6597 - Email Notification REQUIRES username/password

I updated to 6597 today and I have this problem. Not a big deal for me. My ISP has an optional secure email server so, since I had to authenticate, I decided to go crypto also. I set SSL on and it works great. If you dont put your user name in, the email (no crypto) gets received without showing a sender. It shows the sending domain but not an mailbox name. ATIH 2010 was much better in these settings.

Earlier builds of ATHI 2011 would do email notifications without authentication... So somebody broke the code in Build 6597. I will check and see if my ISP has a secure SMTP server, and if so I'll try it with authentication.

Thanks.

Build 6574 was bad enough in removing the sender email and subject fields for email notifications. But not only did 6597 not restore them, it makes the problems worse by now requiring an SMTP username. My ISP doesn't have an authenticated SMTP option, so I'm going back to build 5519, but the real question is why Acronis made these changes in the first place. What were they thinking??

Update: I just went back to build 5519, and was surprised to see that it's also missing the sender email field for email notifications. But at least it's sensible enough to set the sender email in notifications to the recipient email (at least if there is no SMTP user specified), unlike build 6574+ which sets it to a nonsensical "@[ISP-SMTP-server]".

I know earlier versions of ATI had an optional sender email field -- why was it removed?

This problem is listed as being amongst the fixes for build 6597.

E-mail notification doesn't work if the mail server specified in the Notification settings doesn't require authentication. 

I can't test the 'no authentication' as my email requires authentication, but I notice that just putting a space in the user box and no password makes TI happy, so I wonder if this is a workaround for you.

" but I notice that just putting a space in the user box and no password makes TI happy, so I wonder if this is a workaround for you."

No thjat doesn"t work when the SMTP server requires no authentication....

The smtp replies "authentication has failed".

Colin... I'm running build 6597. So maybe they only think they fixed it.

I did some more experimenting. I tried setting up my Outlook 2007 client to use SSL / port 465 for SMTP and was able to send email with authentication. So I set ATHI 2011 (6597) to do the same and I cannot get it to work. Thinking it might be an issue with my AV software, I turned off outbound email scanning. Still no luck. So at the moment, I cannot get ATIH 2011 build 6597 to send notification emails in any configuration my ISP supports (and works in Outlook 2007).

TI doesn't use the email client for the transport protocol (I use Pocomail as my client), though I'm not sure what part of TI is responsible for the SMTP protocol or if it uses the built in Windows stack.

It would be best to try and get TI talking to the standard port 25 as no software by default will close this port.

However, I have found a bug that I can't get around, if in the notification form the return to default settings is clicked, emails can no longer be sent, as I discovered whilst trying to hunt down your problem. So if you've clicked this, I've yet to work out how to get it working again. A re-install might work, just didn't have the inclination to try it over the weekend.

Thanks, Colin. My point earlier was that I had tested both standard SMTP (unencrypted) over port 25 and SSL encrypted with port 465 using Outlook 2007. This was more to prove to myself that both ways worked with my ISP and email client. Yet neither works with ATIH build 6597 - even if I disable all real-time Antivirus email scanning on my desktop.

I may have done a reset to defaults somewhere along the way. I had done a complete ATIH removal using the Acronis cleanup tool and installed 6597 from scratch when it released as a fresh install (assumed getting rid of any vestige of 5519, 6574 before hand would be a good thing). I don't plan on doing that again unless I have to. I'm more interested in keeping my existing backups running (and they seem to be with 6597), and I'll just live without email notification until some build makes it work again. I've already spent an inordinant amount of time getting various aspects of ATIH 2011 working (far more than any previous version), and I just don't want to mess with it any more.

James,
when you put in your email userID did you use the part before the @ sign or did you use all of it? Try both. Do you have the other bug that I have where you cannot save an EDITED backup profile? I have had to remove and replace a backup definition as editing does not work for me. I am so suspicious of this piece of crap that I go back and check every setting I make.

When entering authentication values in ATIH, I use only the first part ("xxxx" as opposed to "xxxx@yyy.net") just as I do in Outlook account settings. I'll go back and check the other way, but somehow I doubt it'll work. We'll see.

Thanks
Jim

LOL..... when I change the username in ATIH to "xxxx@yyy.net" and use the SSL encryption and port 465.... it Works.

