Unusual problem with SMTPSendMail to Amazon Kindles

davedavydave · Post by **davedavydave** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:05 pm

Hi Folks,

I am using MS to automate sending the latest top time reports from a DB app called Team Manager to swimming coaches Kindles so that they can carry them around wherever they are and get the latest info without having to faff about.

I have Team Manager exporting the data to TXT very well and also up until 2 days ago the SMTPSendMail sent it to the Kindles to an address [email protected] no problem. The thing is it stopped working last night for no reason. If I add my home or work email to the list of Kindle addresses it sends to those addresses and not the Kindle ones. So I know that the SMTP discussion is happening (I can Telnet to the SMTP address on port 25 ok). It also has the attachments so I know that all is well and groovy with them too.

I have been onto my ISP and to Amazon Kindle support but they can't find anything wrong. Has anyone heard of this happening before? Any ideas how to work around it. Would love some help folks as really struggling now.

Thanks!

adroege · Post by **adroege** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:21 pm

Just to isolate Macro Scheduler.... Did you try sending
the email to the Kindle from another email client?

Try sending from Yahoo web mail, or Thunderbird, or GMail to see if those get through. If not, then at least we know it's probably not the fault of Macro Scheduler.

davedavydave · Post by **davedavydave** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:34 pm

Thank, yup I did try that and forgot to say. It works, they come through to the Kindle from my home account or my hotmail account. It only seems to be the smtpsendmail that can't send to the kindle address in a list of other 'normal' email addresses.

Hope I am making sense and not clouding things further...

Post by **Marcus Tettmar** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:38 pm

What result code is SMTPSendMail giving?

davedavydave · Post by **davedavydave** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:49 pm

Just re-ran it:

Result of SendMail: "250 ok: Message 496909865 accepted"

It says accepted if there are only kindle addresses or if there is a mix of kindle and 'normal' addresses. So you see why I am stumped. If anything it points to the issue being at Amazon's end but I can send the files through the other hotmail account and they are there on the kindle a few mins later so its not like there is a backlog on the Amazon servers.

Also MS was doing it no probs until a few days ago so its not like you changed the function!

Cheers

Post by **Marcus Tettmar** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:57 pm

Ok. So it's accepted by the smtp mail server. So the issue is after that.

You say you've tried sending from an email client, but is that with the *exact same* smtp server, from mail address, login details etc? I.e. just sending from a hotmail account is not the same thing.

Are you receiving any bounces? If so what do they say?

What is the smtp server you are using and what is the from email address you are using? Is the former allowed to send for the latter as per the domain's SPF rules? Has someone modified the zone file?

davedavydave · Post by **davedavydave** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:23 pm

I've also tried sending from my home account which is the same account I use for the SMTPSendMail. The email address is the same as my registered Macro Scheduler account which sends no problem to other addresses.

Server is smtp.eclipse.co.uk but the ISP informed me that the server does a lookup on the IP and if its registered with Eclipse it is allowed so it works no probs with any name and email sender info (I've tested).

Just tried using my registered email address with Eclipse and it went to the 'normal' email address and not the kindle ones again.

Not sure what you mean by SPF rules Marcus but really appreciate the help.

Post by **Marcus Tettmar** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:47 pm

Ok. Well I have a Kindle so I just tried the same thing. And it works.

I set up one of my email accounts as an approved sender in my kindle settings on Amazon. I then created a small script to send a .txt file to my @free.kindle.com address. My mail server requires authentication so I added that in. I ran the script and got a 250 success result.

2 minutes later I got the "Your Amazon Kindle document is here" email from Amazon at my main Amazon email address registered to the account and was able to download the file.

So, there's clearly no specific issue with Amazon/Kindle disallowing emails coming from Macro Scheduler.

Maybe your emails are just held up somewhere and may all suddenly arrive! It does happen.

davedavydave · Post by **davedavydave** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 4:14 pm

Thanks for your help. I appreciate you going the extra mile to check with your own kindle. Ok I will strip the script down to basics and see what is up then build it back up. Will let you know how it goes...

davedavydave · Post by **davedavydave** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 11:11 pm

I need to put my hand up here and say I'm very sorry for wasting your time Marcus. Looked over the code again and the email addresses for the Kindles were coming from a new INI file I was testing with and not the standard one as I had thought and been checking! The new INI had fre.kindle.com and not free.kindle.com. I had copied the end portion to the others when updating a couple of new additions.

Again, very sorry I took up your time, I am also very

. What a numpty!

I was very impressed with your fast responses though really appreciate you taking time to help me. I've also learnt a critical lesson on checking my code/details thoroughly before asking for help!

Great product and customer service and thanks again.