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Viewing Mail Live on the Server
We recommend that you Download and use JB Mail.
Clearing "Stuck" Mailboxes
For most people on a dial-up connection, mailboxes over 2 to 3 megabytes will "timeout" when trying to download with your mail client. Sometimes this happens only a few seconds into the download, sometimes minutes. If it ocurrs prior to the default 20 minutes set by the server, you are encountering packet loss due to busy network traffic. When the mail box is small and a few packets are lost due to data collisions, your mail client says "Well, I can have those few packets re-sent." When the mailbox is very large, it says "If I have to keep having packets re-sent, I'll never finish getting all this mail" and it gives up. If you can log in with telnet and reduce the size of the mailbox, you will increase your chances of getting the rest of the mail. Usually it is only a few messages that take most of the space. We often see attached graphic files cause this problem. It is always better to publish the graphic on your website and send a hyperlink to it in the mail message than to clog the recipient's mailbox with it as an attachment. Below is a mail header list typical of this situation: |
Mail version 8.1 6/6/93. Type
? for help.
"/var/mail/user": 5 messages 4 new
> 1 admin@oncorp.com Wed Feb 24 14:47
47211/3635120 "image.bmp"
N 2 bert@iat.org
Fri
Feb 26 07:47 55/2672
"test"
N 3 sgrosh@acorp.com Fri Feb 26
10:59 24/1013
"What's Up?"
N 4 rob@newtec.com Fri
Feb 26 13:33 109/4298
"New Telephone"
N 5 Richard@aol.com Sun Feb
28 21:42 821/58310
"meeting agenda"
| The first message in the list has a 3.6 megabyte picture attached. This prevents the user's mail client from getting the other messages. The user now types: delete 1 (or d1) to delete message 1. Typing h now yields: |
Mail version 8.1 6/6/93. Type
? for help.
"/var/mail/user": 4 messages 4 new
>N 2 bert@iat.org
Fri
Feb 26 07:47 55/2672
"test"
N 3 sgrosh@acorp.com Fri Feb 26
10:59 24/1013
"What's Up?"
N 4 rob@newtec.com Fri
Feb 26 13:33 109/4298
"New Telephone"
N 5 Richard@aol.com Sun Feb
28 21:42 821/58310
"meeting agenda"
| The user can now type quit (or q) to exit the
"mail" program and download the remaining mail with no problem. If you leave
your mail on the server after downloading it, it will accumulate without limit. Every time
your mail client tries to download the mail, our server must parse through all the
accumulated mail to determine which messages have already been downloaded and which ones
have not. After a while, this process will time out before ever getting to the unread
mail. For this reason, we ask that you set your mail client to remove the mail after
downloading. Any mailbox more than ten megabytes is subject to compression and/or
deletion. Because only your master userid has a telnet login, this process cannot be used
on secondary mail box userid's unless you first notify tech support via email or using our online form that you wish the
contents of the secondary mailbox moved into your master userid's mailbox. More information on the server side "mail" program's options are in the online telnet manual. At a telnet prompt, type: man mail The "pine" and "elm" mail programs are also available, type: man pine or man elm at the telnet prompt. |
These pages are for Insiteweb customer support only. While every effort is made to keep these pages current Insiteweb cannot be held responsible for loss or damage to files or equipment due to procedures stated on this website. You must agree to the insitewebdesigncom terms of service prior to using this information.