Mozilla Thunderbird Error:"The STAT command did not succeed"

Products

• Symantec Products

Issue/Introduction

This article describes the resolution to a rare issue between Mozilla Thunderbird 1.x and PGP Desktop 9.x, which may lead to problems retrieving (but not sending) email. 

 After installing PGP Desktop 9.x for Windows, you might encounter the following error message when opening Mozilla Thunderbird 1.x and/or attempting to retrieve email using Mozilla Thunderbird 1.x:
The STAT command did not succeed. Error getting message number and sizes. Mail server [your mail server] responded: Syntax error in parameters or arguments
 

 

Cause

This issue is caused by a sequence of events that ultimately results in a failed login to the mail server--followed by Mozilla Thunderbird issuing the STAT command (which is not allowed until login to the mail server has succeeded). This issue is resolved by changing a single setting, in Mozilla Thunderbird, for each affected email account. If you are encountering this issue, please follow the instructions below to resolve it.
 

 

Resolution

 

Note: Completing the below steps will not cause Mozilla Thunderbird to use SSL/TLS, or prevent PGP Desktop 9.x from proxying your email.

 

1. Open Mozilla Thunderbird.
2. If you encounter the aforementioned error message related to the STAT command, click OK.
3. Click the Mozilla Thunderbird Tools menu, then click Account Settings (the Account Settings window should appear).
4. On the left side of the Account Settings window, click Server Settings (it should be directly beneath the name of your email account).
5. Now in the middle of the Account Settings window, check the box labeled Use secure authentication.
6. If you have multiple email accounts, repeat steps 4-5 for each email account.
7. Click OK to save the changes and close the Account Settings window.