Gmail debacle: Have 20 accounts - 10 work fine, 10 don't work at all

[MichelleRN]

Over to the far left of Poppeeper you have the 'Account' pane.

Some of my Gmail accounts do not have a line under them, which means Poppeeper can access the account, and that's good.

Other Gmail accounts of mine have a line under them, which means Poppeeper can not access the account, and that's bad.

Be they good or bad, they all have this in common:

Their settings in Poppeeper's 'Edit Account' window are the same(!) Meaning, the settings in the Edit Account window for each respective functional and dysfunctional Gmail account are identical.

This problem has been going on for several years now.

[Jeff]

You didn't provide what the error is, but it's probably safe to assume it's something like a "-10 try again later" error? If so, the preferred method to access GMail is by using IMAP instead of WebMail. It may take a little time to setup initially (by that, I mean a few minutes for the first, and much faster for each additional account once you've seen the process), but is worth it in the long-run as you never have to worry about changes to the interface or the random whimsies of GMail.

Edit each account, and change the server type to IMAP
For each account, you'll have to update GMail settings so that your account allows SSL/TLS access. There are 2 ways to do that, described here:
http://www.esumsoft.com/products/pop-pe ... ilSecurity

[MichelleRN]

Oh yes Jeff I did forget to note the exact wording of the error message, sorry about that.

The exact error message that I see when I bring up Pop Peeper's Edit Account window:

"Login Error [ALERT] Please login via your web browser"

I always log into Gmail using a web browser.

[MichelleRN]

I just thought of something... in order to help Jeff and company do good detective work, here is some important info as it may, or may not, relate to the random whimsies of Gmail, Pop Peeper, and VPN's:

If I have brain fade and I make the very large mistake of logging into Gmail using a VPN with an IP address that is few thousand miles from where I am actually located, that will pretty much sever, and end, that particular Gmail's relationship with Pop Peeper.

Hotmail is VPN friendly (as it relates to Pop Peeper). Yahoo is VPN friendly. But Gmail is not VPN friendly 100% of the time (again, as it relates to Pop Peeper).

In other words, I can be sailing along and have a Gmail account that coexists just fine with Pop Peeper. But then when I log into the Gmail account with a VPN that places me in a totally different physical location, that Gmail account may no longer be able to be serviced by Pop Peeper, they will no longer coexist or get along with each other.

And then it's divorce time !! The Google developers, I bet, are probably at fault here. They have a design that is one-part very wrong, very obtuse. Google acts like they care, but they don't give a you know what.

[mjs]

Have you logged into one of the Gmail accounts on the web using your browser?

When logged into Google Mail, take a look to see if Google is providing you with any message.

Most likely enabling "Less Secure apps" will help you out with these accounts. Clicking on the Allow less secure apps link is where you can TURN ON the "Access for less secure apps". Try selecting "Turn on" if you haven't got "Access for less secure apps" turned on and see if this helps you out.

Besides what Jeff has posted above, click HERE for a post by Jeff specifically related to this in another topic.

Please post back your progress.

[MichelleRN]

Have you logged into one of the Gmail accounts on the web using your browser?

Yes of course, that's what I said in an earlier post. Besides, if you didn't use a web browser to log in to web mail, what on earth would you use? I think this problem has something to do with geo-location, maybe, I don't know - altering my geo-location sometimes spells disaster with Gmail and Pop Peeper. I'll try some of your suggestions, thanks.

[mjs]

Actually I almost never log-in to any of my email accounts using a browser but instead just use either Pop Peeper or sometimes MS Outlook to access email.

Let us know if the suggestions help out.

[MichelleRN]

Message to hardworking Pop Peeper detectives:

There has been a major development(!)

I have news for all of you. The news is 95% great. And 5% bad. I need a little more time to work on many Gmail accounts that are crippled. I will report back to you when I get done tending to a few more crippled Gmail accounts.

Hint: Allowing less secure apps has healed many of the Gmail accounts that have been crippled for several years (which makes me feel great!) Unfortunately there are a handful that are failing to respond to the same treatment.

There are many patients to tend to. I will need more time (a day or so) as I scramble to try and revive those that are dire need of treatment.

[MichelleRN]

Note to self:

and i need to check each and every error message

to see if said message is the same (or it its different), as it relates to each and every disabled Gmail account.

[mjs]

Hmmm, based on two posts up from this I might have guessed you're likely an RN even w/out the giveaway in your username.

It definitely sounds like we're making progress and should expect complete recovery.

Ultimately the prognosis should be good by following Jeff's advice.

[Jeff]

I don't have a lot of information about the ins-and-outs of GMail, but I suspect that if you were using the "more secure" method to allow POP Peeper access to POP3/IMAP (that is, 2-step verification), then perhaps GMail forces you to perform a qualifying login (e.g. via webbrowser) when a new IP address is detected (or, perhaps, a significantly different IP address). This would allow GMail to know that the IP address is OK to use; fyi: GMail absolutely keeps track of the IP addresses you use, so the rest of that theory is not far-fetched. By allowing the "less secure apps" method, you're basically telling GMail that, "yes, I plan on using SSL/TLS to access my email so don't make me jump through hoops everytime my IP changes."

Let us know how the rest of the accounts go -- it's possible that they just need a little extra time or something -- and I'll update the FAQ with additional information if the evidence supports the theory.