Email problems. An error occurred while delivering this message.

[Ianwmiles]

Hi everyone. Sorry that my opening post in here is a shout for help.

For the last five days I have had an on going email issue relating to my iPad retina and email. I can receive email without an issue. I can send text only email too, but if I add an attachment I either get "an error occurred while delivering this message" or "the message was rejected by the server".

It's a sudden onset problem. Things were fine before this and I had no issue sending files.

It started when I was trying to send pdf files from iBooks via email to myself (long story but I'm porting files from I books over to adobe reader so I can move them back and fore my PC, as iBooks is a bit of an odd beast and won't let me move some iPad downloaded files.... Sigh!).

In the past, this hasn't been an issue. I just went into iBooks, opened the file I,want to send and emailed it to myself. This time however, some sent and the rest stayed firmly in my outbox with a red exclamation mark next to them. Tapping this gave the "an error occurred" message.

I've hunted the net trying to find a solution. I've restarted, reset and checked setting on the router. I have deleted and re installed my email accounts on the iPad. I have tried many different settings suggested for this error on web forums (manual settings, different ports for outgoing mail etc). I've reset my iPad and settings. The only thing I have not done is a full reset as this will wipe the files I'm trying to move from iBooks.

I've gone around in circles for days and finally I admit being a little sore and beaten... So over to the Techsperts on here.

Is it possible this is an ISP problem? As the same issue happens with my hotmail.co.uk address, the yahoo, aol and outlook work addresses from the iPad.

Not sure if this is relevant, but I'm currently in Brazil (I'm living here at the moment). The iPad was purchased in the UK. It's set up so the home network is here, and has been used here and in the UK without issue for over a year. The ISP here is GVT.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Cheers, Ian

 

[abababababab]

Hello! Welcome to iPF! Enjoy your time here!

Assuming you use the native mail app of the iPad, here are some fixes you can try :

1. Deleting and re adding the mail accounts to your iPad.

2. From Settings > Mail, contacts and calendars > The email acct. you are having problem with > password, erase and re enter the password.

Also, from Mail Contacts calendars > The problematic mail address > Outgoing Mail Server (stmp.xxxx.com) > Password, re enter password (make sure you enter the password of THE EMAIL ADRESS STATED ABOVE)

Please post back on whether it helped or not. Good luck!

 

[Ianwmiles]

Hi abababababab,

Thanks for the reply. I've worked through the problem, tried your suggestions. Came up blank with the same problem.

This led me to run some tests on the net here, as while the router seems ok. I hadn't tested the line etc. It turns out that while I was getting 12 MBit down, I was only getting 0.01Mbit upload speeds....

The GVT engineer came this afternoon after resetting the local server and replaced our router. Now, I can once more send mail, attachments and have no issues. It seems the server was timing out on the send requests. Hopefully, it will work for a while now.

Thank you for your help Its a great site, and I've picked up a number of shortcuts and tips already.

 

[scifan57]

Thanks for coming back to tell us that your problem is solved and what you did to solve it. It could certainly be of use to others with the same issue.

 

[abababababab]

Glad you could solve your problem. You're welcome! Glad to try and help.

 

[Danny D]

I'm in Canton. Georgia in the USA and I have verbatim the exact same problem. Read Ian's problem again and that's me exactly. I could have written his request for help! The only differences are I'm with Comcast and my up and down speeds are fine. I'm at my wits end here. I can go to my outbox and tap the attached file and then hit send and it will go out but that's the only way.to send anything with an attachment. I can send and receive emails with attachments on my PC with no problems just not on my iPad Pro. Any other ideas out there? They should have named it iPad Pro-blem!

Already went through the hard reboot problems most everyone had that bought one of these but now this? I've had an iPad since the first one and never had this many issues before now. What is this Apple Windows?

 

[scifan57]

I'm in Canton. Georgia in the USA and I have verbatim the exact same problem. Read Ian's problem again and that's me exactly. I could have written his request for help! The only differences are I'm with Comcast and my up and down speeds are fine. I'm at my wits end here. I can go to my outbox and tap the attached file and then hit send and it will go out but that's the only way.to send anything with an attachment. I can send and receive emails with attachments on my PC with no problems just not on my iPad Pro. Any other ideas out there? They should have named it iPad Pro-blem!

Already went through the hard reboot problems most everyone had that bought one of these but now this? I've had an iPad since the first one and never had this many issues before now. What is this Apple Windows?

The OP's problem couldn't be exactly the same as yours as it was caused by extremely slow upload speeds from his router and not by anything wrong on the iPad itself.

Have you tried deleting and re-installing your email account on the iPad?

