Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Tassilo Horn]

Hi all,

since some time, whenever I post to a group on my university's nntp
server, Gnus hangs with the last message being:

  Sending news via Uni using nntp...

The news server is this:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
% telnet newshost 119
Trying 141.26.64.5...
Connected to newshost.
Escape character is '^]'.
200 cache.uni-koblenz.de InterNetNews NNRP server INN 2.4.2 ready (posting ok).
Connection closed by foreign host.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

I can hit C-g (below is a backtrace I got with that and debug-on-quit)
to resolve the hang, and checking the group again, I can see that the
message arrived there anyhow.  But of course the C-g prevented it from
being added to my local archive group.

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
Debugger entered--Lisp error: (quit)
  signal(quit nil)
  byte-code("\b\204\a.\301 \210\302\303\304\"\207" [debug-on-quit nntp-close-server signal quit nil] 3)
  byte-code("\306\b	\n#\210\v\205.\0\307\v\310\311#.\312\216\310\313\314\217.*\310\207" [-group -server -connectionless nntp-connection-timeout -timer nntp-with-open-group-internal nntp-possibly-change-group run-at-time nil #[nil "\b.\n	;\203.\0\306	!\202.\0	\307\211.\x1c.\x1d.\2037.\r\211A.\242\211.\2037.	\v\211A@\262.=\203.\0\v@.\307\211.\204.\0\f\205S.\310\f!\311>\203G.\f\202S.\312\313\f!!\210\314\v\n\".\307-\211.\x0f\205^.\313.\x0f!\211.\x10\205q.\315.\x10!\316=\205q.\312.\x10!*\207" [nntp-server-buffer buffer nntp-connection-alist entry process alist get-buffer nil process-status (open run) nntp-kill-buffer process-buffer delq buffer-size 0 -process -buffer] 5] ((byte-code "\b\203\b.\301\b!\210\301\207" [-timer nnheader-cancel-timer] 2)) (funcall -bodyfun) ((quit (byte-code "\b\204\a.\301 \210\302\303\304\"\207" [debug-on-quit nntp-close-server signal quit nil] 3)))] 4)
  nntp-with-open-group-function(nil "Uni" nil #[nil "\306\307C.\x19\n\204.\0\v\204.\0\310\f!\210\311\312\b\313#.\f.../..;\203).\314..!\202+.\x0e.\315\211.0.1...2.2\203`.\x0e2\211A.2\242\211.0\203`.\x0e..0\211A@\262.=\2035.\x0e0@.1\315\211.2\204:.\x0e1\205\203.\316.1!\317>\203s.\x0e1\202\203.\320\321.1!!\210\322.0./\"./\315-\211.1\205\216.\321.1!\211..\205\233.r..q\210`).3.1\203\203.\r.4.5\f	\n\315.6.7.\x1e..8.9.\x0e..../..;\203\312.\314..!\202\314.\x0e.\315\211.0.1...2.2\203.\x01.2\211A.2\242\211.0\203.\x01...0\211A@\262.=\203\326.\x0e0@.1\315\211.2\204\333.\x0e1\205$.\316.1!\317>\203.\x01.1\202$.\320\321.1!!\210\322.0./\"./\315-\206,.\323..!\211.1\203I.\x0e:\204B.\n\204B.\310\321.1!!\210\324\325\326\217\202O.\327\330\331.9#.\b	\204\211.\x0e;\204\211.\x0e<.=>\204\211.\332 \210r..q\210.3b\210\333\334.!!\203\x7f.\x0e3\335y\210\336 |\210)\202\211.\327\330\337.4#..\205\331.r\fq\210.>)\315.?\211.@\203\321.\340\341.@\"\203\321.\342\335.@\".?eb\343\344\315\345#\203\274.`S\202\275.d}\210\346\347!\204\317.eb\210\350.?\351\261.\210~\210\352\353!\210\354\355!*\207" [strings wait-for nnheader-callback-function nntp-inhibit-output nntp-server-buffer command "^[23].*.?\n" "POST" nntp-erase-buffer mapconcat identity " " get-buffer nil process-status (open run) nntp-kill-buffer process-buffer delq nntp-open-connection err (byte-code "\b\203*.	\b.\x19\306 .\n.\r\203.\0\307\n!\210\310	\n.1P\"\210\311	!\312>\206(.\313\314!*\210.2\315=\2033.\316\207.2\203K.\x0e3\203K.\317	.3.4.5.2%\210\316\207.3\203Q.	.3.4.5\320.6.5.4.3.r\321	!q\210eb\210`f\322>\203w.\323\324!\203\271.\311	!\325>\203\271.\323\326!\203\214.\327	!\210\202\257.\323\330!\203\242.\331\332\333\334\335N#\210\336\334\320\"\210\202\257.\323\337!\203\257.`\340y\210`|\210\341	!\210eb\210\202j.\323\342!\203\306.\343 \210\320\202F.\311	!\344>\204\324.\313\314!\202F.db\210e\320.7.8\345.3.8\316#\204\370.\341	!\210d\346Ze].8db\210\202\335.\347\350!.7r.9q\210.7.:+\351.5?!\210.6\204E.r.4q\210db\210.;\203/.r\321	!q\210\352\353 !)c\210\2027.\354\321	!\320\211#\210.<\203D.\320.<\355\356\357\"\210)\316.6\204N.\360 \210..\207\316\207" [command process string nntp-last-command-time nntp-last-command nntp-record-commands current-time nntp-record-command process-send-string process-status (open run) nntp-report "Server closed connection" ignore t nntp-async-wait nil process-buffer (50 51 52 53) looking-at "48[02]" (open run) "480" nntp-handle-authinfo "482" nnheader-report nntp "%s" nntp-authinfo-rejected error-message signal "^.*\n" 1 nntp-accept-process-output "[45]" nntp-snarf-error-message (open run) re-search-backward 1000 match-string 0 nntp-decode-text mm-string-to-multibyte buffer-string insert-buffer-substring nnheader-message 5 "" erase-buffer nntp-end-of-line ...] 6) ((nntp-authinfo-rejected (byte-code "\301\302\bA\"\207" [err signal nntp-authinfo-rejected] 3)) (error (byte-code "\302\303\304\b	$\207" [address err nnheader-report nntp "Couldn't open connection to %s: %s"] 5)) (quit (byte-code "\300\301!\210\302\303\304\"\210\304\207" [message "Quit retrieving data from nntp" signal quit nil] 3))) nnheader-report nntp "Couldn't open connection to %s" nntp-accept-response looking-at regexp-quote 1 point-at-bol "Couldn't open connection to %s." string-match "^[23].*\\(<[^	\n @<>]+@[^	\n @<>]+>\\)" match-string search-forward "\n\n" t mail-fetch-field "Message-ID" "Message-ID: " "\n" run-hooks nntp-prepare-post-hook nntp-send-buffer "^[23].*\n" buffer nntp-connection-alist entry process ...] 8])
  nntp-request-post("Uni")
  gnus-request-post((nntp "Uni" (nntp-address "news.uni-koblenz.de")))
  message-send-news(nil)
  message-send-via-news(nil)
  message-send(nil)
  message-send-and-exit(nil)
  call-interactively(message-send-and-exit nil nil)
  command-execute(message-send-and-exit)
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

