Re: I found the answer to the Comcast spam block

From: Robert Aldwinckle (robald_at_techemail.com)
Date: 03/18/04 

Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2004 14:57:20 -0500

> The problem was that this e-mail caused their POP3 server to abort
> immediately after a TOP command.

Are you using rules regarding size? I have never seen OE use the TOP
command but I don't use rules.

It is clearly documented that not all POP3 servers are required to support
the TOP command so I have often wondered how OE would know when it
could use it or more importantly how the user could stop OE from trying.

Robert Aldwinckle 

---
"*Vanguard*" <no-email@post-reply-in-newsgroup.invalid> wrote in message
news:yuSdnZslEa_nqMTdRVn-gQ@comcast.com...
> "patsyq" said in
> news:209EAA39-FC4C-4D7B-96BF-175C4EA00DE5@microsoft.com:
> > I also have the same problem with just certain spam hanging and
> > hanging up the legitimate mail, too.  Have to retrieve mail from
> > web.... hate that.
> >
> > But unlike you, I am *still* having the problem.  I disabled McAfee
> > email scan... and even for a few scary hours, disabled all McAfee
> > scanning.  Did not solve problem.
>
> Actually Comcast's tech are way off base as to the problem.  They keep
> thinking that you actually retrieved the e-mail and then encounter
> problems with your e-mail client or anti-virus software.  I talked for a
> long time regarding a message from "Unknown Sender" sitting in my Inbox
> that was screwing over their POP3 server.  Every solution they suggested
> had to do with me actually getting the e-mail.  The problem was that
> this e-mail caused their POP3 server to abort immediately after a TOP
> command.  My e-mail client had not yet performed the RETR command so the
> e-mail had not been yanked yet to my computer nor had it even tried to
> yank it yet.  The UIDL command worked but their POP3 server did an
> immediate disconnect right after it responded to the TOP command.  So my
> e-mail client (I tried several) would report a server disconnect error
> because that is what their POP3 server did.  Once you start talking
> about the POP3 commands, you're beyond what the 1st level tech can help
> you with and unfortunately they want to cover up their ignorance but
> continue to prove it even more.  There must be some nasty repercussions
> for escalating a problem to a 2nd or 3rd level tech because they
> certainly do their damned best to push you off with their standard
> knowledgebase responses.  You're trying to show that you NEVER got the
> e-mail yet and they're still talking about disabling your anti-virus
> software that hasn't gotten the message yet.
>
> No matter how I tried to escalate the problem so that an e-mail admin or
> higher up techie could get a copy of the e-mail to see how it was
> corrupting their mailbox procedures, the 1st level tech simply refused
> to retain a copy of the e-mail.  I have seen on other ISPs where a
> corrupted e-mail will cause their mail server to stumble and refuse to
> allow further access to the mailbox, so this isn't just a Comcast
> phenomenon.  You have to telnet to their mail server, or to a shell to
> run a text-based e-mail client, or use their webmail interface to delete
> the corruptive e-mail to get your Inbox working again.
>
> I clicked on the "reports as spam" button since that was the only way
> Comcast's 1st level tech would let me submit the e-mail to anyone else
> but her (and she refused to look at it).  The only way to get past
> Comcast's 1st level techs is to report a problem for which they have no
> answers or guesses.  You being smarter than them guarantees them
> fumbling all over trying to repeat the same excuses.  Unfortunately, I
> wasn't able to move that corruptive e-mail into another folder.  As soon
> as I clicked the "report as spam" button, it deleted the message from my
> Inbox.  DOH!  What if I wanted to report it to them AND report it to an
> upstream provider?  I could send myself test messages and still retrieve
> them okay into an e-mail client (i.e., they could still get yanked
> successfully) but the e-mail client would still error with the sudden
> server disconnect message because that corrupted e-mail was still in my
> Inbox.
>
> This was the 3rd time of receiving an "Unknown Sender" message that
> locked up my Comcast mailbox.  The tech gal at Comcast claimed their
> ticket reporting system was down and that if I call again then I will
> have to reference it indirectly by the date that I reported the problem,
> but there's no way to know if she actually generated a ticket until I
> call on the next affliction.
>
> This might explain why Tim still has the problem regardless of what he
> does locally because the problem isn't local; it's on the server.
> However, Michael says a local change corrected his problem so I wouldn't
> be because a corrupted e-mail was causing problems in the POP3 server's
> handling of commands or messages.
>
>
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