Manually configuring the Mail.app in Snow Leopard

[Ogsley]

I have searched other threads in this forum and can't find out whether it is possible to manually configure Mail in Snow Leopard to send and receive emails from iCloud. I have used the setting as detailed here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4864
The first time I tried configuring it I got Mail on Snow Leopard to receive mail but it wouldn't send properly, it would show that it had been sent but it actually hadn't. The second time I tried configuring it I kept on getting a message asking for my password. I have left it a couple of days before trying again hoping any problems Apple's end would be ironed out.

As anybody successfully done this? I can't upgrade my Mac Mini to Lion as it is too old to run it and can'y afford to by a new Mac yet.

 

[stevep]

Got the same problem, MBP on 10.6.8 an iPad2 and a Touch 4g. I've already tried the link you supplied, but it won't let me set the incoming mail server on the MBP to imap.mail.me.com as it's greyed out, instead it seems to set itself to mail.me.com.
I can log in to http://www.icloud.com using the same myname@me.com address and password that I have entered in Mail on my MacBook, and view the mail sent to my me.com address. I can send from my name@myisp.co.uk account to the me.com account successfully.
Mail on the MBP repeatedly asks for my password, every time I enter it it says it is rejected.

A few confusing things -
1. why does Mail on the MBP call my iCloud account "MobileMe" - I thought that was the old system that has been replaced by iCloud.
2. unfortunately I'm with TalkTalk- anyone in the UK who is unfortunate enough to have a TalkTalk or even worse a Tiscali isp account will know that their mail servers fall over all the effing time (this makes any diagnostics very difficult), and their tech support is best avoided unless you have a death wish or need to acquire suicidal tendencies really badly.
3. Are Apple's iCloud servers still not working properly, and where can I find out their status?

 

[Ogsley]

It looks like the emails I sent from Mail on Snow Leopard on Thursday 13th October went through on the early hours of this morning. My friend replied to an email I sent him. Shows that it can work, just took 3 or 4 days to go through the servers!

Tried configuring Mail again in Snow Leopard but keep getting message asking for my password again.

Still hoping that it's teething problems Apple's end.

 

[Ogsley]

I have just reset my Apple ID password so that meets the new criteria from Apple, that being that it needs to be at least 8 characters long, include at least 1 upper and 1 lower case letter and no consecutive numbers or letters in a row.

My password is still being rejected through Mail using Snow Leopard though. I can access iCloud through the web portal fine.

 

[stevep]

Combinations that just don't work

Mail, me.com and Snow Leopard just doesn't work.
iCal and Snow Leopard just doesn't work.

 

[SC.]

If you're still having problems with the outgoing smtp.mail.me.com server as recommended by Apple in the iCloud set up instructions, try smtp.me.com instead or as an additional listed server - this seems to be working a lot more consistently at the moment (It's actually the smtp from my MM setup)...I couldn't get the former to work for days....

Other than that, all seems to be working fine with Mail - bar the occasional slow patches still, I guess whilst Apple's servers sort themselves out - on 10.6 on a MBP, MP and various iOS devices all running 10.6 and iOS5, in my experience...

----------

1. why does Mail on the MBP call my iCloud account "MobileMe" - I thought that was the old system that has been replaced by iCloud.

Mail, on a 10.6 OS, knows nothing about the existence of iCloud, how could it ? - When it sees the .me email address entered to set up a new account, it presumes it is a MobileMe account and attempts to set up the account accordingly....However, if it's a new iCloud registered .me address or a migrated MM address it falls down as the details are not at MobileMe, I'm guessing.....

The way to set it up is as a 'generic' IMAP account and enter all the details as described in the Apple article manually...It then all works.....(Just ignore the first failure screen when setting up, click Continue, and enter manually...)

BTW - On 10.6, Mail still calls the resulting account a MobileMe account, I guess based upon the email address, but it still works and plays all OK with a iCloud registered account.....

Steve

 

[Phil A.]

