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mutaphore

Member

From: NY

Registered: 2014-12-19

Posts: 29

[SOLVED] Mutt having problem connecting to gmail imap

Just yesterday my mutt email was fine connecting to gmail via imap. I didn't touch .muttrc at all. Now when I run mutt it gives the "Connecting to imap.gmail.com ..." message and then times out with the "Connection to imap.gmail.com closed" error and I get an empty inbox. Any ideas on what I should be looking at?

Last edited by mutaphore (2015-01-18 19:19:22)

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 19,797

Re: [SOLVED] Mutt having problem connecting to gmail imap

I would check two things.  Can you get to your email via the web interface?  I have known people to have had their accounts hijacked.
Also, can you connect to the imap server by hand?  Try telnet imap.gmail.com 993 and see if it connects.

Last edited by ewaller (2015-01-18 17:01:19)

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Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: London

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 7,732

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Mutt having problem connecting to gmail imap

Check the settings in your gmail account -- I had to downgrade the security settings in mine to allow mutt to retrieve mail; I think they changed stuff recently.

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jasonwryan

Anarchist

From: .nz

Registered: 2009-05-09

Posts: 30,424

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Mutt having problem connecting to gmail imap

Make sure your cert fingerprint is correct.

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mutaphore

Member

From: NY

Registered: 2014-12-19

Posts: 29

Re: [SOLVED] Mutt having problem connecting to gmail imap

Thanks for all the responses. After digging around for 3 hrs, finally figured out it was related to the imap address. I had in my .muttrc:

set folder = imap://username@imap.gmail.com:993

instead of "imaps" with an "s":

set folder = imaps://username@imap.gmail.com:993

Adding the "s" after "imap" worked for me. But I'm noticing a slowdown of starting mutt. It usually take 2 seconds to get to the inbox, but now it takes 7 seconds on the "Connecting to imap.gmail.com" message before I connect to inbox. How do you downgrade security settings in gmail?

Last edited by mutaphore (2015-01-18 19:11:04)

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: London

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 7,732

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Mutt having problem connecting to gmail imap

How do you downgrade security settings in gmail?

On the gmail page at google.com, click on your user icon in the top-right corner, select the "Account" link then change the "Access for less secure apps*" bit to "Allowed"

* Grrr...

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mutaphore

Member

From: NY

Registered: 2014-12-19

Posts: 29

Re: [SOLVED] Mutt having problem connecting to gmail imap

Good to know I have mine enabled. This issue is solved.

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 29,535

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Mutt having problem connecting to gmail imap

It usually take 2 seconds to get to the inbox, but now it takes 7 seconds ...

Check out offlineimap and never wait again.

It took me a while to finally get on board with offlineimap - but once I did the only thing I regretted was not having set it up years before when I started using mutt.

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mutaphore

Member

From: NY

Registered: 2014-12-19

Posts: 29

Re: [SOLVED] Mutt having problem connecting to gmail imap

It usually take 2 seconds to get to the inbox, but now it takes 7 seconds ...

Check out offlineimap and never wait again.

It took me a while to finally get on board with offlineimap - but once I did the only thing I regretted was not having set it up years before when I started using mutt.

Trilby, how does offlineimap save mutt loading time? It still has to connect to IMAP to sync right?

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 29,535

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Mutt having problem connecting to gmail imap

Offlineimap doesn't get your mail to you quicker - but it definitely does save mutt loading time.  Offlineimap runs as a daemon and keeps a local maildir copy of all your mail.  The main purpose for this is so you can read your mail while offline (hence the name), but an added bonus is that whenever you open mutt, mutt doesn't need to wait for the imap connection/download/sync/whatever - it just reads from the local maildir which is effectively instantaneous*.

EDIT: *often that is.  I do have a 'storage' mailbox with ~5000 emails in it.  When I swtich to that mailbox mutt still takes a second to read the maildir folder.  But if this were in online form only it could take a minute or more.  My inbox which  often holds 50-100 emails loads instantly.

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mutaphore

Member

From: NY

Registered: 2014-12-19

Posts: 29

Re: [SOLVED] Mutt having problem connecting to gmail imap

Thanks. I will try it out.