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Mail will not retrieve emails
#55472 07/30/20 05:28 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
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jchuzi Online OP
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7
In Mail, I have one account for myself and one for my wife. Mine is working normally but hers can send email but not retrieve them. If she signs into her webmail account at Spectrum, she can see her emails from there.

I have tried the following:

1. Her account initially was offline so I put it online.
2. I toggled the account offline and then online.
3. I rebuilt her mailbox.
4. I used Disk Utility to run First Aid.
5. I quit Mail and relaunched it.
6. Restarting did not solve it.
7. At first, Outlook could not retrieve her mail either. I reset the password and Outlook succeeded in downloading her email.
8. I re-applied the Combo 10.15.6 update.
9. A phone call to Spectrum was non-productive. The rep told me that, since webmail was working, I would have to contact Apple.
10. There is a warning triangle at her mailbox. When I click it, I get the following:

Online Status

There may be a problem with the mail server or network. Verify the settings for account “cchuzi RR” or try again.

The server returned the error: Connections to host POP-server.hvc.rr.com on the default ports failed.


Please advise.

EDIT: Apple had me delete my wife's account and set it up again. Now, I can download her emails but she lost all her previous emails. Time Machine does not respond when I want to go back to this morning to restore the emails. I am currently running First Aid on Time Machine. Unfortunately, I got cut off from Apple and am trying to re-establish contact.

If I need to restore her emails, which file do I look for in either a clone or Time Machine?

Last edited by jchuzi; 07/30/20 06:33 PM.

Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Mail will not retrieve emails
jchuzi #55474 07/30/20 09:25 PM
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Quote:
EDIT: Apple had me delete my wife's account and set it up again. Now, I can download her emails but she lost all her previous emails. Time Machine does not respond when I want to go back to this morning to restore the emails. I am currently running First Aid on Time Machine. Unfortunately, I got cut off from Apple and am trying to re-establish contact.

If I need to restore her emails, which file do I look for in either a clone or Time Machine?
From you description, I believe the account is using IMAP protocol which means UNLESS they were moved to folders "On My Mac", to use the Mail app terminology, the messages were not stored on your computer other than in temporary files which are not backed up by Time Machine. However, unless the files and or folders were somehow deleted in the process, they should still be on Spectrum's servers. Have you tried looking again with the Webmail portal to see if the messages are there?

Last edited by joemikeb; 07/30/20 09:27 PM. Reason: typos

If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Mail will not retrieve emails
joemikeb #55477 07/31/20 10:28 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
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jchuzi Online OP
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Joined: Aug 2009
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The account is POP, not IMAP. Therefore, there is no chance that the emails are still on Spectrum servers. I talked with three Apple techs and here's the long and short of it:

The first tech suggested that I delete the problem account and set up a new one. That solved the receiving issue but, unfortunately, she lost ALL her emails. I should have kept that account instead of deleting it. The new account downloads from a POP server but Mail lists it as IMAP. I want to delete the emails from the server as I download them, from Mail, not from Spectrum Webmail. How do I do that?

The second tech (the phone connection disconnected and I had to call again) passed me on to a higher level tech in order to figure out how to get her emails back. Without going into details, Time Machine was unsuccessful. I had a clone that was last updated on July 22 so I figured that I could, at least, retrieve emails from that date. Under the direction of the tech, I used Mail > File > Import Mailboxes to import ~/Library/Mail/V7. This resulted in imported mailboxes. I was able to move the emails from them into my wife's new mailbox.

Now, I have a new issue. I prefer Column view in Mail and I always have the emails spaced above the preview pane. In order to move as many emails as possible at one time, I lowered the space bar so that the preview pane was minimized (actually, not visible). Now, I cannot raise it again. Luckily, I can still double-click an email to open it and view it, but this is less convenient. If I uncheck Column view, I cannot get the side preview pane either, even by checking that option under View.

Any thoughts?

EDIT: At least there is some good news. I checked Spectrum Webmail and, to my surprise, all the old emails are there. This, despite it being a POP account. Go figure.

Last edited by jchuzi; 07/31/20 12:33 PM.

Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Mail will not retrieve emails
jchuzi #55478 07/31/20 01:02 PM
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Originally Posted By: jchuzi
At least there is some good news. I checked Spectrum Webmail and, to my surprise, all the old emails are there. This, despite it being a POP account. Go figure.

My POP email remains on Verizon's servers until I remove it manually with Mail > control-click on "Inbox" > Get Account Info.

I imagine that there's another way to remove it, but I've got no idea what it may be. Is it a Mail > Prefs > Accounts > Mailbox Behaviors setting, or must I log in to Verizon?


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: Mail will not retrieve emails
artie505 #55482 07/31/20 03:31 PM
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jchuzi Online OP
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I didn't know about that Get Account Info, so thanks for posting, Artie. The odd thing is that my account is definitely POP (no emails stored) but my wife's account, which has always been supposed to be POP and is shown as IMAP, is at 50% capacity. She has emails going back to 2008 on Spectrum's server.

As far as I can tell, the only way to delete those emails is by logging into her Spectrum webmail account and doing it manually. Mail > Preferences > Accounts has no way to delete emails from the server. It does have an option to automatically empty Mail's Trash folder at specified intervals, but that should not affect the server.


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Mail will not retrieve emails
jchuzi #55483 07/31/20 03:35 PM
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Originally Posted By: jchuzi
Now, I have a new issue. I prefer Column view in Mail and I always have the emails spaced above the preview pane. In order to move as many emails as possible at one time, I lowered the space bar so that the preview pane was minimized (actually, not visible). Now, I cannot raise it again. Luckily, I can still double-click an email to open it and view it, but this is less convenient. If I uncheck Column view, I cannot get the side preview pane either, even by checking that option under View.