Got the same problem, MBP on 10.6.8 an iPad2 and a Touch 4g. I've already tried the link you supplied, but it won't let me set the incoming mail server on the MBP to imap.mail.me.com as it's greyed out, instead it seems to set itself to mail.me.com.
I can log in to http://www.icloud.com using the same myname@me.com address and password that I have entered in Mail on my MacBook, and view the mail sent to my me.com address. I can send from my name@myisp.co.uk account to the me.com account successfully.
Mail on the MBP repeatedly asks for my password, every time I enter it it says it is rejected.

A few confusing things -
1. why does Mail on the MBP call my iCloud account "MobileMe" - I thought that was the old system that has been replaced by iCloud.
2. unfortunately I'm with TalkTalk- anyone in the UK who is unfortunate enough to have a TalkTalk or even worse a Tiscali isp account will know that their mail servers fall over all the effing time (this makes any diagnostics very difficult), and their tech support is best avoided unless you have a death wish or need to acquire suicidal tendencies really badly.
3. Are Apple's iCloud servers still not working properly, and where can I find out their status?

Even though you have a MobileMe address, you need to configure Mail as a normal IMAP account, not a MobileMe one. From your description, it looks like 10.6.8 is trying to set it up as a MobileMe account (which is why the server is greyed out). Is there an option to configure a mail account manually rather than just putting your email address in? If there is, you should use that and then select IMAP as the account type and use the server details provided by Apple. If there isn't a configure manually option (I can't remember what's on 10.6), just put a garbage email address in to force manual configuration and correct it once the account is set up

 

[stevep]

Thanks Phil and Steve - just got to get some work done in the next few hours but will have a play and report back if (when) I get a fix sorted.

 

[SC.]

No worries

It should all work OK for you - I know because I've now set up 2 different situations using 10.6 and new .me addresses, including one for my dear old Mum using iOS 5 on her phone but 10.5 on her old pre-Intel MB ! After some, mildly painful, explanatory emails across thousands of miles, I managed to walk her through setting up Mail on the MB and it all seems to be working.....

Steve

 

[Ogsley]

If you're still having problems with the outgoing smtp.mail.me.com server as recommended by Apple in the iCloud set up instructions, try smtp.me.com instead or as an additional listed server - this seems to be working a lot more consistently at the moment (It's actually the smtp from my MM setup)...I couldn't get the former to work for days....

Other than that, all seems to be working fine with Mail - bar the occasional slow patches still, I guess whilst Apple's servers sort themselves out - on 10.6 on a MBP, MP and various iOS devices all running 10.6 and iOS5, in my experience...

----------



Mail, on a 10.6 OS, knows nothing about the existence of iCloud, how could it ? - When it sees the .me email address entered to set up a new account, it presumes it is a MobileMe account and attempts to set up the account accordingly....However, if it's a new iCloud registered .me address or a migrated MM address it falls down as the details are not at MobileMe, I'm guessing.....

The way to set it up is as a 'generic' IMAP account and enter all the details as described in the Apple article manually...It then all works.....(Just ignore the first failure screen when setting up, click Continue, and enter manually...)

BTW - On 10.6, Mail still calls the resulting account a MobileMe account, I guess based upon the email address, but it still works and plays all OK with a iCloud registered account.....

Steve

Thanks Steve,

I changed the SMTP name from smtp.mail.me.com to smtp.me.com and it is working fine now.

Really appreciate your help.

 

[SC.]

Cool.

I wish I knew the why for the problems with the outgoing servers, especially the ones recommended by Apple or used in the default set up - like p07-smtp.mail.me.com which my phone & iPad was trying to use (After 4 days, this now works I should say)...????

Like many others have said, Apple planned and knew this was all happening...even allowing for the first 24hrs rush and DNS issues etc, where are the servers still so seemingly screwed....??

I'm glad Apple don't launch cars or jumbo jets...!

