26836 - SMTP Server Problem

Status: VERIFIED WORKSFORME

(MailNews Core :: Networking, defect, P3)

Description

[Dwayne]

I set up my SMTP server exactly like I have it in Netscape Communicator 4.7, but
it fails to connect to the server.  I verified my settings in Netscape and tried
a test email; the server is not down.

I have a complicated user name which entails a directory style; might this have
something to do with it?

Comment 1

[Scott MacGregor]

Your complicated user name shouldn't make a difference.

Can you look in your prefs.js file which is in your user profile directory for
mozilla and send me the following related smtp prefs:
user_pref("mail.smtp.defaultserver", "smtp1");
user_pref("mail.smtpserver.smtp1.hostname", "dredd");
user_pref("mail.smtpserver.smtp1.username", "mscott");
user_pref("mail.smtpservers", "smtp1");

Comment 2

[Scott MacGregor]

does your server require authenticated SMTP?

Comment 3

[Dwayne]

I don't know...it may be a while before I find out from my administrator...
she's hard to find.  :)

Comment 4

[lchiang]

[e-mail] - go back to 4.7.  Go into Edit | Preferences dlg.  
Look under "Mail and Newsgroups" section.  Select "Mail Servers".  There is a 
preference for something like "use SSL or TLS for outgoing messages".  There are 
three items below:  Never, If Possible, and Always.  Which one of these is 
selected for you?

Comment 5

[Dwayne]

Build 2000-02-16-08

I tried either way (in Netscape I say "if possible", not an option in this
build)...didn't make a difference.

It said it could not connect to the SMTP server. I noticed that settings for
"Always use password and name" and "use SSL" didn't keep; when I went in to look
at/modify the values, it had reverted to both unchecked.

Comment 6

[lchiang]

[e-mail] - I was asking to narrow down if you are using auth 
smtp or not.  Do this: in 4.7, change the preference from "if possible" to 
"never" and see if you can send mail in 4.7.  (No 5.0 is involved here).

Comment 7

[Dwayne]

Netscape 4.7 allows me to send mail when SSL is set to "never"

Comment 8

[Scott MacGregor]

Can you post back with the following smtp server prefs that should be a in the
prefs.js file located in your profile directory?

user_pref("mail.smtp.defaultserver", "smtp1");
user_pref("mail.smtpserver.smtp1.hostname", "dredd");
user_pref("mail.smtpserver.smtp1.username", "mscott");
user_pref("mail.smtpservers", "smtp1");

Thanks.

Comment 9

[Dwayne]

Whoops, coulda sworn I'd already done that...nothing out of the ordinary:

user_pref("mail.smtp.defaultserver", "smtp1");
user_pref("mail.smtpserver.smtp1.hostname", "rrcc.cccoes.edu");
user_pref("mail.smtpserver.smtp1.username", "rrcc_admin/dwaynen/dwayne.neri");
user_pref("mail.smtpservers", "smtp1");

Comment 10

[Scott MacGregor]

dwayne, are you still experiencing this problem with beta bits (or later?) I
just telneted into your smtp server and saw that it was microsoft exchange ESMTP
server. Maybe that's giving us a problem...hmm...

Comment 11

[jefft]

There is a logging utility that I added a while ago for client smtp protocol. If 
you can generate the smtp client log and attach to this bug. It would help us 
a lot to track down the problem.

To generate SMTP client log, please set the following environment variables:

NSPR_LOG_FILE=e:\tmp\smtplog.txt
NSPR_LOG_MODULES=SMTP:5

Comment 12

[Dwayne]

Build 2000-04-13-08

I've tested this occasionally on a number of builds between the post and now and
still have the same problem.  <Shrug>

I will make the environment changes and put up a log after I d/l the newest build.

Should I be doing a clean/wipe install?  I've always overwritten all files, all
from the non-install zip.

Comment 13

[lchiang]

You can try to do a clean install and see what happens.  

Comment 14

[Dwayne]

Build 2000-04-17-08

After modifying my environmental variables and doing a fresh install of Mozilla,
the errors still occurred and there was no output in the log file.

Comment 15

[Dwayne]

I also forgot to mention the two errors I get when trying to send.  Incoming
mail works fine.

An error occurred sending mail: Unable to connect to the SMTP server. The server
may be down or may be incorrectly configured. Please verify that your Mail
preferences are correct and try again.

Failed to connect to server.

Comment 16

[Scott MacGregor]

Hmm maybe your complicated user name with the '/' is causing the problem like
you originally suggested. Sounds like we aren't even reaching the point where we
are connecting to your smtp server because you didn't even get a log file.

cc'ing alecf in case he thinks having a user name like yours would give us some
fits above the protocol level.

Comment 17

[Alec Flett]

I don't _think_ it would freak out, but I'm not doing any escaping (that is by
design) - mscott, are you expecting an escaped string by chance?

Comment 18

[Micah Boyd]

>I noticed that settings for "Always use password and name" and "use SSL" didn't
>keep; when I went in to look at/modify the values, it had reverted to both
>unchecked.

This happens to me too.  This is annoying.  It prevents me from sending mail
with my SMTP server.  The problem is that due to spam filters it appears to
accent non-authenticated mail, but then simply replies with a rejection letter.
I need to _force_ Mozilla to "Always use name and password", but the option
keeps unchecking.  How can I solve this?

Comment 19

[selmer (gone)]

Scott, is this actually a server interop problem or is it a prefs problem?  If 
the former, we need to mark this nsbeta2.  At the moment, the bug text is not 
clear on what we think.  Please update.  Thx,  Steve

Comment 20

[jefft]

Dwayne, try setting the following prefs:

user_pref("mail.smtpserver.smtp1.auth_login", true);
user_pref("mail.smtpserver.smtp1.auth_method", 2); // 2 = auth login/plain

and see if this fix your problem. You may not need to do this anymore. They are 
default values that I checked in couple weeks ago. Let me know.

Comment 21

[esther]

May be dependent on bug 41030 so test this again when that is fixed. If it's not 
working after 41030 is fixed remove dependency.

Comment 22

[Scott MacGregor]

41030 was given a nsbeta- so this won't be fixed until after that too.

Comment 23

[esther]

Not sure if this takes care of the original problem reported in this bug, but 
bug 41030 is fixed and verified as fixed.  It fixes the authenticated SMTP 
server problem reported by micah boyd, in this bug on 5-23.  Dwayne, could you 
retest with a build after 6-12-00, if this doesn't fix your problem reopen this 
please.  Also, if you could do what lchiang suggested earlier: Re-migrate your 
4.7 profile, then try sending.  If it fails, giving an error message, please 
document the error message and put it in this bug.  Thanks. 

Comment 24

[Dwayne]

Sorry to leave you guys out in the cold for so long.

I no longer have access to that email server as I've changed jobs, so I won't be
able to do any testing.  Should we just kill this since I seem to be the only one?

Comment 25

[Scott MacGregor]

sure...let's kill it....good luck with the new job!

Comment 26

[lchiang]

thanks.