Thunderbird--1 gmail account can't log on

[Al F]

HELP!!

 

I am running Thunderbird on windows 7. I have been using Thunderbird for 6-10 years. Thunderbird is up to date with upgrades. I am at 38.5.0

 

This afternoon I got this email to my alternate gmail account:

 

Hi Al,Someone just tried to sign in to your Google Account "xxxxxxx@gmail.com" from an app that doesn't meet modern security standards.

 

The above email came down to my thunderbird application to my alternate gmail account & folder.

 

The next time Thunderbird tried to connect to Gmail to bring down emails from the failing gmail account I get invalid password or user name. Also thunderbird prompts me to retry or enter new password. Even though I enter the correct password (I have tried many times) it still says invalid PW or username.

 

I am using the "pop" mail server where the emails download to my laptop.

 

I can log on to my gmail account from a web browser and my smart phone (although I don't normally access my email with my smart phone.

 

In thunderbird I saved my inbox and sent folders to a new folder and deleted from thunderbird the account which is having the problem.

 

When I try to add the just deleted gmail account in thunderbird as a "POP" mail server I get a message that the username or password is invalid.

 

However if I add the just deleted gmail account as an "IMAP" mail server it works find and I can see my emails.

 

Does anyone have suggestions????

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

[Al F]

Fixed!!!!

 

Earlier today on my smart phone I was poking around and changed a setting for my google account. The setting is "Access for less secure apps".

 

I changed the setting to turn off the "Access for less secure apps".

 

I guess Google considers Thunderbird to be a "less secure app"!

 

Anyways, it took some "poking around", in the smart phone, to find the setting. Once I changed the setting back to allow "Access for less secure apps", Thunderbird is working again.

[skp51443]

That is correct, Thunderbird is pretty much an unwanted orphan at Mozilla and isn't being kept up to date with the latest security tools.

 

We are searching for a replacement mail program and not really finding one we like better but if Mozilla gives Thunderbird any less support or just dumps it a switch to something else is going to be needed.

[skp51443]

Try here: (sign into Google first)

 

https://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps

 

Found the link here:

 

https://support.google.com/mail/troubleshooter/6323470#ts=1665160

 

Why it is not a good thing to do:

 

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6010255?hl=en

[Al F]

If you find something Stan, keep us (me anyway) in mind. I've been looking also. And having the same problems - now to find that security switch.

Bill, you may have fixed your problem by using the links Stan provided. However on my Samsung Smart Phone I went to "Settings", then "Accounts", then "Google", Then "Sign -in & Security", then "Connected Apps & Sites", then scroll down to "Allow less secure apps" and click on to allow less secure apps to have access.

[Biker56]

That is correct, Thunderbird is pretty much an unwanted orphan at Mozilla and isn't being kept up to date with the latest security tools.

Updates have been done lately with my Thunderbird on several occasions.

Firefox just had a new one yesterday 43.0.3

Right now my Thunderbird has had no problem downloading from 9 different email addresses.

Thunderbird Version 38.5.0, first offered to Release channel users on December 23, 2015

 

Gmail accounts does every once in a while, want a password reentered for some reason. Or Gmail sends me a email that some device is trying to sign in and they don't know if it is me or not.

They are a little over protective at times.

[Al F]

Updates have been done lately with my Thunderbird on several occasions.

Firefox just had a new one yesterday 43.0.3

Right now my Thunderbird has had no problem downloading from 9 different email addresses.

Thunderbird Version 38.5.0, first offered to Release channel users on December 23, 2015

 

Gmail accounts does every once in a while, want a password reentered for some reason. Or Gmail sends me a email that some device is trying to sign in and they don't know if it is me or not.

They are a little over protective at times.

As long as you don't go to a specific Google account and turn "off" the "allow less secure apps to have access" then you won't have a problem. However if you are messing around with your smart phone, as I was, and figured it would be good to not allow "less secure apps" to have access, then for that specific google account, Thunderbird won't connect.

 

Using the link that Stan provided is a lot easier than trying to find the setting in your phone.

 

I have 5 or so gmail accounts in my Thunderbird. Only the one account had a problem. The rest worked fine.

[skp51443]

Updates have been done lately with my Thunderbird on several occasions.

Firefox just had a new one yesterday 43.0.3

Right now my Thunderbird has had no problem downloading from 9 different email addresses.

Thunderbird Version 38.5.0, first offered to Release channel users on December 23, 2015

 

 

Thunderbird has been pretty much dead since 2012, they do some patches and security fixes but nothing past the bare minimum. So yes there are updates and the version number keeps increasing but that is pretty much a dead cat bounce, for all intents and purposes Thunderbird has no future unless it can find a new home and new support. I have tried to generate some enthusiasm in the Libre Office folks but seen no results yet although that would be a wonderful home for a cross-platform e-mail program.

