I spent about 1 hour on the phone with a Primus technician to solve an mail problem where all e-mails to one recipient were being returned. Only this recipient was affected and my wife's e-mails to him were successful. I had frequently e-mail this person for years.
Can someone explain to me what the problem was ?
I am using Mail 4.4 on an iMac using OS 10.6.6.
The returned e-mail included the following error message (recipient x'd out by me):
A message that you sent could not be delivered to all of its recipients.
The following address(es) failed:
xxxxxxxxxxxx@hotmail.co.uk
SMTP error from remote mail server after MAIL FROM:<pbridges@magma.ca> SIZE=1747:
host mx2.hotmail.com [65.54.188.126]: 550 SC-004 (BAY0-MC4-F16) Unfortunately, messages from 216.254.180.38 weren't sent. We recommend that you contact your Internet service provider. The problem is that too many unwanted messages have been sent from the following IP address above. You can also refer your provider to http://mail.live.com/mail/troubleshooting.aspx#errors.
The technician got me to alter some Mail preferences which I do not understand, and got it working.
(in doing so he had me delete and re-enter my account which lost my inbox & outbox)
Quote from: pbridges on February 14, 2012, 10:47:14 AM
Can someone explain to me what the problem was ?
The returned e-mail included the following error message (recipient x'd out by me):
A message that you sent could not be delivered to all of its recipients.
The following address(es) failed:
xxxxxxxxxxxx@hotmail.co.uk
SMTP error from remote mail server after MAIL FROM:<pbridges@magma.ca> SIZE=1747:
host mx2.hotmail.com [65.54.188.126]: 550 SC-004 (BAY0-MC4-F16) Unfortunately, messages from 216.254.180.38 weren't sent. We recommend that you contact your Internet service provider. The problem is that too many unwanted messages have been sent from the following IP address above. You can also refer your provider to http://mail.live.com/mail/troubleshooting.aspx#errors (http://mail.live.com/mail/troubleshooting.aspx#errors).
The technician got me to alter some Mail preferences which I do not understand, and got it working.
I'm not a Primus customer and have no information beyond what you have posted, but if you find it helpful?, I could speculate below. Note too, that our Mugoo Web Administrator, is much more knowledgeable on the issues of SPAM and mail-blocking, as our message board is under constant robotic attack by SPAM sources.
What does the error message above mean?The error message you posted is from a hotmail server, mx2.hotmail.com, presumably the mail-service-provider used by your intended recipient.
Whose mail is the Hotmail mail server refusing?That hotmail mail server is refusing to accept mail originating from another mail-server at IP address 216.254.180.38.
A reverse-IP address lookup (http://www.ipchecking.com/?ip=216.254.180.38&check=Lookup) identifies this as
smtp-noauth7.primus.ca, presumably your former Primus mail-server
Why would one mail server refuse mail from another?One reason is to protect itself and the mail customers behind it from excessive SPAM.
When a mail server is identified as a source of excessive SPAM (usually due to sending 1000's of SPAM messages in a short period of time), then other mail servers may
choose to refuse _any_ mail from it; the key word being
choose.
But why would the mail servers of my other mail recipients continue to accept mail?The means by which individual mail servers decide that another mail server is a source of SPAM
vary by provider. While one provider's mail server may decide that mail server X is sending excessive SPAM and choose to BLOCK all mail from it, another provider's mail server may be unaware that mail server X is sending SPAM or may deem the amount being sent does not qualify "excessive".
"But I didn't send any SPAM!"When mail servers are blocked, the entire server is blocked, not individual users of that mail server.
Mail servers are shared resources, used by 100's or 1000's of customers. It can take as few as 1 PC, infected by a virus, sending 1000's of SPAM messages per hour, to flag a particular mail server as a source of SPAM. But everyone whose mail originates from that particular mail server gets painted with the same brush. Many providers take measures of varying degrees of effectiveness to attempt to block customers from sending SPAM, so that their mail servers don't get blocked.
How does this a blocked mail server problem get resolved?The mail server doing the block may automatically lift it after a preset time.
Or more likely customers of the blocked mail server may complain to their provider, as you did, often prompting the the provider to investigate and identify its specific customers who are (usually inadvertently) sending SPAM, and initiating the blockage of their mail server.
However, in your particular case, it sounds like they moved you to another of their mail servers, which was not blocked.
Does this help?
...b
PS. SuggestionI never use the mail service provided by my ISP providers. If I am unsatisfied with their service, I can change without the pain of having to change my email address. I've been happy with Gmail. Others have been happy with other email providers.
Thank you for taking the time to explain the problem, I think I understand what you are saying.