Oauth2 error messages

[clp6819]

For several weeks all my gmail accounts are giving this error message - "Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists." I've reset Oauth2 dozens of times but the error always comes back and it is driving me mad. Any ideas on how to resolve this? Many thanks.

--- Version ---
OS: Windows 11 (x64)
POP Peeper: 5.5.3.0
Webmail: 5.1.0.0
SSL: 3.0.15.0
IMAP: 5.5.3.0
RSS: 5.4.5.0
SendMail: 5.5.3.0
Notification Voice: 5.4.5.0
Profile Picture: 5.5.3.0
AntiJunk: 5.5.3.0
Spell Checker: 5.5.3.0
Trusted Sites: 5.5.3.0
PPTweaker: 5.5.3.0
Sent Mail Viewer: 5.4.5.0
PPbackup: 5.4.5.0
PPextras: 5.4.5.0
Updater: 1.0.0.0

Program folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\POP Peeper\
Ini file: C:\Users\CLP\AppData\Roaming\POP Peeper\poppeeper.ini
Data folder: C:\Users\CLP\AppData\Roaming\POP Peeper\

--- Error ---
[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [Smtp: 'smtp.gmail.com' (465) SSL: 1] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?Y2xwNjgxOUBnbWFpbC5jb20= Edit account: pp://EditAccount?Y2xwNjgxOUBnbWFpbC5jb20=

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [ClientSend: '' (0) SSL: 0] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?Y0Bjd2lmdGVyLmNvbSBH Edit account: pp://EditAccount?Y0Bjd2lmdGVyLmNvbSBH

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [ClientSend: '' (0) SSL: 0] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?d2VibWFzdGVyQGN3aWZ0ZXIuY29tIEc= Edit account: pp://EditAccount?d2VibWFzdGVyQGN3aWZ0ZXIuY29tIEc=

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [ClientSend: '' (0) SSL: 0] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?akBqb25wYXJrZXMuY29tIEc= Edit account: pp://EditAccount?akBqb25wYXJrZXMuY29tIEc=

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [Smtp: 'smtp.gmail.com' (465) SSL: 1] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?cmphcGFya2VzQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ== Edit account: pp://EditAccount?cmphcGFya2VzQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ==

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [ClientSend: '' (0) SSL: 0] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?am9uYXRoYW5AZ3Jhbml0ZWhlYXJ0Lm9yZw== Edit account: pp://EditAccount?am9uYXRoYW5AZ3Jhbml0ZWhlYXJ0Lm9yZw==

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [ClientSend: '' (0) SSL: 0] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?d2VibWFzdGVyQGpvbnBhcmtlcy5jb20gRw== Edit account: pp://EditAccount?d2VibWFzdGVyQGpvbnBhcmtlcy5jb20gRw==

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [ClientSend: '' (0) SSL: 0] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?VmFsIEdtYWls Edit account: pp://EditAccount?VmFsIEdtYWls

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [Smtp: 'smtp.gmail.com' (465) SSL: 1] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?R0ggR21haWw= Edit account: pp://EditAccount?R0ggR21haWw=

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [ClientSend: '' (0) SSL: 0] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?Y2hyaXN0b3BoZXJAZ3Jhbml0ZWhlYXJ0Lm9yZw== Edit account: pp://EditAccount?Y2hyaXN0b3BoZXJAZ3Jhbml0ZWhlYXJ0Lm9yZw==

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [ClientSend: '' (0) SSL: 0] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?Y29udGFjdEBncmFuaXRlaGVhcnQub3Jn Edit account: pp://EditAccount?Y29udGFjdEBncmFuaXRlaGVhcnQub3Jn

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [ClientSend: '' (0) SSL: 0] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?R2lmdEFpZEBncmFuaXRlaGVhcnQub3Jn Edit account: pp://EditAccount?R2lmdEFpZEBncmFuaXRlaGVhcnQub3Jn

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [ClientSend: '' (0) SSL: 0] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?b25saW5lc2FsZXNAZ3Jhbml0ZWhlYXJ0Lm9yZw== Edit account: pp://EditAccount?b25saW5lc2FsZXNAZ3Jhbml0ZWhlYXJ0Lm9yZw==

[1000: IMAP] ['imap.gmail.com' (993) SSL: 1] [ClientSend: '' (0) SSL: 0] [oauth: 1] [consec: 1]
- Oauth2 error -- There was a problem connecting to the Oauth2 server. Try again later or reset Oauth2 if the problem persists. Reset Oauth2: pp://OAuth2?c29jaWFsc0BncmFuaXRlaGVhcnQub3Jn Edit account: pp://EditAccount?c29jaWFsc0BncmFuaXRlaGVhcnQub3Jn

[Jeff]

After you reset Oauth2, how quickly does it return to an error?

Have you noticed any patterns when it fails again? ie. every 24 hours, after you reboot your computer, etc.

Have you tried ignoring the error and seeing if it reports an error on the next mail check? You can also right-click on the account and select "check mail" to test a specific account. Try doing that a few times with a short interval (e.g. every 2-3 minutes for a few attempts).

