Can't Receive Email

[pdmike]

I click on the Mail icon, having previously set up my AOL account in the Mail settings. I used to be able to get mail just fine. Now, all of a sudden, when I click on the Inbox, I get this message: "Cannot Get Mail. The user name or password for "Personal Email Account" is incorrect."

It ISN'T incorrect. It is correct.

I have gone back, into Mail Settings and made sure that the user name and password are both correct. Still, I continue to get this infuriating message.

In the meantime, of course, I can't get any email.

Now - if I go into Safari/AOL, I can receive and send email to my heart's content.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can fix this problem?

 

[Demandarin]

Try rebooting ur device. Alot of times that's fixes bugs or crashes with apps or email. Also, which I'm sure u did, double check ur username and password again or re enter it.

 

[twerppoet]

When all else fails, you can often get your account to work again by deleting it and re-adding it to the iPad.

But first, check and make sure your account is still working on the web, or by other means. If the server is having problems then you'll just have to wait until hey fix it.

 

[biobunny]

Does your mail support POP or the other thing and is it enabled. Just making sure.

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

I click on the Mail icon, having previously set up my AOL account in the Mail settings. I used to be able to get mail just fine. Now, all of a sudden, when I click on the Inbox, I get this message: "Cannot Get Mail. The user name or password for "Personal Email Account" is incorrect."

It ISN'T incorrect. It is correct.

I have gone back, into Mail Settings and made sure that the user name and password are both correct. Still, I continue to get this infuriating message.

In the meantime, of course, I can't get any email.

Now - if I go into Safari/AOL, I can receive and send email to my heart's content.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can fix this problem?

OK - so you've checked that the email account itself is OK by retrieving your mail using Safari. So, clearly, it's not a server or Internet issue. So this falls under that 'catch all' category of 'unexplained' problem!!


The easiest first way to try to solve ‘unexplained’ or ‘unusual’ problems with the iPad are:-

Force the offending app to close. This usually works and is the easiest first step to sorting the problem. If you have iOS 4.2 double-press the ‘Home’ button to bring up the multi-task bar at the bottom of the screen. Press *and hold* any icon until they start to ‘jiggle’. Then tap the top left-hand corner of the app that you want to close. It will ‘disappear’ from the list. Don’t panic - you’ve not deleted it, just closed it. Now tap the Home screen and the multi-task bar will disappear. Re-open the iPad’s app and see if the problem has resolved itself. If not, it’s on to possible solution number two!!

Restart the iPad. Press *and hold* the Power button. After a couple of seconds a slider control will appear asking you to confirm that you really want to switch the iPad off (this is all you’ll be doing). Slide the control to accept. A rotating white ‘bezel’ will appear in the iPad screen as the iPad powers down (it takes a few seconds, just like it would if you were shutting down your PC). When the screen of the iPad has gone completely blank, press *and hold* the Power button for a couple of seconds until the white Apple logo appears and the iPad starts to power up. This takes several seconds, so be patient. During the power up the automatic screen orientation function is disabled, so don’t panic. A few seconds before the power up is complete, the iPad plays a little ‘jingle’ and then you’re back to the Home screen. Restart the iPad’s app and see if the problem persists. Apple (and Forum members) recommend that you power down your iPad at least once a week, just as you might regularly completely switch off your PC. The normal procedure of just briefly pressing the Power button of the iPad merely puts it to ‘sleep’. Most Forum members have found that one of the two methods I’ve mentioned here cure a whole bunch of unexplained problems and are an easy first step to resolving most anything that happens on the iPad.

Tim
Scotland

 

[pdmike]

I click on the Mail icon, having previously set up my AOL account in the Mail settings. I used to be able to get mail just fine. Now, all of a sudden, when I click on the Inbox, I get this message: "Cannot Get Mail. The user name or password for "Personal Email Account" is incorrect."

It ISN'T incorrect. It is correct.

I have gone back, into Mail Settings and made sure that the user name and password are both correct. Still, I continue to get this infuriating message.

In the meantime, of course, I can't get any email.

Now - if I go into Safari/AOL, I can receive and send email to my heart's content.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can fix this problem?

OK - so you've checked that the email account itself is OK by retrieving your mail using Safari. So, clearly, it's not a server or Internet issue. So this falls under that 'catch all' category of 'unexplained' problem!!


