Mail on my Treo 650 – no go

I want to send & receive email on my new Treo 650. This should be easy, right? Wrong.

The single most important reason that I carry any sort of convergent device (telephone, messaging, web, etc.) is the capability it provides for remote, wireless email management. My Treo 300 was able to do this easily, and I expect the Treo 650 to do it better.

There is an email application called VersaMail that is pre-loaed on the 650. It purports to support Exchange, Pop3 and IMAP4. I use an IMAP4 server, and so have it configured for that, along with my login details. Every time I login though, VersaMail acts as though it is syncronizing my inbox (and displays a progress indicator staing that) but then fails with the same message:

Time out reading body

in a dialog box on the Treo. I can only click ‘Ok’. The handset doesn’t lock up or reset (it did that for a bit, and I had to download, install and use an application called FileZ to “repair the VersaMail database”, according to the palmOne support forum), but this error is extremely aggravating.

I’ve googled this error and have found no direct matches. A couple similar reports had me try emptying my Inbox using another client, and then staring out fresh. The logic there was that VersaMail was simply failing to properly load a malformed message that was in my Inbox. This technique results in an error-free Get operation, which suggests the issue is related to VersaMail’s actual Inbox processing as opposed to any connectivity issue. That’s a good piece of data, but unfortunately didn’t provide any long-lasting joy, because the error returned the moment I had a message in the Inbox.

I’ve tried several combinations of text/html format, subject only retrieval, etc. and have thus far always reproduce this error.

One more data point – when I view the application list on the Treo, VersaMail is listed twice. Same appp name & version, just listed twice. They do have separate sizes listed, though. One is 669k and the other is 13k. Why is this?

Has anyone else seen – and better yet, resolved – this issue using VersaMail v3.0Ag5 and the Treo 650 (using Cingular if that matters)?

Popularity: 6% [?]

Posted April 11th, 2005 in General Technology.
  • John Minnihan
    @Rachel - I replaced the Treo with an iPhone last July, so I am going from memory here.

    Snappermail did work for me. It reliably got/sent mail using the basic settings, i.e. nothing unusual or undocumented. This page answers several questions:

    Snappermail Support

    You can download it and try it for 30 days. Snappermail is the only mail application that worked for me on my Treo.
  • rachael
    I have the same problem I am able to receive and not send why is that I need this matter solved
  • Jeff
    I use an unlocked Cingular Treo 650 with the latest GSM updater and Versamail 3.5 through my cingular service to send and recieve email from AOL.
    Like others I use
    imap.aol.com and smtp.aol.com along with 993 with SSL checked for incoming and 25 with SSL and ESMTP checked for outgoing mail.
    Also used with version 3.1 prior to upgrading. Had the reading body error at first untill i ended up with these settings. Seems to be different for every possible combination of service and phones used.
  • Hey Mike,

    I gave up on trying to get Versamail to function. I googled it and found multiple references to "...Versamail not working", or similar.

    That's why I switched to Snappermail. I used the demo version (I recall it being a 30 day demo), and it wokred flawlessly. I purchased the full version and have been using it since.

    This is an especially good endoresement of Snappermail, as I use Dovecot for my IMAP server. Dovecot isn't "officially" supported (at least not when I checked last), but it does in fact work - flawlessly.
  • Mike
    Same here: Treo 650, Versamail 3.0c, Verizon:
    "Time out reading body" using the wireless connection.
    Used to work fine when first installed. Syncs OK using cradle. Any resolutions yet?
  • I'm pleased to report that I have the latest versions of both Dovecot and Sanpper happily syncing all of my IMAP folders on my Treo 650.
  • I received an email from palmOne today that there's a Versamail 3.1 available ( have 3.0Ag5 installed).

    The email called it out as part of a Sprint update; I use Cingular and better be able to get it from them or diretly from palmOne.

    I'll locate it & install it... and cross my fingers. I really want to be able to use email on my Treo. This is ridiculous that I haven't been able to so far.
  • The Snapper demo actaully didn't get any better. The limited success I had with that day was the high point. I have allowed the demo period to expire, as I could never get Snapper to properly sync after that first time.

    If anyone knows how to make Snapper function on the Treo 650 against a dovecot IMAP4 server, I'd love to hear about it.
  • Snapper must have heard me, because the next time I synched with my dovecot server, all messages downloaded properly (and completely), and messages earlier flagged for deletion were indeed deleted.

    So the demo continues. As I discover tricks or annoyances, I'll post 'em here.
  • Hey Mock,

    I am using dovecot now also, so there's a common thread. I do *not* want to switch back to Cyrus or implement Courier, so I will continue searching for a wireless client that works with dovecot.

    I've installed and tested Snapper demo version. So far, I am not impressed. It retrieves mail headers ok, but it hasn't successfully retrieved even a single full message. It is also difficult (impossible??) to completely delete a message from the inbox. I hit delete, and the message continues to show up in the inbox... with a line struck through it. Not exactly what I had in mind.

    Unless I discover some magic (soon) with Snapper... the search will continue.
  • mock
    Same problem. Frustrating.

    I used to be able to use Versamail with IMAP when I was using the UW IMAP server with sendmail and the mbox mail storage format. I've since moved to Dovecot IMAP on Postfix using Maildir and the imap client on my treo no longer works, throwing the same error message that you've experienced.
  • I finally found a few comments about how badly Versamail handles IMAP4 support on the 650. Those threads suggested Snapper, which I have moments ago downloaded. I'll test it and revert here withmy experience.

    Oddly, another friend who has a Treo 600 says Versamail works with his IMAP4 server, so it may be that there's simply regression in this version of Versamail. But that doesn't say much for palmOne's testing.
  • Juliet Kennedy
    I hear you...I have the same problem
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