On my Debian 12 desktop, I installed Evolution, primarily for easy
access to HTML messages. Also, it gives me a second mail address.
Several days ago, Evolution began causing a "Mail Authentication
Request" popup which prevents me from downloading new messages. The
likely impetus for the trouble is migration of my hosting account to
another server at HostGator.
I have found no by searching with google.
If I remove Evolution, the loss should be no more than a couple dozen messages. Is it possible to access my present account with a fresh installation of Evolution? What is the proper course of action?
RLH
On my Debian 12 desktop, I installed Evolution, primarily for easy
access to HTML messages. Also, it gives me a second mail address.
Several days ago, Evolution began causing a "Mail Authentication
Request" popup which prevents me from downloading new messages. The
likely impetus for the trouble is migration of my hosting account to
another server at HostGator.
"Russell L. Harris" <[email protected]> writes:
On my Debian 12 desktop, I installed Evolution, primarily for easy
access to HTML messages. Also, it gives me a second mail address.
How does Evolution give you a second email address?
er, "second" address, just from a MUA?
Several days ago, Evolution began causing a "Mail Authentication
Request" popup which prevents me from downloading new messages. The
likely impetus for the trouble is migration of my hosting account to
another server at HostGator.
So authenticate to the service?
Is it (now) using oAuth2 or some such, that you weren't before?
On Wed, Mar 05, 2025 at 05:38:41AM -0500, Dan Purgert wrote:
er, "second" address, just from a MUA?
I should have said that an extra email address is handly to have.
Sorry for the confusion.
Several days ago, Evolution began causing a "Mail Authentication
Request" popup which prevents me from downloading new messages. The likely impetus for the trouble is migration of my hosting account to another server at HostGator.
So authenticate to the service?
Is it (now) using oAuth2 or some such, that you weren't before?
I do not understand. I am not aware that I messed with authentication (however one does that).
The "Mail Authentication Request" has only a blank (already filled in)
for a password which (very stupidly) is shown as a line of dots,
rather than in plain text. Foolish paranoia! The password is
protected (from what threat?), even at the cost of losing the account
and all the messages!
The "Mail Authentication Request" has only a blank (already filled in)
for a password which (very stupidly) is shown as a line of dots,
rather than in plain text. Foolish paranoia! The password is
protected (from what threat?), even at the cost of losing the account
and all the messages!
So, it's not "blank" then?
Sounds like you've saved the password for the account and the client is >trying to auto-fill it for you. Could be as simple as "you changed your >password, and the auto-fill details are wrong".
"Password" boxes have been asterisks for 25 or 30 years by now; not sure
what you're really going on about there ..
On Wed, Mar 05, 2025 at 03:46:01PM -0500, Dan Purgert wrote:
The "Mail Authentication Request" has only a blank (already filled in) for a password which (very stupidly) is shown as a line of dots,
rather than in plain text. Foolish paranoia! The password is
protected (from what threat?), even at the cost of losing the account
and all the messages!
So, it's not "blank" then?
I do not know the source of the "Mail Authentication Request" -- it
may be the local Evolution installation. Apparently the row of dots represents the password my machine is sending to the host which
receives message and awaits a download request from my local
computer.
My complaint is that when something is amiss, a row of dots does not
help solve the problem. And unless I am working in a public location,
there is no need to conceal the password. Thankfully, now many
applications provide a check-box to display the password in plain
text.
And in a case such as this, it would be nice for the root user to be
able to disable password checking.
Sounds like you've saved the password for the account and the client is trying to auto-fill it for you. Could be as simple as "you changed your password, and the auto-fill details are wrong".
"Password" boxes have been asterisks for 25 or 30 years by now; not sure what you're really going on about there ..
Security for the sake of security is folly.
"Password" boxes have been asterisks for 25 or 30 years by now; not sure
what you're really going on about there ..
On Thu 06 Mar 2025 at 02:16:15 (+0000), Russell L. Harris wrote:
Can anyone tell me how to proceed?
I'm not sure how this question relates to my post, to which it's attached.
I don't know what evolution recovery is, and I don't understand what
an "Evolution address" would be, as opposed to a "non-Evolution address".
