Samsung Fascinate does not sync POP3 email automatically

[inseek]

Hi,

Recently upgraded from HTC INC to Fascinate mainly because of the screen size and better sunlight visibility. My HTC worked just fine, both with 2.1 and later with 2.2 Froyo, never had any problems with any of POP3 and GMAIL accounts - they were set to check for new messages every 5 minutes.

It is a different story with Fascinate. Gmail accounts sync just fine as far as I can tell you, but my POP3 account which is set to sync every 5 minutes, does not sync unless I turn the phone "On" or manually open the account. Please note, I am not using Wi-Fi, just 3G and GMAIL sync without problems at the same time giving me a ring every time new message arrives. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is disabled on my phone.

This is unacceptable and this bug (along with many others on this phone) should be fixed ASAP! One of the main reasons people buy a smartphone is because of email. First, Samsung decided to go without any message lights on this phone, and now for whatever reason we even can't have a signal that a new message has arrived unless we check and refresh manually each POP3 (and I believe I tested it with IMAP as well, which btw does not allow you to move messages to folders which is the main reason you'll use IMAP, but that's another story) account !?!

Verizon/Samsung, please fix this mail sync issue!!!!

[inseek]

Just tested with IMAP account and it does not sync. I must also say that the Fascinate phone I am using right now is brand new phone that just came today, the one I was using before this last 5 days failed and I sent it back to VZW. Both phones act the same way so it is not a defective phone, it is a bug with email client on this phone.

There is another thing I noticed about POP3/IMAP client. Sometimes it will just stuck on "Downloading messages..", will show rotating ring in the top bar but will not update/download new messages unless you kill the process with Task Killer or power cycle the phone. At the same time while email client is unable to download messages, you can browse internet via browser so there is no problem with 3G network.

[inseek]

Update: Time to time the sync works fine the way it should. When I got my first Fascinate, IMAP sync worked just fine for a while, and then the problems began. I was thinking that some of the apps I installed cause the problem, so when I got the replacement device this morning, the only thing I installed over stock apps was Google maps. I am using TouchWiz and all phone's factory default setting. After experiencing problems with POP3 almost the whole day (and was forced to power cycle the phone twice in order to get latest emails coming at the same time on my Outlook), all the sudden it started syncing again 15 minutes ago. Will see how long it will last... I am using IMAP at this moment that wasn't syncing last 2-3 hours..

[Phase3Linda]

I have the same problems with POP3 emails:

- unpredictable syncing - sometimes works, most of the time it doesn't

- manually attempting to sync results in 'Loading Messages' endlessly

In my case, no other apps have been loaded other than what Verizon provided with the phone. 

The whole reason I moved to this phone was to enable mobile email.

Did yours continue syncing appropriately?  Any suggestions for me?

[Please keep it clean - Thanks!]

[mikemctx]

I have had the same issue and worked extensively with Verizon and Samsung to troubleshoot.  Here were the troubleshooting techniques that didn't accomplish anything:

1) Delete Account, Reinstall Account

2) Factory Data Reset, Reinstall Account

3) Replace Samsung Fascinate with another new Samsung Fascinate

Finally got to Samsung Technical Support Level 2.  In my case they determined that the problem was that I was trying to access a Roadrunner POP3 account and Samsung doesn't work very well with Roadrunner and they said they have no plans to address this.  Apparently Roadrunner uses a different protocol that Samsung doesn't communicate with very well.

They provided 2 workarounds:

1) Don't try to access Roadrunner mail.  Have gmail your Roadrunner mail and then have phone get gmail.  (Not a good solution for me)

2) Use K-9 mail app to get Roadrunner mail.  I've been doing this and it seems to work 95+% of the time.

I provided this feedback to Verizon Wireless technical support in hopes that they could get Samsung to come up with a better resolution.

Just my experience - for what it's worth.

Mike 

[Phase3Linda]

Thanks for the reply, Mike.  I'm also on Roadrunner, unfortunately.  Because the email address is a domain showing my business name, moving is painful and involves changing a number of employee's computers.

I'll give the K-9 app a try.  If that doesn't work, it looks like I may be better off returning the Fascinate and moving to a provider that is more 'friendly' to Roadrunner and other POP3 mail servers.

[mikeinaz]

Glad to see I'm not the only one with this problem.  Switched to Fascinate from Droid because I got tired of the Droid issues and unfortunately that resulted in new issues...sigh...  Why can't VZW give us phones that do as advertised.  I'm using Cox as email provider, (3 accounts) and a hotmail account, all with the same results.  Tech support from VZW and Cox is totally worthless on this issue with each blaming  the other for the problem.  A VZW tech support indicated that a fix was in the works, but I think he read it off this board.  Sure wish we could get this resolved

[Phase3Linda]

Your VZW contact may have been reading from the Fascinate Known Issues list.  That was released (or leaked) back in September and can be found in numerous locations on the web.