 

 

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/mozilla.governance/kAyVlhfEcXg (long and lots more info at the link)

 

5. Many inside of Mozilla, including an overwhelming majority of our

leadership, feel the need to be laser-focused on activities like Firefox

that can have an industry-wide impact. With all due respect to

Thunderbird and the Thunderbird community, we have been clear for years

that we do not view Thunderbird as having this sort of potential.

6. Given this, it’s clear to me that sooner or later paying a tax to

support Thunderbird will not make sense as a policy for Mozilla. I

know many believe this time came a while back, and I’ve been slow to say

this clearly. And of course, some feel that this time should never

come. However, as I say, it’s clear to me today that continuing to live

with these competing demands given our focus on industry impact is

increasingly unstable. We’ve seen this already, in an unstructured way,

as various groups inside Mozilla stop supporting Thunderbird. The

accelerating speed of Firefox and infrastructure changes -- which I

welcome wholeheartedly -- will emphasize this.

 

 

Reporting on the subject:

 

http://techcrunch.com/2015/11/30/thunderbird-flies-away-from-mozilla/

 

The Mozilla Foundation looks like it’s about to take another step in its bid to sharpen its focus on development around its Firefox browser. Mozilla now wants to once and for all hive off support for Thunderbird, the free email, chat and news client it first developed in 2004 but effectively stopped directly updating in in 2012. The plans were revealed in a company-wide memo penned today by chairperson Mitchell Baker. (We have confirmed with Mozilla that it is indeed from her.)

“I believe Thunderbird should would thrive best by separating itself from reliance on Mozilla development systems and in some cases, Mozilla technology,” Baker wrote in her open memo, posted on Mozilla’s public governance forum. “The current setting isn’t stable, and we should start actively looking into how we can transition in an orderly way to a future where Thunderbird and Firefox are un-coupled.”

Baker notes that it is not clear whether Mozilla will try to spin off Thunderbird as its own open-source entity, or whether it will seek a business partner to take over the product; it seems too early to tell at this point.

 

 

http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/1/9832148/mozilla-proposes-splitting-off-thunderbird-email-client

 

Baker said the primary reasons for wanting to remove Thunderbird from the Mozilla community is its reliance on Firefox. "These competing demands are not good for either project. Engineers working on Thunderbird must focus on keeping up and adapting Firefox’s web-driven changes. Engineers working on Firefox and related projects end up considering the competing demands of Thunderbird, and/or wondering if and how much they should assist Thunderbird," she writes. "Neither project can focus wholeheartedly on what is best for it."

 

 

http://boingboing.net/2015/12/01/mozilla-will-let-go-of-thunder.html

 

The Mozilla Foundation stopped active development of the Thunderbird stand-alone email client in 2012, a year before Edward Snowden's revelations about mass email interception by spy agencies sparked an exodus from webmail platforms.

Thunderbird -- which I use for my own email -- is creaky and poorly maintained, something that is tacitly admitted by Mozilla Foundation CEO Mitchell Baker in her memo, where she describes how trying to balance the needs of Thunderbird and those of Firefox often puts the two teams at cross-purposes. Baker doesn't describe exactly how Thunderbird will stand on its own, but I've heard reliable internal rumors that a new nonprofit entity is likely to be stood up to maintain and advance the project.

 

 

http://thevarguy.com/open-source-application-software-companies/mozilla-open-source-thunderbird-email-client-and-firefox-

 

Baker's proposal is not exactly shocking. The writing has been on the wall since Mozilla announced in 2012 that it no longer intended to provide major feature enhancements for Thunderbird.

Thunderbird's divorce from Mozilla-- assuming it happens, which seems likely -- probably won't matter to too many people. The app has been more or less dead in the water already for several years, and the preponderance of webmail has made standalone email clients like Thunderbird less important today than they were ten years ago.

Still, as the only major open source email client that is also cross-platform, Thunderbird is something that some users will be sad to see disappear. Probably the only app that comes close to serving as a substitute is Evolution, which is not really cross-platform. (Some developers attempted to create a Windows port, and I can attest that it worked circa 2008, but it has long since ceased to be actively developed.) And webmail is a poor substitute for people who like added features in their email, such as PGP-based encryption. For these reasons, the open source community is likely to find some value in Thunderbird, whether it is maintained by Mozilla or another group.

 

 

Thunderbird still works, Thunderbird will probably see any big security flaws patched but new features, like the improved login required by Gmail aren't likely to happen unless someone contributes them to Mozilla. But the writing is on the wall, either hope someone will adopt it like Libre Office, Apache Foundation or another stable group picks up development or we start looking for alternatives.

 

 

I've looked at Kmail and Evolution that are pretty much Linux only and found both wanting. I have Claws loaded to evaluate and am actively looking for other options. I don't need fancy as I'm perfectly happy with POP and SMTP for mail and a simple contacts list but decent sorting, searching and auto-filing would be a plus.