Posting to BellSouth newsgroup fails

[Robert Schuldenfrei]

Dear NG,

I was trying to post a message TO a BellSouth newsgroup. The system
rejected my message with a 441 error. It was error number 0x800CCCA9. Now
I clearly can post to Microsoft NGs as this message demonstrates. It is not
a password error, because trying a wrong password gives me an authentication
error. The complete error message is:

Windows Mail could not post your message. Subject 'IE7 w/Vista "Listen Live"
crashes IE7', Account: 'newsgroups.bellsouth.net', Server:
'newsgroups.bellsouth.net', Protocol: NNTP, Server Response: '441 Posting
Failed (Rejected by POST filter)', Port: 119, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error:
441, Error Number: 0x800CCCA9

BellSouth will not help me as they claim they do not support other people's
software. Their curt reply is:

We apologize for the inconvenience, but we only offer technical support for
issues regarding BellSouth FastAccess DSL. We cannot provide assistance for
any third party software or hardware. You will need to contact the
manufacturer of your product for technical assistance.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Bob

 

[DGuess]

Are you connected to Bellsouth at the time? Some ISP won't allow you to
connect to their services unless you are connected via them. In other words,
say you connected via Comcast Cable and tried to access Bellsouths news
server you may get the same error.

Another cause is that the server carries a newsgroup(s)for reading only and
doesn't allow posting for whatever reason they deem needed.

There are other causes as well.

The thing about it is that it's not a software problem. The server is
reporting back to you and it's of course, not telling you exactly what the
reasoning is. So BellSouth saying it's software is a bunch of BS (and that
doesn't isn't short for BellSouth).

So, get back with them and ask then why THEIR server is reporting that back
to you because YOUR software is working just fine. It is THEIR server that
is giving you that error not YOUR software and you want to know why THEIR
server is telling you that. If they reject that, ask to speak to someone
else there that actually knows what is going on.

 

[Robert Schuldenfrei]

Thank you DGuess for your timely response. I am on hold with BellSouth
right now They NOW agree, it is their problem. It is the solution that
has got them baffled!

Cheers,

Bob

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

BellSouth's NNTP server did not like something in your attempted
post. Try varying the contents of the post. Was there an attachment?
Some NNTP servers don't permit attachments. Does BellSouth have
a "Test" newsgroup? Most ISPs have that, so you can try out different
things until you find out what the problem is.

Gary VanderMolen

 

[Steve Cochran]

Go to Tools | Options | Send | News | Plain text Settings and set it to
UUENCODE instead of MIME. Then it will work.

steve

 

[Robert Schuldenfrei]

Hi Steve & NG

You hit the nail on the head! That was it. BellSouth is still
"researching" the problem. They did not even know they had a test site I
will inform BellSouth of your insight.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Interesting. UUENCODE is the OE/WinMail default for News.
Someone must have changed your setting at some point.

Gary VanderMolen

 

[Robert Schuldenfrei]

Hi Gary,

No one changed anything as this was the first time I had brought up Windows
Mail since installing Vista on a new computer. Now, certain installations
have changed things big time as firms rush to make changes to their
installations to conform to Vista. My sound board has had its settings
changed by many programs during install. I doubt that this is the case for
Mail, but who knows. Anyway, I found this late in my conversion since I
only use Windows Mail for newsgroups.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[Steve Cochran]

I think they may have changed the default in WinMail to Mime.

steve

 

[Steve Cochran]

its amusing the bellsouth people didn't know that.

steve

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

I stand corrected. I just changed my news format from Mime/None
to Uuencode. Why would MS change the default when it may not
be compatible with a lot of news servers?

Gary VanderMolen

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

A sign of the times.
Companies now hire people who will work for the lowest
wages instead of the best qualified. Circuit City just fired
all their experienced sales reps so they could save on
salary expenses.

Gary VanderMolen

 

[Steve Cochran]

See your other reply referencing the sign of the times. I don't expect MS
is much different.

Plus it wouldn't be OE or WM unless it broke something.

steve

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your help too, Steve. I'm using Windows Vista Enterprise Edition
and I've been experiencing the same problem for quite some time now. No one
changed any setting when I first opened up Windows Mail. The MIME setting was
the default.

Glad to have my newsgroups back!

Thanks again!

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Yes, Microsoft screwed up when they changed the news default to MIME.

Gary VanderMolen

 

[Christine Williams]

Don't forget to add a reply to address in the setup, this is what finally
got mine working...