Double authentication
Google in June 2022 increased the security level needed to access its Gmail service, and as a result some Eudora email users can no longer access their accounts that run through Gmail, such as the Telus and Shaw ISPs in Canada. The error message may read similar to this one:
ERR [AUTH] Username and password not accepted.
The error message tells us that Eudora has a problem with authenticating who you are to Gmail, and that the username and password are unacceptable to Google. Google had been warning that this would be occurring, but it is not always easy to understand the implications to changes to the Internet's infrastructure.
To prove to Google who you are, you need to enter into Eudora a password generated by Google just once. Google calls the password it generates an “app password.” It is 16 letters long, and lets Google know that you are giving Eudora permission to access your Gmail account. There are two stages to fixing the problem: first, increase your security level with Google by turning on two-step authentication, and then decrease it.
Stage 1: Add Two-Step Authentication to Your Google Account
If you do not already have two-step authentication turned on, or if you don't know whether you have it turned on, then follow these steps:
1. Open your Web browser, and go to https://myaccount.google.com/
2. Enter your Google password, should you be asked for it.
3. On the left side, click Security.
4. Under Signing in to Google, look for 2-step Verification:
- If it is on, then there is a blue check mark
- If it is off, then click 2-step Verification. Google will ask for your password, and then you turn on 2-step verification.
TIP Two-step authentication means that Google will confirm who you are by asking you in a second way. Most commonly, it will send you a notification on another one of your devices, such as your Android phone. You can choose which device to send the notification to, and whether the notification should be sent only once when accessing your account on a new device, like a friend's computer. I recommend the once-only option.
With the security level of your Google account increased, Google now allows you to decrease it for Eudora.
Stage 2: Obtain a Temporary Google-generated Password
With two-step authentication set up, the second part to getting Eudora working with GMail again is to obtain a one-time password that Google generates. This lets Google know that it is okay for your email software to access your Gmail account. Follow these steps:
1. Staying in Google Account's Security page, click App Passwords
2. You will need to enter your Google password to prove to Google you are who you are.
3. Click Next.
4. In the App passwords page:
a. Under Select App, choose Mail
b. Under Select Device, choose a device, such as Windows Computer
c. Click Generate
5. In the Generated app Password dialog box, an app password appears. Copy it.
Notice that Google immediately sends you a warning email /and/or message to your phone about the security change made to your account. Click Yes, It Was Me. This is two-factor authentication at work.
6. Start Eudora, and when it asks for a password, enter the one Google generated for you.
Hi Ralph:
This latest post which my genius son in Ottawa discovered makes my earlier one today irrelevant! It is now downloading email from two years ago, several hundred at a time, but I'd rather have it twice than not at all. I assume I need a separate "app-specific" password" for each personality? Also, I gathered from your references to Telus that you were in Canada, which seem to be confirmed. I'm near Toronto!
Thanks again for this amazing blog, and for letting us enjoy Eudora again.
Cheers,
Jim
Posted by: Jim Kenzie | Jun 14, 2022 at 03:18 PM
Hi Ralph:
Not quite out of the woods yet! So far I have only got my "main" email address fixed with the "app-specific password" gambit - I have at least one more to go. (I gather I need a separate app-specific password one for each address?) But on that main address, when I click "Check Mail", it starts to download a bunch of messages, typically some 300 to 400 of them. I repeat the process and get another batch. I've gone through about seven iterations so far, but there's no way I get 300 to 400 messages a day, let alone seven times a day! The "sizes" of the relevant mailboxes do increase with each pass, so it seems to be retrieving older messages, presumably duplicates of ones already there. I have spotted some duplicates, but there's a LOT of messages in there, so I'm not 100% certain if those duplicates might have been there before.
The other weird thing is, it does not seem to be retrieving any NEW messages! The "newest" date I have downloaded since this app-specific fix is June 7, which is about when this issue started. Is it trying to download every email message I have ever received? I have sorted each mailbox by date
Your suggestions have been so helpful - so close, and yet still a way to go! Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Cheers,
Jim
Posted by: Jim Kenzie | Jun 15, 2022 at 07:36 AM
I would go directly into your linked GMail account at http://mail.google.com to see what is going on.
Posted by: Ralph Grabowski | Jun 15, 2022 at 07:44 AM
Hi Ralph:
My Eudora downloads are complete! As mentioned earlier, it would only do 300 - 400 messages at a time, so it took 31 passes through the backlog to get them all. But it looks like I'm back in business again.
