Outlook 2007 & HP TCPIP Services IMAP Server

[Mark Iline]

I’ve just started playing with Outlook 2007. In many respects it’s a big improvement over 2003, in that it’s caching seems to work with the HP TCPIP Services IMAP server much better.

However, it’s consistently failing when fetching the header from folders with 500+ mails in them. It will get to around 100, then fail with a ‘Failed to update headers’ pop-up.

The ‘details’ gives
“An IMAP command failed.
Protocol: IMAP
Server: imap.meng.ucl.ac.uk
Port: 143”
-which isn’t overly helpful…

Outlook Express, or Outlook 2003 will succeed on this folder – rather pointing the finger at Outlook.

However, a Google search on “An IMAP command failed” found http://www.hmailserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=19268&sid=04bb054c625628db1c80058f5ee3dcf5 , where someone had vaguely similar problems with another IMAP server.

This was fixed by a later build of the server. Quoting from the thread “I think hMailServer incorrectly returned an error message if the IMAP client tried to fetch information about an header that does not exist. hMailServer should just silently ignore the failure.”

Which sounds like Outlook is at fault, but you’ve got more chance of getting the IMAP server fixed, than Outlook…

A specific question: Can I get debug/log information from the IMAP server ? I’ve had a browse through TCPIP$IMAP_HOME, and whilst TCPIP$IMAP_EVENT$DREDD.LOG has various entries, there’s nothing that seems particularly relevant.

The problem appears on these versions:

HP TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS Alpha Version V5.6 - ECO 2 on an AlphaServer DS20 500 MHz running OpenVMS V8.2

5.6 without ECO 2

HP TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS Alpha Version V5.4 on a AlphaServer DS20 500 MHz running OpenVMS V7.3-2

[Hoff · Accepted solution]

Information on tracing within the IMAP server and such is available in the documentation:

http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/83final/6526/6526pro_047.html

You could also look at trying the POP path, or at acquiring and installing PMDF or other such.

Acquire the trace log and send it and the URL along to the HP support folks, and consider a switch to the Outlook Express client, or to Mozilla Thunderbird or the Mac OS X client Mail.app, or other such, in the interim.

[Mark Iline]

Thanks for that, Stephen. I'm embarassed to have now asked two questions I should have answered from the docs...

Unfortunately, it seems that as my 'software support' doesn't include 'telephone support', I can't actually log this problem. Hmm.