The easiest first way to try to solve ‘unexplained’ or ‘unusual’ problems with the iPad are:-

Force the offending app to close. This usually works and is the easiest first step to sorting the problem. If you have iOS 4.2 double-press the ‘Home’ button to bring up the multi-task bar at the bottom of the screen. Press *and hold* any icon until they start to ‘jiggle’. Then tap the top left-hand corner of the app that you want to close. It will ‘disappear’ from the list. Don’t panic - you’ve not deleted it, just closed it. Now tap the Home screen and the multi-task bar will disappear. Re-open the iPad’s app and see if the problem has resolved itself. If not, it’s on to possible solution number two!!

Restart the iPad. Press *and hold* the Power button. After a couple of seconds a slider control will appear asking you to confirm that you really want to switch the iPad off (this is all you’ll be doing). Slide the control to accept. A rotating white ‘bezel’ will appear in the iPad screen as the iPad powers down (it takes a few seconds, just like it would if you were shutting down your PC). When the screen of the iPad has gone completely blank, press *and hold* the Power button for a couple of seconds until the white Apple logo appears and the iPad starts to power up. This takes several seconds, so be patient. During the power up the automatic screen orientation function is disabled, so don’t panic. A few seconds before the power up is complete, the iPad plays a little ‘jingle’ and then you’re back to the Home screen. Restart the iPad’s app and see if the problem persists. Apple (and Forum members) recommend that you power down your iPad at least once a week, just as you might regularly completely switch off your PC. The normal procedure of just briefly pressing the Power button of the iPad merely puts it to ‘sleep’. Most Forum members have found that one of the two methods I’ve mentioned here cure a whole bunch of unexplained problems and are an easy first step to resolving most anything that happens on the iPad.

Tim
Scotland

Thank you very much. I did both, and neither of them solved the problem. Any other thoguhts?

 

[pdmike]

When all else fails, you can often get your account to work again by deleting it and re-adding it to the iPad.

But first, check and make sure your account is still working on the web, or by other means. If the server is having problems then you'll just have to wait until hey fix it.

I thought I might try that myself - but I'm afraid that when I delete the account, I won't be able to set it up again because it calls for all kinds of technical information I don't have (POP server, incoming, outgoing, etc.)

Is there a way I can obtain all of that information?

There is nothing wrong with my server. It's AOL - works like a charm. Well, let's not go that far. It is, after all, AOL. But it's working.

 

[pdmike]

Does your mail support POP or the other thing and is it enabled. Just making sure.

I'm sure it does. It is AOL. How do I enable POP?

Don't forget - everything was working just fine for a long time. Then, all of a sudden and for not apparent reason, the problem described in the OP popped up.

Edit Note: You know, on further checking in Settings, I see that the primary server is listed as smtp.aol.com. Is that the "other thing" you are talking about?

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

When all else fails, you can often get your account to work again by deleting it and re-adding it to the iPad.

But first, check and make sure your account is still working on the web, or by other means. If the server is having problems then you'll just have to wait until hey fix it.

I thought I might try that myself - but I'm afraid that when I delete the account, I won't be able to set it up again because it calls for all kinds of technical information I don't have (POP server, incoming, outgoing, etc.)

Is there a way I can obtain all of that information?

There is nothing wrong with my server. It's AOL - works like a charm. Well, let's not go that far. It is, after all, AOL. But it's working.

Sorry you're having so much trouble...to get the details ....

'Settings', 'Mail, Contacts, Calendars', 'Accounts', <the account you want to find out the settings for>, 'Account' and then look at the settings for the incoming email - IMAP or POP - and the outgoing email - SMTP. You might have to 'drill down' a bit to get all the various settings.

Don't hesitate to get back in touch with us if the problem persists....

Tim
Scotland

 

[pdmike]

When all else fails, you can often get your account to work again by deleting it and re-adding it to the iPad.

But first, check and make sure your account is still working on the web, or by other means. If the server is having problems then you'll just have to wait until hey fix it.

I thought I might try that myself - but I'm afraid that when I delete the account, I won't be able to set it up again because it calls for all kinds of technical information I don't have (POP server, incoming, outgoing, etc.)

Is there a way I can obtain all of that information?

There is nothing wrong with my server. It's AOL - works like a charm. Well, let's not go that far. It is, after all, AOL. But it's working.

Sorry you're having so much trouble...to get the details ....

'Settings', 'Mail, Contacts, Calendars', 'Accounts', <the account you want to find out the settings for>, 'Account' and then look at the settings for the incoming email - IMAP or POP - and the outgoing email - SMTP. You might have to 'drill down' a bit to get all the various settings.

