Mail problem: could use some hints

Hello all,
I have a mail problems with very little information to solve it.
I'm hoping someone else has come across this before and can provide some hints.

Our ISP relays the MX records destined to our domain directly to the mail
server.
The server is behind a firewall on a private network.
The firewall directs any smtp requests to the mail server.
This all worked quite well until three days ago.
Since feb. 1 we do not recieve mail from outside our ISP's network anymore.
Sending mail to anywhere is no problem.
Recieving mail from people with the same ISP is also no problem.
Mail from outside the ISP's network yields the following message in exims
mainlog:

2005-02-03 10:43:28 SMTP protocol violation: synchronization error
(input sent without waiting for greeting): rejected connection from
H=psmtp01.wxs.nl [195.121.6.56]

The configuration of our mailserver has not changed on feb. 1, but our ISP
has changed to a different mail-relay server on that date.
The ISP insists that the problem must be a configuration error on my server,
but he doesn't provide me with any pointers as to what has changed in his
configurations.
Since the start of this problem correlates very well with the commissioning of
his new servers, I suspect that there must be some sort of mismatch between the
configuration of the two servers.

Does anyone recognize this. I do not know which conf parameters to look for.
I tried switching RFC1413 callbacks on and off with no result.
If it is not my configuration, how do I convince my ISP to check his again?

Best regards,

Arij van Berkel

NB: please respond to the group as I cannot recieve mail.

Dear Arij,

I experience the same problem. My ISP is Planet Internet.

A.I. van Berkel wrote:
> Hello all,
> I have a mail problems with very little information to solve it.
> I'm hoping someone else has come across this before and can provide some hints.
>
> Our ISP relays the MX records destined to our domain directly to the mail
> server.
> The server is behind a firewall on a private network.
> The firewall directs any smtp requests to the mail server.
> This all worked quite well until three days ago.
> Since feb. 1 we do not recieve mail from outside our ISP's network anymore.
> Sending mail to anywhere is no problem.
> Recieving mail from people with the same ISP is also no problem.
> Mail from outside the ISP's network yields the following message in exims
> mainlog:
>
> 2005-02-03 10:43:28 SMTP protocol violation: synchronization error
> (input sent without waiting for greeting): rejected connection from
> H=psmtp01.wxs.nl [195.121.6.56]
>
> The configuration of our mailserver has not changed on feb. 1, but our ISP
> has changed to a different mail-relay server on that date.
> The ISP insists that the problem must be a configuration error on my server,
> but he doesn't provide me with any pointers as to what has changed in his
> configurations.
> Since the start of this problem correlates very well with the commissioning of
> his new servers, I suspect that there must be some sort of mismatch between the
> configuration of the two servers.
>
> Does anyone recognize this. I do not know which conf parameters to look for.
> I tried switching RFC1413 callbacks on and off with no result.
> If it is not my configuration, how do I convince my ISP to check his again?
>
> Best regards,
>
> Arij van Berkel
>
> NB: please respond to the group as I cannot recieve mail.
>
>

And yes, the problem is with Planet Internet

- I don't receive messages that don't even have a log entry.
- I get the same error you have
- And I get time out errors on wxs.nl
- Some messages get through okay....


A.I. van Berkel wrote:

