Thunderbird eMail program error

[melmerby]

Hi all

Since yesterday morning after 06:47 (last downloaded email) Thunderbird has come up with the error "Secure Connection Failed" and won't download any further e-mails.

I have looked on Thunderbird Forums for an answer and they all say you need to change or add a setting in the "Options" menu.

I can't find the options menu however I try and find it.☹️

I am following the tips in the replies but the Options menu still remains unavailable.

I'm beat, knowing little about the intracacies of the program.

 

I can still see the basic parts of the mails in "Mailwasher" but not all, which either needs a link to a browser version (sometimes included in the text) or a working e-mail program.

 

Any suggestions?

 

[kevinlms]

6 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Hi all

Since yesterday morning after 06:47 (last downloaded email) Thunderbird has come up with the error "Secure Connection Failed" and won't download any further e-mails.

I have looked on Thunderbird Forums for an answer and they all say you need to change or add a setting in the "Options" menu.

I can't find the options menu however I try and find it.☹️

I am following the tips in the replies but the Options menu still remains unavailable.

I'm beat, knowing little about the intracacies of the program.

 

I can still see the basic parts of the mails in "Mailwasher" but not all, which either needs a link to a browser version (sometimes included in the text) or a working e-mail program.

 

Any suggestions?

 

I guess you need Tools > Settings or Account Settings.

 

What exactly are you trying to change?

[Derekl]

There is a "Settings" Menu accessed via a gear shaped wheel in the bottom left corner of my screen. That seems to access all the likely options.

If you can't see it, there should be a tiny right arrow right at the bottom left. Clicking that reveals it. I hope that helps.

[Nick C]

That error means that Thunderbird cannot connect securely to the server - this might be a settings issue in Thunderbird, or it might be a problem with the server or the certificate (the bit of code that proved the server you're talking to is actually who it says it is). Does the error give any additional information, such as "certificate invalid"? It's quite a common error to see if a certificate has expired and needs to be renewed.

 

Which email provider do you use? Do they have a webmail, and if so, does that work correctly?

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, kevinlms said:

I guess you need Tools > Settings or Account Settings.

 

What exactly are you trying to change?

 

2 hours ago, Derekl said:

There is a "Settings" Menu accessed via a gear shaped wheel in the bottom left corner of my screen. That seems to access all the likely options.

If you can't see it, there should be a tiny right arrow right at the bottom left. Clicking that reveals it. I hope that helps.

I can access settings in several ways but the specific tab is supposedly called "Options" and includes certificates etc.

Nowhere can I find that.

 

This is what I'm trying to find:

My menu of those items does not include options

Edited September 27, 2023 by melmerby

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Nick C said:

 

 

Which email provider do you use? Do they have a webmail, and if so, does that work correctly?

I use Plusnet. They do have webmail but I've never used it.

[Hroth]

What version of Thunderbird are you using?

I'm currently on 115.3.0 and it looks nothing like your screenshot!

 

[Nick C]

I'm on 102.15.1; slightly behing @Hroth, and on mine the certificates are under Edit -> Settings -> Privacy & Security ->Manage Certificates

[melmerby]

21 minutes ago, Hroth said:

I'm currently on 115.3.0 and it looks nothing like your screenshot!

Nor does mine, that was off the Thunderbird website

[melmerby]

27 minutes ago, Hroth said:

What version of Thunderbird are you using?

I'm currently on 115.3.0 and it looks nothing like your screenshot!

 

I've just downloaded that version and it failed "check for updates".☹️

[zarniwhoop]

6 hours ago, melmerby said:

I've just downloaded that version and it failed "check for updates".☹️

Is 'check for updates' not looking for a newer version ? If so, 115.3.0 is the latest, released earlier this week, and nothing to do with retrieving mails.

 

A quick google at a mozilla page suggests there is no fix for a failed secure connection. That implies, to me, that either the site you are tryingto connect to has expired, or its certificate has become invalid (rather than out of date).

 

Is there a related web page you can try to connect to in a browser ?

[melmerby]

7 hours ago, zarniwhoop said:

Is 'check for updates' not looking for a newer version ? If so, 115.3.0 is the latest, released earlier this week, and nothing to do with retrieving mails.

 

A quick google at a mozilla page suggests there is no fix for a failed secure connection. That implies, to me, that either the site you are tryingto connect to has expired, or its certificate has become invalid (rather than out of date).

 

Is there a related web page you can try to connect to in a browser ?

It says "failed to check for updates" as if it's an error

 

I'm trying to dowload my emails from Plusnet from various senders, all of which were OK before.

