error 4.4.2 means network trouble

[qmail-return-28247-archive=jab . org]

Some may find this useful.

"Connected_to_XXX.X.X.XX_but_connection_died._(#4.4.2)/"

This is likely network trouble, not qmail trouble.

The qmail error message gives the clue, but if you were running
sendmail, you'd see:

"stat=I/O error: Input/output error".

The comp.mail.sendmail post  stated, "Conclusion: Postmasters, if you
have 'I/O error' messages in your log files, you have better to look
at your network connections."

Here's my recent case in point.

When sending attachments, I saw the following qmail error:

May 17 11:14:47 faxsrv qmail: 926957687.186266 delivery 2174:
deferral: Connected_to_164.4.9.22_but_connection_died._(#4.4.2)/

The analagous sendmail error is:

Mar 16 16:24:37 mail sendmail[28019]: MAA23459:
to=<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, ctladdr=<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
(9882/100), delay=03:44:32, xdelay=00:00:00, mailer=esmtp,
relay=mailone.trux.com., stat=I/O error: Input/output error

Although I could telnet to port 25 on mailone.abc123xyz.com, I still
saw  I/O errors when sending attachments.

All kinds of heat was generated with different tests. Attachments were
encoded in various ways, the remote server was upgraded to Sendmail
Pro, tickets were opened with network providers, etc.

To the best of my knowledge, here's a summary of the solution.
Abc123xyz was running a "packet shaper" (They had purchased it as a
hardware device.) on their network. There are two T-1 lines going to
Abc123xyz's mail server's network and the packet shaper is connected
across both T-1 pipes (call them Pipe 1 and Pipe 2). It's purpose is
to distinguish among different types of IP traffic and selectively
throttle bandwidth. For example, if someone is eating bandwidth with
video conferencing, the packet shaper can specifically limit bandwidth
for video conferencing.

Mail from FWI to Abc123xyz is routed through Pipe 1. Mail from
AnotherISP to Dana is routed through Pipe 2. (AnotherISP is able to
send mail attachments to Abc123xyz.) Pipe 1 is running at approx 80%
capacity while Pipe 2 is not heavily loaded. The packet shaper somehow
caused data transmission problems on Pipe 1 that were much less or
nonexistent on Pipe 2. When the packet shaper was turned off, data
transmission problems on Pipe 1 went away and we were successfully
able to send email attachments to Abc123xyz.

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Peeter Pirn,  Sys Admin, FWI Internet, 219-426-7701 x17