Here's an exerpt, just the known issues related to email.  I'm hoping that the "Email Sync" fix is closely related to the POP3 problems many people experience with the Fascinate.  I'll probably run into the 30-day return wall before seeing the update, though...

E-mail

Known Issues:

No Message Delete Status:
When deleting e-mails there is no status indication that this is taking place so users may feel that the device is locked up when it is just actively deleting e-mails
Short term work around: There is no short term work around for this issue
Planned Resolution: A fix for this issue is under review for inclusion in a future MR.

Email Sync:
In some cases exchange e-mail and yahoo mail can stop syncing
Short term work around: The user can manually sync
Planned Resolution: A fix for this issue will be included in the MR 1 release for this device.

Snyc Error:
In some cases when the screen goes dark while syncing the device will display the error “unable to open connection to server”.
Short term work around: The user can manually sync
Planned Resolution: A fix for this issue will be included in the MR 1 release for this device.

Exchange Security Policy Email Password:
There is no ability to change the device password after Exchange security policy is applied. There is no password option in the Location & Security settings menu, only swipe unlock settings
Short term work around: There is no short term work around for this issue
Planned Resolution: A fix for this issue is under review for inclusion in a future MR.

Exchange ActiveSync Security Lock Screen:
When the EAS security is invoked, a new lock screen is introduced. Also the unlock icons do not line up with the border of the wallpaper.
Short term work around: There is no short term work around for this issue
Planned Resolution: A fix for this issue is under review for inclusion in a future MR.

Exchange ActiveSync Security Lock:
The EAS security lock may be invoked earlier then the timer is set for.
Short term work around: There is no short term work around for this issue
Planned Resolution: A fix for this issue is under review for inclusion in a future MR.

New Account Sync Frequency Default:
When a user sets up a Pop 3 e-mail account on the device the default e-mail sync frequency is defaulted to never.
Short term work around: The user should change this setting to every hour
Planned Resolution: A fix for this issue will be included in the MR 1 release for this device.

Corporate Email Policy Special Characters:
When Corporate email policies require the device to have a password, special characters are not supported
Short term work around: There is no short term work around for this issue
Planned Resolution: A fix for this issue is under review for inclusion in a future MR.

Corporate Email Inbox Error:
In some cases users may receive the error “Unable to open connection to server” intermittently when attempting to refresh their corporate email inbox
Short term work around: There is no short term work around for this issue
Planned Resolution: A fix for this issue will be included in the MR 1 release for this device.

[LandLockedPH]

This known email issue was supposed to have been fixed by an update that occurred in September... I think around the 22nd.  It was not.

I've since installed and been using K9 Mail from the Market and don't have the problem.  K9 Mail is more customizable (almost too much so), and it works.  Give it a try.

I'm sure this will be fixed with the default app when we get the Froyo (Android 2.2).update.

[mikeinaz]

K-9 seems to work.  Too bad you get one of the most advanced smart phones, and it can't handle mature technology (POP mail accounts).  So much for industry standards!    Don't hold out too much hope for v 2.2 it was very flaky on my Droid.  Since the fascinate seems to work now, don't want to mess with it.  Seems like VZW and Samsung have taken a page out of the Microsoft play book.  Rush to market whether it is ready or not and then update as necessary.

[Reconguru]

My email is very important to me.  I can't get mine to sync automatically and I miss many important emails.  This cost money and I am unhappy with the fascinate.  Setting up email was easy on some accounts, but not all.  Took a lot of my time and it still does not work.

My Iphone and Storm work perfectly.  I may return the Fascinate soon.

[loneMADman]

Folks, avoid the frustration and simply install K9 Mail app.  It's free and works great.  It's also much better than the default Verizon / SS mail app.

[portopa]

My wife and I bought Samsung Fascinates on the same day.

After (2) months of worsening POP3 performance, ending with my wifes phone receiving no email at all for 8 days, I finally installed K9.  It works perfectly, leading to this conclusion:  There is nothing wrong with the phone, or my POP provider, it is simply a bad default email program on the phone.  

Issues we had with the default email program:

• Some email received with year of 1900
• No auto-sync, though it was set to check every  5 minutes
• Some email that had been downloaded would disappear, on at a time,  right before our eyes
• Manual sync would sometimes work

Things we tried, to no avail:

• Phone Factory restore
• Delete POP account and re-create on phone
• Check and reconfirm all POP settings many times

I work in IT, and I figure a team of 6 people working for a week or less could easily identify and resolve this problem.  POP mail has been around forever, and it isn't that hard to troubleshoot.   Why Verizon would rather have hundreds, if not thousands, of new customers swap out their Fasinate phones makes no sense to me.  And imagine how many potential new customers are choosing to buy other phones, with other providers, after hearing about the Fasincate email problems. 

