6: Socket timeout = "Connection timeout (no response from host)."

Michael

posted Apr 28 '11 at 8:26 am

[quote user="Stardance"]Which means that, when most exceptions

occur, WinPmail doesn't have any of the error data which is available

from Windows when the OS or even the program itself detects or

encounters an error condition.[/quote]

Take a look at Tools => Internet options => General at the bottom and read the help about Internet session logging.

[quote user="Stardance"]Which means that, when most exceptions occur, WinPmail doesn't have any of the error data which is available from Windows when the OS or even the program itself detects or encounters an error condition.[/quote]Take a look at Tools =&gt; Internet options =&gt; General at the bottom and read the help about Internet session logging.

			Michael
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Stardance

posted Apr 27 '11 at 7:52 am

For what it might be worth, I searched this forum for information about this error and it returned at least 100 results (many duplicates). I don't recall reading one that contained the string "6: Socket timeout" but many have the string "8: Socket timeout". That said, many of the message threads pertained to this generic error message. The upshot from reading until my eyes glazed over was that each and every case had its own peculiar cause and consequent resolution.

In other words, evidently there are many possible causes for the error message (which is worthless for determining the cause of the error, of course).

For several cases, it seems that a resolution of the problem was found. Why the resolution "worked", or even what the resolution actually was found to be, were apparently omitted, if only because as soon as someone announced that they had found the solution, everyone stopped writing -- somewhat like a road that leads to the edge of a cliff. For some threads (not all), a post that contains the "answer" was marked and presented when I accessed the thread. However, the content of those "answers" were about as clear as mud, and of no identifiable use to me with regard to finding what the cause of the problem is on this particular computer:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD5 (rev. 2.1), BIOS ver. F6, with AMD 890FX/SB850 chip set and a Realtek RTL8111D 10/100/1000 Mbit LAN integrated NIC. (There are two RJ45 LAN ports for "teaming" but only one is enabled and in use.)

OS: Windows 7 Professional

Anything else you need to know, please ask.

By the way, I have checked the configuration of Windows 7 Firewall, and added

Pegasus Mail to the whitelist, but that did not stop the error from

occurring.

Edit: the first thing I did was to increase the timeout value from 30 seconds to 60 seconds, but still no joy.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed will be appreciated.

For what it might be worth, I searched this forum for information about this error and it returned at least 100 results (many duplicates).&nbsp; I don't recall reading one that contained the string "6: Socket timeout" but many have the string "8: Socket timeout".&nbsp; That said, many of the message threads pertained to this generic error message.&nbsp; The upshot from reading until my eyes glazed over was that each and every case had its own peculiar cause and consequent resolution. In other words, evidently there are many possible causes for the error message (which is worthless for determining the cause of the error, of course).&nbsp; For several cases, it seems that a resolution of the problem was found.&nbsp; Why the resolution "worked", or even what the resolution actually was found to be, were apparently omitted, if only because as soon as someone announced that they had found the solution, everyone stopped writing -- somewhat like a road that leads to the edge of a cliff.&nbsp; For some threads (not all), a post that contains the "answer" was marked and presented when I accessed the thread.&nbsp; However, the content of those "answers" were about as clear as mud, and of no identifiable use to me with regard to finding what the cause of the problem is on this particular computer: Motherboard:&nbsp; Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD5 (rev. 2.1), BIOS ver. F6, with AMD 890FX/SB850 chip set and a Realtek RTL8111D 10/100/1000 Mbit LAN integrated NIC.&nbsp; (There are two RJ45 LAN ports for "teaming" but only one is enabled and in use.)OS:&nbsp; Windows 7 Professional&nbsp;Anything else you need to know, please ask.&nbsp; By the way, I have checked the configuration of Windows 7 Firewall, and added Pegasus Mail to the whitelist, but that did not stop the error from occurring.&nbsp; Edit: the first thing I did was to increase the timeout value from 30 seconds to 60 seconds, but still no joy. Any suggestions as to how to proceed will be appreciated.

Thomas R. Stephenson

posted Apr 27 '11 at 6:03 pm

> In other words, evidently there are many possible causes for the
> error message (which is worthless for determining the cause of the
> error, of course).

Nope, you know the cause of the message, the windows socket timeout and the connection was broken. It's the why this happened that is not clear.

> For several cases, it seems that a resolution of the problem was found. Why the resolution "worked", or even what the resolution
> actually was found to be, were apparently omitted, if only because as soon as someone announced that they had found the solution,
> everyone stopped writing -- somewhat like a road that leads to the edge of a cliff. For some threads (not all), a post that contains
> the "answer" was marked and presented when I accessed the thread.

