>
> > >
> > > We have a sporadic problem with qmail hanging and eventually
> > timing out when
> > > popping certain messages.
> >
>
> I just saw this problem again. Ran tcpdump and captured the pop-3
> conversation below. What's interesting is that client is only retrieving 1
> message, instead of the 7 present. The server sends the message, the client
> acks it, but then doesn't request any more messages. So, apparently the
> server is waiting for the next command and not getting it. On the other
> hand, the client is apparently expecting more data, but not getting it, or
> it's confused about how many messages it's received, so the client times out
> and sends a FIN packet.
>
Which client are you using?
There is a similar bug in all versions of Outlook, where it will
abruptly stop downloading messages if the last byte in the TCP packet
happens to be a dot ("."). See:
http://www.ornl.gov/its/archives/mailing-lists/qmail/1999/09/msg00467.html
And the whole thread associated.
I don't know if it's the same bug, since the circunstances you mention
seem to be slightly different, but you could research into that
direction. Have you tried telnetting by hand to port 110 and issuing POP
commands to see if the same thing happens?
Paulo Jan.
DDnet.
