Yosemite Unable to Send Email After New Drive Install

Joined
Aug 2, 2010
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Despite following all the directions for outbound email fixes I've found online, not one has worked. I'm running Yosemite after having to restore my harddrive via SuperDuper after major problems. I can receive mail, but absolutely cannot send it. Comcast upper level tech support says it is the "device's fault." What Yosemite is doing is adding a colon plus my email address to the smpt.comcast.net address so naturally I cannot send mail - usually this is listed as "offline." When I go to Accounts to edit the address, it shows the address without the added-on information, but when I return to the screen, the phony address is there. At one point it actually did have smpt.comcast.net by itself but NOT connected to an account.

I've deleted and reinstalled my Comcast account multiple times to no avail. The operating system is refusing to keep the accurate outgoing address in place. My computer repair store says they are seeing this issue a lot. My husband's Yosemite iMac, on the same network, is not having this problem. It only started after my restore.

In disgust, I downloaded Thunderbird for Mac, but TB cannot "see" the "on my Mac" saved mail folders so won't import them. Add-ons or apps have not helped.

I do NOT want to use iCloud which some posters have recommended.

I have never been so aggravated with Apple. I have no intention of upgrading the OS because, as I understand, the bugs have never been fixed. Can anyone suggest a solution or am I doomed to have two email accounts: one with my saved folders and one from which I can send email?
Leslie
 
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
15,452
Reaction score
3,808
Points
113
Location
Winchester, VA
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 16" 2023 (M3 Pro), iPhone 15 Pro, plus ATVs, AWatch, MacMinis (multiple)
Sorry about the trouble, Leslie.

As for the two "experts" who have commented, both are totally wrong. Totally. I used Yosemite with Comcast for years with no problem. And whoever told you that updgrading meant inheriting bugs was also wrong. I run Mojave, and it seems to work pretty well. I've encountered zero bugs. Not that there are none to get, but I haven't seen any.

OK, so the three incorrect tech ideas taken care of, what I would suggest is that your restore from Super Duper mucked up the accounts for Comcast, which is leading to the issues. What you might try is to open Mail/Preferences and in the account you want, under Server settings, erase and re-enter the two server addresses. Also, click on the "Advanced IMAP Settings" and make sure there is nothing there under "IMAP Path prefix." Receiving and not sending indicates it's probable that something is wrong in the SMTP settings. In my Comcast settings, the boxes are, from top to bottom, my email address, which is also my User name. Then my password and the SMTP server. Check for your settings, erasing them completely and re-entering to make sure nothing is hidden off the edge of the boxes.

Hope that works for you. Comcast and Yosemite (and every OS after that) work well.
 

IWT


Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
10,218
Reaction score
2,175
Points
113
Location
Born Scotland. Worked all over UK. Live in Wales
Your Mac's Specs
M2 Max Studio Extra, 32GB memory, 4TB, Sonoma 14.4 Apple 5K Retina Studio Monitor
@Leslie

Like, Jake, I'm truly sorry for your frustration and understandable anger.

Try this:

Open Mail, then Mail Preferences. In the following Screenshots, I have used "Btinternet" as the example - you will need to identify your Comcast Account. Then click on "Server Settings" as per arrow.

This will bring up the second screenshot.

You will first, want to confirm your Incoming & Outgoing settings, particularly your Password (PW) - Red Arrows. I suggest you retype these to be sure.

Once done, Click on the Outgoing Mail Sever as per the Yellow arrow. See Screenshot 3. Again retype your PW as per Red Arrow then Click on Edit SMTP Sever List (Yellow Arrow).

Screenshot 4 - Red Arrows to identify your account and then your PW which you should retype once again.

Then Save Changes. See if that helps.

S1.jpg
S2.jpg
S3.jpg
S4.jpg


Ian
 
OP
L
Joined
Aug 2, 2010
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Done All That

Thanks for responding, but I've already worked on re-establishing the Account exactly as Jake describes multiple times with Comcast. I've spent an hour with top-level Comcast techs resetting things, but the OS still changes the smtp address. Yosemite adds smpt.comcast.net:myemailaddress every blasted time I edit the smpt address. Comcast reports, correctly, that the issue is with my operating system.

I've tried getting into Accounts to make the change to allow insecure mail (not that I wanted to, but to test this) which didn't help either.

To make matters worse, I cannot get the Mac to import a mission-critical set of nested mbox files . . . even though I can see them and know they are properly formatted/saved. I've been able to import other mailboxes with no issue from the same directory, but naturally, the most important ones will not import. Once I get Thunderbird working, I'm going to give up on Apple Mail. Right now, I'm running BOTH mail providers so I can at least see most of my necessary saved mail in Apple Mail and yet send email out of Thunderbird!
LeslieT
 

Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,596
Reaction score
1,072
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
I'm not sure what is adding the extra character yet. The following is meant solely as a troubleshooting step and not intended to be a permanent solution.