 

[stevep]

OK here goes:

Set up as suggested by Phil with a dummy email address myname@xyz.com, selected IMAP and entered imap.mail.me.com for the incoming mail server, with the username and password the same as my me.com login.
For the outgoing I used smtp.mail.me.com, and on the advanced tab checked 'use default ports 25 465 587' and use SSL - same username and password as above.
Result - success!
Really appreciate your help guys. I think initially I was trying to follow guides which assume Lion is installed, plus the general fog surrounding the whole iCloud/MobileMe transition - a lot of my google searches were pulling up Apple help pages that are out of date and so full of conflicting advice.

Mail, on a 10.6 OS, knows nothing about the existence of iCloud, how could it ? - When it sees the .me email address entered to set up a new account, it presumes it is a MobileMe account and attempts to set up the account accordingly....However, if it's a new iCloud registered .me address or a migrated MM address it falls down as the details are not at MobileMe, I'm guessing.....

This bit from Steve really opened my eyes as to where my thinking was up the creek, cheers mate.

Right, now to sort out iCal. I may be some time....

 

[FSMBP]

OK here goes:

Set up as suggested by Phil with a dummy email address myname@xyz.com, selected IMAP and entered imap.mail.me.com for the incoming mail server, with the username and password the same as my me.com login.
For the outgoing I used smtp.mail.me.com, and on the advanced tab checked 'use default ports 25 465 587' and use SSL - same username and password as above.
Result - success!
Really appreciate your help guys. I think initially I was trying to follow guides which assume Lion is installed, plus the general fog surrounding the whole iCloud/MobileMe transition - a lot of my google searches were pulling up Apple help pages that are out of date and so full of conflicting advice.

This bit from Steve really opened my eyes as to where my thinking was up the creek, cheers mate.

Right, now to sort out iCal. I may be some time....

Will this work for a new iCloud email address? I followed Apple's instructions to a tee on setting up my new iCloud email on 10.6 but it kept failing.

I got iCal to work though.

 

[SC.]

Yes it does..! Read above....

 

[FSMBP]

Yes it does..! Read above....

Ok, thanks! I'll try this when I get home from work!

 

[FSMBP]

OK here goes:

Set up as suggested by Phil with a dummy email address myname@xyz.com, selected IMAP and entered imap.mail.me.com for the incoming mail server, with the username and password the same as my me.com login.
For the outgoing I used smtp.mail.me.com, and on the advanced tab checked 'use default ports 25 465 587' and use SSL - same username and password as above.
Result - success!
Really appreciate your help guys. I think initially I was trying to follow guides which assume Lion is installed, plus the general fog surrounding the whole iCloud/MobileMe transition - a lot of my google searches were pulling up Apple help pages that are out of date and so full of conflicting advice.

This bit from Steve really opened my eyes as to where my thinking was up the creek, cheers mate.

Right, now to sort out iCal. I may be some time....

Where is this Advanced Tab exactly? Nevermind - all works! Thank you everyone!

 

[stevep]

Where is this Advanced Tab exactly? Nevermind - all works! Thank you everyone!

Glad you've sorted it. Just in case anyone else needs to know..
In Mail, go to Preferences, highlight the cloud account, then at the bottom of the window click the dropdown for Outgoing Mail Server, and choose Edit SMTP Server List.
In the middle of the resulting pop up dialogue are two tabs - Account Information and Advanced - where you can check the ports and SSL details. They may well be set up correctly already.

 

[Serif]

I'm still stuck at the first hurdle in getting access to iCloud mail through the Snow Leopard Mail client. I have got it set up and working on my iPhone and on another Mac running Lion. By the way, I noticed that on the Lion version of the Mail client there is a new SMTP authentication type of 'Apple Token' which is selected by default when you configure an iCloud mail account and which is unavailable under Snow Leopard.

My Apple ID is actually a private email address completely separate from all things Apple; so it's of the form xxx@yyy.zz. I've created a new me.com address of myname@me.com. I also have a MobileMe account but that should be unconnected from both my Apple ID and this new me.com address.

