Pegasus Mail & Mercury

Hi,
until yesterday I was able to send mail from outside the university using "Login to the SMTP server using a POP3 username/password".

As of yesterday the university requires authentication and I can't send mail anymore. (I tried Mozilla/Thunderbird with same login data and it worked.)

Any idea where the problem may be?

Pegasus (4.41) reports
>> 0042 250-AUTH DIGEST-MD5 CRAM-MD5 LOGIN PLAIN
[...]
<< 0015 AUTH CRAM-MD5
>> 0066 334 [...]
>> 0033 535 5.7.0 authentication failed

Oskar

check to see that they haven't closed tcp port 25.

You can do that easily from a command window, type telnet hostname 25

If you get an answer port 25 is open.

---

Kind regards / Peter

Port 25 is open.

Oskar

The problem is almost certainly that your University IT department has misconfigured their SMTP server - I see this reasonably frequently. The server is advertising a variety of authentication methods, some secure, some very weak. Pegasus Mail chooses the strongest one it recognizes, which is, in this case, CRAM-MD5.

Now, the problem with CRAM-MD5 is that it requires server-side configuration - the server has to be given a database of valid passwords, because the CRAM-MD5 mechanism requires that both sides of the connection have access to the password, and this is normally not possible on the server side. Your IT department almost certainly haven't provided this password database, with the result that CRAM-MD5 authentication can *never* work and should *not* be advertised.

Unfortunately, there is no way to tell Pegasus Mail to ignore CRAM-MD5 and use a weaker method instead: it's on our to-do list, but there's no immediate solution for current versions, other than getting your IT department to fix their server. I stress, by the way, that Pegasus Mail is behaving absolutely correctly here - the problem is on the server side.

Cheers!

-- David --

Thanks David. That was, in fact, the problem. It took some time, though, for the computing center to admit it and still some more time for them to correct it. Apparently they removed CRAM-MD5 from the list of protocols offered. Now the authentication works. Problem solved.

Thanks again.
Oskar

Mr. Harris,

 I know this is an old message but still is a problem with AT&T here in the United States.  I have been using your Pegasus Mail for many years and had several different ISPs but never had a problem until now.  As a matter of fact it was working on here, this system, Sunday when it was installed, Monday, Tuesday and even this morning.  Now I am getting :

Connection established to 68.142.198.11
>> 0042 220 smtp114.sbc.mail.mud.yahoo.com ESMTP
<< 0022 EHLO

[70.245.204.17]
>> 0036 250-smtp114.sbc.mail.mud.yahoo.com
>> 0032 250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN XYMCOOKIE
>> 0016 250-PIPELINING
>> 0014 250 8BITMIME
<< 0035 MAIL FROM:<NativeTexanLS@ATT.Net>
>> 0105 530 authentication required - for help go to http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/sbc/dsl/mail/pop/pop-11.html

not exactly the same on each of my e-mail accounts.  Have verified the Pop3, smtp and ports for each several times and still not able to download nor send any e-mail.  The user name is correct on each with individual passwords, not all the same.

 Now I am totally confused, just went in and  verified all the information again and in Internet Options/Settings for sending mail (SMTP) Via direct SSL connect (selected) SMTP Authentication checked both Do a prior POP3 login to authenticate before sending mail . . -Using this POP3 definition: [my account] Select.  Done that one AND select Login to SMTP server using a POP3 username/password . . -From this POP3 definition: [my account] Select . . .  This account is not working YET, but; the other two accounts did start working.  Setting them this same way.

Have been talking to AT&T support for about 3 hours and verifying, reverifying over and over again five different people to talk with and the last person just said if you do not use what we support then you are on your own.  NO HELP!!!

They do not know what CRAM-MD5 is or just will not admit they are not using it.  They will not even tell me what they are using.  Where do I go from here?

 Edited by NTxLS to clarify the underlined word 1st paragraph.