Don't hesitate to get back in touch with us if the problem persists....

Tim
Scotland

I am having trouble finding the settings. In Mail, Contacts, Calendars, I go to Accounts/Personal Email Account. I then go to AOL/Account. This puts me at a screen called Account. There are three groups on this screen: AOL Account Information, Outgoing Mail Server and Advanced.

The AOL Account Information section consists of fields for setting Name, Address, Password and Description. You cannot go beyond the fields - all you can do is enter data. None of the data in there has anything to do with what I need.

Under Outgoing Mail Server, it says: SMTP and, to the right of that, is a link that says: smtp.aol.com. Now I'm getting somewhere, I guess. If I click on that link, it takes me to the SMTP window. There are two groups here. The first is Primary Server. Under that, it says smtp.aol.com, and it indicates that this is On. The osther group is called Other SMTP Servers. There are three listings under that: smtp.aol.com, which it indicates is "Off," AT&T SMTP Server, also "Off," and Add Server.

Dead end. Let's go back to the Account window and click on Advanced. There are three groups: Mailbox Behaviors (not relevant), Delted Messages (also not relevant) and Incoming Settings. Aha! But no - there are three things under this: Authentication with a password link to the right. IMAP Path Prefix and Server Port. The Server Port says 993.

I'm not seeing too much in here. I am totally confident that if I were to delete my AOL account and then try to set it up again, I would TOTALLY not be able to do so.

What am I doing wrong here?

 

[twerppoet]

I thought I might try that myself - but I'm afraid that when I delete the account, I won't be able to set it up again because it calls for all kinds of technical information I don't have (POP server, incoming, outgoing, etc.)

Is there a way I can obtain all of that information? . . .

AOL is one of the standard account setups on the iPad. All you need is your name, email address, password, and Description. The only two vital ones are your email address and password. The other two can be anything you want.

Go into Settings >> Mail, Calendars, Contacts, and choose Add Account, then choose AOL. You'll see the the four entry fields.

Don't actually add the account until you've deleted the first one or there may be conflicts and duplicates, if it lets you add the account at all.

 

[twerppoet]

I'm not seeing too much in here. I am totally confident that if I were to delete my AOL account and then try to set it up again, I would TOTALLY not be able to do so.

What am I doing wrong here?

You're over thinking. The reason why these things are either grayed out or unavailable is because the iPad has presets for creating AOL accounts. The other defalut account setups are pretty much the same. The iPad already knows what the server addresses are.

I suppose if AOL were to change it's server addresses this would cause major problems. But since we aren't seeing hordes of upset AOL users, I doubt this has happened.

My suggestion is still to remove and re-add the account. After all, if it's not working now, what are you really risking? One bad account setup for another?

 

[pdmike]

I'm not seeing too much in here. I am totally confident that if I were to delete my AOL account and then try to set it up again, I would TOTALLY not be able to do so.

What am I doing wrong here?

You're over thinking. The reason why these things are either grayed out or unavailable is because the iPad has presets for creating AOL accounts. The other defalut account setups are pretty much the same. The iPad already knows what the server addresses are.

I suppose if AOL were to change it's server addresses this would cause major problems. But since we aren't seeing hordes of upset AOL users, I doubt this has happened.

My suggestion is still to remove and re-add the account. After all, if it's not working now, what are you really risking? One bad account setup for another?

I hear ya. OK - here I go. Stand by . . .

AOL account . . . DELETED. Now comes the hard part . . . . stand by . . . .

"Cannot Get Mail The user name or password for 'imap.aol.com is incorrect." As I said in the OP, it is NOT incorrect. What now?

 

[twerppoet]

Darn, that usually works.

A quick Google for iPad AOL problems showes that some people needed to turn on SSL. If you ran across this in your exploration of settings, try that.

Apple - Support - Discussions - No send of mail from Ipad via AOL today ...

If that doesn't work, you'll probably have to contact AOL support and see what they say. They may have to reset your authentication somehow. Without an AOL account I can't even check out their support pages or find out what the IMAP settings are supposed to be.

 

[pdmike]

Problem solved, I think. Just to make sure, I tried to get into AOL on my desktop computer. I couldn't do it - "incorrect password." So I reset the password and got in. Then I got out the iPad and set up an AOL account using the new password. I'm in on the iPad.

How my password got messed up at AOL I have no idea. I have had it for a long time and I most certainly did not change it myself.

Anyway, thanks for your help - all of you who chipped in.