Mail problem driving me insane!

[dtruett1]

For some reason, with no updates to anything (OS 10.3.9, Mail 1.3.11 v622) the Mail icon in the dock bounces every few minutes and asks for my password. I assume this is whenever there is new mail. Have called the ISP (Cox) and their fee-for-service software support (didn't charge). The former thinks its a software issue, the latter a password issue. It seems like software, as I get mail without the alert box in Entourage, yet when I boot to my backup drive (not backed up since before the problem) or my FW drive which has 10.3.8 installed, I get the same thing. It can't be the password, since I've changed to the generic password Cox uses to monitor the activity, to another, and back to my regular password with the same results. Sometimes when I open Mail, the one account is offline, yet my .Mac account never has a problem. Some of the things I've tried:
•Went into Keychain access and deleted the mail server password file, then checked after reopening Mail Prefs and reentering the password that Keychain has it correct
•Testing on my G4 in another room
•Testing on my PowerBook
•Unplugging the wireless router (which I've had for months w/ no problem
•Plugging directly into the cable modem
•Unplugging the power to both of the above to reset
•Logging back in with Startup Items off
•Sending dozens of test emails from my schools IMAP account, from Cox WebMail online, from my account and my girlfriend's in Entourage, from different accounts within Mail.
All with about the same result. Happens whether I leave the app open and close the window or close Mail. Sometimes, as just now, I get a new mail sound and the message number on the Mail icon in the dock changes. Sometimes I get that d***ned alert box and have to reenter my password.
I have spent hours testing all of the variables I can think of. If anyone has ANY idea or suggestion I would be most grateful. Thank you.

 

[MisterMe]

For some reason, with no updates to anything (OS 10.3.9, Mail 1.3.11 v622) the Mail icon in the dock bounces every few minutes and asks for my password. I assume this is whenever there is new mail. Have called the ISP (Cox) and their fee-for-service software support (didn't charge). The former thinks its a software issue, the latter a password issue. It seems like software, as I get mail without the alert box in Entourage, yet when I boot to my backup drive (not backed up since before the problem) or my FW drive which has 10.3.8 installed, I get the same thing. It can't be the password, since I've changed to the generic password Cox uses to monitor the activity, to another, and back to my regular password with the same results. Sometimes when I open Mail, the one account is offline, yet my .Mac account never has a problem. Some of the things I've tried:
•Went into Keychain access and deleted the mail server password file, then checked after reopening Mail Prefs and reentering the password that Keychain has it correct
•Testing on my G4 in another room
•Testing on my PowerBook
•Unplugging the wireless router (which I've had for months w/ no problem
•Plugging directly into the cable modem
•Unplugging the power to both of the above to reset
•Logging back in with Startup Items off
•Sending dozens of test emails from my schools IMAP account, from Cox WebMail online, from my account and my girlfriend's in Entourage, from different accounts within Mail.
All with about the same result. Happens whether I leave the app open and close the window or close Mail. Sometimes, as just now, I get a new mail sound and the message number on the Mail icon in the dock changes. Sometimes I get that d***ned alert box and have to reenter my password.
I have spent hours testing all of the variables I can think of. If anyone has ANY idea or suggestion I would be most grateful. Thank you.

You are go onto Cox's website to get the proper settings for your email account. You then have to transcribe the proper settings to Mail and Entourage.

 

[dtruett1]

Thanks, but I can't find settings on the site, other than security and spam software I don't use, password settings, which are correct and the modem manufacturer and Modem MAC Address, which I don't think I use. As I said, the settings in Mail haven't changed since it worked fine. Any ideas?

 

[chrigil]

Hi dtrueett1, both myself and my work colleague had the same infuriating problem. We tried everything from reinstalling Mail to deleting the account on the Mac and recreating it all the way through to deleting the actual email account on the ISP's server. None of which worked.

In the end we decided to put up with the hassle of setting Mail to manual. It was about a month before Tiger was released so we accepted it and prayed that it would be resolved after the Tiger installation. Was it resolved? Yes and no. At first it was fine. Then it started doing it very occasionally but now it hasn't done it for a few months.

If you do get to the bottom of the problem please post the solution for me to see. I'm pretty sure its not a server problem because we had 8 email accounts on 3 different hosting companies and we deleted them and recreated them which didn't solve the problem.

The hunt goes on.

Also as an aside. Do you ever get random unexplainable New Mail sounds for absolutely no reason? I often get New Mail sound and there is NO new mail! Very strange.

Chris Gilbert

 

[MisterMe]

Thanks, but I can't find settings on the site, other than security and spam software I don't use, password settings, which are correct and the modem manufacturer and Modem MAC Address, which I don't think I use. As I said, the settings in Mail haven't changed since it worked fine. Any ideas?

• Log into www.cox.net. Use your regular account name and password.
• On the left-hand side in the second blue panel, click Customer Support.
• On the following page, locate the Learning Center list.
• Click Email, the third item in the list.
• Locate the Select Sub Topic list.
• Select the subtopic that is specific to your mail client.

 

[dtruett1]

Hi dtrueett1, both myself and my work colleague had the same infuriating problem. We tried everything from reinstalling Mail to deleting the account on the Mac and recreating it all the way through to deleting the actual email account on the ISP's server. None of which worked.


Chris Gilbert

Well thanks-I was going to spend hours trying all of that!

In the end we decided to put up with the hassle of setting Mail to manual. It was about a month before Tiger was released so we accepted it and prayed that it would be resolved after the Tiger installation. Was it resolved? Yes and no. At first it was fine. Then it started doing it very occasionally but now it hasn't done it for a few months.
Chris Gilbert

I was even going to buy my Mini ahead of schedule to see if Tiger and a clean install would work. The strange thing is that I have some notes in my PIM that the same thing happened months (years?) ago and I don't remember how it resolved itself, but it did.

If you do get to the bottom of the problem please post the solution for me to see. I'm pretty sure its not a server problem because we had 8 email accounts on 3 different hosting companies and we deleted them and recreated them which didn't solve the problem.

The hunt goes on.

Also as an aside. Do you ever get random unexplainable New Mail sounds for absolutely no reason? I often get New Mail sound and there is NO new mail! Very strange.Chris Gilbert

I'm pretty sure it's not the server, as Entourage works. Almost decided to use Entourage instead, but yuch... And I can't import my Mail boxes even though Mail exports an mbox and Entourage imports them-just not mine! The weird thing is that the problem duplicates on my laptop, G5, G4, and archived volumes, so one would think it is the server. However I can't escape the conclusion that if Entourage works fine it can't be. I sometimes get a new mail sound w/out mail, but not frequently. I'm going to try setting to check every hour, and if that doesn't work, go manual. If I come up with anything, I'll contact you if your profile shows your Email. Even though this didn't solve it, it's a great relief to know that it's something someone else has encountered and explored, and that I may not be able to do anything about it. Guess I'll go back to trying to enjoy my summer vacation. Gracias!
Don Truett