Right this minute I am off campus with a new laptop with email I am sending stacking up. Why? Because the SMTP server on campus (have to use that one there) I cannot use off campus. Some security screw-up.

Question: Does anyone have a bullet proof SMTP server that accepts getting called SMTP outgoing by my software that does not have an account? Seems all my smtps are offline or bolluxed in some way.

Or just tell me what could have gone wrong with my smtp servers by going through the migration app. They seemed to be set up correctly.

It's hard telling what's wrong without knowing exactly what error messages are you getting. It has to be a setting somewhere, port or SSL, if it worked before.

Delete all of your servers and re-enter them. I've also seen many times where if you make a message and have the wrong smtp server, it never wants to go even if you put in a good server, you have to make a new message. It's like Mail remembers what server you had set up originally. So in other words, just because your old messages won't go doesn't mean that the server settings are still wrong.

Make sure you close Preferences and Save after changing server info. Quit and restart Mail after entering server info, seen that work too.

Thanks, I think you nailed it. Mail seems to be remember the old settings which were migration assistant added from my office computer. Since that one is behind the firewall they are different. But even when I use a "correct" new on Mail seems to not want to forget.

I am going to delete all (wow, have ten of them) smtp servers, save quite, open, and add one google smtp server for outside the firewall and see how it goes.

Yup that worked. Deleted all smtps saved and quit for good measure then went in and made one smtp using google. By then I had two dozen emails in my outbox and the thought of switcing to unix to mail them made me itchy but they had to get out.

Once I switched my primary to the new smtp all 24 opened up saying can't be sent do you want to use this new server? Yes, close, yes, close, yes, close ... And the twenty four swooshes out the door sounded like I was rocketing Beirut.

My problem is I have to go in and out of the campus firewall so I need two smtps. One that gets tried inside and one that gets tried outside. And the extra caveat is that I have five email accounts whih most have to use gmail when outside since they cannot reach themselves on campus.

Security is a pain. Especially BS security. Campus could expose on sever to the outside for smtp but they think that is a threat.

The security stuff they want to load on laptops makes them about as useful as a brick.

When I got my new laptop last Dec., the IT folks had loaded "my" boot account with all sorts of crap. So I made a new user account. Problem solved.

I have not figured out a pattern with Mail. Most times it takes a new server just fine. Sometimes it does fine with change, sometimes it balks and you have to kick it in the ass to get it back on track.

Kind of like here.

Crap, now my sent mail looks like I am using my google account. 25 offical business emails just sent with a gmail return address. Damnitalltohell.

Institue IS would make Gandhi humble. Oh wait. He was. Screw him.

You do realize that the return email address is dictated by what account you have set in the email message From: drop down. The smtp server settings have nothing to do with the return address. There is nowhere in the smtp settings to enter that, it's in Account settings.