[Dovecot] "Select Inbox" drops connection. IMAP troubleshooting help available?

[Thor Legvold]

Newbie to the list here. I don’t know if this is Dovecot specific, but I can see that my IMAP server is running Dovecot. So far (as a client) I haven’t been able to figure out how to get it to tell me the version number.

What I’m trying to get is more detailed info in order to debug an IMAP problem.

I’ve been unable to retrieve email since the 27th of November on this specific account. Another user on the same domain/email receives and sends email just fine.

Having tried both Apple Mail, Thunderbird, as well as a Telnet terminal connection, I see two problems, but am unaware of what to do from here to verify or fix the problem.

First is that the SSL certificate is a self signed one from some local hosting service. Fair enough, I told OS X to trust it (for now), both in Mail and Thunderbird (and Safari).

Second is that when logging in via the terminal, I can log in fine, navigate to any folder and read any email on the server - with the exception of the Inbox.

Anytime I issue a “Select” or “Examine” command with the “Inbox” as argument, the connection is dropped. 

E.g.: after logging in, listing folders, navigating around, I do this:

a select inbox
closed
Sonovo:~ Thunder$

and am back at the terminal prompt. 

If I do an “Email Trace” in CPanel on my server (hosting both my website and IMAP email accounts), I see a long list of emails accepted to my address and in the system, but I cannot seem to access them from any client.

There may well be a better list/forum for discussing this kind of thing. I was actually on a mailing list years ago with Mark Crispin himself, but haven’t spoken with him in 10 years or more. I’m not sure where to go for more help/info. I’m not a complete (l)user, but nor am I a guru (tm).

Any tips or help is greatly appreciated!

Sonovo