Are you using any 3rd party software that may intercept https calls? (e.g. firewall, or other security-related programs)

[clp6819]

Hi Jeff. There is no pattern at all - after resetting it ranges from 15 minutes to 24 hours before the errors return. If I don't reset the error it just keeps reporting the error upon every mail check - it has never resolved itself without my intervention. I have Norton360 on the PC but I've had that software longer than I've had Pop Peeper.

[clp6819]

Interestingly - the errors appeared on all the gmail accounts just now and I did as you suggested i.e. right click and check mail on each account individually and they all checked for mail without reporting the error.

[clp6819]

The error messages were back within an hour. Right clicking and check mail does work but I'd like a resolution if possible. Many thanks

[Jeff]

Based on your feedback, my guess is that Google doesn't like so many accounts being authenticated at the same time.

To see if this is a possibility, I have some questions and an experiment for you to try:

1) Your original message had errors in 14 gmail accounts -- is that the total number of gmail accounts that you have in POP Peeper?

2)
a) On POP Peeper's main menu, select Tools / Options
b) On the "General" page, make sure that "Advanced Options" (top-right) is enabled
c) Select the "Mail Check" page
d) What value do you have for "Maximum simultaneous threads"?

3) I'd like you to try staggering your gmail accounts' check mail times. You don't need to stagger all of them, but I would recommend at least 5 of your gmail accounts. What I mean is to change the polling interval for these accounts so that they're different from all others, e.g. change one account to '11', another to '12', another to '13','14','15', etc.
a) Edit the account in POP Peeper
b) Select the 'Advanced' page
c) Update the 'polling interval'
Accounts that you don't change will use the default under the main menu: Tools / Options / Mail Check. The default is '10'.

Also, while on the Options/Mail Check page -- make sure that the "when POP Peeper starts" option is set to "do not check mail immediately" (because the other options would effectively ignore the polling intervals for that instance).


Let me know if that helps; also let me know how many accounts you changed the polling interval. 5 may not be enough to prove anything, but I picked that number as the bare minimum because I have 9 gmail accounts in my main config and I've never seen this problem (so by modifying 5 of your 14, you would still have 9 accounts simultaneously checking -- but also keep in mind that with the stagger, there will be times when the intervals overlap and you could have all 14 accounts checking simultaneously, so this isn't intended as a fool-proof solution, but just an experiment to see if it seems to help).

[clp6819]

Hi Jeff. I have spent the last couple of days trying everything you have suggested and nothing resolves the issue. Do you think an uninstall and reinstall is worth trying? If so, are there registry keys I should remove after the uninstall? Or anything else you can suggest? Many thanks.

[mjs]

Hi Jeff. I have spent the last couple of days trying everything you have suggested and nothing resolves the issue. Do you think an uninstall and reinstall is worth trying? If so, are there registry keys I should remove after the uninstall? Or anything else you can suggest? Many thanks.

Hi clp6819,

Going over what Jeff mentioned (in his last post) - just to confirm (refer to bolded text):

Based on your feedback, my guess is that Google doesn't like so many accounts being authenticated at the same time.
To see if this is a possibility, I have some questions and an experiment for you to try:
1) Your original message had errors in 14 gmail accounts -- is that the total number of gmail accounts that you have in POP Peeper?...

d) What value do you have for "Maximum simultaneous threads"?...

....also let me know how many accounts you changed the polling interval. 5 may not be enough to prove anything, but I picked that number as the bare minimum because I have 9 gmail accounts in my main config and I've never seen this problem (so by modifying 5 of your 14, you would still have 9 accounts simultaneously checking....

Could you please confirm those three questionss Jeff posed (your total number of Gmail accounts in PP as well as how many have different polling intervals as suggested and "simultaneous threads" setting)? It may be that Jeff might want you to increase the "minimum" number of accounts to more than 5, assuming this is the number of accounts you staggered as suggested by Jeff.

Thanks

Just my 2-cents (for context):
Jeff mentioned he has 9 Gmail accounts, I personally have 21 Gmail accounts in PP and most importantly do not have the issue you're having - however the difference in one way is that I have over 80 email accounts and because of this (and the way I list account by "username") these 21 Gmail accounts end up staggered within the list of all email accounts so there is never any more than 4 Gmail accounts that can do a Mail Check consecutively and because there are generally a number of other Email Service accounts separating the Gmail accounts there will necessarily be a hiatus that consists of multiple accounts separating the maximum of 4 (or less) Gmail accounts that would be doing scheduled Mail Checks.

Knowing how many Gmail accounts you changed the polling value for and how many total accounts you have in PP (including the total Gmail accounts) can be helpful to us in determining what next to try as well as knowing your "Maximum simultaneous threads" setting.

[clp6819]

Hi MJS,

Sorry, I forgot to confirm that the total number of gmail accounts is 14. There are 7 non gmail accounts giving 21 in total. I have reordered them, disabled some of them, to no avail. I also changed the polling interval as Jeff suggested, to no avail. At present I have it set to only check 2 gmail accounts (the other's I check manually) but those two gmail accounts are giving the error. Edited to add: the maximum threads is set to 2.

