IMAP + Outlook - mails appear in inbox days after being sent

Discussions on webmail and the Professional version.
MrByte
Posts: 663
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 5:33 pm
Location: Florida, USA

Post by MrByte »

OK. I did some tests myself with Outlook 2007 and was able to duplicate the problem.
I had previously no problems with Thunderbird or even with the webbased interface, BUT here's what happened:
1) I opened Outlook 2007 and configured my IMAP Account. All messages in the Inbox appeared fine. Sent a new one, and it did not appear, not even after doing a manual Send/Recieve, which is what has been reported as the problem by you guys.
2) Now, miraculously Thunderbird stopped showing new messages as well and also the Web interface....

Hmm... so digging into the logs, I see that messages are being delivered fine, and the . MAI files actually appear in the Inbox, but no one is notified that they are there nor are able to retrieve them.

Next Step: I deleted the _index.xml file in the Inbox... and guess what, Outlook stated showing all new messages coming in.
Closed Outlook and opened Thunderbird.. no new messages. Deleted _index.xml and Thunderbird started working.....

Soooo, it seems that when Outlook accesses the Inbox, something happens to the _index.xml file that screws up everyone else.... I'll leave it to ME to figure out what happens...

RobinWhitehead, you might want to add this info to your support ticket.

taylort and hamutoff, try deleting the file and report back
.MrByte

MrByte
Posts: 663
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 5:33 pm
Location: Florida, USA

Post by MrByte »

amazing... after so much complaining and then no response of the suggestion I made to fix this issue...simply amazing
.MrByte

RobinWhitehead
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:00 pm

Post by RobinWhitehead »

Hi MrByte,

Thanks for the suggestion - I did actually try it - it *did* pull down the errant messages BUT in doing this, the folder in outlook was emptied & then ALL the messages in the folder were downloaded as new, so as you can imagine for a 1000+ message folder, this was not a viable workaround. Plus, since all the messages were then seen as new (& therefore unread), it made it very difficult to reconcile which messages were the errant ones...

I did get another suggestion from MailEnable themselves:
One workaround which may help accommodate the problem is to edit a registry key within the MailEnable registry branch which controls how the index.xml is to be updated. The key can be located at the following MailEnable registry branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mail Enable\Mail Enable

The key name is: Store notification mode. Set the decimal value to 0. Default setting is 4

Setting the key to 0 means that the postoffice connector marks the folder as "dirty" so whenever the folder message list is accessed the index will be updated then. When the key is set to 4 it relies on the postoffice connector service to update the index.xml file upon new messages arrivals in the users inbox. This maybe the problem which is causing the index.xml to go out sync. As mentioned we will investigate further and notify you of any findings. Please advise if the problem persists changing the registry for the "Store notification mode".
It's too early to tell if the workaround has fixed the issue & also what side effects will show themselves, but I have been using it for 2 days & (fingers crossed) no problems so far.

Cheers,
Rob

MrByte
Posts: 663
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 5:33 pm
Location: Florida, USA

Post by MrByte »

Rob,
thanks for your reply.
Sorry about the issue with the messages. In my test I had just a few messages.....
What still baffles me is the issue that happens when Outlook connects and it screws up the file. Never had this issue with Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Incredimail or the Web based interface. It only surfaced after connecting to it with Outlook 2007.
.MrByte

taylort
Posts: 80
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Louisville, KY

Post by taylort »

MrByte wrote:amazing... after so much complaining and then no response of the suggestion I made to fix this issue...simply amazing
This isn't the first time this has been reported. This is an ongoing problem that MailEnable is actively choosing to ignore.

Simply incredible.
Last edited by taylort on Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

MrByte
Posts: 663
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2003 5:33 pm
Location: Florida, USA

Post by MrByte »

no, you're not getting it, I didn't mean ME with this....
.MrByte

MailEnable-Ben
Posts: 5858
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2004 6:49 am
Location: Melbourne

Post by MailEnable-Ben »

As MrByte has correctly explained as he often does in this area - If the problem is a deal breaker and a serious problem then submit a support ticket via the MailEnable web site this is the only way you will get help with this as there is no possible way we could help via the means of the forum for a problem such as this. I do not see the same problem here.

Deleting the _index.xml files is not ideal and we would love to get to the bottom of it whether the problem is client based or server. I don’t see any MailEnable version numbers this would be a good place to start also send through the details of how we can reliably recreate the problem. Sending through a test mailbox details from your server that has the problem could also be a good way forward.
Regards,

Product Services
MailEnable Pty Ltd

To keep track of all ME company updates and version releases you should subscribe to the MailEnable list at http://www.mailenable.com or the RSS feed http://www.mailenable.com/rss.

taylort
Posts: 80
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Louisville, KY

Post by taylort »

MrByte wrote:no, you're not getting it, I didn't mean ME with this....
Ah, I misread your post. I knew about the _index.xml "fix" but that is not even close to an ideal way of fixing this problem. I have 1,700 emails in my inbox alone and deleted the index file last week. It was a fun five hours looking through each and every email again and trying to determine whether I had seen it before.