 

---

TIA, CU L8R,
NTxLS
Dell Inspiron AMD Athlon(tm) 64bit Dual Core Processor 2.3GHz, RAM 3G; 32bit Vista build 6001 SP1; IE v7.0; FF v3.0.4/wXtensions PM v1.7.2, NoScript v1.8.5; CFP v3.5.55810.432, AntiVir v8.0xxx

> Mr. Harris,
>
>  I know this is an old message but still is a problem with AT&T here
> in the United States.  I have been using your Pegasus Mail for many
> years and have several different ISPs but never had a problem until
> now.  As a matter of fact it was working on here, this system, Sunday
> when it was installed, Monday, Tuesday and even this morning.  Now I
> am getting :
>
> Connection established to 68.142.198.11
> >> 0042 220 smtp114.sbc.mail.mud.yahoo.com ESMTP
> << 0022 EHLO [70.245.204.17]
> >> 0036 250-smtp114.sbc.mail.mud.yahoo.com
> >> 0032 250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN XYMCOOKIE
> >> 0016 250-PIPELINING
> >> 0014 250 8BITMIME
> << 0035 MAIL FROM:<NativeTexanLS@ATT.Net>

This server is asking for ESMTP authentication and your SMTP is not setup to do this authentication.

Go to File | Network configuration | (Sending) SMTP, edit the SMTP setup, select the "Security" tab and select one of the 3 options for doing SMTP Authorization.  I suspect the second or third option where you enter either a username and password or a POP3 setup is what is required.  Make sure though the account matches the server though.

> >> 0105 530 authentication required - for help go to
> http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/sbc/dsl/mail/pop/pop-11.html
>
> not exactly the same on each of my e-mail accounts.  Have verified the
> Pop3, smtp and ports for each several times and still not able to
> download nor send any e-mail.  The user name is correct on each with
> individual passwords, not all the same.
>
>  Now I am totally confused, just went in and  verified all the
> information again and in Internet Options/Settings for sending mail
> (SMTP) Via direct SSL connect (selected) SMTP Authentication checked
> both Do a prior POP3 login to authenticate before sending mail . .
> -Using this POP3 definition: [my account] Select.  Done that one AND
> select Login to SMTP server using a POP3 username/password . . -From
> this POP3 definition: [my account] Select . . .  This account is not
> working YET, but; the other two accounts did start working.  Setting
> them this same way.
>
> Have been talking to AT&T support for about 3 hours and verifying,
> reverifying over and over again five different people to talk with and
> the last person just said if you do not use what we support then you
> are on your own.  NO HELP!!!

Typical.  They should have been able to tell you that they support ESMTP authentication using the PLAIN LOGIN and XMYCOOKIE methods. These methods are identified in the SMTP helo screen you have provided.  WinPMail supports the LOGIN method.

>
> They do not know what CRAM-MD5 is or just will not admit they are not
> using it.  They will not even tell me what they are using.  Where do I
> go from here?

---

Thomas R. Stephenson
San Jose, California
Member of Pegasus Mail Support Team

Thomas,

 Thank you for this HELP, but; it is not any HELP at this time.  Today I have not tried the other accounts only my Primary and it will not work with any box marked to authenticate.  I have set just the top one in "SMTP Authentication" and then added the bottom one, that did not work either.  Just attempted the one in the middle and, YES!, it did not work either.  Are you not supposed to have more than one checked at a time?  You can do the top one and bottom one at the same time.  I have done them individually and the 'RED dot with the white X' turns a very bright RED and the only way to reset that is to close Pegasus and restart or is there another method?

Thank you for this attempt, that is more than what AT&T will do because they do not support Pegasus.

 

---

TIA, CU L8R,
NTxLS
Dell Inspiron AMD Athlon(tm) 64bit Dual Core Processor 2.3GHz, RAM 3G; 32bit Vista build 6001 SP1; IE v7.0; FF v3.0.4/wXtensions PM v1.7.2, NoScript v1.8.5; CFP v3.5.55810.432, AntiVir v8.0xxx

So far all we have see is what you get with ESMTP AUTH turned off.  Turn on session logging and let us see an attempt with session logging turned on. 

