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I can't access my gmail messages using thunderbird when I'm away from home

  • 3 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 19 views
  • Last reply by sfhowes

jalex
jalex
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When I'm at home in Scotland I can use thunderbird to access all my email accounts. When I'm at work on an offshore installation in the North Sea (internet access via a server in the Netherlands) thunderbird will access all accounts except my gmail account. I can access gmail as webmail but much prefer using an email client to keep things tidy. I've just enabled IMAP in my gmail account and tried to change the server settings in thunderbird in case using POP is causing the problem. In server settings it still says server type is POP and I can't see how to change this. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Following is the troubleshooting info for the current state: 


 Application Basics

   Name: Thunderbird
   Version: 52.1.1
   User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/52.1.1
   Profile Directory: Open Directory

             (Local drive)
   Application Build ID: 20170510140734
   Enabled Plugins: about:plugins
   Build Configuration: about:buildconfig
   Memory Use: about:memory
   Profiles: about:profiles

 Mail and News Accounts
   account1:
     INCOMING: account1, , (imap) mail.btinternet.com:993, SSL, passwordCleartext
     OUTGOING: , mail.btinternet.com:465, SSL, passwordCleartext, true

   account2:
     INCOMING: account2, , (none) Local Folders, plain, passwordCleartext

   account4:
     INCOMING: account4, , (pop3) imap.gmail.com:993, SSL, passwordCleartext
     OUTGOING: , smtp.gmail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, true

 Crash Reports

 Extensions
   Messaging Menu and Unity Launcher integration, 1.3.1, true, messagingmenu@mozilla.com

 Important Modified Preferences

   Name: Value

     accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0
     browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400
     browser.cache.disk.filesystem_reported: 1
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false
     browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false
     browser.zoom.full: true
     extensions.lastAppVersion: 52.1.1
     gfx.blacklist.canvas2d.acceleration: 4
     gfx.blacklist.canvas2d.acceleration.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.direct2d: 4
     gfx.blacklist.direct2d.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.direct3d11angle: 4
     gfx.blacklist.direct3d11angle.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.dxva: 4
     gfx.blacklist.hardwarevideodecoding: 4
     gfx.blacklist.hardwarevideodecoding.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d10: 4
     gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d10-1: 4
     gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d10-1.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d10.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d11: 4
     gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d11.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d9: 4
     gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d9.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.layers.opengl: 4
     gfx.blacklist.layers.opengl.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.stagefright: 4
     gfx.blacklist.stagefright.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.webgl.angle: 4
     gfx.blacklist.webgl.angle.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.webgl.msaa: 4
     gfx.blacklist.webgl.msaa.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.webgl.opengl: 4
     gfx.blacklist.webgl.opengl.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.webrtc.hw.acceleration: 4
     gfx.blacklist.webrtc.hw.acceleration.decode: 4
     gfx.blacklist.webrtc.hw.acceleration.decode.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.webrtc.hw.acceleration.encode: 4
     gfx.blacklist.webrtc.hw.acceleration.encode.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     gfx.blacklist.webrtc.hw.acceleration.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1
     mail.openMessageBehavior.version: 1
     mailnews.database.global.datastore.id: 4ed28562-62d7-4bb8-984c-af7ad8c663f
     media.gmp.storage.version.observed: 1
     network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true
     network.predictor.cleaned-up: true
     places.database.lastMaintenance: 1500572208
     places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 69244
     plugin.importedState: true
     print.print_bgcolor: false
     print.print_bgimages: false
     print.print_colorspace: default
     print.print_downloadfonts: false
     print.print_duplex: 0
     print.print_evenpages: true
     print.print_in_color: true
     print.print_margin_bottom: 0.500000012107193
     print.print_margin_left: 0.500000012107193
     print.print_margin_right: 0.500000012107193
     print.print_margin_top: 0.500000012107193
     print.print_oddpages: true
     print.print_orientation: 0
     print.print_page_delay: 50
     print.print_paper_data: 0
     print.print_paper_height: 279.40
     print.print_paper_name: na_letter
     print.print_paper_size_type: 1
     print.print_paper_size_unit: 1
     print.print_paper_width: 215.90
     print.print_plex_name: default
     print.print_resolution_name: default
     print.print_scaling: 1.00
     print.print_shrink_to_fit: true
     print.print_to_file: false
     print.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom: 56
     print.print_unwriteable_margin_left: 25
     print.print_unwriteable_margin_right: 25
     print.print_unwriteable_margin_top: 25

 Graphics

     GPU #1
     Description: Intel Open Source Technology Center -- Mesa DRI Intel(R) Pineview M x86/MMX/SSE2
     Vendor ID: Intel Open Source Technology Center
     Device ID: Mesa DRI Intel(R) Pineview M x86/MMX/SSE2
     Driver Version: 1.4 Mesa 12.0.6

     Features
     WebGL Renderer: Blocked for your graphics card because of unresolved driver issues.

