Re: SMTP

[ABrady <xunil kc rr com>]

On Fri, 17 Jan 2003 08:24:51 -0700
"Mugleston, Brad" <brad mugleston gwl com> wrote:

> The Linux box is my toy, my brain exerciser, my tester.  It keeps me
> company when everyone else is asleep or not at home.  Did I change
> anything - you bet.  Did I change something to mess up the SMTP -
> probably.  Do I know what I did - NOPE.
> 
> I have been messing with trying to get my son's Win98 box talking to
> the Linux box, got that working, but I think that was before my
> daughters email died but I can't guarantee it.
> 
> I did look around on my settings last night and nothing looks wrong,
> but again what do I know?  I've still got Windows boxes in the house,
> can't be all that smart.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Brad

In the process of getting the one WIN box to work, I'm guessing you had
to keep referring to the one that already worked. I'm also guessing that
something there changed in the process. My experiences with 95 and 98
have been nothing short of horrific, to put it nicely. Even so, not
everything that goes wrong when networking with Winders can be
attributed to Winders. Sometimes it's something not-so-obvious.
Sometimes coincidence steps in to make it appear you did something wrong
when it has nothing to do with anything you have or haven't done.

Have you checked the mail settings on the errant box? Is it pointing to
a name for the mail server or an IP? What happens if you change it to
look at the IP address of the linux box serving mail?

Are there any errors in the messages or mail logs on the linux box
showing the connection getting refused? Is there mail sitting in
/var/spool/mail/$USER for the one not being served? If not. what happens
if fetchmail is run manually for that account?

I've spent untold numbers of hours fixing my problems only to find out
that the problems had nothing to do with anything I did. Some of those
problems were mail-related. Now I do a quick look at logs then assume
the ISP is at fault. Most times I'm right.

In your case, you need to see if mail is getting to your box first. If
it is, you need to see if the other one is getting refused delivery. It
can't be a simple connection problem if everything else is working OK
(I'm assuming the linux box is masqing the others - if that isn't the
case, that last statement may not be correct).

-- 
I've given up trying to change the world. I'm going to toilet train
it so that I never have to change it again.