Ref: 05270026
Title: Discussion of 3+Route unable to forward Mail msgs (2pps)
Date: 7/22/88

Copyright 3Com Corporation, 1991.  All rights reserved.

QUESTION:  I am running 1.2.1 Mail,Route,Share on a 3server3, and
a Hayes 2400B. Status report continually gives the following
errors between sending and receiving packets:

9999 MA_REMCNT Messages forwarded to:40001:000000000000, 0, -494
      (this message repeats every 5 minutes for 1 hour)
9999 MINDSACP:command #17 returned error #5
9999 Call:Originate fail NET:00040001 Port:com1

Mail still seems to get through.  What is causing these errors?

ANSWER:

        1                            2        3         4    5
9999 MA_REMCNT Messages forwared to:40001:000000000000, 0, -494

         The first field is MA_REMCNT (Mail remote connection).

         Second is network # forwarding too.

         Third is Ethernet Address.

         Fourth number is the number of mail messages
          successfully sent.

         Fifth number -494 is SPP timeout.

This means that 3+Route is dialing a remote network to deliver
mail, but is not getting through for unknown reasons.

Mail will log an error after each time it tries to forward. Your
mail window sounds like it is at default. 60 seconds for local
send and 5 X 60 seconds for remote send. The reason your error
log is filled with the messages is because 3+Mail and 3+Route are
on the same server. If these were separated, the -494 error would
be more meaningful or indicate a real error.

Services on the same server do not send their packets out on the
Ethernet line. They send internal packets, on the 3Server as
eth.sys -h option.

Route is requested by Mail to foward to another network. If a
connection cannot be made, it sends back a ***no route. But
3+Route does not send this error through the -h, only across the
network. Mail on the same server does not see this error, so it
times out and gives an SPP error -494. There is nothing wrong
with any code. Everything is working.  In the future 3+Route will
send the **no route code to itself.  Mail is set up now to mask
**no route's and not log them in the error log. That is why
3+Mail does not log -494s all the time when 3+Route is on a
separate server.

There is an alternative, not preferable:  I use the SPP timeout
error -494 for tuning the 3+Mail service. Bumping up the 3+Mail
processes, then dropping them back down one at a time until the -
494 error goes away.  Thus the only reason I would use the patch
(below) is to read my Status.LOG file since your log could be
unusable with all these errors listed. The error messages can
over-run  the Status.Log and route data because of the 64K limit
of the log.

Patch:

Here is a way to turn off the error message in the error log.
Again I do NOT recommend this alternative, but I do see the need
for such a patch. The following patch is for 1.2.1 3Mail.MSG  N O
T  ((1.3 or 3S400 Mail)).

Procedure:

    To turn off MA_REMCNT messages in status.log:

    For 3Mail.MSG  size 4192  date 02/18/87    ONLY.

    CD \3Plus               (on server under 3console mode. If
                             attempted through the network a
                             Sharing violation will occur.)

    3Debug 3Mail.MSG        (loads it after psp - xx:100)

    d 1F1                   (first byte should be 90)

    e 1F1 10

    w

    q

Here are some reasons why 3+Route may not be connecting with the
other server:

(1) The Remote server or network may be down, not functioning or
turned off.

(2) One of the lines on the rotary may not be answering. It could
be a bad line, bad rotary or a bad com port on the server, but
check to see if it rings off the hook. In addition, the lines
could be of too low a quality.  The Hayes 2400 is not very
forgiving of poor line conditions. Add to that the fact that
talking to a Trailblazer that has automatically reduced its baud
rate to 2400 is not the same as talking to another Hayes 2400.

The reason that mail is getting through "some way or another" is
that the "Remote Network" with multiple servers is calling you
from another server, through different lines, using different
modems, transferring mail to you and picking up your outgoing
mail at the same time.
