Can't send emails to myself

[AndyWernham]

I am using Eudora 8.0b6, IMAP via Virgin Media.

Everything works fine except that I can't send emails to myself. They appear to go, but don't arrive.

If I send to myself using Windows Live Mail, or use Virgin Media Webmail, I can send to myself, so it looks like the problem is in Eudora somewhere.

Any ideas please?

[jhmeyers]

If Virgin (ISP) has moved you to Google (Gmail),
then it is a normal thing about Gmail,
that you can not "send to yourself."

Try any other IMAP client and compare.

[AndyWernham]

They have moved me to gmail but I can still send to myself using webmail, Outlook Express and Windows Live Mail.

[jhmeyers]

Originally Posted by AndyWernham

They have moved me to gmail
but I can still send to myself using webmail, Outlook Express and Windows Live Mail.

If you are using a different account to send,
then this is not what is meant by "sending to yourself."

It is a well known fact that using a Gmail account to send a message
to the same account will not create a second entry in the same
"conversation," which is why it appears as if "nothing happens."

As I said previously,
I recommend comparing with the results of any other IMAP client,
set up identically and doing the same operation.

Try Thunderbird, for example,
which shares the same "profile" as "Eudora 8"

[AndyWernham]

Thunderbird is behaving exadtly the same as Eudora

[jhmeyers]

Originally Posted by AndyWernham

Thunderbird is behaving exactly the same as Eudora

This suggests that it is merely the Gmail quirk at work,
preventing the appearance of duplicate messages in the same "conversation"

For a "third opinion," you could still try Outlook Express,
but make sure that you use an IMAP account
set up exactly like the others,
and sending a message to the very same Gmail account
(not using a different "Windows Live" sending account, for example)

And finally, send from "Virgin" to Windows Live -- is that okay?

There is no need to worry when you can send to anyone else in the world,
except to the same Gmail account from which you are sending,
because that is always merely the result of how Gmail normally works.

[AndyWernham]

Thanks for your help jh.

I have done some more tests and the problem does seem to be caused by gmail 'conversations'. When looking at other forums, it seems that this feature is deeply unpopular amongst many users, and it would be very useful to be able to turn it off.

I like to be able to check that my e-mails have gone out correctly, for example when using a group address, by receiving them back myself.

It seems that Eudora sends out some information in the email that is not sent out by Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail, that causes this problem.

I have now resorted to a work-around where Eudora puts the sent mail in a local folder.

Thanks again.

[jhmeyers]

Q: I like to be able to check that my e-mails have gone out correctly,
for example when using a group address, by receiving them back myself.

A: Just include some other account of yours in the mailing list;
perhaps even a different Gmail account, which Eudora can also check,
in another personality.


Q: It seems that Eudora sends out some information in the email
that is not sent out by Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail,
that causes this problem.

A: I don't think so -- didn't you say that Thunderbird was just the same?

Gmail's "Show original" function (in web view)
reveals everything there is in a message. Gmail acts this way
all the time, even when you send from the web to your own account,
not involving Eudora (or Thunderbird) at all.

We have some local addresses which forward to Gmail accounts,
and the same thing happens when the user composes a message
in Gmail, sends it here, to "test" the forwarding we set up,
and we forward it right back to them.

They then call us up and insist that our forwarding isn't working,
because they don't see the forwarded message, but when they
see that all other mail in the world, coming from anywhere else,
certainly does forward to them, then they finally start to feel better.

In fact, when they ask Gmail to confirm a "send mail as" address,
Gmail's "verification" email also always manages to get forwarded
right back to them, but apparently it takes a long time
to build any faith, in this sometimes unreliable world :)

To add an analogy, when you talk on a telephone,
you may not hear yourself in your own earpiece as you talk;
I have one phone which balances this so well,
that people aren't sure the person at the other end can hear them,
at least not until they respond to whatever they had said :)

[AndyWernham]

A: I don't think so -- didn't you say that Thunderbird was just the same?

Yes, Thunderbird and Eudora perform in exactly the same way (but this is not surprising as the new version of Eudora is just Thunderbird dressed up).

Outlook, Windows Live Mail and Virgin Webmail do not exibit the 'problem'.

I understand the thinking behind Gmail's conversation feature, but I, and a lot of other people would like to have the option to turn it off.

Your example of a telephone is interesting. As you say yourself, anyone using a phone that doesn't have any sidetone isn't really sure that it is working correctly until they get a reply.

[jhmeyers]

Originally Posted by AndyWernham

Outlook, Windows Live Mail and Virgin Webmail do not exibit the 'problem'

This has nothing to do with what program is used.

It is a function solely of mailing "out" through the same Gmail account as is receiving.

Your "webmail" does its own independent mailing out;
that it why its outgoing messages are not seen by Gmail
as having been sent from the same account.

It's not a matter of the "From:" line;
it's a matter of whether the message has been sent using Gmail's own servers.

Any other attribution to Eudora or Thunderbird is "voodoo" :)