And the reason for this is there are many many reasons for the connection to the host to fail with this error. It could be that the firewall is blocking the connection on this port, the server is down, the server name is wrong, the DNS has the wrong IP address, the route to host is down, and on and on. There is no single solution for a TCP/IP level connection problem.

It also depends when this error occurs. If the error occurs before you ever make a connection that is one thing but if it happens in the middle or end of a POP3/SMTP then that's another problem.

> However, the content of those "answers" were about as clear as mud, and of no identifiable use to me with regard to finding what the
> cause of the problem is on this particular computer:
>
> Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD5 (rev. 2.1), BIOS ver. F6, with AMD 890FX/SB850 chip set and a Realtek RTL8111D 10/100/1000 Mbit LAN
> integrated NIC. (There are two RJ45 LAN ports for "teaming" but only one is enabled and in use.)
>
> OS: Windows 7 Professional
>
> Anything else you need to know, please ask.

1. When do you get this error.

2. Does it always happen.

>
> By the way, I have checked the configuration of Windows 7 Firewall, and added Pegasus Mail to the whitelist, but that did not stop the
> error from occurring.

Does not mean that this even cleared the firewall problem with Windows. ;-(

&gt; In other words, evidently there are many possible causes for the &gt; error message (which is worthless for determining the cause of the &gt; error, of course). Nope, you know the cause of the message, the windows socket timeout and the connection was broken.&nbsp; It's the why this happened that is not clear. &gt; For several cases, it seems that a resolution of the problem was found.&nbsp; Why the resolution "worked", or even what the resolution &gt; actually was found to be, were apparently omitted, if only because as soon as someone announced that they had found the solution, &gt; everyone stopped writing -- somewhat like a road that leads to the edge of a cliff.&nbsp; For some threads (not all), a post that contains &gt; the "answer" was marked and presented when I accessed the thread. And the reason for this is there are many many reasons for the connection to the host to fail with this error.&nbsp; It could be that the firewall is blocking the connection on this port, the server is down, the server name is wrong, the DNS has the wrong IP address, the route to host is down, and on and on.&nbsp; There is no single solution for a TCP/IP level connection problem. It also depends when this error occurs.&nbsp; If the error occurs before you ever make a connection that is one thing but if it happens in the middle or end of a POP3/SMTP then that's another problem. &gt; However, the content of those "answers" were about as clear as mud, and of no identifiable use to me with regard to finding what the &gt; cause of the problem is on this particular computer: &gt; &gt; Motherboard:&nbsp; Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD5 (rev. 2.1), BIOS ver. F6, with AMD 890FX/SB850 chip set and a Realtek RTL8111D 10/100/1000 Mbit LAN &gt; integrated NIC.&nbsp; (There are two RJ45 LAN ports for "teaming" but only one is enabled and in use.) &gt; &gt; OS:&nbsp; Windows 7 Professional &gt; &gt; Anything else you need to know, please ask. 1.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;When do you get this error. &nbsp; 2.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Does it always happen. &gt; &gt; By the way, I have checked the configuration of Windows 7 Firewall, and added Pegasus Mail to the whitelist, but that did not stop the &gt; error from occurring. Does not mean that this even cleared the firewall problem with Windows. ;-(

Stardance

posted Apr 27 '11 at 9:56 pm

[quote user="Thomas R. Stephenson"]

[/quote]

That's what I meant. We know that WinPmail stopped attempting to connect to the Windows socket because a connection was not made before the time allotted to do that expired. That's all that WinPmail tells us because it did not receive any error message from Windows or any other source before it terminated the attempt. In this case, no connection was made.

[quote user="Thomas R. Stephenson"]
> For several cases, it seems that a resolution of the problem was found. Why the resolution "worked", or even what the resolution
> actually was found to be, were apparently omitted, if only because as soon as someone announced that they had found the solution,
> everyone stopped writing -- somewhat like a road that leads to the edge of a cliff. For some threads (not all), a post that contains
> the "answer" was marked and presented when I accessed the thread.

And the reason for this is there are many many reasons for the connection to the host to fail with this error. It could be that the firewall is blocking the connection on this port, the server is down, the server name is wrong, the DNS has the wrong IP address, the route to host is down, and on and on. There is no single solution for a TCP/IP level connection problem.