The settings I'm using in the Snow Leopard client (which I set up using the garbage email trick so I could create a generic IMAP account before correcting the email address) are as follows:

Description: iCloud
Email Address: myname@me.com
Full Name: My Name
Incoming Mail Server: imap.mail.me.com
User Name: myname
Password: my password

Under the Advanced tab I have the following:

IMAP Path Prefix: (blank)
Port: 993
Use SSL
Use IDLE command if the server supports it

The SMTP settings, though for now I'd be quite happy if I could just access my mail, let alone send new messages, is as follows:

Description: iCloud
Server Name: smtp.mail.me.com
Use default ports (25, 465, 587)
Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
Authentication: Password (no option for Apple Token)
User Name: myname
Password my password

Whenever I try and enable this account, it thinks a bit and then pops up the Enter Password dialogue box repeatedly. I know my typing sucks, but I can't believe I'm getting it wrong every time. I'm not convinced that there is a problem with load on Apple's servers causing this because I can access this account from the Mac running Lion, my iPhone, and the iCloud web interface (all using the same network connection) without any problem.

Things I've already tried:

1) Changing imap.mail.me.com to be mail.me.com

2) Changing my username to be myname@me.com (as seems to be required in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4864)

3) Changing my username to be my Apple ID of xxx@yyy.zz as described above.

Is there anything obviously different in the above to the settings of people who have this working? In particular, are you using the Password option in your Authentication setting? If it really requires "Apple Token" then I can't see how anyone can have got this working in Snow Leopard. I'm also not sure what this "Apple Token" scheme actually is and whether it can be faked using one of the available authentication schemes; there seems very little information about it on the web.

 

[SC.]

From what you have described, you seem to have most things correct...But based upon my experience, the following is certain:

1) Leave as imap.mail.me.com

2) It should definitely be yourname@me.com for the username


All the other settings you have seem fine to me, glancing through....though I would change the smtp address to smtp.me.com for the time being as it seems to be working a little better than the default iCloud smtp.....

I know there's been lots of reports and complaints of rejected password situation....perhaps keep the settings as described above, and wait another day or so, see if it rectifies itself.....with your fingers & toes crossed...!

All I can say is those settings definitely work for a iCloud .me address under 10.6 in the 2 or 3 set ups I've played with thus far.....

Steve

P.S. I forgot the authentication stuff - on 10.6 I just have 'password' as the type and it seems to work fine...On the iOS set ups it automatically uses the 'token' type as you say....the two types both seems to be working...

 

[Idgit]

About a week ago, the SMTP server for iCloud stopped working for me. I've tried the variations above and all remain offline.

Anyone else experiencing the same? If not, could you post your iCloud SMTP settings that are working for you in 10.6.8?

Thanks.

 

[Serif]

Given it up as a bad job. Maybe if Apple or a 3rd party produce something that works with 10.6 I'll look at it again. It's a shame because I've been with MobileMe since it first became a subscription product in the guise of .Mac

I can't upgrade to Lion on my main work machines because of other Lion related problems and omissions, so I've been looking around for other solutions to fill in for the functionality that I used MobileMe for. The star of the show seems to be Dropbox; it really does just work and leaves me scratching my head why I'd been paying all these years for iDisk which definitely didn't work most of the time and ran like cold treacle when it did.

 

[Yoyodyne2]

About a week ago, the SMTP server for iCloud stopped working for me. I've tried the variations above and all remain offline.

Anyone else experiencing the same? If not, could you post your iCloud SMTP settings that are working for you in 10.6.8?

Thanks.

About 3 weeks ago I was on the phone with a level 2 Apple support because the Safari iCloud mail for me only has messages in the InBox. There is no mail in any other of the 10 folders (that do have messages in my Lion Mail.app).

I explained I needed to have this work because of a Core Duo Mac that can't run Lion.

He told me about accessing iCloud with 10.6 Mail. I have a 10.6 partition on my iMac (usually runs Lion) so we went through setting up Mail as described in the posts above. It worked fine.

Now, when I'm actually in front of the computer that can't run Lion, I can't get 10.6 Mail to access iCloud. I keep getting the "password not accepted" window as described above. I kept thinking I was doing something wrong but now I think Apple has changed something and it's now blocked.

Oh, by the way, the online iCloud Mail problem is still not solved.