And again, thank you.
I also stumbled into some other areas of your blog. You are one busy guy! Keep up the great work.
Cheers,
Jim
Posted by: Jim Kenzie | Jun 17, 2022 at 10:40 AM
An alternative to the Eudora email program is Pandora which is found at http://www.drivehq.com/web/brana/pandora.htm.
Pandora has a very similar Look and Feel to Eudora, costs $14 for version license, and has an active developer who fixes bug and adds new features. Many of the Eudora shortcomings are fixed including Gmail authentication.
Check it out
Butch
Posted by: Butch Kemper | Jun 18, 2022 at 09:45 AM
Hello Mr Grabowski
I am one of the very long term users of Eudora and very reluctant to change. I do not like the direct gmail interface at all and hope I can continue to use Eudora for a few more years (I am 90 ... dont have to keep it working too much longer )
I had the password problem you describe above and resolved it with a google generated password.
But starting around April a new problem has arisen.
I receive emails into Eudora with no problem.
But when I go to send, most of the time (but not 100% of the time) the messages do not get delivered but are bounced back, by gmail, with a very long notice and this heading:
** Message not delivered **
There was a problem delivering your message to [email protected]. =
See the technical details below, or try resending in a few minutes.
The response was:
550 5.7.1 [209.85.220.41] Our system has detected that this message is not =
RFC 5322 compliant: duplicate headers. To reduce the amount of spam sent to=
Gmail, this message has been blocked. Please review RFC 5322 specification=
s for more information. t18-20020a9d7f92000000b00636d911f17dsor675904otp.84=
- gsmtp
None of the message I send are spam in any sense ... they are all ordinary personal and business messages. The problem seems to occur whether the is one single addressee or several addresses
Sometimes the messages to a given addressee are delivered ... sometimes message to that same addressee bounced back.
This problem does not exist if I send messages from the gmail interface (which I do not like) nor does the problem exist with messages orginated on ipads. It seems to be a strictly Eudora problem.
Is there any hope for this situation ?? Is there anyway you can helo me ?
Many thanks
Posted by: Rodger E Farrell | Aug 27, 2022 at 02:15 PM
The problem you appear to be experiencing is intermittant, meaning that the problem lies outside of your email system. Upon doing some research, it looks like other users of other email systems that have the same problem and that...
>Google may be associating a misleading rejection message to this bounce.
This article might be helpful for your ISP:
https://community.mimecast.com/s/article/Connect-Application-Implementing-SPF-for-Outbound-Email-Delivery-731048977
Posted by: Ralph Grabowski | Aug 27, 2022 at 05:16 PM
I cannot bear to give up Eudora -- I have 7600 e-mail boxes in it !! (as I keep track of all my work projects)
I always use a lot of substituted drives on my old XP Pro computer (almost all the letters of the alphabet are assigned)
On my Windows 10 computer, I can set up the substituted drives using the subst command in a BAT file, just like I did in XP Pro... and it works fine for Explorer.
However Eudora doesn't recognise those substituted drives !!! How am I able to get Eudora to recognise them?
Thank you,
+Gordon
Posted by: Gordon Howell | Nov 04, 2022 at 12:39 PM
I found this utility; maybe it work for Eudora.
https://www.online-tech-tips.com/free-software-downloads/create-persistent-substituted-drives-subst-in-windows/
Posted by: Ralph Grabowski | Nov 07, 2022 at 10:26 AM
I have used Eudora for decades and now have it installed in Windows 11. However when I download gmail via POP the headers are no longer showing. There info about MAPI headers which I do not us. I have NOT found any information in the large 7.1 Eudora Window's guide about how to get the normal headers showing in messages, through either options or Eudora.ini, in downloaded POP mail. Gmail stilll allows POP fetching,
Wondering if other folks have had the same problem and found a solution.
Posted by: M. G. | Jan 30, 2025 at 03:24 PM
I am running Eudora on Windows 10, and found that the only problem is
that drag'n drop isn't working for attachments. (I use Ctrl+C and then
Ctrl+V.)
I also use POP, like you, and the headers are visible for me.
You might want to change the setting in Tools | Options | Content
Concentrator, such as for Message Window.
Posted by: Ralph Grabowski | Jan 30, 2025 at 03:48 PM