It also depends when this error occurs. If the error occurs before you

ever make a connection that is one thing but if it happens in the middle

or end of a POP3/SMTP then that's another problem.
[/quote]

I said as much in my remarks about the search results. It seems that every case has its own peculiar cause and resolution.

[quote user="Thomas R. Stephenson"]
1. When do you get this error.

2. Does it always happen.

[/quote]

The error occurs when I attempt to obtain new mail from the Hotmail server (pop3.live.com). I decided to do that one first and add the ISP POP3 server accounts later. I guess you could say that it "always happens" because none of the dozen-plus connection attempts succeeded. I need to double-check the Hotmail server name by running Thunderbird on my old computer.

[quote user="Thomas R. Stephenson"]
>
> By the way, I have checked the configuration of Windows 7 Firewall, and added Pegasus Mail to the whitelist, but that did not stop the
> error from occurring.

Does not mean that this even cleared the firewall problem with Windows. ;-(
[/quote]

Maybe not, but what else can I do about that? Don't tell me that the alternatives are trouble-free. I've used them, too, and they're not perfect either.

[quote user="Thomas R. Stephenson"]&gt; In other words, evidently there are many possible causes for the &gt; error message (which is worthless for determining the cause of the &gt; error, of course). Nope, you know the cause of the message, the windows socket timeout and the connection was broken.&nbsp; It's the why this happened that is not clear. [/quote]That's what I meant.&nbsp; We know that WinPmail stopped attempting to connect to the Windows socket because a connection was not made before the time allotted to do that expired.&nbsp; That's all that WinPmail tells us because it did not receive any error message from Windows or any other source before it terminated the attempt.&nbsp; In this case, no connection was made.[quote user="Thomas R. Stephenson"] &gt; For several cases, it seems that a resolution of the problem was found.&nbsp; Why the resolution "worked", or even what the resolution &gt; actually was found to be, were apparently omitted, if only because as soon as someone announced that they had found the solution, &gt; everyone stopped writing -- somewhat like a road that leads to the edge of a cliff.&nbsp; For some threads (not all), a post that contains &gt; the "answer" was marked and presented when I accessed the thread. And the reason for this is there are many many reasons for the connection to the host to fail with this error.&nbsp; It could be that the firewall is blocking the connection on this port, the server is down, the server name is wrong, the DNS has the wrong IP address, the route to host is down, and on and on.&nbsp; There is no single solution for a TCP/IP level connection problem. It also depends when this error occurs.&nbsp; If the error occurs before you ever make a connection that is one thing but if it happens in the middle or end of a POP3/SMTP then that's another problem. [/quote]I said as much in my remarks about the search results.&nbsp; It seems that every case has its own peculiar cause and resolution. [quote user="Thomas R. Stephenson"] 1.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;When do you get this error. &nbsp; 2.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Does it always happen. [/quote] The error occurs when I attempt to obtain new mail from the Hotmail server (pop3.live.com).&nbsp; I decided to do that one first and add the ISP POP3 server accounts later.&nbsp; I guess you could say that it "always happens" because none of the dozen-plus connection attempts succeeded.&nbsp; I need to double-check the Hotmail server name by running Thunderbird on my old computer.[quote user="Thomas R. Stephenson"] &gt; &gt; By the way, I have checked the configuration of Windows 7 Firewall, and added Pegasus Mail to the whitelist, but that did not stop the &gt; error from occurring. Does not mean that this even cleared the firewall problem with Windows. ;-( [/quote]Maybe not, but what else can I do about that?&nbsp; Don't tell me that the alternatives are trouble-free.&nbsp; I've used them, too, and they're not perfect either.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Thomas R. Stephenson

posted Apr 27 '11 at 10:26 pm

> The error occurs when I attempt to obtain new mail from the Hotmail server (pop3.live.com). I decided to do that one first and add the
> ISP POP3 server accounts later. I guess you could say that it "always happens" because none of the dozen-plus connection attempts
> succeeded. I need to double-check the Hotmail server name by running Thunderbird on my old computer.

I find that this works quite well with Pegasus Mail using pop3.live.com on port 995 and using Via direct SSL connect under the security tab.

This tells Pegasus Mail that the server expects SSL negotiation to occur as soon as a connection is made between the client and the server. This operating mode is in disfavour amongst the powers-that-be on the Internet, and its use will decline over the next few years, primarily because it requires the use of a special port number for the encrypted version of each protocol that uses it.

