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.Mac outages, problems accessing email (#2): possible fixes
Users are continuing to report (in droves) problems accessing .Mac services -- particularly mail -- over the past few days.
Most reports indicate problems accessing .Mac mail from within various clients, including Mail.app. As such, the best stop-gap solution is to simply use the .Mac webmail interface in most cases
However, some users have also reported problems receiving messages through the webmail interface.
MacFixIt reader Michael Novelli writes:
"My .mac mail account stopped working yesterday. I can access it online."
Another reader adds:
"Same issue here with .Mac email. If I look at the Activity Viewer I can see my other email accounts connect and finish but .Mac just hangs with the blue and white candy cane progress bar. .Mac has become so unreliable that I cannot use it as my main account and have chosen another email service."
MacFixIt reader Jim writes:
"I am also encountering problems accessing .Mac mail with Eudora. Mail is apparently going out using .Mac and Eudora, but the problem is receiving mail."
Tom James reports issues with other areas of .Mac service:
"In addition to the problems accessing .mail via Mail, I had a problem today updating my .mac website. The server consistently refused to make changes to the welcome page even though iWeb organiser reported that the site as amended had been published. Deletion of the site in iWeb and creation of a second site initially did not work either but it n ow appears to have been updated. Perhaps there were delays in implementing changes due to the creaky nature of .Mac servers."
Possible fixes
Clear caches We've received unconfirmed reports that running the maintenance routines offered by AppleJack can resolve some .Mac connectivity issues -- potentially indicating cache corruption as a cause of problems. Cache cleaning can also be accomplished with tools like Cocktail or Tiger Cache Cleaner.
Just restart In other cases, a simple restart can have a beneficial effect. MacFixIt reader Tracey writes:
"I also experienced the .Mac mail connection problem yesterday utilizing Mail.app Version 2.1.1 (752.3). In my case, after a half an hour of being unable to connect, it finally dawned on me to go back to the basics of troubleshooting. After a reboot, and a subsequent relaunch of Mail.app, my .Mac mail became immediately responsive, and has been working without a glitch ever since (24 hours). It was a pretty simple fix in my case (or a serendipitous coincidence of timing)."
If you are experiencing similar issues, please let us know.
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iMac G5, 17", 1.8 GHz, 2GB RAM, OS 10.4.8
I keep a folder on my desktop with Alias' of the folders of all Internet Cache files (Mail, Software Update, Safari, OmniWeb, Firefox, Camino, NetNewsWire, etc.) Every few days I dump the contents of these folders in the trash and empty the trash. My Internet sessions speed up quite a bit right after I do this.
I especially find this effective with the Mail Cache files.
Griff
I had many of the same issues yesterday but in all cases I simply tried again later and the problems went away.
I suspect ongoing issues with Apple's IMAP servers are to blame, and if you just try again later everything will work normally.
I suspect the servers too: my .Mac account had worked perfectly from the start of the reported troubles right up until yesterday evening. Then it began to fail repeatedly. After an hour or so - with no intervention from me - it was back. OK this morning so far.
Same story for me, sometimes the imap servers just have a problem and we need to be patient.
And this morning (2007-02-10) patience hasn't been needed (a good thing, since it is in short supply for this geezer).
- by kishina February 12, 2007 1:36 AM PST
- I've almost always had great service with .Mac but last week I had this problem too. Accessing my .Mac email through Mail didn't work for about four hours. I switched to webmail for awhile and when I checked later that night everything was back to normal.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(8 Comments)My problems were probably Apple's fault because I tried using different computers, different OS versions, different places to access the internet, and all my other email worked. The tip about patience is right, just wait and save yourself the stress.