Michael & All,
I'd like to see a change in how the POP3 log works, and what it records.
Right now it starts capturing only at the point of "LIST 1" and not at
the point where the connection is made. For purposes of debugging
Arachne, and locating flawed servers at my ISP -- if that's the actual
problem -- I'd like to see the capture start right at the beginning,
right at the point where the connect to the server occurs. The problem
may lie within the server(s) or it may lie within Arachne, and without a
FULL capture to the log file I'll never figure it out. And it is an
ongoing problem, and not just for me.
BTW, why does the Arachne module send the DELE command for the last
message twice? The logs I've checked on successful POP3 downloads all
show something like:
DELE 10
OK+
DELE 10
OK+
That shouldn't happen, should it? That second DELE command shouldn't
get an OK+ from the server because it's asking the server to do the
impossible -- delete a message that no longer is there.
Back to the downloads themselves. I know there is a lot quoted here,
after this message. It's the recurring story of abend in POP3 download
resulting in new download being from 1 all over again. And it's the
response of a really cooperative ISP, a rare creature in this internet
world.<G> You can ignore those forwards, or read them ... your choice.
At least they aren't attachments and they aren't viruses. }:>
Now it used to be that the way things worked on Apache [and many other
Linux] servers was this: the POP3 mail for each user was stored as a
flatfile and the DELE commands were never executed until after QUIT
because to do so would delete everything; after QUIT the DELE commands
were used to "edit" the flatfile.
However, it's been a couple of years since Apache reworked the POP3
stuff and it's now stored in a database with an index for each user and
DELE happens at the time the command is received.
At least that is how it is supposed to work.
My ISP has four servers that handle the mail. I don't know where the
"user index" of the POP3 database is kept, but it is accessible by all
the mail servers. The problem with the abend leaving all mail untouched
and not deleted is periodic. IOW, sometimes an abend of POP3 download
leaves only the remainder of the messages, and sometimes it leaves all
of them. Thus I think the problem is only on one of the servers. But I
can't find *that* server when I telnet in .... I managed to access 3 of
the 4 during one experimental round, and whenever the DELE command was
given the file was erased. (That's easy enough to check, using LIST.)
I know that the DELE command *was* given by Arachne; I know that the
server said OK+ ... that's in the POP3 log every time I check. The only
time a DELE might be considered to be "missing" is when the process
abends in the middle of a message, which is as it should be -- don't
want to erase a file that hasn't been successfully downloaded in its
entirety... and couldn't send the DELE command anyway, because Arachne
has quit and put up the error screen.
Now that I've gotten a decent handle on telnet, I can do the
workarounds, captures that Arachne doesn't handle, and housecleaning
that way. But I shouldn't have to!
So if someone would seriously consider rewriting the "tool" that creates
the POP3 log, it might finally be possible to pinpoint what the real
problem is and where it resides.
thnx for your patience
l.d.
====
----- Forwarded message begin -----
From: "John Gambill, Jr." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hello L.D.
I saw your email. As I stated before, we cannot recreate the problem
and we have had no other reports of a problem like this. I suspect that
is due to the uniqueness of how you access the Internet and email. I
think you hit the nail on the head in your message when you said...
"I never have any problem getting rid of messages if I telnet in ...
dele works every time. Only when I'm using my browser do the messages
not get deleted, despite the OK after each dele command."
We don't have any problem with Telnet either and since we do not use or
support the software you use, unfortunately, we can't do anything
further on it. If we do come across a solution, we will certainly
forward it to you.
Regards,
John Gambill, Jr.
GO Concepts, Inc.
www.go-concepts.com
On GO Yet?
513-934-2800 ext.229
1-888-ON-GO-YET
Fax: 513-934-2802
-----Original Message-----
From: L.D. Best [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2001 1:00 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: POP3 didn't DELE when told ... AGAIN!
Had a large [67K or so] message as #11 of 11. POP3 download hung up at
about 7100, and finally timed out.
Since I'm getting used to this, I didn't make the mistake of trying to
download mail again. Telnet in to 110 and sure enough, all 11 messages
were there ... nothing got deleted.
Can't tell you which server ... like I said before, even when I log pop3
on my regular browser, it doesn't ID the server.
I did a retr & capture of the "guilty" message, and deleted everything
to clean up after myself with telnet.
Wish there was a way to figure out WHY this happens. I never have any
problem getting rid of messages if I telnet in ... dele works every
time. Only when I'm using my browser do the messages not get deleted,
despite the OK after each dele command. :<
l.d.
-- Arachne V1.70;rev.3, NON-COMMERCIAL copy, http://arachne.cz/
------ Forwarded message end ------
-- Arachne V1.70;rev.3, NON-COMMERCIAL copy, http://arachne.cz/
