[kde-linux] Kmail Problems. Was: Installing KDE4 on Sid

[Anne Wilson]

On Tuesday 29 Jan 2008, Gaffer. wrote:
> On Tuesday 29 January 2008 22:46, Anne Wilson inscribed thus:
> >
> > Does the ISP use more than one server?  Can this be deduced by
> > looking at headers?
>
> Yes there are quite a few of them.  This outfit also owns AOL.
>
I was wondering whether the headers could say whether one or more of the 
servers were prone to this.  The problem, of course, is that it's 
time-consuming for you to keep examining headers on clients' mail.

> > And there's nothing in the logs to explain it?
>
> Nothing!  Except for one instance where Kmail announced that it
> couldn't connect to SMTP transport <server-name>.  Then the next try
> simply did nothing at all.
>
Stuff happens :-)  I doubt if it's related to this problem.

> > Are they on systems that have stopped working properly, or new
> > installs of  SuSE 10.3 that have had problems from the first?
>
> So far they have all been working just fine from the word go until
> recently.
>
> I'll do a new build tomorrow, time permitting and run it till it
> breaks.
>
Hmm - long enough to test that it works before updating, then see what happens 
when you update?  At least this time you will be able to keep a diary on it.  
It should be possible to prove/disprove that particular theory.

> > Have you noticed anything similar about the messages that turn up
> > very late? The only time I've seen this happen was when I had a
> > misconfiguration that stopped system mail being forwarded to me.  I
> > assume that your problem is quite different, but if you've recently
> > fixed any problem, even seemingly unrelated, it should be
> > considered.
>
> No I didn't think about it!  Only that the dates were months ago and
> only the odd ones.
>
That's the sort of thing that makes you want to kick yourself :-)  The 
significance only becomes obvious when it's too late.

> What really bugs me out is that when you mention Linux, they turn into
> zombies.  I actually had one help desk berk that said "We don't
> support that, its not a proper system"  When I asked to speak to his
> supervisor he hung up on me.
>
Fear, of course.  The unknown is terrifying, and FUD has done a great job.  
However, after a couple of days of chasing this I finally got to someone who 
can do more than read a script.  He's not admitting that they should have 
spotted it earlier, but he said there must have been a stale session.  The 
connection is restored.

> > Is it possible, from logs or simply from headers of messages, to
> > ascertain whether there is any correlation with dates of the SuSE
> > updates?
>
> I don't know.  Where does SuSE log this information to?
>
I don't know SuSE at all.  I'd guess that you should find it somewhere 
under /var, but I can't get you any nearer, sorry.

> > I think, from your answers, that they are all pulling down mail
> > directly from the ISP, not from a server set up by you.  Is that
> > right?  I'm thinking that if it is there probably isn't an awful
> > lot of log output that can help.  Most of it is at server level,
> > not client.  Just thinking aloud.
>
> Yes you are right, these are all coming from the ISP's servers.  I was
> tempted to become an ISP and run my own servers.  Consensus was that
> nobody wanted to pay for it.
>
I can believe that.  Unless you can save them money, no-one wants to know.

> > I have a tendency to think pebcak when I find myself with a problem
> > like this. It's not at all unusual for me to find that I have a
> > typo, maybe a repeated character, in my config files.
>
> My favourite is to put a comma instead of a period.  I'd be well off
> if I got paid every time I make that booboo.
>
AOL :-)

> I'll keep at it.

Let us know how it goes.

Anne
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