1 Topic by abclf

  • abclf
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  • From: France
  • Registered: 2004-07-30
  • Posts: 148

Topic: mail problem

Hi,

I'm just discovering a strange trouble in my new punBB with mail option ;
let me explain :
- first, I can send an email to someone using the 'send email' access in profile user : the user do get the email : tested and working fine ;
- second : registration email and emails for subscribed topics do not work : tested, but not working at this time. So, the new registered user doesn't receive its code, for example, neither subscriber the notification that someone replied in/to the topic.

I think I have filled in all what was requested in a good way : my email adress is ok (I can send email to myself by profile access, no problem) and note I don't use smtp but php mail function from my host (so I leave mail parameter in blank) and I get no error message.

I suppose the scripts are not the same for emailing from profile or from automated process ? did I mistake in filling in the parameters ?

Feel free to test here (test section) if needed (http://www.languefrancaise.net/forum/) and please use test prefixed username if registering.

Thank you,
abclf.

abclf's Website

  • From: 127.0.0.1
  • Registered: 2001-11-02
  • Posts: 9,167

Re: mail problem

My guess is that it's a problem with your mail server. If PunBB wasn't able to send e-mails, the call to mail() would simply fail. Once that call has been made and no errors were encountered, it's out of PunBB hands. It's difficult to say what's wrong without the logs from the SMTP server.

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

Rickard's Website

3 Reply by abclf

  • abclf
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  • From: France
  • Registered: 2004-07-30
  • Posts: 148

Re: mail problem

Hello Rickard,

Please sorry my minimalistic knowledge of mail and smtp and my very basic english, but I don't understand exactly what you mean : what is my mail server ? I haven't a server a home smile ) my site is hosted for free by some french guys and function mail is installed (and, in my opnion, working) (so, according to this, smtp parameters from my punBB are not filled in : leave blank).
And you talk about logs from smtp server : am I concerned with ? If yes, where are they (my host ? I thought my host doesn't use smtp but php  functon).

If it may help, here there are the informations concerning my host :
http://www.webdynamit.net/_infosserveur
http://www.webdynamit.net/phpinfo.php

Thanks,
abclf.

abclf's Website

  • From: 127.0.0.1
  • Registered: 2001-11-02
  • Posts: 9,167

Re: mail problem

Even though you rely on PHP's mail() function to send e-mail, it is sent via SMTP (all mail is sent by way of the SMTP protocol). mail() calls the local mail service on the server and sends the e-mail that way. The fact that you're using a free host only strengthens my belief that the problem is on the server and not in the scripts. Just for fun, try using an external SMTP server by putting it's address in admin/options.

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

Rickard's Website

5 Reply by abclf (edited by abclf 2004-11-03 19:33)

  • abclf
  • Senior Member
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  • From: France
  • Registered: 2004-07-30
  • Posts: 148

Re: mail problem

ok Rickard, I have tried with my internet provider's smtp data (login, password and name) but with unsuccess :

error message (quote) :
An error was encountered
Error: Unable to send e-mail. Please contact the forum administrator with the following error message: "502 Error: command not implemented ".

Note (1), I may be wrong in the sense that I'm not fluent in smtp : )
Note (2), my free host is not 'for everybody' and they work fine (imho of french novice ; see links for more information about php version they work with). You know, of course, free stuff is often as good if not sometimes better as expensive if you choose the good one (it's the more difficult) and punBB, and there are many other brilliant programs that are free, is a good example : free and great.

You told me : your host may be the source of the problem but remember I can send mail (with php mail fonction) from profile then it's strange I can't send email vby subscription or for registration, no ?

For better testing with smtp (I probably have not filled in the parameters fields as expected) : do you have link or information for me ? is there 'public' smtp, is there some basic information I can use just for testing ?

Thanks,
abclf.

[edit]
ps : please, can you tell me, Rickard, in what way the punbb mail process works differently in the case of (first) sending mail from profile page and (second) registration, or subscription.

abclf's Website

  • From: 127.0.0.1
  • Registered: 2001-11-02
  • Posts: 9,167

Re: mail problem

abclf: That's the thing. There really isn't anything noticeably different about how e-mails are sent from the register script than e.g. from the profile. Try sending me an e-mail through the profile. I've registered as Rickard in your forums.

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

Rickard's Website

7 Reply by abclf (edited by abclf 2004-11-03 20:55)

  • abclf
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  • From: France
  • Registered: 2004-07-30
  • Posts: 148

Re: mail problem

mail on the road !

(you are welcome wink )

abclf's Website

  • From: 127.0.0.1
  • Registered: 2001-11-02
  • Posts: 9,167

Re: mail problem

Ok, I got the mail. Now I'm convinced there IS something wrong with PunBB :) Have you made any modifications to the scripts? If not, try re-uploading them.

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

Rickard's Website

9 Reply by abclf

  • abclf
  • Senior Member
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  • From: France
  • Registered: 2004-07-30
  • Posts: 148

Re: mail problem

Sorry : I replied by mail instead of posting here the list of light modifications I have done.
I do some tests with original files.

abclf's Website

  • From: 127.0.0.1
  • Registered: 2001-11-02
  • Posts: 9,167

Re: mail problem

Solved. The problem was that the forum title contained a colon (the character ":") and for some reason, that didn't go well with qmail. The "From" header turned out something like this:

From: ABC de la langue française : forums <email@example.org>

I've taken measures in PunBB 1.2 to prevent this from happening.

Edit: Oh, and yes, it did take quite some time to figure out :D

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

Rickard's Website