Below are some of the commonly seen problems run across when using e-mail.
It lists the problem and then the possible or most likely solutions. They
are grouped in order of when they occur:
Errors When Checking Mail
Errors When Sending Mail
Returned or Auto-Generated Messages (Either to You or From You)
Errors When Checking Mail
Mail program says it's
downloading mail but never does
Most of the time this is not a problem at all. You have probably received
a message or messages with a large attachment. (An attachment is a file
sent via e-mail.)
Usually, all you need to do is let the program run. It may appear that it
is not doing anything, but it is. If there is a large attachment, it might
take 30 to 60 minutes for the mail program to get it.
However, if you do not want to wait that long or the mail program gives an
error message such as "The operation timed out", then you will want to
call technical support.
Keeps asking for the
password:
"Invalid usercode or password..." or "Your Password was rejected"
There could be a few causes of this problem:
1. Check (especially if it worked before) the password you are typing
in. Your e-mail password is the same as your login password. If you are
still using the one given to you by StarNet, then it is a series of
eight characters in upper and lower case.
2. Remember that the password is case sensitive. If you type in the
password with a "R" where it is supposed to be "r", then it is
incorrect. Thus check the upper-right hand corner of the keyboard to
make sure the CapsLock light is not on.
3. If you are sure you are entering the correct password, then you
should
check the settings of the mail program
you are using. In particular, look at the POP account/username
setting. It should be just your username in
all lower
case, no "P" and no "@azstarnet.com".
Unable to connect to mail
server
"There was no response from the server..." - Netscape
"Connection refused" - Eudora
"The connection has failed" - Outlook Express
The first thing to check is the POP server being used. The POP server name
is "pop.azstarnet.com". If the mail program has been configured for just
"azstarnet.com", then you will get the above messages. "Azstarnet.com" is
the of name StarNet's web server. It used to pass mail requests to the
mail server. However, that is not possible with the current server
configuration. As a result, you will want to
check
the settings of the mail program you are using.
Another thing to try is logging off StarNet, shutting down the computer,
turn off the computer's power, restarting, and trying it again.
Finally, if you continue to get this error message and the settings are
correct, check to see if you can get to any web pages. If you are unable
to get to any pages, then you have a connection issue which might best be
solved by calling technical
support.
Netscape Mail/Messenger
crashes when you try to check mail
This is a well known and common problem with the Netscape software. Fixing
it requires renaming a few files on the computer. If you are uncomfortable
doing this, then you can
call
technical support for assistance.
Otherwise, you can try following the instructions on the
Netscape Mail Fix page.
Others are unable to reply to
your messages
If other people are unable to reply to the mail you sent them, the typical
cause is that the mail program you are using is sending out the wrong
address. Thus, when they try and reply to your e-mail, it is going to
another or non-existant address.
In order to fix this, you should check the settings
of the mail program you are using. In particular, check what you have
for the e-mail address and reply-to address. If it has a "P" in front of
your e-mail address or an extra "@azstarnet.com", then people will not be
able to reply to the messages you send.
Mail program won't save
your password
All e-mail programs have a setting where you either enter the password
(such as Outlook Express) or tell the program to remember what the
password is (such as Netscape or Eudora). For all the programs, those
options are covered under
the settings for the mail
programs.
This is caused by some corruption in your mail file on StarNet's mail
server. This problem is typically caused by a mail program not totally
removing an attachment from a previous message and thus altering your mail
file on StarNet's server.
To fix this problem you will need to
call technical support
Errors When Sending Mail
Unable to contact server or
Operation timed out
If this mail program hasn't been able to send mail since being installed
or re-installed, then you will want to
check the settings. In particular, you will
want to make sure the Outgoing (or SMTP) server is set to
smtp.azstarnet.com
"We do not support
relaying"
This means you are accessing StarNet's mail servers from outside StarNet.
At one point in the past we found non-StarNet subscribers using the
StarNet mail servers to send their outgoing mail. This included companies
in no way involved with StarNet and spammers. The only way to prevent this
was to limit what access those outside StarNet had to the mail servers.
The limit: if you are coming outside of StarNet (i.e. not dialed in to
StarNet's modems or over DSL), then you cannot use StarNet's outgoing
(SMTP) mail server unless you are sending to a StarNet subscriber. If you
try to use it, you will get the "We do not support relaying" error
message.
The fix should be simple. You need to set the mail program to use the mail
server for the network or Internet provider you are using instead of
StarNet's.
Note: The other settings (such as e-mail and reply-to
addresses) will stay the same. Thus the mail will still go out with your
StarNet address and replies will go to your StarNet address.
"Message exceeds maximum
message size"
This message means that you are trying to send an attachment in e-mail
that is over five megabytes in size.
A number of ISPs and companies have their mail servers set to reject
messages over a certain size. Most have a limit of five megabytes. StarNet
has this limit as well. Since undeliverable messages are returned to the
sender, this can create a problem as the message being returned is larger
than the maximum allowed message.
If possible, you should see about breaking the message into smaller files
and then send them that way. Otherwise, you will need to find an alternate
way of delivering the file to the intended receipient.
Note: due to the way Internet e-mail handles attached files,
the actual size of the message being sent may be 10-30% greater than the
original size of the file. Thus sending a file over four megabytes in size
may be get this message as well.
Returned or Auto-Generated
Messages
(Either to You or From You)
The Mail Approaching Quota
message
This message is automatically sent to StarNet users when their mailfile on
StarNet's mail server is over four megabytes in size.
More details on what this message means can be found on the
Mail Approaching Quota page.
"User unknown" means that it got to the mail server of the remote site and
that server couldn't find anyone with that username.
For example, let's say you sent an e-mail to "existential@aol.com" and it
came back as "User unknown". This means that it went through StarNet's
mail server to AOL's mail servers. However, AOL's servers were not able to
find anyone with a username (or "screen name" in AOL terms) of
"existential". Thus the mail was returned.
There are a number of causes. Some of the most likely are
- It could be that that user doesn't exist anymore.
- It could be that the address was given incorrectly. The actual
address might be existent@aol.com
- It could be that the address was mis-typed. If you check the
returned message, you might notice that you tried to send it to
"existential@aaol.com" instead of "existential@aol.com". aol.com is
America Online. aaol.com is the Automotive Aftermarket On-Line, a
completely different organization.
If people are getting their mail to you returned for this reason, you will
want to make sure they are using the correct address (a number of people
have tried sending mail to StarNet subscribers using
username@starnet.com instead of
username@azstarnet.com--starnet.com is a company in California). If
they are replying to a mesasge you sent, you will want to check what you
have set in for the e-mail address and reply-to address in
your mail program's settings.
"Host unknown" means that the mail server tried to look up the recepient's
mail server and couldn't. Basically, there's no mail server for the domain
(where the domain is the part after the "@").
Typically this is caused by the address being typed in incorrectly.
If mail being sent to you is being returned with this message, then they
will want to double check the address the mail is being sent to. If they
are replying to mail you sent, you will want to check what you
have set in for the e-mail address and reply-to address in
your mail program's settings.
"Can't create
output"
If you look at the body of the message you should see the line:
----- Transcript of session follows -----
Below that is probably something like the following line:
procmail: Quota exceeded while writing "/var/mail/username"
Where
username is the username of
the person the mail was trying to be sent to.
In this case the message could not be delivered because the recepient has
used all the allowed quota for storing incoming mail.
If someone trying to send mail to you is getting that message, then you
will want to check the Mail Approaching Quota
page to remove any old mail that might be stored on the mail server.