FWIW, you really do not need to select more than one of the three options even if the hosts suports more than one way to do this.  I believe either option 2 or 3 is what they are asking for here.

 

 

---

Thomas R. Stephenson
San Jose, California
Member of Pegasus Mail Support Team

Thomas R. Stephenson:

So far all we have see is what you get with ESMTP AUTH turned off.  Turn on session logging and let us see an attempt with session logging turned on. 

FWIW, you really do not need to select more than one of the three options even if the hosts suports more than one way to do this.  I believe either option 2 or 3 is what they are asking for here.

 

 Thomas,

 The results are the same, did a search for that SYSLOG.PM file with "No items match your search."  Where might I find that file?  Found where to start the logging under 'Tools/Options/UserInterface/Reporting/Logging' bottom of that page Checked the box.

 

---

TIA, CU L8R,
NTxLS
Dell Inspiron AMD Athlon(tm) 64bit Dual Core Processor 2.3GHz, RAM 3G; 32bit Vista build 6001 SP1; IE v7.0; FF v3.0.4/wXtensions PM v1.7.2, NoScript v1.8.5; CFP v3.5.55810.432, AntiVir v8.0xxx

>  Thomas R. Stephenson:
>
>     So far all we have see is what you get with ESMTP AUTH turned
>     off.  Turn on session logging and let us see an attempt with
>     session logging turned on. 
>
>     FWIW, you really do not need to select more than one of the three
>     options even if the hosts suports more than one way to do this.  I
>     believe either option 2 or 3 is what they are asking for here.
>
>  Thomas,
>
> The results are the same, did a search for that SYSLOG.PM file with "No items match your search."  Where might I find that file? 
> Found where to start the logging under 'Tools/Options/UserInterface/Reporting/Logging' bottom of that page Checked the box.

What we are looking for for is the WinPMail session log.  Go to File | Network configuration | General and turn on "Create Internet session logs (advanced diagnostic use only)"  

Checking this control tells Pegasus Mail to create special log files that show the entire exchange of information between it and the servers it connects to. Each session will be created in a file called TCPxxxx.WPM in your home mailbox directory (the "xxxx" is replaced by four digits). Creating session logs will slow down the performance of your system somewhat, and you should be aware that any username and password information exchanged between Pegasus Mail and the server will be shown in the log, *even* if you use SSL to secure the connection. Session logs are primarily useful if you need to debug a problem between Pegasus Mail and one of the servers it connects to - you should enable the option only on instructions from a system administrator or from Pegasus Mail technical support. [ Technical note: this control has the same effect as using a "-Z 32" commandline switch when you run Pegasus Mail ]

You can now try again to send the mail and then look at the resulting TCP/IP debug file.  Review of this file will tell you exactly what is going on between WinPMail and the server.  We expect to see something like the following if you have turned on the AUTH.

---

Thomas R. Stephenson
San Jose, California
Member of Pegasus Mail Support Team

Thomas,

 I have three accounts that I am using within Pegasus, the other two work just fine.  I usually login using my Default or Primary account.  If I use 'Files/Change User' to the other accounts they work just fine.  Now if I login using one of those Users and change to my Primary account through the same 'Files/Change User' there are NOT any Globes for sending nor checking e-mail on the Tool Bar.  They are there if I login with my primary account with Admin privileges.  How about the WinSock?  Should that be "On Demand"?  Or not used at all?  I have set differently several times and makes NO difference.