&gt; The error occurs when I attempt to obtain new mail from the Hotmail server (pop3.live.com).&nbsp; I decided to do that one first and add the &gt; ISP POP3 server accounts later.&nbsp; I guess you could say that it "always happens" because none of the dozen-plus connection attempts &gt; succeeded.&nbsp; I need to double-check the Hotmail server name by running Thunderbird on my old computer. I find that this works quite well with Pegasus Mail using pop3.live.com on port 995 and using Via direct SSL connect under the security tab. This tells Pegasus Mail that the server expects SSL negotiation to occur as soon as a connection is made between the client and the server. This operating mode is in disfavour amongst the powers-that-be on the Internet, and its use will decline over the next few years, primarily because it requires the use of a special port number for the encrypted version of each protocol that uses it. &nbsp;

Stardance

posted Apr 28 '11 at 7:35 am

My apologies, but there seems to be a flaw in the forum software.

Twice I've discovered that it does not show that a reply has been posted to my most recent remarks

until after I have accessed my remarks, which I do to either edit them or update them -- in the absence of any reported reply, of course. I've decided to delete the "UPDATE" which I posted to the remarks to which you reply below, and add it to those I've written in response.

[quote user="Thomas R. Stephenson"]> The error occurs when I attempt to obtain new mail from the Hotmail server (pop3.live.com). I decided to do that one first and add the
> ISP POP3 server accounts later. I guess you could say that it "always happens" because none of the dozen-plus connection attempts
> succeeded. I need to double-check the Hotmail server name by running Thunderbird on my old computer.

I find that this works quite well with Pegasus Mail using pop3.live.com on port 995 and using Via direct SSL connect under the security tab.

This tells Pegasus Mail that the server expects SSL negotiation to occur as soon as a connection is made between the client and the server. This operating mode is in disfavour amongst the powers-that-be on the Internet, and its use will decline over the next few years, primarily because it requires the use of a special port number for the encrypted version of each protocol that uses it.

[/quote]

That is how I configured it and it is not working at all.

If memory serves, MSN Hotmail actually requires a secure connection and will not connect on Port 110. ~~Another thing is that, as configured for Thunderbird, the client must send the user's entire e-mail address string and not just the user-name sub-string before the @ symbol.~~ [I'm not sure about that.]
The security details, however, are not disclosed by Thunderbird. Indeed, the UI does not have a field in which to record the password that is used to access the account. Instead, during the first time that the user runs Thunderbird after setting-up a new account, it queries the user for the password.

Then Thunderbird asks whether to keep the password on record for future use. A wise and experienced user will reply "No" so that TBird will not have a password on record if something goes wrong during the first attempt to access the account -- such as an incorrect password (!). Only after attempts to access the account are proven successful is it reasonable to have TBird record the password. But enough about Thunderbird.

UPDATE: After running Thunderbird 2.0.0.xx.s on my old computer, I

recorded all of the data for each e-mail account that I have online

(although for most accounts, I already had all of the connection data at

hand).

Then I ran the WinPmail File Menu > Network

Configuration function which opens the Internet Mail Options dialog

tree, and used the data to configure a POP3 connection for my Hotmail

account. WinPmail has many more options which are, of course,

potentially that many more things with which a mistake can be made,

never mind the accelerating potential for a software bug that each

additional "feature" incurs.

Now it seems that WinPmail no longer displays the error message "Connection timeout (no response from host)."

Instead

it displays the message: "A network error occurred during connection to

the host." with "<< No trace information available >>" in

the box at the bottom of the error dialog.

For that I spent over

three hours studying the User Manual and the <F1> Help texts??

Of course, WinPmail is not a Windows program. It appears to me that if

it uses any of the Microsoft Windows Application Programming Interface (API) then its developer has

concealed that very, very well. So it appears to be just a program that

Windows will load and run. Which means that, when most exceptions

occur, WinPmail doesn't have any of the error data which is available

from Windows when the OS or even the program itself detects or

encounters an error condition.

By the way, why the File Menu

cannot be labeled "Internet Mail Options" instead of "Network

Configuration" is a mystery to me. Pegasus Mail is blast-from-the-past

enough without having two (or more?) names for the same thing. That's

also two names (or more?) used in the documentation, of course, and it

takes a while to realize that when the text refers to one then it is

implicitly referring to the other(s).

UPDATE #2:

At the present time, WinPmail is not responding at all when I use either the File Menu > Check host for new Mail or the toolbar (?) Check your POP3 host for new mail button. WinPmail is checking for new mail only after it is launched, so I must exit the program, then re-launch it after I change anything in an attempt to get it working. This is increasingly becoming a waste of time and effort.