Thank you for posting the suggestion. It has been posted before (by ME themselves, I believe) but doesn't resolve the issue for me.

taylort
Posts: 80
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Louisville, KY

Post by taylort »

MailEnable-Ben wrote:As MrByte has correctly explained as he often does in this area - If the problem is a deal breaker and a serious problem then submit a support ticket via the MailEnable web site this is the only way you will get help with this as there is no possible way we could help via the means of the forum for a problem such as this. I do not see the same problem here.

Deleting the _index.xml files is not ideal and we would love to get to the bottom of it whether the problem is client based or server. I don’t see any MailEnable version numbers this would be a good place to start also send through the details of how we can reliably recreate the problem. Sending through a test mailbox details from your server that has the problem could also be a good way forward.
This is a support forum. It says so on your website. If this is just a "hey let's talk about happy things" forum then name it that way. In my opinion, you guys ignoring this topic for close to a month before finally replying is unacceptable.

Then you follow up with a message like this. No apology. No solution. No "sorry that we have been ignoring this". Just a message that shifts the blame and asks us to follow up with you.

Maybe you could contact everyone in this thread through private message or email and follow up with everyone individually? Instead, you ask us to submit a support ticket (which all of us knew about before posting). I know I personally have submitted at least one support ticket regarding this issue (as well as another regarding my IMAP service crashing) and neither have been resolved.

You reply to other topics in this forum but seem to ignore IMAP topics. If it's a real pain in your ass that is taking hours and hours to resolve or troubleshoot, by all means we will understand. Just tell us. Don't ignore us.

rockinthesixstring
Posts: 844
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2005 7:51 am
Location: Canada

Post by rockinthesixstring »

I sorta have to agree with Ben on this one. This IS a support forum but remember the word "Forum" in that phrase too. This is a place where users can ask for help and advice from other users... and the developers can drop in and offer advice as well. This being said, if there is a PROBLEM or a BUG, it needs to be submitted and logged thru the appropriate channels. I'm sure your not all that willing to post your RDP redentials in a Forum, so I suggest you post a Ticket

I have found in the past that ME is quite good at answering support calls, and they will not charge you if it is a BUG.
Chase
Server 2008 Standard (x64)
ME Ent 6.51 (SQL Server 2008 Config)
ASSP 1.9

Smurf
Posts: 516
Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2004 6:42 pm

Post by Smurf »

We're also getting reports of this problem. Apple Mail, Thunderbird, Outlook and Windows Mail users and IMAP 1.0.0.53

Messages are arriving randomly and deleted messages reappear at random.

ME - Do you need us to report this bug or do you have enough people already?

taylort
Posts: 80
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Louisville, KY

Post by taylort »

RobinWhitehead wrote:Hi MrByte,

Thanks for the suggestion - I did actually try it - it *did* pull down the errant messages BUT in doing this, the folder in outlook was emptied & then ALL the messages in the folder were downloaded as new, so as you can imagine for a 1000+ message folder, this was not a viable workaround. Plus, since all the messages were then seen as new (& therefore unread), it made it very difficult to reconcile which messages were the errant ones...

I did get another suggestion from MailEnable themselves:
One workaround which may help accommodate the problem is to edit a registry key within the MailEnable registry branch which controls how the index.xml is to be updated. The key can be located at the following MailEnable registry branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mail Enable\Mail Enable

The key name is: Store notification mode. Set the decimal value to 0. Default setting is 4

Setting the key to 0 means that the postoffice connector marks the folder as "dirty" so whenever the folder message list is accessed the index will be updated then. When the key is set to 4 it relies on the postoffice connector service to update the index.xml file upon new messages arrivals in the users inbox. This maybe the problem which is causing the index.xml to go out sync. As mentioned we will investigate further and notify you of any findings. Please advise if the problem persists changing the registry for the "Store notification mode".
It's too early to tell if the workaround has fixed the issue & also what side effects will show themselves, but I have been using it for 2 days & (fingers crossed) no problems so far.

Cheers,
Rob
I had high hopes for this but it turned out not to work either. An email just slipped through a few minutes ago that was actually received yesterday. I saw my unread message count increase but didn't see the new message until I scrolled down in Outlook to yesterday's messages.

I have filed a support ticket with ME.

MailEnable-Ben
Posts: 5858
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2004 6:49 am
Location: Melbourne

Post by MailEnable-Ben »

Hi, Thanks Smurf we do have a couple of reports now and we have them trialling a new service. Which so far has fixed a few IMAP indiscretions, still a bit more to do before we release the update.
Regards,

Product Services
MailEnable Pty Ltd

To keep track of all ME company updates and version releases you should subscribe to the MailEnable list at http://www.mailenable.com or the RSS feed http://www.mailenable.com/rss.

taylort
Posts: 80
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: Louisville, KY

Post by taylort »

MailEnable-Ben wrote:Hi, Thanks Smurf we do have a couple of reports now and we have them trialling a new service. Which so far has fixed a few IMAP indiscretions, still a bit more to do before we release the update.
To update everyone, the new IMAP service seems to be doing well so far.

Smurf
Posts: 516
Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2004 6:42 pm

Post by Smurf »

taylort, what version of IMAP are your running? If it's fixed the issue very keen to ensure we're running the latest release.

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