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Problem Retrieving E-mails Using Outlook 2003 and Thunderbird

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mark at verndalesystems

Aug 23, 2010, 4:14 PM

Post #1 of 7 (804 views)
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Problem Retrieving E-mails Using Outlook 2003 and Thunderbird

Hi All,

I've no doubt someone else has come across this problem.

I've set up qmail-pop3 with qmail-popup, checkpassword etc and cannot
retrieve mail from the pop server with Outlook or Thunderbird.

This is what I'm running:

/usr/local/bin/tcpserver -v -R -H -l 0 0 110 /var/qmail/bin/qmail-popup
mymachine.mydomain.com /bin/checkpassword /var/qmail/bin/qmail-pop3d maildir

(I know 'maildir' has a lower case m - that's how I set my mailbox dir up)

Everything works beautifully if I use telnet. I can authenticate, list the
mailbox contents and retrieve mail and read it.

If I try and connect with either Outlook or Thunderbird I just get
continually prompted for a username and password.

This is VERY frustrating.

Regards,

Mark

Verndale Systems Ltd Prospect House Long Lane Chapel-en-le-Frith High
Peak Derbyshire SK23 0TF. Company No. 2376672
This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the
individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not
disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender
immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete
this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be assured to be
secure or correct as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost,
destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender
therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the
contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If
verification is required please request a hard-copy version.
C 2005 Verndale Systems Ltd. All rights reserved.

ar-djblists at acrconsulting

Aug 24, 2010, 2:16 AM

Post #2 of 7 (757 views)
Permalink

Re: Problem Retrieving E-mails Using Outlook 2003 and Thunderbird [In reply to]

On Tuesday 24 August 2010 00:14:38 Mark Jackson wrote:
> I've set up qmail-pop3 with qmail-popup, checkpassword etc and cannot
> retrieve mail from the pop server with Outlook or Thunderbird.
>
> This is what I'm running:
>
> /usr/local/bin/tcpserver -v -R -H -l 0 0 110 /var/qmail/bin/qmail-popup
> mymachine.mydomain.com /bin/checkpassword /var/qmail/bin/qmail-pop3d
> maildir
>
> (I know 'maildir' has a lower case m - that's how I set my mailbox dir up)
>
> Everything works beautifully if I use telnet. I can authenticate, list the
> mailbox contents and retrieve mail and read it.
>
> If I try and connect with either Outlook or Thunderbird I just get
> continually prompted for a username and password.

Odd. I suggest adding recordio so you can see what the server is seeing.
Change your tcpserver line to (all on one line),

/usr/local/bin/tcpserver -v -R -H -l 0 0 110 /usr/local/bin/recordio
/var/qmail/bin/qmail-popup mymachine.mydomain.com
/bin/checkpassword /var/qmail/bin/qmail-pop3d maildir

Anyway, once you've done that have a look at your log file for both a telnet
test session and a Thunderbird and/or Outlook test session: Hopefully that
will make sense of it.

If Thunderbird, Outlook connections don't show up, check their configurations -
maybe they're trying to use a different (encrypted: TLS etc) port or service
(IMAP) - and perhaps these are listened for (albeit broken) by your server.

cheers,

Andrew.
--
====================================================================
* Custom email solutions * Systems Administration * Networking
http://www.acrconsulting.co.uk/email/qmail.html
====================================================================

charles at softwareeffect

Aug 24, 2010, 7:31 AM

Post #3 of 7 (756 views)
Permalink

Re: Problem Retrieving E-mails Using Outlook 2003 and Thunderbird [In reply to]

On 08/24/2010 05:16 AM, Andrew Richards wrote:
> On Tuesday 24 August 2010 00:14:38 Mark Jackson wrote:
>
>> I've set up qmail-pop3 with qmail-popup, checkpassword etc and cannot
>> retrieve mail from the pop server with Outlook or Thunderbird.
>>
>> This is what I'm running:
>>
>> /usr/local/bin/tcpserver -v -R -H -l 0 0 110 /var/qmail/bin/qmail-popup
>> mymachine.mydomain.com /bin/checkpassword /var/qmail/bin/qmail-pop3d
>> maildir
>>
>> (I know 'maildir' has a lower case m - that's how I set my mailbox dir up)
>>
>> Everything works beautifully if I use telnet. I can authenticate, list the
>> mailbox contents and retrieve mail and read it.
>>
>> If I try and connect with either Outlook or Thunderbird I just get
>> continually prompted for a username and password.
>>
> Odd. I suggest adding recordio so you can see what the server is seeing.
> Change your tcpserver line to (all on one line),
>
> /usr/local/bin/tcpserver -v -R -H -l 0 0 110 /usr/local/bin/recordio
> /var/qmail/bin/qmail-popup mymachine.mydomain.com
> /bin/checkpassword /var/qmail/bin/qmail-pop3d maildir
>
> Anyway, once you've done that have a look at your log file for both a telnet
> test session and a Thunderbird and/or Outlook test session: Hopefully that
> will make sense of it.
>
> If Thunderbird, Outlook connections don't show up, check their configurations -
> maybe they're trying to use a different (encrypted: TLS etc) port or service
> (IMAP) - and perhaps these are listened for (albeit broken) by your server.
>
> cheers,
>
> Andrew.
>