I'm using the current Git version of Gnus.  I'm happy to provide further
information or debug whatever you want.

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org> writes:

> since some time, whenever I post to a group on my university's nntp
> server, Gnus hangs with the last message being:
>
>   Sending news via Uni using nntp...

After you `C-g', what's in the " *server <something> nntp...*" buffer
(note leading space)?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  bloggy blog http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Tassilo Horn]

Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

Hi Lars,

>> since some time, whenever I post to a group on my university's nntp
>> server, Gnus hangs with the last message being:
>>
>>   Sending news via Uni using nntp...
>
> After you `C-g', what's in the " *server <something> nntp...*" buffer
> (note leading space)?

The buffer " *server news.uni-koblenz.de nntp *nntpd**" is completely
empty.

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org> writes:

>> After you `C-g', what's in the " *server <something> nntp...*" buffer
>> (note leading space)?
>
> The buffer " *server news.uni-koblenz.de nntp *nntpd**" is completely
> empty.

Hm.  And you only have one of those buffers?

What about the " *nntpd*" buffer?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  bloggy blog http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Tassilo Horn]

Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

>>> After you `C-g', what's in the " *server <something> nntp...*"
>>> buffer (note leading space)?
>>
>> The buffer " *server news.uni-koblenz.de nntp *nntpd**" is completely
>> empty.
>
> Hm.  And you only have one of those buffers?

No, one for each nntp server (gmane and my university).

  - " *server news.uni-koblenz.de nntp *nntpd**"
  - " *server news.gmane.org nntp  *nntpd**"

And the " *server news.uni-koblenz.de nntp *nntpd**" buffer sometimes
contains stuff, e.g., after a `g' in *Group* it contains:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
infko.softtech 0000003697 0000000034 y
infko.oopm 0000003087 0000000001 m
infko.mac 0000002661 0000000001 y
infko.linux 0000001959 0000000001 y
infko.jobs 0000000978 0000000001 y
infko.intern 0000000932 0000000003 y
infko.info 0000000620 0000000003 y
infko.infm 0000014289 0000000001 y
infko.inf 0000008373 0000000001 y
infko.general 0000092970 0000000003 y
infko.easy-coding 0000000015 0000000001 y
infko.cv 0000014423 0000000087 y
comp.lang.java.programmer 0000704049 0000703949 y
de.comp.text.tex 0000251110 0000251080 y
alt.religion.emacs 0000001961 0000001962 y
infko.test 0000004336 0000000030 y
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

> What about the " *nntpd*" buffer?