Thank you for your efforts, 

---

TIA, CU L8R,
NTxLS
Dell Inspiron AMD Athlon(tm) 64bit Dual Core Processor 2.3GHz, RAM 3G; 32bit Vista build 6001 SP1; IE v7.0; FF v3.0.4/wXtensions PM v1.7.2, NoScript v1.8.5; CFP v3.5.55810.432, AntiVir v8.0xxx

NTxLS:

Thomas,

 I have three accounts that I am using within Pegasus, the other two work just fine.  I usually login using my Default or Primary account.  If I use 'Files/Change User' to the other accounts they work just fine.  Now if I login using one of those Users and change to my Primary account through the same 'Files/Change User' there are NOT any Globes for sending nor checking e-mail on the Tool Bar.  They are there if I login with my primary account with Admin privileges.  How about the WinSock?  Should that be "On Demand"?  Or not used at all?  I have set differently several times and makes NO difference.

Thank you for your efforts, 

 

No globes means that the winsock is turned off.  Go to Tools | Options | Advanced and turn it on and then apply and restart WinPMail. I recommend that you set this one to "Use Always".

FWIW, DO NOT USE File | Change User.  It causes all sorts of problems and I hope it will  be removed from the next release.

 

 

---

Thomas R. Stephenson
San Jose, California
Member of Pegasus Mail Support Team

Will do Thomas, as soon as I can.  Just wanted to post this so you know I have seen this and am following your leads.

 

BYEcycle, later dudde, 

 Edited by NTxLS > Just ran a test message and this is the error message returned to the screen in Pegasus:

Connection established to 68.142.198.11

SSL/TLS session established: 3DES, CBC mode, keysize 192 bits

Certificate user is cn=smtp.att.yahoo.com, ou=Yahoo, o=Yahoo! Inc., l=Santa Clara, sp=California, c=US

Certificate is valid from Fri Jan 19 17:44:10 2007 to Thu Jan 19 17:44:10 2012

Certificate fingerprint is FBD6859996FEF21D33987C7220A7365F
>> 0042 220 smtp102.sbc.mail.mud.yahoo.com ESMTP
<< 0021 EHLO

[70.249.46.87]
>> 0036 250-smtp102.sbc.mail.mud.yahoo.com
>> 0032 250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN XYMCOOKIE
>> 0016 250-PIPELINING
>> 0014 250 8BITMIME
<< 0012 AUTH LOGIN
>> 0018 334 VXNlcm5hbWU6
<< 0026 MWFuZ2VsYnJhdEBhdHQubmV0
>> 0018 334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6
<< 0018 RmpiRE5rWmIwbQ==
>> 0027 235 ok, go ahead (#2.0.0)
<< 0035 MAIL FROM:<UserName@custom.homenet>
>> 0108 553 From: address not verified; see http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/original/manage/sendfrom-07.html
 

Will now go look for the other Log file 4 "U", I also removed my email addy from the line <<0035, OH! I almost forgot to mention that WinSock was changed to "Always" and the Globes disappeared so had to move that back to "On Demand" and restart Pegasus.

BYEcycle, thank you, 

---

TIA, CU L8R,
NTxLS
Dell Inspiron AMD Athlon(tm) 64bit Dual Core Processor 2.3GHz, RAM 3G; 32bit Vista build 6001 SP1; IE v7.0; FF v3.0.4/wXtensions PM v1.7.2, NoScript v1.8.5; CFP v3.5.55810.432, AntiVir v8.0xxx

My report is not going to be very good, cannot find any Mail Boxes nor that file that was supposed to have been created TCPxxxx.WPM.  Where would that mail box be located that I should find what we are looking for?

I do not normally have this type of a problem with a system, just this Vista is very annoying about not having Admin privileges.  I do have them and the system just will not admit it.

Edited by NTxLS > 

 Should I go in and remove/un-install Pegasus Mail and re-install?

---

TIA, CU L8R,
NTxLS
Dell Inspiron AMD Athlon(tm) 64bit Dual Core Processor 2.3GHz, RAM 3G; 32bit Vista build 6001 SP1; IE v7.0; FF v3.0.4/wXtensions PM v1.7.2, NoScript v1.8.5; CFP v3.5.55810.432, AntiVir v8.0xxx