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Date:      Fri, 17 May 1996 18:41:20 -0700 (PDT)
From:      Scott Overholser <scotto@remuda.com>
To:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org, freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org, freebsd-isp@freebsd.org, freebsd-bugs@freebsd.org
Cc:        a-scotov@exchange.microsoft.com
Subject:   sendmail read errors/timeouts etc.
Message-ID:  <Pine.NEB.3.93.960517165856.4971A-100000@fisbin.remuda.com>

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sorry for spamming all these lists.  i turned up hits on all of them when
i searched the mailing list archives.

i recently replaced my email gateway with a freebsd 2.1.0 box.  prior to
that it was a linux box (different hardware) running sendmail 8.6.11 and
100% trouble free.  now though, i am seeing sendmail errors when sending to 
a few select sites.  in addition, i see them when i receive from the same 
sites.

the troublesome sites (that i know of) are microsoft.com, msn.com, and
noa.com.  i *absolutely* cannot send mail to recipient@microsoft.com or
recipient@noa.com.  i seem to be able to send mail to recipient@msn.com
but i cannot receive mail from msn.com.  mail to/from other sites is no
problem.

here are some sample messages (although based on my search through the
archives, many of you have seen them before):
---------->%snip>%----------
com. [205.166.76.99], stat=Deferred: Operation timed out during client QUIT with
 bowser.noa.com.

m. [131.107.3.23], stat=Deferred: Connection reset by peer during client QUIT wi
th abash1.microsoft.com.

May 15 00:31:17 fisbin sendmail[566]: XAA00566: SYSERR(root): collect: read time
out on connection from upsmot02.msn.com, from=<JamesMassoni@msn.com>
---------->%snip>%----------

there are many more...mostly from the same sites though.  i've checked
everything i can think of - dns config, resolver config, sendmail config
(cranked the timeouts absurdly high).  nothing phases the problem.  i don't
suspect hardware because of the number of posts from others having the
same problem.  

oh yeah, i also turned on sendmail logging and waded through that mess.  it 
looks like all the mail is xferred to the remote host on outbound mail and
xferred to my host on inbound mail but it dies on the QUIT. 

the really strange thing is that i don't get the errors when sending 
directly to some hosts at microsoft.  for example, if i send mail to 
a-scotov@microsoft.com i may as well beat my head against a wall.  on the 
other hand, if i send the mail to a-scotov@exchange.microsoft.com the mail
is delivered (and i can send mail from a-scotov@exchange.microsoft.com to
scotto@remuda.com) - in case you hadn't guessed, i earn my daily bread at
microsoft.  the difference between the two addresses is that the
exchange.microsoft.com address is an experimental mail server running 
various stable builds of ms exchange.  the microsoft.com address is the main
corporate gateway(s) running the shipping version of microsoft exchange.

well, enough gab.  does anyone have a solution to this problem?!  this is
growing old.  i know there are lots of folks out there on these mailing lists
that have had this problem.

the only real answer suggested in the responses was from david greenman "these
are likely caused by transient connectivity hickups on the internet and can
almost certainly be ignored."  however, i've gotta agree with john brogan who
said (over a year ago - with freebsd 1.1.5.1) "about 15 or 16 systems have
had this exact same problem...about 7,000 have not had any problems..."  that's
exactly what i'm seeing (sort of).  mail works but for a few sites - which
unfortunately i must correspond with on a daily basis.

i confess a certain discomfort in suspecting the os rather than sendmail.
however, i've used sendmail for a long time and never experienced anything
like this without being able to attribute it to something i can sink my teeth
into.  i certainly have a problem swallowing "transient network errors" 
especially when the mail archives are peppered with posts from folks asking 
the same question for over a year - not to mention the fact that i can send
email to/from sites other than the troublesome ones mentioned above whilst
my netbsd and linux running comrades don't seem to be experiencing any of
these troubles (i happen to be alone in running freebsd amonst a sea of 
linux'ers and netbsd'ers).

well, sorry for the spam, the length, and above all - the quasi-soapbox.

if anyone at all has taken the time to read this fully, i appreciate it and 
hope for a speedy solution.  this weekend i'll probably switch the scsi ids
on my external drives and install netbsd to see if it fares any better in 
sending mail to recip@microsoft.com et al.

thanks
scotto






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