That's also empty.

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org> writes:

> No, one for each nntp server (gmane and my university).
>
>   - " *server news.uni-koblenz.de nntp *nntpd**"
>   - " *server news.gmane.org nntp  *nntpd**"
>
> And the " *server news.uni-koblenz.de nntp *nntpd**" buffer sometimes
> contains stuff, e.g., after a `g' in *Group* it contains:
> infko.softtech 0000003697 0000000034 y
> infko.oopm 0000003087 0000000001 m
> infko.mac 0000002661 0000000001 y

So that's OK.  Hm...

Could you edebug through `nntp-request-post' and look in the
nntp-server-buffer (whatever that is) buffer to see what the server
says?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  bloggy blog http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Tassilo Horn]

Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

>> No, one for each nntp server (gmane and my university).
>>
>>   - " *server news.uni-koblenz.de nntp *nntpd**"
>>   - " *server news.gmane.org nntp  *nntpd**"
>>
>> And the " *server news.uni-koblenz.de nntp *nntpd**" buffer sometimes
>> contains stuff, e.g., after a `g' in *Group* it contains:
>> infko.softtech 0000003697 0000000034 y
>> infko.oopm 0000003087 0000000001 m
>> infko.mac 0000002661 0000000001 y
>
> So that's OK.  Hm...
>
> Could you edebug through `nntp-request-post' and look in the
> nntp-server-buffer (whatever that is) buffer to see what the server
> says?

Ok, the problematic form in `nntp-request-post' is

  (nntp-send-buffer "^[23].*\n")

and `nntp-server-buffer' is " *nntpd*" which contains this line

  340 Ok, recommended ID <lf97sn$bi$2@cache.uni-koblenz.de>

And in `nntp-send-buffer' it hangs at the form

  (nntp-retrieve-data
   nil nntp-address nntp-port-number nntp-server-buffer
   wait-for nnheader-callback-function)

which seems to be waiting for some response from the server that doesn't
arrive.

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Tassilo Horn]

Hi Lars,

here's another info.  I think, I've had that problem once before and
solved it by not using a secure connection to that server.  At least the
comment in my ~/.gnus.el seems to indicate that.

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
(add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods
             '(nntp "Uni"
                    (nntp-address "news.uni-koblenz.de")

                    ;; TODO: Why the heck do I get those endless hangs when
                    ;; sending away messages via this account with TLS or
                    ;; SSL?!?

                    ;; (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
                    ;; (nntp-port-number 563)
                    ))
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

Maybe now Gnus uses a TLS stream by default, and that's why I get the
issue again?

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Steinar Bang]

>>>>> Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org>:

> Maybe now Gnus uses a TLS stream by default, and that's why I get the
> issue again?

Ah, right... see this thread:
 http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.discuss/15943
which culminated in this bug report:
 http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=16784

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Eric S Fraga]

Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org> writes:

[...]

> Maybe now Gnus uses a TLS stream by default, and that's why I get the
> issue again?

I'd like to know what is causing this as well.  I have a strange
scenario where I have no problem sending emails through a particular (MS
Exchange) server from two of my systems, one at work and one at home
both using wired connections, but cannot send from two different laptops
connected at home through wireless connections.  Sending simply hangs.

The wireless connection is provided by the same fibre broadband router
as the wired connection at home.

Thanks,
eric

-- 
: Eric S Fraga, GnuPG: 0xFFFCF67D
: in Emacs 24.3.50.2 + Ma Gnus v0.10 + evil 1.0-dev
: BBDB version 3.1 (2014-02-28 22:25:41 -0600)

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Andreas Schwab]

Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org> writes:

> Ok, the problematic form in `nntp-request-post' is
>
>   (nntp-send-buffer "^[23].*\n")
>
> and `nntp-server-buffer' is " *nntpd*" which contains this line
>
>   340 Ok, recommended ID <lf97sn$bi$2@cache.uni-koblenz.de>

Positive responses for POST (RFC3977):

340    Send article to be posted
240    Article received OK

Andreas.

-- 
Andreas Schwab, schwab@linux-m68k.org
GPG Key fingerprint = 58CA 54C7 6D53 942B 1756  01D3 44D5 214B 8276 4ED5
"And now for something completely different."

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Andreas Schwab]

Eric S Fraga <e.fraga@ucl.ac.uk> writes:

> I'd like to know what is causing this as well.  I have a strange
> scenario where I have no problem sending emails through a particular (MS

NNTP is about news, not mail.