Verizon is probably losing hundreds of thousands of dollars on this issue in the short term alone.  You'd think someone in the company would point this out to the people who are supposed to care about the bottom line.  Don't they have a company suggestion program or something??

Anyway, thanks to all who suggested K9 Mail.  Wish I had loaded it weeks ago.

[LandLockedPH]

It may take a team of six if they're working in India like most of Verizon's tech support.

[Phase3Linda]

For those successfully using K-9, did you first delete all other email accounts in your Fascinate?  I attempted to install K-9, but could not get it to successfully configure (email tests failed) with the same SMTP and POP3 server settings I used in the default email app.

[HeidiU]

I am having similar problems with my new fascinate. I have yahoo and even manually syncing is not working. I installed the Yahoo App and its works ok to see email but not to reply. when I reply, It stays in outbox indefinitely. NO idea why.

I consider myself fairl techie but I cannot seem to follow this thread at all. Any ideas to help me?

Thank you!

[JaziJoi]

Wow!  This is really getting scary listening to all of the email problems.    I thought I had my mind made up to purchase the Fascinate.  But my email is the life blood to my business.  I can't have a phone that will compromise me receiving my email. 

From listening to everyone's threads, I either have to purchase the K9 app, which by the way, where do you get this?  Who is the maker?  Or, I need to forward all of my email accounts (all 4 of them including my business email) to a gmail account, which responding from a gmail account won't look very professional in my opinion. 

Are these the ONLY options? 

I'm looking to take advantage of my new every two, which comes up in March or I can take advantage of the early upgrade available to me now.  I went to Sam's Club today and could have purchased it for $119.00 and I thank God that I didn't have my debit card with me.  Because after reading this, I would have been HOT, if I purchased it and ended up with a mess with my emails.   I have a roadrunner account.  All of my emails are POP3 accounts.

Would someone be so kind as to tell me where to check out the K9.  And also, has anyone heard of and is using Link 2 Exchange as a email solution?

These threads are so VALUABLE!!!  I only hope that Verizon/Samsung are reading these and truly considering taking action.  To have this many disgrunteled clients is not good. 

[JPHBucks]

I'm not sure how to answer your question about K-9 Mail - it's just an application, so you can install it by going to the Market and just downloading it from there.  It has worked flawlessly for me for the past month or so, and it hasn't affected battery life at all.  K-9 Mail has been a solution that has eliminated the only reason I had to consider returning to BlackBerry.

The longer I use my Fascinate, the more I like it.  I'm sure Froyo will be great once it's available, but for now this phone is terrific.

[JaziJoi]

---

JPHBucks wrote:

I'm not sure how to answer your question about K-9 Mail - it's just an application, so you can install it by going to the Market and just downloading it from there.  It has worked flawlessly for me for the past month or so, and it hasn't affected battery life at all.  K-9 Mail has been a solution that has eliminated the only reason I had to consider returning to BlackBerry.

The longer I use my Fascinate, the more I like it.  I'm sure Froyo will be great once it's available, but for now this phone is terrific.

---

JPHBucks,

You've answered my questions!!!!     I've pretty much determined to pick up the Fascinate.  I will definitely download the K9 program.  Thanks for letting me know where and how to get it.  And the fact that you're a previous Black Berry user is awesome!!  I currently use the BlackBerry Tour.  I'm a fan of the Blackberry and was feeling a bit uncomfortable even thinking of jumping to a droid phone.  But the BlackBerry's are just to slow with opening the web browser.  I've been paying for a service that I hardly ever use.  On most months I NEVER use the web, due to how slow it is.  But hearing another Black Berry user say their satisfied with the Fascinate is a sigh of relief for me.     

Thank you so much!!!!  

[Lakin]

I saw the post about K9 Mail app to solve my POP3 mail problems, but a google search of the k9 mail app states that it sucks the battery life very fast (and "ran the cpu at 90%).  Has anyone here who is trying the k9 mail app found that it sucked their battery down by running the cpu constantly???

[GSaldana]

Used to have a BB, went to the samsung because of the features but the e-mail functionality (or LACK OF) fails miserably. Also having e-mail issues with this blasted samsung phone, I'm ready to throw it against the wall or use it as a fishing line sinker and go back to BB, what's the use of having all these bells and whistles if one of the most important features of a phone like this doesn't work as advertised?

VZW is about to ship me a third device because they keep saying its the hardware, are they playing dumb or they really don't have a clue of what the problem is? Are they going to replace it a dozen times before they realize what's really going on and actually fix it?

Installed K9 and after a while uninstalled it, it does deplete the battery very fast and in my opinion it also defeats the purpose of having a smart phone. All these workarounds are not a real solution to the problem, they just help you limp by without actually fixing the problem. It's like buying a new car and taking it back to the dealer because the A/C doesn't work properly to have it fixed just so they can tell you "oh, just roll down the window, it will be fine"...... 

I feel cheated and very disappointed.....