Error ([IN-USE] account is locked by another session or for maintenance, try again.)

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Fred S
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2020 1:22 pm

Error ([IN-USE] account is locked by another session or for maintenance, try again.)

Post by Fred S »

Hi folks, need some help

I have a RoadRunner account for email with Time Warner (Charter Cable) which has NOT allowed me to access my email. I can SEND email and SOMETIMES I can receive email. Most of the time, however, I get this:

Error ([IN-USE] account is locked by another session or for maintenance, try again.)

This happens when using Thunderbird as my email client on two machines AND with PopPeeper.

Because incoming emails cannot be retrieved (see error) and because TWC says they don't support 3rd party clients, I should create an IMAP account.

I did that and IMAP works, but I dislike IMAP greatly and want to go back to POP which has been used by me for many years without incident until this issue developed about three months ago. TWC is no help, they just say it is a TB & PopPeeper problem. Web access works fine but I hate their web client.

I am sure of my server settings as they have been in place for years. I used to use "mail.twc.com" with Port 110 and No Security - worked for a long time, and still works with no issues for my wife's account on TB and PopPeeper.

TWC did say that I should use "mail.twc.com" with Port 995, SSL/TLS - I have tried that and it behaves the same as in the past - outgoing works with no issues, incoming work sometimes then the ERROR shows up and cannot get POP email for a few days or so.

I would greatly appreciate any possible assistance and thanks in advance.

Fred
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Jeff
Admin / Developer
Posts: 9226
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2001 9:46 pm

Re: Error ([IN-USE] account is locked by another session or for maintenance, try again.)

Post by Jeff »

In general, POP3 only allows one connection at a time. This is because the way it was designed doesn't lend itself to multiple connections; for example, it would be very easy to delete the wrong message.

Based on the error, whether you're getting that message because your account thinks something is still connected for "for maintenance" is anyone's guess -- but TWC should be able to answer that. But if it happens for days at a time, I would suggest completely exiting TB and see if PP is able to connect. Also shut down any other devices that may be accessing the account's email (like your phone). If it's still a problem, try restarting Windows and turning off your phone -- this would ensure that any connections on your end would be broken. Although it may take TWC's end some time to recognize this (30 minutes should be more than sufficient). If it's still a problem at that point, then the problem is most probably on TWC's end.

Personally, I would highly recommend using IMAP in POP Peeper. For the most part, you probably won't even know it's using IMAP (except that it will probably be faster, more efficient and you'll get fewer errors) and if there is something you don't like, it can probably be changed to behave more like POP3. The fact is, most ISPs don't consider email an integral part of their service and are happy to give you excuses why it's not their problem; but since mobile phones will use IMAP instead of POP3, you can be sure that they care even less about POP3.
Fred S wrote: Tue Mar 31, 2020 1:46 pm I used to use "mail.twc.com" with Port 110 and No Security
Please don't do this. I'm not sure why they even support it. Here's how my own isp (comcast) responds if I try to login without SSL:
-ERR [AUTH] Plaintext authentication disallowed on non-secure (SSL/TLS) connections.
This is the way that *every* email provider should respond in that case.
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