I've now got about 30 waiting to be downloaded, visible in Mailwasher.

When the error first occured, I deleted those first couple of e-mails from mailwasher/server as they weren't important.

When the next email arrived on the server the error occured again.

 

I have posted a question on the Plusnet forum, waiting for replies.

[zarniwhoop]

When you originally said it failed "check for updates" I assumed that meant no updates were available, but "failed to check for updates" sounds as if it has a certificate problem (expired, or incorrect/obsolete TLS method - that would be why you were being referred to the settings option you cannot find).

 

From using firefox through its regular UI changes I know that things move around and can be hidden. I would try using the 'hamburger' menu (three lines), try to enable both the toolbar and menu if not already visible. Then search all options in Tools, Edit -> Preferences, and again the hamburger menu, to see if you can find 'Account Settings'. If you can, the Authentication Settings, Security Settings should show how it is set. Typically, SSL/TLS or else Starttls (starts as plain, switches to TLS) but for some mail servers you need other things (e.g. oauth for google).

[Nick C]

This page has the settings you'll need for Plusnet: https://www.plus.net/help/email-guides/how-to-set-up-plusnet-email/

Those settings, on a recent version of Thunderbird, are under Edit -> Account Settings -> Server Settings

[Hroth]

Musst admit I'm not enchanted with some of the innovations that have appeared with the latest Thunderbird iterations, particularly the change from a text button to "Download New Messages" to a little icon that looks like a brain, but I suspect is meant to be a little cloud with a down arrow emerging from it.

 

One wonders what the developers have been taking...

 

[Nick C]

16 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Musst admit I'm not enchanted with some of the innovations that have appeared with the latest Thunderbird iterations, particularly the change from a text button to "Download New Messages" to a little icon that looks like a brain, but I suspect is meant to be a little cloud with a down arrow emerging from it.

 

One wonders what the developers have been taking...

 

That sems quite common - the logo for some upload software I've been working on recently is a little cloud with an up arrow going into it. Either it's an industry standard or our UI designers are in league with those from Mozilla...

[Hroth]

46 minutes ago, Nick C said:

That sems quite common - the logo for some upload software I've been working on recently is a little cloud with an up arrow going into it. Either it's an industry standard or our UI designers are in league with those from Mozilla...

 

"Cloud-based" thinking, I expect!

 

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Nick C said:

This page has the settings you'll need for Plusnet: https://www.plus.net/help/email-guides/how-to-set-up-plusnet-email/

Those settings, on a recent version of Thunderbird, are under Edit -> Account Settings -> Server Settings

It's definitely a Thunderbird problem as the missus has a laptop which was using a redirect on my account for certain e mail addresses.

That has the same set up as my desktop (Mailwasher + Thunderbird) and apart from the username+password the same Thunderbird settings (supposedly), as I set it up to be the same as mine)

However that will receive and download mail from the server. I can also send a mail from it which the desktop can't currently do either.

 

I have now removed the redirect as it's not needed now, so it should be exactly the same, which I shall check.

 

The Plusnet Forum wasn't particularly helpful as the superuser that answered says it must be Mailwasher as that can download the mail but not pass it to Thunderbird.

AFAIK Mailwasher only peeks at the server and the only downloading is by the mail program. I still get the error if trying to download directly into Thunderbird

 

 

[beast66606]

Try disabling your anti-virus - I had to reinstall mine yesterday after it was blocking secure connections to some servers and I was unable to add exceptions. Using "Pause Protection" temporarily fixed the connection issue so I removed and reinstalled.

 

[melmerby]

On 28/09/2023 at 20:26, beast66606 said:

Try disabling your anti-virus - I had to reinstall mine yesterday after it was blocking secure connections to some servers and I was unable to add exceptions. Using "Pause Protection" temporarily fixed the connection issue so I removed and reinstalled.

 

Mozilla is an exception in Kaspersky.

 

I have now copied all the account settings to the Laptop (usernames ports etc) and that now sends and receives e-mails on the account without a problem.

 

Both the PC & Laptop have the same operating system version, Same Anti virus set up, same Thunderbird version.

I have now posted a question on the Thunderbird Forum.

 

Seems that "Secure Connection Failed" seems to be a fairly common problem, going back several years.

[melmerby]

Well!

Six days after posting a question on the Thunderbird Forum I have had precisely zero replies.

 

So I am forced to use 2 computers. The main one with all the accounts on and loads of storage and a rather sluggish laptop with just the mail program.

Not a satisfactory way to be operating!

[Jonboy]

Stupid question but is the system time and date correct?