My&nbsp; apologies, but there seems to be a flaw in the forum software.&nbsp; Twice I've discovered that it does not show that a reply has been posted to my most recent remarks until after I have accessed my remarks, which I do to either edit them or update them -- in the absence of any reported reply, of course.&nbsp; I've decided to delete the "UPDATE" which I posted to the remarks to which you reply below, and add it to those I've written in response. [quote user="Thomas R. Stephenson"]&gt; The error occurs when I attempt to obtain new mail from the Hotmail server (pop3.live.com).&nbsp; I decided to do that one first and add the &gt; ISP POP3 server accounts later.&nbsp; I guess you could say that it "always happens" because none of the dozen-plus connection attempts &gt; succeeded.&nbsp; I need to double-check the Hotmail server name by running Thunderbird on my old computer. I find that this works quite well with Pegasus Mail using pop3.live.com on port 995 and using Via direct SSL connect under the security tab. This tells Pegasus Mail that the server expects SSL negotiation to occur as soon as a connection is made between the client and the server. This operating mode is in disfavour amongst the powers-that-be on the Internet, and its use will decline over the next few years, primarily because it requires the use of a special port number for the encrypted version of each protocol that uses it. &nbsp; [/quote]That is how I configured it and it is not working at all.&nbsp; <blockquote>If memory serves, MSN Hotmail actually requires a secure connection and will not connect on Port 110.&nbsp;<strike> Another thing is that, as configured for Thunderbird, the client must send the user's entire e-mail address string and not just the user-name sub-string before the @ symbol.</strike>&nbsp; [I'm not sure about that.]&nbsp; The security details, however, are not disclosed by Thunderbird.&nbsp; Indeed, the UI does not have a field in which to record the password that is used to access the account.&nbsp; Instead, during the first time that the user runs Thunderbird after setting-up a new account, it queries the user for the password.&nbsp; </blockquote><blockquote>Then Thunderbird asks whether to keep the password on record for future use. A wise and experienced user will reply "No" so that TBird will not have a password on record if something goes wrong during the first attempt to access the account -- such as an incorrect password (!).&nbsp; Only after attempts to access the account are proven successful is it reasonable to have TBird record the password.&nbsp; But enough about Thunderbird.&nbsp;</blockquote>&nbsp;UPDATE:&nbsp; After running Thunderbird 2.0.0.xx.s on my old computer, I recorded all of the data for each e-mail account that I have online (although for most accounts, I already had all of the connection data at hand). Then I ran the WinPmail File Menu &gt; Network Configuration function which opens the Internet Mail Options dialog tree, and used the data to configure a POP3 connection for my Hotmail account.&nbsp; WinPmail has many more options which are, of course, potentially that many more things with which a mistake can be made, never mind the accelerating potential for a software bug that each additional "feature" incurs. Now it seems that WinPmail no longer displays the error message "Connection timeout (no response from host)."&nbsp; Instead it displays the message: "A network error occurred during connection to the host."&nbsp; with "&lt;&lt; No trace information available &gt;&gt;" in the box at the bottom of the error dialog.&nbsp; For that I spent over three hours studying the User Manual and the &lt;F1&gt; Help texts??&nbsp; Of course, WinPmail is not a Windows program.&nbsp; It appears to me that if it uses any of the Microsoft Windows Application Programming Interface (API) then its developer has concealed that very, very well.&nbsp; So it appears to be just a program that Windows will load and run.&nbsp; Which means that, when most exceptions occur, WinPmail doesn't have any of the error data which is available from Windows when the OS or even the program itself detects or encounters an error condition.&nbsp; By the way, why the File Menu cannot be labeled "Internet Mail Options" instead of "Network Configuration" is a mystery to me.&nbsp; Pegasus Mail is blast-from-the-past enough without having two (or more?) names for the same thing.&nbsp; That's also two names (or more?) used in the documentation, of course, and it takes a while to realize that when the text refers to one then it is implicitly referring to the other(s).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; UPDATE #2:&nbsp; At the present time, WinPmail is not responding at all when I use either the File Menu &gt; Check host for new Mail or the toolbar (?) Check your POP3 host for new mail button.&nbsp; WinPmail is checking for new mail only after it is launched, so I must exit the program, then re-launch it after I change anything in an attempt to get it working.&nbsp; This is increasingly becoming a waste of time and effort.

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