Unencrypted normal SMTP on port 25 is really broken though as it will not send email, and seems to require the USER/Password.

Great news!

Latest 6957 build broke the "server does not require authorization" option. With latest release it now fails for optimum.net mail as server does not require login. It used to work. I tried all variations blank fileds, userid@ etc. The new setup for 2011 sure needs a lot of work to make it at least as useful as the 2010 version. The whole gui is very confusing to say the least.

It is strange that you buy the product each year and Acronis does not allow its users any email support at all even for bug reports.

[quote=James Simmons]

LOL..... when I change the username in ATIH to "xxxx@yyy.net" and use the SSL encryption and port 465.... it Works.

I tried this and it sent the test notifications - Yipeee (I thought). When I went to save it I got an error message - "The credentials are incorrect". Details gives a link and says to enter Event Code: 0x0090000A - OK, all I get is "We are sorry. There is no information about this error available now". Of course it resets the ID back to what doesn't work. With all the issues I'm having with this program I feel like I paid full retail to be a beta tester!!!!!

Yes I must confess that for me TI 2011 is the worst release I have ever seen since 9.0, at best. The "My baclups" list for example is unusable at all as it mix the planned backups with all thedaily differnential and incremental version, a true nightmare. Please come back tosomething usable as the the 2010 GUI....

I'm having the same problem as the OP. I see the work-around is to input "xxxx@yyy.net", but do you literally type "xxxx@yyy.net" with quotes? Sorry if its a dumb question but i'm looking at this literally. thanks.

Also, I agree, True Image Home is the WORST release I've seen from them. I pushed TIH2010 to all my clients for home and small biz use and heck, i even bought it for them....NOW I STOPPED referring the Acronis product because of the number of major issues such as the email notification. They are in the backup business and should understand how important it is to a customer to know if the backup failed or succeeded....commercial or residential clients!

So I have to tell you guys what my client said to me about ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE HOME 2011. Its the best analogy I've heard in a long time!

He said: "True Image Home is like hanging out at a sports bar with a cool ugly fat chick. She's cool because she can talk sports all night...... but she's hard to look at! Meaning, True Image Home gets the job done, but the interface is hard to look at!......."

A couple of days later we rolled back to TIH2010 where he was happier.  

Sorry... in my case just putting in my full email name - jsimmons@cox.net instead of jsimmons (no quotes) worked when authentication was required by the server.

It appears that Build 6597 uses that full username as the "sender" email name for the notification message. SInce there is no other place in the GUI to put in the sender's email address for the notification, this is the only way to do it. It may strip off the @xxx.yyy when it authenticates, but it's hard to tell exactly whats happening under the hood. They definitely need to provide more user control of the email settings. This stuff just worked in earlier versions... why they needed to change it in the new releases is beyond me. You know what they say... "if it ain't broke..... " . :(

Guess they had to change something to claim it's a new version. Ironical isn't it? Shell out money for the new improved version then wish it was as good as the old version you already had :-/

Sounds like the Microsoft Vista Rollout! LMAO! everyone rolled back to XP until Windows 7 came out... or just like Windows Millennium, everyone rolled back to Windows 98. Acronis is on that same failing path. They need to address this asap!

BTW I tried the suggestions to no avail :(

I'll add my "me, too" to this. This is really annoying and I CANNOT use authentication since my (internal) server does not support it.

PLEASE FIX.

Same here. 2011 build 6574 seemed to be working ok until my network storage filled up. It failed for a week until I noticed the problem. I tried to set up email notification (including all the suggestions above) but gave up after a an hour of no luck. When I went back to try it later every time I brought up the edit screen the program hung and had to be forced to close. For no reason I could figure, it started letting me into the edit screen but wouldn't let me save. I was impressed with Acronis products when I was running XT but the Win 7 product has problems.