     AzureCanvasBackend: skia
     AzureCanvasAccelerated: 0
     AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: none
     AzureContentBackend: skia
     CairoUseXRender: 0

 JavaScript

 Incremental GC: 1

 Accessibility

   Activated: 0
   Prevent Accessibility: 0

 Library Versions

     Expected minimum version
     Version in use

     NSPR
     4.13.1
     4.13.1

     NSS
     3.28.4
     3.28.4

     NSS Util
     3.28.4
     3.28.4

     NSS SSL
     3.28.4
     3.28.4

     NSS S/MIME
     3.28.4
     3.28.4
When I'm at home in Scotland I can use thunderbird to access all my email accounts. When I'm at work on an offshore installation in the North Sea (internet access via a server in the Netherlands) thunderbird will access all accounts except my gmail account. I can access gmail as webmail but much prefer using an email client to keep things tidy. I've just enabled IMAP in my gmail account and tried to change the server settings in thunderbird in case using POP is causing the problem. In server settings it still says server type is POP and I can't see how to change this. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Following is the troubleshooting info for the current state: Application Basics Name: Thunderbird Version: 52.1.1 User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/52.1.1 Profile Directory: Open Directory (Local drive) Application Build ID: 20170510140734 Enabled Plugins: about:plugins Build Configuration: about:buildconfig Memory Use: about:memory Profiles: about:profiles Mail and News Accounts account1: INCOMING: account1, , (imap) mail.btinternet.com:993, SSL, passwordCleartext OUTGOING: , mail.btinternet.com:465, SSL, passwordCleartext, true account2: INCOMING: account2, , (none) Local Folders, plain, passwordCleartext account4: INCOMING: account4, , (pop3) imap.gmail.com:993, SSL, passwordCleartext OUTGOING: , smtp.gmail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, true Crash Reports Extensions Messaging Menu and Unity Launcher integration, 1.3.1, true, messagingmenu@mozilla.com Important Modified Preferences Name: Value accessibility.typeaheadfind.flashBar: 0 browser.cache.disk.capacity: 358400 browser.cache.disk.filesystem_reported: 1 browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value: 358400 browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run: false browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max: false browser.zoom.full: true extensions.lastAppVersion: 52.1.1 gfx.blacklist.canvas2d.acceleration: 4 gfx.blacklist.canvas2d.acceleration.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.direct2d: 4 gfx.blacklist.direct2d.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.direct3d11angle: 4 gfx.blacklist.direct3d11angle.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.dxva: 4 gfx.blacklist.hardwarevideodecoding: 4 gfx.blacklist.hardwarevideodecoding.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d10: 4 gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d10-1: 4 gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d10-1.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d10.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d11: 4 gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d11.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d9: 4 gfx.blacklist.layers.direct3d9.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.layers.opengl: 4 gfx.blacklist.layers.opengl.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.stagefright: 4 gfx.blacklist.stagefright.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.webgl.angle: 4 gfx.blacklist.webgl.angle.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.webgl.msaa: 4 gfx.blacklist.webgl.msaa.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.webgl.opengl: 4 gfx.blacklist.webgl.opengl.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.webrtc.hw.acceleration: 4 gfx.blacklist.webrtc.hw.acceleration.decode: 4 gfx.blacklist.webrtc.hw.acceleration.decode.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.webrtc.hw.acceleration.encode: 4 gfx.blacklist.webrtc.hw.acceleration.encode.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 gfx.blacklist.webrtc.hw.acceleration.failureid: FEATURE_FAILURE_OPENGL_1 mail.openMessageBehavior.version: 1 mailnews.database.global.datastore.id: 4ed28562-62d7-4bb8-984c-af7ad8c663f media.gmp.storage.version.observed: 1 network.cookie.prefsMigrated: true network.predictor.cleaned-up: true places.database.lastMaintenance: 1500572208 places.history.expiration.transient_current_max_pages: 69244 plugin.importedState: true print.print_bgcolor: false print.print_bgimages: false print.print_colorspace: default print.print_downloadfonts: false print.print_duplex: 0 print.print_evenpages: true print.print_in_color: true print.print_margin_bottom: 0.500000012107193 print.print_margin_left: 0.500000012107193 print.print_margin_right: 0.500000012107193 print.print_margin_top: 0.500000012107193 print.print_oddpages: true print.print_orientation: 0 print.print_page_delay: 50 print.print_paper_data: 0 print.print_paper_height: 279.40 print.print_paper_name: na_letter print.print_paper_size_type: 1 print.print_paper_size_unit: 1 print.print_paper_width: 215.90 print.print_plex_name: default print.print_resolution_name: default print.print_scaling: 1.00 print.print_shrink_to_fit: true print.print_to_file: false print.print_unwriteable_margin_bottom: 56 print.print_unwriteable_margin_left: 25 print.print_unwriteable_margin_right: 25 print.print_unwriteable_margin_top: 25 Graphics GPU #1 Description: Intel Open Source Technology Center -- Mesa DRI Intel(R) Pineview M x86/MMX/SSE2 Vendor ID: Intel Open Source Technology Center Device ID: Mesa DRI Intel(R) Pineview M x86/MMX/SSE2 Driver Version: 1.4 Mesa 12.0.6 Features WebGL Renderer: Blocked for your graphics card because of unresolved driver issues. AzureCanvasBackend: skia AzureCanvasAccelerated: 0 AzureFallbackCanvasBackend: none AzureContentBackend: skia CairoUseXRender: 0 JavaScript Incremental GC: 1 Accessibility Activated: 0 Prevent Accessibility: 0 Library Versions Expected minimum version Version in use NSPR 4.13.1 4.13.1 NSS 3.28.4 3.28.4 NSS Util 3.28.4 3.28.4 NSS SSL 3.28.4 3.28.4 NSS S/MIME 3.28.4 3.28.4

All Replies (3)

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

You can't change a POP account to IMAP just by changing the server name.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Convert_a_POP_account_to_a_IMAP_account

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Using_Gmail_with_Thunderbird_and_Mozilla_Suite

jalex
jalex Question owner
more options

Thanks for that sf, I now know how to convert to an IMAP account. Do you think this might solve the problem of being unable to access gmail via Thunderbird when away from home?

sfhowes
sfhowes
  • Top 10 Contributor
more options

As long as the gmail account is properly set up - a nontrivial process, if you read the kb article - I see no reason why it shouldn't work through the Dutch network. It's not like you're trying to connect from a country that limits contact with the outside world.