> Hello all,
> I have a mail problems with very little information to solve it.
> I'm hoping someone else has come across this before and can provide some hints.
>
> Our ISP relays the MX records destined to our domain directly to the mail
> server.
> The server is behind a firewall on a private network.
> The firewall directs any smtp requests to the mail server.
> This all worked quite well until three days ago.
> Since feb. 1 we do not recieve mail from outside our ISP's network anymore.
> Sending mail to anywhere is no problem.
> Recieving mail from people with the same ISP is also no problem.
> Mail from outside the ISP's network yields the following message in exims
> mainlog:
>
> 2005-02-03 10:43:28 SMTP protocol violation: synchronization error
> (input sent without waiting for greeting): rejected connection from
> H=psmtp01.wxs.nl [195.121.6.56]
>
> The configuration of our mailserver has not changed on feb. 1, but our ISP
> has changed to a different mail-relay server on that date.
> The ISP insists that the problem must be a configuration error on my server,
> but he doesn't provide me with any pointers as to what has changed in his
> configurations.
> Since the start of this problem correlates very well with the commissioning of
> his new servers, I suspect that there must be some sort of mismatch between the
> configuration of the two servers.
>
> Does anyone recognize this. I do not know which conf parameters to look for.
> I tried switching RFC1413 callbacks on and off with no result.
> If it is not my configuration, how do I convince my ISP to check his again?
>
> Best regards,
>
> Arij van Berkel
>
> NB: please respond to the group as I cannot recieve mail.
>
>

2005-02-04 19:51:21 SMTP command timeout on connection from
psmtp01.wxs.nl [195.121.6.56]

Patrick Holthuizen wrote:

> And yes, the problem is with Planet Internet
>
> - I don't receive messages that don't even have a log entry.
> - I get the same error you have
> - And I get time out errors on wxs.nl
> - Some messages get through okay....
>
>
> A.I. van Berkel wrote:
>
>> Hello all,
>> I have a mail problems with very little information to solve it. I'm
>> hoping someone else has come across this before and can provide some
>> hints.
>> Our ISP relays the MX records destined to our domain directly to the
>> mail server. The server is behind a firewall on a private network. The
>> firewall directs any smtp requests to the mail server. This all worked
>> quite well until three days ago. Since feb. 1 we do not recieve mail
>> from outside our ISP's network anymore. Sending mail to anywhere is no
>> problem. Recieving mail from people with the same ISP is also no
>> problem. Mail from outside the ISP's network yields the following
>> message in exims mainlog:
>>
>> 2005-02-03 10:43:28 SMTP protocol violation: synchronization error
>> (input sent without waiting for greeting): rejected connection from
>> H=psmtp01.wxs.nl [195.121.6.56]
>>
>> The configuration of our mailserver has not changed on feb. 1, but our
>> ISP has changed to a different mail-relay server on that date. The ISP
>> insists that the problem must be a configuration error on my server,
>> but he doesn't provide me with any pointers as to what has changed in
>> his configurations. Since the start of this problem correlates very
>> well with the commissioning of his new servers, I suspect that there
>> must be some sort of mismatch between the configuration of the two
>> servers.
>> Does anyone recognize this. I do not know which conf parameters to
>> look for. I tried switching RFC1413 callbacks on and off with no
>> result. If it is not my configuration, how do I convince my ISP to
>> check his again?
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Arij van Berkel
>>
>> NB: please respond to the group as I cannot recieve mail.
>>
>>

>
>> And yes, the problem is with Planet Internet
>>
>> - I don't receive messages that don't even have a log entry.
>> - I get the same error you have
>> - And I get time out errors on wxs.nl
>> - Some messages get through okay....
>>
Exactly the same as my problems.
My ISP is Planet Internet.
The messages that do come through are usually the second
or third attempt by the relay server (smtp??.wxs.nl)
They arrive with anything between 2 and 10 hours delay!


I talked to the helpdesk. They say they performed some tests
(no specification of test) and everything was okay.
So, they claim, it must be my configuration.
I mailed them some specific questions about what has changed
in their configuration (that change triggered the problem),
but they do not reply anymore.
Mind you, this is their business dsl service.
They left our business without mail for five days now, without
even answering to our questions anymore.

I changed the timeout for RFC1413 requests in exim's configuration
It used to be 30s. It is now 20s. This seems to improve things, even
though it does not solve it.
I do not understand why it helps either.

Does anyone have suggestions how to get some leverage towards
Planet Internet?

Could you try to change the time-out for Ident request (RFC1413)?
Exims default is 30s. I am curious if this helps for you.

