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I'm having an issue with Thunderbird where it won't send an email until I run
systemctl restart NetworkManager.service
and restart Thunderbird. It can receive emails just fine, just not send them. This isn't even about switching networks, it seems that it breaks after every email I send.
Also, it seems this is only for my school (.edu) emails. My personal email (@gmail.com) works fine.
How can I fix this issue?
Last edited by TySpicer (2025-10-04 14:39:59)
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What is the exact Thunderbird error message?
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Sending of the message failed.
The message could not be sent because the connection to Outgoing server (SMTP) smtp.office365.com timed out. Try again.
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Whenever this happens next, check the name resolution and connectivity with
ping -c 4 smtp.office365.com
ping -c 4 52.98.240.66
after the error occurs.
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Output of `ping -c 4 smtp.office365.com`:
PING smtp.office365.com (2603:1036:305:4019::2) 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 2603:1036:305:4019::2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=241 time=29.0 ms
64 bytes from 2603:1036:305:4019::2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=241 time=29.4 ms
64 bytes from 2603:1036:305:4019::2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=241 time=36.4 ms
64 bytes from 2603:1036:305:4019::2: icmp_seq=4 ttl=241 time=29.0 ms
--- smtp.office365.com ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss, time 3003ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 28.993/30.976/36.441/3.159 ms
Output of `ping -c 4 52.98.240.66`:
PING 52.98.240.66 (52.98.240.66) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 52.98.240.66: icmp_seq=1 ttl=236 time=215 ms
64 bytes from 52.98.240.66: icmp_seq=2 ttl=236 time=238 ms
64 bytes from 52.98.240.66: icmp_seq=3 ttl=236 time=260 ms
64 bytes from 52.98.240.66: icmp_seq=4 ttl=236 time=180 ms
--- 52.98.240.66 ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss, time 3004ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 180.149/223.100/259.573/29.408 ms
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Still having issues. I can work around it, but it would be nice if it just worked.
I think I read something about updating the kernel. Would `sudo pacman -Syu` do this, or do I have to update the kernel manually?
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Is the output in #5 when things work or when they don't? (Cause the former doesn't really help much)
receive emails just fine, just not send them … it seems that it breaks after every email I send … seems this is only for my school (.edu)
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Problem is your data doesn't indicate any connectivity or DNS problem. If Thunderbird complains about a time out while connecting to smtp.office365.com and the network stack shows no obvious errors - that's a little inconclusive.
And yes - this pacman command updates the kernel too.
Last edited by -thc (2025-10-02 15:45:10)
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Theory: office365.com quotas the IPv6, restarting NM will randomize a new one
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Is the output in #5 when things work or when they don't?
Yes, those outputs were right after it failed.
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if you can confirm with certainty you are affected by such issues
This should not be done blindly
Just to confirm, should I disable IPv6? I wouldn't want to break anything without knowing what I'm doing. You just sent a link without any clarification, so I'm following the instructions that say "This should not be done blindly."
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Yes, add "ipv6.disable=1" - you're not doing that blindly but to test a theory. And by divine commandment
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Great, thanks for the clarification!
Adding `ipv6.disable=1` to the kernel line
Where is this? I can't tell if this instruction goes with section 10.1.2 or not.
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Again, that seems a bit vague. What am I looking for here?
I found /proc/sys/, and it looks like there's a /kernel folder here, but I don't know what I'm looking for in this folder.
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Alright, I think I figured it out. I'm using GRUB, so I rebooted, pressed "e" on the Arch button, found the `linux` line, and appended `ipv6.disable=1` to the end. After a couple of tests in Thunderbird, it looks like it works! I'll have to see next time I'm on campus if it still works there, but hopefully that's the solution.
Apologies for the frustration. I'm still a beginner at Linux, and sometimes need a step-by-step process. I understand it's tough to give the steps, though, since everyone has a different system. Thanks for the help and patience!
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sometimes need a step-by-step process
The point here is to make that less and less of a requirement, try to read and parse the wiki and explore options yourself.
You cannot run a system like arch otherwise because nothing is pre-determined and becoming the master of your own system isn't only necessary, but kinda the point.
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Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I'm definitely interested in learning more, but it's definitely tough. Thanks again!
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next time I'm on campus if it still works there
Fair warning: the campus might not provide you an IPv4 lease in which case disabling IPv6 will break the entire network, so remember this change.
Ftr, just found https://www.reddit.com/r/Office365/comm … w=original
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Update - After rebooting again, Thunderbird gives the same issue. I went back into the boot menu, and the `ipv6.disable=1` line I typed in is gone. How do I make this a permanent change?
I found this: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Sysctl
It says I can edit the file `/etc/sysctl.d/99-sysctl.conf`. I found the `sysctl.d` folder, but there's no file there. I assume I can just create the file. Should I write the file with `ipv6.disable=1`, or is it more complicated than that?
Am I on the right track, or should I be doing something completely different?
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Try reading this: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/IPv6#Disable_IPv6
A nifty way to temporarily disable IPv6 in your scenario is mentioned:
sysctl -w net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6=1
This disables IPv6 only in your current running state. After rebooting (or setting it to "0" again) everything is back.
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If you wanted to keep the kernel commandline parameter, see https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Kernel_parameters#GRUB again - "To make the change persistent…"
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"To make the change persistent…"
Ah, I see. I went to `/boot`, but there's no `grub` folder there or `grub.cfg`. The next part of the article says to go to `/etc/default/grub`, which I do have. I appended `ipv6.disable=1` to the end of `GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT` inside the quotes.
Then, the article said to run `grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg`. I did this with `sudo`, and it said "No such file or directory," which makes sense.
Should I create the `/boot/grub` folder and `/boot/grub/grub.cfg` file? Can it be blank, or should I put anything in it?
Here's the full output of `sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg`, just in case I need to do anything else there:
/usr/bin/grub-editenv: error: cannot open `//boot/grub/grubenv.new': No such file or directory.
/usr/bin/grub-mkconfig: line 270: /boot/grub/grub.cfg.new: No such file or directory
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