 

[Danny D]

From his description of the problem he was having, my problem is in fact exactly the same. This issue started with my iPad Pro the same way his did i.e. When I tried to send a small .pdf file from iBook. I've had this problem ever since that moment. Rather odd coincidence? I have Comcast triple play with movies, phone service and high speed Internet with two PCs in my home and everything works fine. One PC uses Comcast email directly from their web site and the other uses Incredimail for email. I've had this set up for many years along with iPad 1, 2, 4, Air 2 and never had this issue with any of them until now with the Pro. I've pinged my speeds with several online services since reading his fix, and none of them show a problem with my up or down speeds. None of the MP3 or m4a files I record of my own material which I'm trying to send exceed 1.4 mb and these same exact files have been emailed with both my PCs with no problems as recently as yesterday. ISO 9.2? I've been dealing with iPads since the first one shipped and have had the latest one of each as they were released ever since. None have been as frustrating (even close) as the iPad Pro. I had to return the first Pro I bought to the Apple Store which is a two hour round trip for me. This one had the same hard reboot problem as the one I returned. With having a 4 hour drive time already invested in this version of the new iPad I decided to wait for an Apple fix for the problem they never acknowledged. Their latest ISO release did fix that. I don't believe this is a Comcast problem or a router problem and it may not be a hardware problem. Most likely it's seated somewhere in the software. I've reset my emails several times to no avail. As far as your assessment that it can't be the same problem he was having because his speeds were slow and mine aren't doesn't change the fact that my problem IS exactly what he describes, down to when it started with the .pdf iBook file when we both tried to send it via email from our iPads. Thanks for your time an for the record, I wouldn't have bought 6 iPads over the course of their release if I wasn't a fan. This however has been a really bad experience for me on two fronts. Apple has been less than no help. Regards, Dan (and yes, I'm a little more than just frustrated.)

 

[twerppoet]

The thing to hold in mind is that the same symptoms don't always mean the same cause, and it's kind of pointless to argue whether the 'problem' is the symptoms or the cause; which seems to be the root of the current disagreement.

That said, there have been some problems related to attachements and the Mail app on other fronts (mostly with iWorks files), and not just on the iPad Pro. It does not surprise me that you might be having problems. Not that I have a solution for you. At least not one you haven't already tried or been suggested. Hopefully we'll see these ironed out as iOS 9 becomes more mature.

In the mean time I suggest using DropBox or some other cloud app to upload your files and then emailing the share link. In some ways this is more efficient than attachments, especially for large files.

 

[Danny D]

Hi Twerp and thank you for your input here. I also use Dropbox on occasion but would much rather use an attachment on these smaller files because it's much faster and way more convenient. Anyway, the problem is what it is an I'm not an isolated case nor is the problem a new one. In fact it dates back to 2007 at least if not farther. The more I investigate the more I see how it actually affects nearly all facets of the computer spectrum. iPhones, iPads, iPods, Androids, Windows, iso and on and on. It's no big deal to those who don't experience it but to those who unfortunately do, it's exasperating, mostly because no one really has the answer. It seems to have many different fixes but none seem to be universal. Again, I'll keep searching but just wanted to say thanks for your level headed response. I will eventually find a solution. I don't want to wipe my iPad Pro just yet but it ma become necessary if I can't find a be speckled genius somewhere with the answer. I can tell you this, deleting your email account which seems to be the first comment, does nothing.

 

[twerppoet]

As you say, attachments in email have always been an on and off problem on all platforms. That's because email passes through so many different hands, and attachments are handled a bit differently on all of them. Add in size limites, spam, and virus filters in each service and you never know when something will decide your attachment shouldn't be allowed; or just forgets it is there.

With that much going on, it's hard to pinpoint the causes. Even when it seem obvious (this device works and that one doesn't) it can still be router, service, or other issues. Not all devices get treated equal.

Actually, it's kind of amazing it works most of the time.

I'm going to suggest something you may find distasteful, and that is to switch email providers. Comcast is not a good email host. Most ISP email services are junk. They're just me-too addons to keep customers happy. More importantly, it's not a great idea to have your email address tied to your ISP. We often end up changing ISP's for various reason. Being stuck with with a now dead email address on half your webstites is a major pain, not to mention all the people you have to inform about your address change.

Services like Google, Hotmail, and others that specialize in email services generally do a better job. And of course you can use iCloud's email service; kind of tied to your Apple acount, but being standard IMAP it will work on just about any device.

Not that I guarantee this will solve your issue; but having a second email account is always a good idea, if for no other reason than that it lets you troubleshoot your service by sending emails between them.

Good luck.

 

[Danny D]

Scifan ... You'll be glad to know for future reference ... The email issue I had which was in fact exactly the same as what Ian had experienced was fixed last night when I downloaded and installed IOS 9.2.1 on my iPad Pro. After almost a full week of frustration and zero input from Apple who refuses to acknowledge problems, I was right, it was a software problem. Twerppoet, thank you again for your help. An open mind is often an open road to solving problems.