Any thoughts?

THANKS JON 🤬 I was able to successfully duplicate your situation so well that I am stuck as well. I can't find even a property list (.plist) that looks promising. I can see the division marker at the bottom of the window and the cursor changes to the appropriate shape, but I cannot move the border. 🙅‍♂️ I hope someone finds a solution for the both of us. 😳 (Fortunately Mail is not my primary Email Client.)

Originally Posted By: jchuzi
EDIT: At least there is some good news. I checked Spectrum Webmail and, to my surprise, all the old emails are there. This, despite it being a POP account. Go figure.

It sounds as if rather than supporting separate IMAP and POP email servers, Spectrum has chosen to go solely with the vastly more popular IMAP. (Remember there are millions more smart phones than there are computers and they all use IMAP) You can access an IMAP account as POP and except for minor exceptions you may never know the difference, which is what I believe is happening.

I FIXED THE MAIL WINDOW: I tried one last time to see if I could get the message window open in Mail and found if I clicked on the almost microscopic ^ and the correct cursor appeared then dragged that almost to the top of the Mail window suddenly 🧨 the divider moved. I have tested this several times now and it is consistent, you just have to go far enough to trigger the action. 🤷‍♂️


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Mail will not retrieve emails
joemikeb #55485 07/31/20 04:44 PM
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Likes: 7
jchuzi Online OP
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 7
I just got off the phone with Apple and the tech gave me almost the same solution. I selected an email in Column view and then dragged the cursor up to that email. The Preview pane automagically appeared.

I commend you for your courage in trying to replicate my issue and I hope that your blood pressure has returned to normal! smile

Last edited by jchuzi; 07/31/20 04:51 PM.

Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: Mail will not retrieve emails
jchuzi #55627 08/11/20 09:04 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
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Hi Jon:

Unfortunately, I tried almost all those techniques before I wrote to FTM. I don't use Outlook and I did not update. I CANNOT delete my Yahoo account from my mail program, so I tried to add it again. But, it said my account was already there and open. It's just that it won't work on Mac Mail now for some reason. I want to delete the account and re-enter it like I have done in the past, but it won't let me do either. I really, really do not want to lose any emails as I keep info emails and important receipts on the account, though I have them backed up on my external drive if all else fails.


Originally Posted By: jchuzi
In Mail, I have one account for myself and one for my wife. Mine is working normally but hers can send email but not retrieve them. If she signs into her webmail account at Spectrum, she can see her emails from there.

I have tried the following:

1. Her account initially was offline so I put it online.
2. I toggled the account offline and then online.
3. I rebuilt her mailbox.
4. I used Disk Utility to run First Aid.
5. I quit Mail and relaunched it.
6. Restarting did not solve it.
7. At first, Outlook could not retrieve her mail either. I reset the password and Outlook succeeded in downloading her email.
8. I re-applied the Combo 10.15.6 update.
9. A phone call to Spectrum was non-productive. The rep told me that, since webmail was working, I would have to contact Apple.
10. There is a warning triangle at her mailbox. When I click it, I get the following:

Online Status

There may be a problem with the mail server or network. Verify the settings for account “cchuzi RR” or try again.

The server returned the error: Connections to host POP-server.hvc.rr.com on the default ports failed.


Please advise.

EDIT: Apple had me delete my wife's account and set it up again. Now, I can download her emails but she lost all her previous emails. Time Machine does not respond when I want to go back to this morning to restore the emails. I am currently running First Aid on Time Machine. Unfortunately, I got cut off from Apple and am trying to re-establish contact.

If I need to restore her emails, which file do I look for in either a clone or Time Machine?


MacBook Pro - M2, Ventura 13.6
Safari Tech Prev 17.0
Safari 16.6
Firefox 116.0.2
iPhone 7 Version 15.8




Re: Mail will not retrieve emails
plantsower #55642 08/12/20 03:51 PM
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Originally Posted By: plantsower
... I CANNOT delete my Yahoo account from my mail program, so I tried to add it again. But, it said my account was already there and open. It's just that it won't work on Mac Mail now for some reason. I want to delete the account and re-enter it like I have done in the past, but it won't let me do either. I really, really do not want to lose any emails as I keep info emails and important receipts on the account, though I have them backed up on my external drive if all else fails.

BEFORE YOU TRY TO DELETE YOUR YAHOO ACCOUNT...
  1. Go to Mail > Preferences > Accounts > Yahoo > Account information
  2. UNcheck the item labeled "Enable this account"
  3. Now you can click the minus sign at the bottom of the list of accounts
Your Yahoo account should now be deleted and you can add it back.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: Mail will not retrieve emails
joemikeb #55645 08/12/20 04:02 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
Likes: 3
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Joined: Sep 2009
Likes: 3
Good to know for next time! Thanks.


Originally Posted By: joemikeb
Originally Posted By: plantsower
... I CANNOT delete my Yahoo account from my mail program, so I tried to add it again. But, it said my account was already there and open. It's just that it won't work on Mac Mail now for some reason. I want to delete the account and re-enter it like I have done in the past, but it won't let me do either. I really, really do not want to lose any emails as I keep info emails and important receipts on the account, though I have them backed up on my external drive if all else fails.

BEFORE YOU TRY TO DELETE YOUR YAHOO ACCOUNT...
  1. Go to Mail > Preferences > Accounts > Yahoo > Account information
  2. UNcheck the item labeled "Enable this account"
  3. Now you can click the minus sign at the bottom of the list of accounts
Your Yahoo account should now be deleted and you can add it back.


MacBook Pro - M2, Ventura 13.6
Safari Tech Prev 17.0
Safari 16.6
Firefox 116.0.2
iPhone 7 Version 15.8





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