I can only suppose that these "messages" you talk about are actually
pieces of information stored in some IMS part of evolution. Otherwise
you'd just read them from the server with your regular MUA, mutt,
rather than worrying about losing them?
As I tried to say, I'm not sure if that's what you mean about accessing
Based on personal purging experience, those two Evolution config and
data storage locations stayed in place when I removed Evolution for
some forgotten reason. Their data was still safely in place when I
finally reinstalled Evolution a few months ago. PHEW!
On Wed, Mar 05, 2025 at 11:24:41PM -0600, David Wright wrote:
On Thu 06 Mar 2025 at 02:16:15 (+0000), Russell L. Harris wrote:
Can anyone tell me how to proceed?
I'm not sure how this question relates to my post, to which it's attached. >>I don't know what evolution recovery is, and I don't understand what
an "Evolution address" would be, as opposed to a "non-Evolution address".
I can only suppose that these "messages" you talk about are actually
pieces of information stored in some IMS part of evolution. Otherwise
you'd just read them from the server with your regular MUA, mutt,
rather than worrying about losing them?
David,
By "evolution recovery" I mean restoration of the proper function of
the Evolution package. Recovery = Repair = Restore Access
I have been led to believe that "message" is the proper term for an
email communication; the venacular is "email". Logging into my
account at HostGator shows a few dozen emails awaiting retrieval.
My email has been working without trouble for years. I am getting
old, and I do not know off the top of my head how to use Mutt to
retrieve those emails. Of course, those messages are formatted in
HTML, which is why they were sent to the address which I have been
accessing with Evolution (that address is
[email protected]).
I once made a living programming computers, but nowadays my computer
is an appliance which facilitates the accomplishment of other tasks.
Obviously, my preference is to get Evolution working right, without
the necessity of spending two or three days reinstalling Debian. And
if reinstallation is necessary, I am not sure I would choose Evolution
as my client for HTML mail.
Have you tried to create a new system user and to configure evolution
for it?
It may help if your mail provider has enforced another authentication
method. I hope, both sides: evolution and mails server supports mail >autoconfiguration.
On Sat, Mar 08, 2025 at 10:16:49AM +0700, Max Nikulin wrote:
Have you tried to create a new system user and to configure evolution
for it?
Good idea. Thanks.
It may help if your mail provider has enforced another authentication method. I hope, both sides: evolution and mails server supports mail autoconfiguration.
I suppose I am my own mail provider.
Russell L. Harris wrote:
On Sat, Mar 08, 2025 at 10:16:49AM +0700, Max Nikulin wrote:
Have you tried to create a new system user and to configure evolution
for it?
Good idea. Thanks.
I suppose I am my own mail provider.
It may help if your mail provider has enforced another authentication
method. I hope, both sides: evolution and mails server supports mail
autoconfiguration.
What people mean by "mail provider" is the entity that runs and
controls a mail server, with the technical and administrative
right to change anything about it.
In this case, you appear to have Hostgator and perhaps your ISP
as mail providers, but you are not running any mail servers
yourself, are you?
Then you have access to mail logs on the server. I expect that it is
possible to enable debug logs in evolution as well. Comparing logs
from both sides should help to figure out what party should be blamed.
In addition you may use tools like curl to debug IMAP issues.
Actually it is not clear for me why you have not asked for help in
some community around evolution.
Meanwhile, I discovered that HostGator has the Roundcube web
interface, and that works for now.
Isn't roundcube an IMAP client under the hood?
In this context, my understanding of an Internet mail server can be >illustrated in the following way. If your "machine in the LAN"
receives emails by asking for them from another machine, then it's not
an IMS. If you can switch off the machine for a week or two and yet
not lose any emails, then it's not an IMS.
On 08/03/2025 11:23, Russell L. Harris wrote:
[...]
Meanwhile, I discovered that HostGator has the Roundcube web
interface, and that works for now.
Isn't roundcube an IMAP client under the hood?
| Sysop: | Keyop |
|---|---|
| Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
| Users: | 715 |
| Nodes: | 16 (2 / 14) |
| Uptime: | 152:56:16 |
| Calls: | 12,091 |
| Calls today: | 4 |
| Files: | 15,000 |
| Messages: | 6,517,662 |