Best regards,

Arij van Berkel

PS you should be able to mail me (remove "hoefnagel"),
since we are both on the PI network.

n@netscape.net wrote:
> 2005-02-04 19:51:21 SMTP command timeout on connection from
> psmtp01.wxs.nl [195.121.6.56]
> Patrick Holthuizen wrote:
> > And yes, the problem is with Planet Internet
> >
> > - I don't receive messages that don't even have a log entry.
> > - I get the same error you have
> > - And I get time out errors on wxs.nl
> > - Some messages get through okay....
> >
> >
> > A.I. van Berkel wrote:
> >
> >> Hello all,
> >> I have a mail problems with very little information to solve it. I'm
> >> hoping someone else has come across this before and can provide some
> >> hints.
> >> Our ISP relays the MX records destined to our domain directly to the
> >> mail server. The server is behind a firewall on a private network. The
> >> firewall directs any smtp requests to the mail server. This all worked
> >> quite well until three days ago. Since feb. 1 we do not recieve mail
> >> from outside our ISP's network anymore. Sending mail to anywhere is no
> >> problem. Recieving mail from people with the same ISP is also no
> >> problem. Mail from outside the ISP's network yields the following
> >> message in exims mainlog:
> >>
> >> 2005-02-03 10:43:28 SMTP protocol violation: synchronization error
> >> (input sent without waiting for greeting): rejected connection from
> >> H=psmtp01.wxs.nl [195.121.6.56]
> >>
> >> The configuration of our mailserver has not changed on feb. 1, but our
> >> ISP has changed to a different mail-relay server on that date. The ISP
> >> insists that the problem must be a configuration error on my server,
> >> but he doesn't provide me with any pointers as to what has changed in
> >> his configurations. Since the start of this problem correlates very
> >> well with the commissioning of his new servers, I suspect that there
> >> must be some sort of mismatch between the configuration of the two
> >> servers.
> >> Does anyone recognize this. I do not know which conf parameters to
> >> look for. I tried switching RFC1413 callbacks on and off with no
> >> result. If it is not my configuration, how do I convince my ISP to
> >> check his again?
> >>
> >> Best regards,
> >>
> >> Arij van Berkel
> >>
> >> NB: please respond to the group as I cannot recieve mail.
> >>
> >>

Thanks

phil_w@duskmail.com

Hi there


Patrick Holthuizen wrote:

> I experience the same problem. My ISP is Planet Internet.

The solution is obvious:
Change ISP.

Regards,
Rob
--
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The EU constitution will turn the EU into a SU |
| Vote against the EU constitution in the referendum |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

:-)

Any advice on which one to take regarding running my own web and e-mail
server?

Rob van der Putten wrote:
> Hi there
>
>
> Patrick Holthuizen wrote:
>
>
>>I experience the same problem. My ISP is Planet Internet.
>
>
> The solution is obvious:
> Change ISP.
>
> Regards,
> Rob

Hi there


Patrick Holthuizen wrote:

> Any advice on which one to take regarding running my own web and e-mail
> server?

Since the merger of Cistron there is only one left: XS4ALL
Others will censor your link, use blacklisted mail servers, have a
broken DNS, non existent abuse, bounce when they really should reject,
etc...

An alternative might be using the cheapest service you can find and then
do all communication through a tunnel to a colo box.
This way one's ISP's stupidity is a far less of a problem.


Regards,
Rob
--
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The EU constitution will turn the EU into a SU |
| Vote against the EU constitution in the referendum |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

Do you have any experience with KPN direct?

Rob van der Putten wrote:
> Hi there
>
>
> Patrick Holthuizen wrote:
>
>
>>Any advice on which one to take regarding running my own web and e-mail
>>server?
>
>
> Since the merger of Cistron there is only one left: XS4ALL
> Others will censor your link, use blacklisted mail servers, have a
> broken DNS, non existent abuse, bounce when they really should reject,
> etc...
>
> An alternative might be using the cheapest service you can find and then
> do all communication through a tunnel to a colo box.
> This way one's ISP's stupidity is a far less of a problem.
>
>
> Regards,
> Rob