionally remove and re-installed Thunderbird.

I figure somebody here would know something.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Authentication fails on one, but not other computer (Lin

Post by tanstaafl »

You're better off trying moving the known good profile to the other computer via flash drive. Settings are stored in prefs.js (a global file used by all accounts), not the accounts sub-directory.

Use -profile "full_path_to_profile" command line arguments to specify the profile on the flash drive, or install Portable Thunderbird from https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/ ... d_portable on the flash drive and run it. Its basically a version of Mozilla Thunderbird with a different launcher so that it can run without being installed on a PC.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Running_from_ ... hunderbird
flabbergasted
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Re: Authentication fails on one, but not other computer (Lin

Post by flabbergasted »

So you are saying when I transferred the sub-directory for the account under the mail directory, I only transferred the email and folders, not the settings?

So to make sure I do this correctly, I should created another profile in which to create the new email address and then transfer the profile to the new computer. Is this correct?

The portable Thunderbird you linked to is for Windows. I have not used Windows in years for anything other than adjusting insurance claims.
flabbergasted
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Re: Authentication fails on one, but not other computer (Lin

Post by flabbergasted »

Well Praise God. I never did figure out what the issue was, but I have successfully gotten everything to work on the new computer. I created a new profile on my computer and then input the new church email address. Thank to your advice tanstaafl, I then copy the pres.js file to the flash drive and then overwrote the one on the new computer. When Thunderbird opened, it asked for the email passwords again for sending and receiving and outgoing and incoming work just fine.

Thank you for your help.
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tanstaafl
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Re: Authentication fails on one, but not other computer (Lin

Post by tanstaafl »

Glad you found a workaround.

I forgot you were using Linux (even though it was in both the title and first post). However, Portable Thunderbird is supposed to run well using WINE if you ever need to use it on Linux.
flabbergasted
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Re: Authentication fails on one, but not other computer (Lin

Post by flabbergasted »

Thank you for your help. Yeah, I run Windows as a virtual machine when I have to do any insurance adjusting. I do not usually have a need for portable Thunderbird, since we have apps for email on our mobile devices. I can see a need for that for someone who doesn't have his own computer of mobile device.

I do appreciate your help. Had you not mentioned pref.js, I would not have figured it out.
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