Make sure you have "secure authentication" turned off when you run your
test. I have found that "secure authentication" does not play nicely
many times

Charlie

mark at verndalesystems

Aug 24, 2010, 8:29 AM

Post #4 of 7 (755 views)
Permalink

RE: Problem Retrieving E-mails Using Outlook 2003 and Thunderbird [In reply to]

Hi All,

Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for help. I've fixed this
problem now, and guess what - it was my own fault (there's a surprise!)

I had been fiddling with checkpassword and left a bit of debugging code in
which was sending an extraneous message back to the client. This was fine in
telnet but really threw Outlook and Thunderbird.

I discovered the problem by using recordio as recommended by Andrew
Richards, so special thanks to him.

POP3 is working perfectly now, however, I'm having a few problems with
qmail-smtpd-auth (and I havn't even fiddled with anything yet!)

Watch this space....

Regards,

Mark

Verndale Systems Ltd Prospect House Long Lane Chapel-en-le-Frith High
Peak Derbyshire SK23 0TF. Company No. 2376672
This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the
individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not
disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender
immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete
this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be assured to be
secure or correct as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost,
destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender
therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the
contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If
verification is required please request a hard-copy version.
C 2005 Verndale Systems Ltd. All rights reserved.

-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Deling [mailto:charles [at] softwareeffect]
Sent: 24 August 2010 15:32
To: Andrew Richards
Cc: qmail [at] list; mark [at] verndalesystems
Subject: Re: Problem Retrieving E-mails Using Outlook 2003 and Thunderbird

On 08/24/2010 05:16 AM, Andrew Richards wrote:
> On Tuesday 24 August 2010 00:14:38 Mark Jackson wrote:
>
>> I've set up qmail-pop3 with qmail-popup, checkpassword etc and cannot
>> retrieve mail from the pop server with Outlook or Thunderbird.
>>
>> This is what I'm running:
>>
>> /usr/local/bin/tcpserver -v -R -H -l 0 0 110 /var/qmail/bin/qmail-popup
>> mymachine.mydomain.com /bin/checkpassword /var/qmail/bin/qmail-pop3d
>> maildir
>>
>> (I know 'maildir' has a lower case m - that's how I set my mailbox dir
up)
>>
>> Everything works beautifully if I use telnet. I can authenticate, list
the
>> mailbox contents and retrieve mail and read it.
>>
>> If I try and connect with either Outlook or Thunderbird I just get
>> continually prompted for a username and password.
>>
> Odd. I suggest adding recordio so you can see what the server is seeing.
> Change your tcpserver line to (all on one line),
>
> /usr/local/bin/tcpserver -v -R -H -l 0 0 110 /usr/local/bin/recordio
> /var/qmail/bin/qmail-popup mymachine.mydomain.com
> /bin/checkpassword /var/qmail/bin/qmail-pop3d
maildir
>
> Anyway, once you've done that have a look at your log file for both a
telnet
> test session and a Thunderbird and/or Outlook test session: Hopefully that
> will make sense of it.
>
> If Thunderbird, Outlook connections don't show up, check their
configurations -
> maybe they're trying to use a different (encrypted: TLS etc) port or
service
> (IMAP) - and perhaps these are listened for (albeit broken) by your
server.
>
> cheers,
>
> Andrew.
>

Make sure you have "secure authentication" turned off when you run your
test. I have found that "secure authentication" does not play nicely
many times

Charlie

glen.j.barber at gmail

Aug 24, 2010, 9:02 AM

Post #5 of 7 (754 views)
Permalink

Re: Problem Retrieving E-mails Using Outlook 2003 and Thunderbird [In reply to]

On 8/24/10 11:29 AM, Mark Jackson wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for help. I've fixed this
> problem now, and guess what - it was my own fault (there's a surprise!)
>
> I had been fiddling with checkpassword and left a bit of debugging code in
> which was sending an extraneous message back to the client. This was fine in
> telnet but really threw Outlook and Thunderbird.
>
> I discovered the problem by using recordio as recommended by Andrew
> Richards, so special thanks to him.
>

Thanks to Andrew from me, too. I was having a similar issue, though
with SSL-enabled connections (insecurely connecting was working
perfectly). This thread popped up at the perfect time.

Until I saw Andrew's response, I wasn't aware of recordio.

