Sequence of emails 'locks up' after the welcome email

[mcgrane]

Hi,

I have set up four newsletters on a single install of LM (the version before this latest one).

Two of the newsletters are sending out the emails in the correct, timed sequence. But the other two 'lock' after sending out the welcome email, and the remaining emails don't go out.

I've been been in touch with the host, assuming the dailymail settings were the problem, but just realized now dailymail is probably NOT the problem since half of the newsletters ARE going correctly.

The dailymail on this server is run by wget. The tech guy assures me it is returning the same result as the string in the LM manual. ie.

Code: [Select]

> >
> > The script that is in place at the moment is:
> > drac:/home2/netgain$ crontab -l
> > QUERY_STRING=pw=madyan
> > 1 15 * * * $HOME/www/cgi-bin/php -q $HOME/www/info/dailymail.php
> > &>/dev/null
> >


Can you suggest another place to look for the problem?

Actually, I downloaded the latest ver last week as a test, and put it on another serve / domain (that has a CRON tab which I can edit myself fromthe cpanel) and hit the same problem. ie, it sends the welcome email, but not the next two in the test sequence.

Any suggestions where to look for something I've done wrong?

Thanks,
Len

[DW]

Do each of your followup messages have a subject and TEXT body?  If one of these does not exist your message will not be sent.  If you are sending HTML email you may want to simply put a message code of the type "Link to HTML" in as your text message.

Regards

[mcgrane]

... I had a subject and text and html content in each email in the sequence. Thanks for the suggestion, anyway.

I have just tested again on the latest version. I received the welcome email. I will wait and see if the next one comes (tt has a delay of 1) and let you know.

Most strange.
Len

[DW]

It's possible the cron task was not set up correctly on the second host you tried as a test.  Some hosts do not have the '/usr/bin/wget' program (recommended by ListMail's manual) and an alternative must be used.

Let's work on the original host.  Are your lists very large?  If so, it might be a "timeout" issue with running PHP from the command-line.  I wonder if the way they are running it has a mandatory 30-second script timeout.  ListMail tries to set the timeout to "Unlimited" and this is successful on almost all servers  The way your host is running the task, however, is different.

On the "Locked" lists, are the Seq# and Delay# for each user increasing when dailymail is run?  If so, it could be a mail delivery issue.  If not, my best guess is that Dailymail is being closed before it completes processing (ie. timeout).

Regards, Dean

[mcgrane]

Thanks for your prompt response, Dean.

No, the lists are small.

The list I'm trying to get to work has a welcome message in both text and html, then 4 emails in a sequence (again, text and html) with a delay of 1,0,0,0.

That any help?

Thanks,
Len

[mcgrane]

I have just added myself to the newsletter that has worked correctly in the past. I got the welcome message and will wait to see if I receive the rest of the sequence.

Len

[DW]

Len,

Good idea - it seems strange that it would work on some lists but not others.  A cron task problem should be the same across all lists unless you have somewhat large lists, in which case it could be a timeout (30 secs is common) issue.  If your followup mailings don't take 30 seconds then there should be no problem (that is not the same across all lists).  That, or there's a problem with ListMail - but I haven't heard any reports of this in the past.  Please let me know what you discover.

Regards

[mcgrane]

Well, at least this is getting a little more simple, Dean. The test I ran the  other day shows that NONE of the four newsletters are working on that host now. Two of them WERE when I set them up last year.

I fear I have changed a setting somewhere ...

This host has to manually set up my mySQL and cron tabs for me. But I have tried to install the latest version of MLpro on another another host where I can set up the mySQL / cron myself. I think I should switch my efforts to that site and see if I can get the new version working there. If it will work on that host I should be able to get the earlier version on the other host working.

What do you think?

Len

[DW]

Len,

Each host is different, so it might be time-consuming to attempt setup on a 2nd.  You should be able to get it working on your original host.

First of all, the linux program /usr/bin/wget must exist on the server.  If the 'wget' program is in another directory the cron task needs to be modified to reflect the correct path.  If 'wget' does not exist on the server you can use an alternative supported by your host.

Other than the location of the utility used to 'grab' the dailymail URL there isn't much that can go wrong.

As per the help, timing needs to be once per day, ie:

0 0 * * * = midnight every day
15 1 * * * = 1:15am every day

Regards

[mcgrane]

I seem to be getting nowhere, Dean. My hosting service tech guy assures me the wget equivalent he is using (php) is set correctly for LMpro. He said:

The path is currently set for PHP to run it directly and it runs.
Using lynx is a bad idea as it does not garentee that the page will load
and requires a lot of configuration.

The way it is currently running (via PHP) is the optimal as this is
excatly how the web browser calls it.

Can you suggest another area of the set up where I may have altered something on LMpro, Dean? Is there a common pitfall that I've fallen into?

Thanks,
Len

[DW]

Len,

I don't really see a problem with how they're doing it.  I have experienced some technical difficulties with this method in the past, but can't recall the exact limitations.  Running it this way might prevent ListMail from setting the script timeout value to unlimited - default is 30 seconds.  You reported your lists were very small, so complete execution of the dailymail script (plus sending) could happen before that time.  Of course, 30 seconds isn't a lot of time - if you are sending a few hundred emails you might reach the limit.

Have you had success running dailymail manually?  Maybe you should change your dailymail password temporarily and try it for a few days to see if things send as you expect.

Do you ever have troubles sending regular email with SMTP?  The problem could be that the SMTP server is not available at dailymail time, but if this is the case you would see messages in queue...  I'm almost out of ideas.  You might want to consider running your own task from home (as per http://www.listmailpro.com/help/dailymail_local.html) or set the task up on a friend's host.

Regards

[mcgrane]

Dean, I am truly consicous that I am asking you dumb questions, because so many people are setting up LMpro right out of the box. Thanks for your patience.

But I got to thinking last night ... I changed my ISP and got fast Internet a few months ago. I retained the domain name netgain.co.nz which I still use for my email address. My congif SMTP is set for the server I have my web site files on, not my ID pass with the new ISP. I think I am getting my email via the old server, but maybe I'm not.

Does this move me further towards solving this?

Len

[DW]

Len,

I don't mind helping you out.  Please feel free to ask as many questions as you want, no matter how simple or 'dumb' they seem - since it's in the forum it's useful to everyone.

My config SMTP is set for the server I have my web site files on, not my ID pass with the new ISP. I think I am getting my email via the old server, but maybe I'm not.

It is highly recommended that you send mail from the host that ListMail is running on.  Are you having SMTP problems sending to a test list containing remote addresses?  If so, this could be the cause of your followups not going out.  Another possibility is that your (shared, I'm assuming) host is discarding the messages or has a bottleneck in the mail queue due to too much mail being sent and incorrect optimization for large amounts of email.  If this was the case, however, the messages should eventually arrive...

[mcgrane]

Thanks, Dean. I'll do a test with a gmail account and see what happens over the next couple of days.

Len