I ran into the same issue. Any backups brought over from the previous version would send email notfication but when I tried to update the settings, it would not save changes without the username and password.Here is my fix, I turned off email notification in the gui, saved my settings. Then I went to the scripts folder and used Notepad to edit the script files. If you look toward the bottom of the script, you will see the <notify> heading. You can edit the 2 lines after <notify> to manually configure the email settings, see below;
<notify>
 <email address="user@servicename.com" enabled="1" encryption-type="none" from="" long_format="1" pop-before-smtp="false" pop-server="" pop-server-port="0" server="SMTP_SERVER" server-port="25" subject="Acronis True Image Home Notification from XXXX" user="">
             <notify_mode full_log="true" operation_complete="true" operation_fail="true" operation_message="true">
 </email>
</notify>
The lines above send an email where;
           user@servicename.com=destination email address
           SMTP_SERVER=email servers name
           using port 25 for SMTP
           With the subject line "Acronis True Image Home Notification from XXXX"

If you have to make changes via the GUI again, save this section of the script file prior and you can paste it back in again to reconfigure your email notification. A pain to do but at least I get emailed on the status of my backups

Peter... Great comment. Too bad acronis does not supply this work around / and or fix something to handle this issue.

Hi,

Thanks you Peter for pointing out this workaround, very useful indeed and it works !... :-)

Hi,
No news about this "big bug"??? No update??

For a work around is it possible to downgrade the firmware?

no answer?

Didier,

You can always uninstall TIH current version and install and older version assuming it will run on your OS.

Suggest you export your 2011 tasks, so they can be re-imported for another build of 2011.

Hi Colin,

Thanks for your answer, do you know il a new build will arrive soon? who fix all the problems of the 6597

Didier,

I don't know if there is a new build in the offing. I do know that Acronis are aware of the problems and they are on the to do list.

I really just couldn't believe this when it happened....at a customer site, there I was recommending Acronis as a godsend product, installed it and then.....the silly thing would let me configure mail notification without entering a username and password!!! The customer asked me if the product was actually good, I said, this function used to work, and I had no choice but to start googling the issue IN FRONT OF HIM (making me look incompetent), I found this forum and realised, that in the interest of retaining the client, I would quickly have to go and find someone selling previous version, and luckily I did (found someone selling a 2009 boxed product)

JUST AS A BACKGROUND I HAVE ALWAYS PREVIOUSLY BEEN LOYAL TO ACRONIS, AND I RESELL ALL THEIR PRODUCTS RANGING FROM THE SIMPLE ACRONIS TIH TO THEIR SBS RANGE TO THEIR SERVER RANGE, AND WAS INVESTIGATING SELLING SNAP DEPLOY .

THAT BEING SAID, I REALLY CAN'T BELIEVE THAT SOME IDIOT AT ACRONIS THOUGHT THAT THIS SIMPLE FEATURE REQUIRED CHANGING, AND WENT AHEAD AND BROKE IT. AND NOW THAT THEY KNOW ISSUE, THEY STILL HAVENT FIXED THE ISSUE IN THEIR SUBSEQUENT BUILDS.

THIS INCIDENT PUT ME IN SUCH AN EMBARRASSING SPOT, THAT I HAVE NOW SERIOUSLY DECIDED TO GO WITH SHADOWPROTECT, AND QUITE FRANKLY I AM GOING TO DISCONTINUE SELLING ACRONIS ALL TOGATHER.

PEOPLE, WHEN YOU BUILD NEW VERSIONS, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO MAKE IT BETTER THAN YOUR PREVIOUS VERSION, NOT WORSE!. AS RESELLERS WE RECOMMEND YOUR SOFTWARE TO BUILD OUR BUSINESS. HOW DO YOU EXPECT US TO DO THAT WHEN YOU DECIDE TO MAKE YOUR PRODUCT WORSE??

I AM VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED AT YOUR SO CALLED "PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT". YOU CAN BET I AM NOW GOING TO ONLY RECOMMEND SHADOWPROTECT RANGE OF PRODUCTS.

ACRONIS SHOULD QUITE FRANKLY GIVE A REBATE TO ANY ONE HAVING BOUGHT THAT PRODUCT, BECAUSE IT DOES NOT LIVE UP TO THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION.

yes it's totally incredible

I saw a few days ago that there's a new build of TI2011 available, but the changelog had no mention about fixing the broken SMTP setup. (I can't check the exact build number of the latest release, because I couldn't login to the forums to post then, and now I can login but the Acronis web site is down with 404 errors... What is their problem???)

Acronis is free to produce whatever they want, but unless they fix these issues the next upgrade to TI that I and my clients purchase will be ShadowProtect...

6696 was released in early Feb I think. The SMTP fix was not included.