--
Glen Barber

ar-djblists at acrconsulting

Aug 24, 2010, 9:17 AM

Post #6 of 7 (760 views)
Permalink

Re: Problem Retrieving E-mails Using Outlook 2003 and Thunderbird [In reply to]

On Tuesday 24 August 2010 16:29:44 Mark Jackson wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for help. I've fixed this
> problem now, and guess what - it was my own fault (there's a surprise!)
>
> I had been fiddling with checkpassword and left a bit of debugging code in
> which was sending an extraneous message back to the client. This was fine
> in telnet but really threw Outlook and Thunderbird.
>
> I discovered the problem by using recordio as recommended by Andrew
> Richards, so special thanks to him.
>
> POP3 is working perfectly now, however, I'm having a few problems with
> qmail-smtpd-auth (and I havn't even fiddled with anything yet!)

Glad to hear you cracked it (and Glen too in the subsequent message) - and
just to plug ofmipd-plus as an alternative approach if it's mail submission
you're looking at. Doesn't do TLS [yet] though...

http://free.acrconsulting.co.uk/email/ofmipd-plus.html

cheers,

Andrew.
-------------
> Watch this space....
>
> Regards,
>
> Mark
>
> Verndale Systems Ltd Prospect House Long Lane Chapel-en-le-Frith High
> Peak Derbyshire SK23 0TF. Company No. 2376672
> This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the
> individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not
> disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender
> immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and
> delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be assured
> to be secure or correct as information could be intercepted, corrupted,
> lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender
> therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the
> contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission.
> If verification is required please request a hard-copy version.
> C 2005 Verndale Systems Ltd. All rights reserved.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Charles Deling [mailto:charles [at] softwareeffect]
> Sent: 24 August 2010 15:32
> To: Andrew Richards
> Cc: qmail [at] list; mark [at] verndalesystems
> Subject: Re: Problem Retrieving E-mails Using Outlook 2003 and Thunderbird
>
> On 08/24/2010 05:16 AM, Andrew Richards wrote:
> > On Tuesday 24 August 2010 00:14:38 Mark Jackson wrote:
> >> I've set up qmail-pop3 with qmail-popup, checkpassword etc and cannot
> >> retrieve mail from the pop server with Outlook or Thunderbird.
> >>
> >> This is what I'm running:
> >>
> >> /usr/local/bin/tcpserver -v -R -H -l 0 0 110 /var/qmail/bin/qmail-popup
> >> mymachine.mydomain.com /bin/checkpassword /var/qmail/bin/qmail-pop3d
> >> maildir
> >>
> >> (I know 'maildir' has a lower case m - that's how I set my mailbox dir
>
> up)
>
> >> Everything works beautifully if I use telnet. I can authenticate, list
>
> the
>
> >> mailbox contents and retrieve mail and read it.
> >>
> >> If I try and connect with either Outlook or Thunderbird I just get
> >> continually prompted for a username and password.
> >
> > Odd. I suggest adding recordio so you can see what the server is seeing.
> > Change your tcpserver line to (all on one line),
> >
> > /usr/local/bin/tcpserver -v -R -H -l 0 0 110 /usr/local/bin/recordio
> > /var/qmail/bin/qmail-popup mymachine.mydomain.com
> > /bin/checkpassword /var/qmail/bin/qmail-pop3d
>
> maildir
>
> > Anyway, once you've done that have a look at your log file for both a
>
> telnet
>
> > test session and a Thunderbird and/or Outlook test session: Hopefully
> > that will make sense of it.
> >
> > If Thunderbird, Outlook connections don't show up, check their
>
> configurations -
>
> > maybe they're trying to use a different (encrypted: TLS etc) port or
>
> service
>
> > (IMAP) - and perhaps these are listened for (albeit broken) by your
>
> server.
>
> > cheers,
> >
> > Andrew.
>
> Make sure you have "secure authentication" turned off when you run your
> test. I have found that "secure authentication" does not play nicely
> many times
>
> Charlie
>

--
====================================================================
* Custom email solutions * Systems Administration * Networking
http://www.acrconsulting.co.uk/email/qmail.html
====================================================================

amb-sendok-1285300122.jjkmkpmjekgoglmkaaoc at bradfo

Aug 24, 2010, 8:48 PM

Post #7 of 7 (751 views)
Permalink

Re: Problem Retrieving E-mails Using Outlook 2003 and Thunderbird [In reply to]

Thus said "Mark Jackson" on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:29:44 BST:

> This message contains confidential information and is intended only
> for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you
> should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify
> the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by
> mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission
> cannot be assured to be secure or correct as information could be
> intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or
> contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for
> any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise
> as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please
> request a hard-copy version. C 2005 Verndale Systems Ltd. All rights
> reserved.

How do I obtain my verified hard-copy version of this transmission? And
maybe everyone else will want a hard-copy version? I imagine that will
present them with a nice snail mail bill to contend with. :-)

Andy

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