November 10, 2009 9:54 AM PST
Snow Leopard 10.6.2: Unable to receive POP messages
Essentially what this means is that if you do not select the proper authentication for your incoming POP messages, you will not be able to receive your mail. To change the authentication options in Mail, follow these directions:
- Open Mail and navigate to the Mail menu bar > Preferences (or Command + ,).
- Choose Accounts and select the POP account that is not receiving messages from the left side of the window.
- From the right side of the window, click the Advanced button.
- From the drop down menu, select the proper authentication setup. Try Password, or Authenticated POP (APOP) first if you are not sure which option to choose. If you continue to have this problem, contact your ISP or mail provider for assistance.
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Joe is a seasoned Mac veteran with years of experience on the platform. He reports on Macs, iPods, iPhones and anything else Apple sells. Before joining CNET, he even worked in Apple's retail stores. He's also a creative professional who knows how to use a Mac to get the job done.

Wait aq moment: Apple changed its OS (10.6.1 to 10.6.2) and now Mail isn't working, and we all have to call our ISP???
You call this help?
I call this an answer like: "well, you can always change some settings and see if it works then, as we have no clue either..."
Just write nothing if you don't know the answer.
It's all right there.
I have this problem, I have 2 e-mail addresses Both POP both the same ISP and all and both didn't work.
Now one started working all on it's own and the other will not work at all with me changing nothing.
ISP says my settings are correct.
Why did they both not work at first and now "Magically" why does one work and one not with out making ANY changes!
Apples advice sounds like a page out of a Microsoft Manual!
Sorry, but it's apparently ALL NOT THERE!
http://www.apple.com/support/mobileme/system_status_more.html
I worked for me
http://www.apple.com/support/mobileme/system_status_more.html
I can't get MM on my iPhone or Mail on the desktop.
Seems that it is recovering though.
1. The article is highlighting a software "issue" in Mac OS X 10.6.2. The update changes how Mail treats the POP authentication process. You would still call your ISP -OR- Mail Provider (if your mail is via Comcast (which is also your ISP) call them. But, if you have Yahoo! Mail contact Yahoo! support) if you are not receiving your POP messages. See the difference? The theory is that if you have attempted all the different ways of authenticating your POP account and you are still not receiving messages, you may be having an issue with your ISP or Mail Provider. For further assistance, you should contact them.
2. The commenting on this thread brought up today's issue with MobileMe. This is specific to MobileMe and has nothing to do with this article's premise. You can continue to check the MobileMe status page (or just refresh you mail account) to see when the issue clears up.
Just my 2¢
Halkynmac - Germany
I had this problem.
I have 2 e-mail addresses Both POP both the same ISP and all and both didn't work.
Now one started working all on it's own and the other will not work at all with me changing nothing.
ISP says all my settings are correct.
I got the other one to work by:
Open Mail and navigate to the Mail menu bar > Preferences (or Command + ,).
Choose Accounts and select the POP account that is not receiving messages from the left side of the window.
From the right side of the window, click the Advanced button.
From the drop down menu, select the INCORRECT authentication setup. (I changed the port #, unchecked SSL(I require it), and the authentication to something other than what it should be.)
Saved these settings and quit the Mail application, reopened it and reset the correct authentication and port # and rechecked SSL (as I require it to be checked).
It still didn't work until I quit the Mail application again and reopened it.
Apples advice sounds like a page out of a Microsoft Manual!
Bottom line - I have to manually enter the passwords every time I launch Entourage.
At first I thought it was a new bug in Office 12.2.3, but after seeing this thread, it would seem to be a 10.6.2 bug. Or a combination of the two.
Bottom line is I can't tell which update caused all this, so won't do any of these updates on my other laptop until this is clear. I've never had any trouble with Apple's updates before in a decade+ with them, so am highly suspicious of the Office update.
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by recorder_comp
November 14, 2009 7:47 AM PST
- I just upgraded to 10.6.2 and had to adjust my email account setting to be able to receive POP email. I called Comcast, my email provider, and discovered that we had to change the settings for OUTGOING email in order to RECEIVE email. My incoming mail settings were already correct and when we corrected the outgoing settings everything started to work. (This was in spite of the fact that my outgoing email was working just fine.)
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(24 Comments)The outgoing settings are reached through the "account information" tab on the account setting preferences in Mail. I had to modify my account description on that page, to mail.comcast.net. Then, to set the port and SSL settings I had to click the drop-down for the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) and select "Edit SMTP Server List". Then, you can select the correct server and click the "Advanced" button to display the buttons and drop-downs for the port, SSL and Authentication. Here in Gaithersburg, MD, the correct settings were to use custom port 587, leave Use SSL unchecked and select Password authentication. I don't know whether those settings are valid nationally for Comcast.
The correct incoming settings were port 110, no SSL and Password authentication.