Some other factors which are also worth mentioning - of the 14 gmail accounts only 3 are actual user@gmail.com accounts - the other 11 are accounts which use google workspace as the mail host i.e. user@domain.com (they all use imap.gmail.com). The other thing I should mention is that I *think* the issue started when I installed pop peeper on another windows account on the same PC. I have since deleted that installation (and the windows user account).

Many thanks for the time taken to assist me - it's very much appreciated.

[mjs]

Also, while on the Options/Mail Check page -- make sure that the "when POP Peeper starts" option is set to "do not check mail immediately" (because the other options would effectively ignore the polling intervals for that instance).

Oh and I neglected to cover one last point - have you made sure your setting is as discussed above by Jeff as well? (these points can be important as far as addressing the issue your experiencing with Gmail). So we have 4 questions to please cover as to what has transpired.

Thanks again.

I see you've replied with the 3 questions requests (as I was posting my last comment) - so just the one last question remains

What is your "simultaneous threads" setting set at (that I initially neglected to include) - mine is set at "4" FWIW.

- thanks

[mjs]

Thanks so much for including the answers to the topic and most importantly for the (new) additional information you have provided! - this may be of some help. Jeff, will be taking a look at this and likely have more to say on the topic.

And thanks for your patience regarding this issue.

[mjs]

.... Edited to add: the maximum threads is set to 2.....

OK - great, thanks for the information (Jeff may want you to try increasing this value).

[Jeff]

It's certainly possible that creating a duplicate configuration could cause a problem -- Google may think it's suspicious behavior and elevate the login restrictions. How long ago did you stop using that Windows user?

Otherwise, if you haven't rebooted your computer recently, I would suggest doing that.

You can also try restarting your external modems and routers.

As an alternative, you can use an app-password instead of using Oauth2. This may not be ideal to convert all 14 accounts, but if you have some that are more critical than others; and then you can use the still-Oauth2 accounts to gauge if they've become stable again.
https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833?hl=en

Keep us posted if anything seems to work and if it continues to be a problem, we'll try to come up with some more ideas. We can also log the activity to see if there's anything interesting to be found there.

[clp6819]

Hi Jeff,

The windows user was deleted earlier this week. PC rebooted daily and router a few times every week. I also cleared all google cookies at one point last week when I was trying stuff and although the errors stopped temporarily they did return.

Before trying the app-password - would my suggestion of uninstalling and reinstalling be a better first step? I'm going to have to mess around with all the accounts either way but not sure which is best to do first.

Many thanks again.

[Jeff]

I've had people tell me that deleting their account and re-creating it has helped in these kinds of situations. Coming from the developer, this doesn't have a logical explanation because the Oauth2 credentials are what should matter, and those get replaced when you reset Oauth2. But it's been reported on multiple occasions, so perhaps deleting your gmail accounts is a good first start, and then maybe an uninstall/reinstall if that doesn't help.

Before you do any of that, though; I'd recommend backing up your data files just to have them in case you regret things. Go to:
main menu: Tools / Options / Storage
and make a backup of the "Data path" folder (double-click the text "data path" to open a File Explorer to that location);
In most cases, the ini file is included within that folder, so make sure you get a backup of that, too, if it's not.
--> You should exit POP Peeper before making the backup

[clp6819]

I deleted all accounts then readded them. Within an hour the errors were back. I will try an uninstall and reinstall now. Are there any registry files I should delete for a full proper uninstall or will the uninstall do it all? Many thanks.

[mjs]

The uninstall is all that you will need to do.

Don't forget to make a backup however, (before uninstalling) as previously described by Jeff (having exited PP before doing so).

[mjs]

I was just thinking - before doing the PP uninstall however - perhaps you wouldn't mind trying something, out of curiosity (it's maybe worth the time it would take to check on something - of course don't bother if you'd rather not take the time...).

From the PP main menu go to "Accounts" and enable (select) "Show enabled checkbox" - this will add a checkmark for all enabled accounts (all of which should be checked).

Now uncheck all but one or two of your Gmail accounts (that have other accounts listed between those two accounts) and then wait for PP to do scheduled "Mail Checks". If this works w/out errors (over a reasonable period of time) - then increment the "enabled" Gmail accounts perhaps one (or two) account(s) at a time doing the same thing (re: subsequent schedule Mail Checks) to determine at what point you get the Gmail account errors (keeping a record of the results for each step you take).

If there is some level of consistency in regards to whether/when Gmail errors occur - then report back to us your findings.

[clp6819]

Okay. I tried what MJS suggested i.e. incrementing the mail checks but the errors persisted. I then deleted all the accounts and added them back but the errors were back within an hour. I then uninstalled the software (after making a copy of the pop peeper folder and deleting all google cookies) and reinstalled the software (replacing the pop peeper folder with the copy) and although the errors came back (to my horror) they have since stopped. This is the longest I've been without errors for several weeks. I'm keeping everything crossed that this issue has been resolved Thank you so much for your assistance.

[Jeff]

Glad it's working again!

With your firsthand experience, do you think that anything you did contributed to the solution or do you think it was just coincidence?