This is a difficult one. My guess is that the problem is connectivity, not
an actual problem with the configuration at metta.lk (with one
qualification, noted below).
First, a few tests and their results....
1. From my shell account at my ISP, I can locate metta.lk easily. (This is
not surprising, since I am able to send you mail, Jacob.)
bash-2.01$ host metta.lk
metta.lk has address 204.143.107.46
metta.lk mail is handled (pri=10) by 204.143.107.46
bash-2.01$ host -t ns metta.lk
metta.lk name server 204.143.107.34
2. I can successfully traceroute to the metta.lk nameserver, as shown here:
bash-2.01$ traceroute 204.143.107.34
traceroute to 204.143.107.34 (204.143.107.34), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 core1-fe8-1-0.mv.best.net (206.184.139.129) 0.568 ms 0.416 ms 0.449 ms
2 g3-0-0.cr1.mtvwca.pacific.verio.net (209.157.62.201) 68.640 ms 0.657 ms s
3 p12-0-0.br1.plalca.pacific.verio.net (209.157.181.162) 2.577 ms 2.462 ms s
4 g5-2-0.pao6.verio.net (129.250.15.1) 2.771 ms 2.325 ms 2.025 ms
5 pao6.pao5.verio.net (129.250.2.129) 2.301 ms 2.517 ms 2.204 ms
6 pao5.iad2.verio.net (129.250.2.10) 70.293 ms 70.031 ms 70.277 ms
7 iad2.iad3.verio.net (129.250.2.186) 70.076 ms 69.953 ms 70.325 ms
8 iad3.phl00.verio.net (129.250.3.106) 73.730 ms 73.372 ms 73.967 ms
9 phl00-0.phl01-0.verio.net (129.250.2.70) 73.431 ms 74.409 ms 74.305 ms
10 phl01-0.phl0-0.verio.net (129.250.3.113) 74.287 ms 75.878 ms 81.995 ms
11 pdl-phl0-100M.jvnc.net (205.238.52.220) 80.608 ms 99.631 ms 126.931 ms
12 slt-jvnc128.slt.lk (204.143.96.225) 818.379 ms 814.098 ms 707.308 ms
13 lkix.slt.lk (204.143.97.65) 507.077 ms 516.865 ms 518.982 ms
14 EDB-slt.slt.lk (204.143.111.78) 590.753 ms 552.533 ms 540.539 ms
15 204.143.107.34 (204.143.107.34) 543.200 ms 609.572 ms 558.608 ms
What concerns me about these tests is that metta.lk has only one listed
authoritative nameserver, and a traceroute to that nameserver from here in
California (I assume yahoo's servers are still somewhere in Northern CA)
takes a long time to complete (with the slowness appearing to be in the Sri
Lanka portion of the route). This may mean that yahoo is timing out before
getting a response from the nameserver. Not good design, but perhaps the
best one can expect from free e-mail accounts <sigh>.
So, a couple of suggestions ....
Rasika: try sending mail to metta.lk by IP address instead on hostname and
see if that works (that is, try [EMAIL PROTECTED] instead of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]).
Jacob: Find a faster, more centrally located nameserver. The standard for
DNS in US-based domains is to have 2 nameservers, a primary and a secondary.
I don't know much about DNS standards in other countries, so I don't know if
you ISP is up to the standards of the lk domain or not. (For example, lk
itself has two authoritative nameservers, as reported below:
bash-2.01$ host -t ns lk.
lk name server PENDRAGON.CS.PURDUE.EDU
lk name server NS.EU.NET
).
Jacob: If metta.lk doesn't already have an explicit MX record (pointing to
itself), you might try adding one (or having your ISP do so). I always have
trouble remembering exectly what the DNS standard says about this, but it
may call for an MX record *always* to be present, and yahoo may just be
being picky. I doubt this, but I mention it just for completeness.
Rasika: As to getting an automated response from [EMAIL PROTECTED] ...
about all I can say is "Shame on them." Unless, of course, the response
indicated that someone there would be reading the message, just not right
away, and getting back to you later. I've always been told that the SMTP
standard calls for all mail to the postmaster address to be read by a real
live person ... it's said to be the only such requirement ... but I've never
actually verified any of this by reading the RFC.
At 04:22 PM 5/27/99 +0600, Rasika Wijayaratne wrote:
>Hi all of you,
>
>I have had a few problems with mail from yahoo.com to metta.lk
>it returns the mail with the below message.
>
>I sent a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and it auto-replied me.
>
>Any idea how I should deal with that.
>
>Jacob
>
>>Dear Mettavihari Hamuduruwo
>>
>>The test I just did failed again.
>>with Metta
[example message deleted]
------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"---
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
762 Garland Drive
Palo Alto, CA 94303-3603
650.328.4219 voice [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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