1. Go into the Users & Groups pane in System Preferences and create a new user account on your Mac. Use a different account name than your current account. Keep this account "clean" for the time being (do not add anything extra).
2. Launch Mail and add your Comcast account. Follow the directions carefully to make sure everything is entered correctly.
3. Test your account to see if everything is working.

Let us know the results and we can go from there.
 
OP
L
Joined
Aug 2, 2010
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I followed your advice Slydude and I CAN send email out of that account!!! Of course none of my "on my mac" folders are there and it is on a different user where nothing looks right. Now what? Is there a way to get this over to my normal user (administrator) account?

Forgot to add that when I changed the name of the HD from that of the backup drive (from which everything was restored), I lost the ability to access Apple Mail in my primary user account! The icon is still in my dock with the appropriate number of unread emails (can't catch up on 150 emails until I have the ability to save into separate local folders. This tells me that for some reason, the restore function did not restore the email application but was running from the external HD on which my superduper backup was located. Does this seem reasonable? Everything else was okay . . . . access to Cloudberry, etc. from the primary user account.
Leslie
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
15,452
Reaction score
3,808
Points
113
Location
Winchester, VA
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 16" 2023 (M3 Pro), iPhone 15 Pro, plus ATVs, AWatch, MacMinis (multiple)
Forgot to add that when I changed the name of the HD from that of the backup drive
That is rather important. Exactly when did you do this name change? By changing the name you have effectively changed the path to everything on the drive, which may well be why it's not working. Your new account works because it was set up with the new name.

EDIT: And by the way, is there anything else you forgot to tell us?
 

Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,596
Reaction score
1,072
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
Thanks Jake. I tried to post last night but I kept getting an error.

I wasn't sure how much the name change would affect things. I think it depends quite a bit on exactly when in the sequence of events the change was done. I was also wondering what login items are running in the user account that is having issues.
 
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
15,452
Reaction score
3,808
Points
113
Location
Winchester, VA
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 16" 2023 (M3 Pro), iPhone 15 Pro, plus ATVs, AWatch, MacMinis (multiple)
Sly, that was why I asked. I've tried renaming a boot drive before and it did not go well. I ended up putting the original back. Had issues with that, but fewer than with the change.
 

Rod


Joined
Jun 12, 2011
Messages
9,628
Reaction score
1,831
Points
113
Location
Melbourne, Australia and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Your Mac's Specs
2021 M1 MacBook Pro 14" macOS 14.4.1, Mid 2010MacBook 13" iPhone 13 Pro max, iPad 6, Apple Watch SE.
I second that, only changed a boot volume name once (years ago) and ended up erasing the whole thing and starting from scratch with a new installation of macOS. That action should come with some sort of warning (or maybe it does now).
 

Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,596
Reaction score
1,072
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
I think I have done something similar before and not had as many issues but I don't remember the exact circumstances.

As a means of moving forward would it work to just change the volume name back to what it was before the name change?

For members of the brain trust who play with file permissions more than I do: Is theree a way to easily move the OP's files and email into the user account where Mail is working proprtly?
 
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
15,452
Reaction score
3,808
Points
113
Location
Winchester, VA
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 16" 2023 (M3 Pro), iPhone 15 Pro, plus ATVs, AWatch, MacMinis (multiple)
If he puts the name back to what it was, some problems may go away and some new ones appear. When I did that, the things I had used/installed, etc., during the new name period got broken when the original name was returned. But those were easier to fix than all the other issues from changing the name in the first place.

As for moving the OP's files and stuff, the best way is to copy to Shared folders, and then from there to his new account. That won't fix the permissions, but it will at least allow him to copy them. Once they are in location on the new account, he can right-click on the highest folder, Get Info, unlock it, and change permissions and apply to all subfolders. That will fix the permissions for him.
 

Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,596
Reaction score
1,072
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
I hadn't thought of using the shard folder in that way.

I wonder if that would resolve the issue with access to previous emails.
 
OP
L
Joined
Aug 2, 2010
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I solved the problem by permanently switching to Thunderbird - which after some add-ons, I like better. Everything else worked perfectly despite changing the name of the main drive from SuperDuper to my name (as it had been prior to all the hardware issues). I am done with Apple Mail.
 

Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,596
Reaction score
1,072
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
Glad you got that sorted out. I do need to see if I can find a fix for the underlying problem though. Just in case someone else experiences a similar problem. You csn't be the only one who has experienced this problem or something similar.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top