Andreas.

-- 
Andreas Schwab, schwab@linux-m68k.org
GPG Key fingerprint = 58CA 54C7 6D53 942B 1756  01D3 44D5 214B 8276 4ED5
"And now for something completely different."

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Tassilo Horn]

Steinar Bang <sb@dod.no> writes:

>> Maybe now Gnus uses a TLS stream by default, and that's why I get the
>> issue again?
>
> Ah, right... see this thread:
>  http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.discuss/15943
> which culminated in this bug report:
>  http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=16784

Hm, but in my case, Gnus is able to connect just fine, it's just that it
seems to await some final response that doesn't occur.

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Steinar Bang]

>>>>> Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org>:

> Hm, but in my case, Gnus is able to connect just fine, it's just that it
> seems to await some final response that doesn't occur.

Ok, but do you have similar TLS messages to the bug, in the Messages
buffer?

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Tassilo Horn]

Steinar Bang <sb@dod.no> writes:

>>>>>> Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org>:
>
>> Hm, but in my case, Gnus is able to connect just fine, it's just that it
>> seems to await some final response that doesn't occur.
>
> Ok, but do you have similar TLS messages to the bug, in the Messages
> buffer?

No, I only get some "Resource temporarily unavailable" messages with
gnutls-log-level set to 1.

gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) non-fatal error: Resource temporarily unavailable, try again. [13 times]
20140307T111334.994> Reading active file from archive via nnml...
20140307T111334.995> Reading active file from archive via nnml...
20140307T111334.995> Reading active file from archive via nnml...done
20140307T111334.995> Reading active file via nndraft...
20140307T111334.999> Reading active file via nndraft...
20140307T111335.000> Reading active file via nndraft...done
20140307T111335.098> Checking new news...done
gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) allocating credentials
gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) setting the trustfile:  /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) gnutls callbacks
gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) gnutls_init
gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) got non-default priority string: NORMAL
gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) setting the priority string
gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) non-fatal error: Resource temporarily unavailable, try again. [1216 times]

And that's only when getting new news/mail.  When trying to post to my
university's nntp server, there are no TLS messages at all.

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Eric S Fraga]

Andreas Schwab <schwab@linux-m68k.org> writes:

> Eric S Fraga <e.fraga@ucl.ac.uk> writes:
>
>> I'd like to know what is causing this as well.  I have a strange
>> scenario where I have no problem sending emails through a particular (MS
>
> NNTP is about news, not mail.

Sure, I understand, but there is a commonality that involves
networking...  No worries in any case.

thanks,
eric

-- 
: Eric S Fraga, GnuPG: 0xFFFCF67D
: in Emacs 24.3.50.2 + Ma Gnus v0.10 + evil 1.0-dev
: BBDB version 3.0.50 (2014-01-08 21:30:17 -0600)

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Steinar Bang]

>>>>> Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org>:

>> Ok, but do you have similar TLS messages to the bug, in the Messages
>> buffer?

> No, I only get some "Resource temporarily unavailable" messages with
> gnutls-log-level set to 1.

> gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) non-fatal error: Resource temporarily unavailable, try again. [13 times]
[snip!]
> gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) allocating credentials
> gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) setting the trustfile:  /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
> gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) gnutls callbacks
> gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) gnutls_init
> gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) got non-default priority string: NORMAL
> gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) setting the priority string
> gnutls.c: [1] (Emacs) non-fatal error: Resource temporarily unavailable, try again. [1216 times]

Ah, probably not the same bug, then...?

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org> writes:

> Ok, the problematic form in `nntp-request-post' is
>
>   (nntp-send-buffer "^[23].*\n")
>
> and `nntp-server-buffer' is " *nntpd*" which contains this line
>
>   340 Ok, recommended ID <lf97sn$bi$2@cache.uni-koblenz.de>
>
> And in `nntp-send-buffer' it hangs at the form
>
>   (nntp-retrieve-data
>    nil nntp-address nntp-port-number nntp-server-buffer
>    wait-for nnheader-callback-function)
>
> which seems to be waiting for some response from the server that doesn't

Then the server isn't outputting the "240 OK" message after receiving
the message, I would guess.  An NNTP server bug?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  bloggy blog http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org> writes:

> here's another info.  I think, I've had that problem once before and
> solved it by not using a secure connection to that server.  At least the
> comment in my ~/.gnus.el seems to indicate that.
> (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods
>              '(nntp "Uni"
>                     (nntp-address "news.uni-koblenz.de")
>
>                     ;; TODO: Why the heck do I get those endless hangs when
>                     ;; sending away messages via this account with TLS or
>                     ;; SSL?!?
>
>                     ;; (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
>                     ;; (nntp-port-number 563)
>                     ))
> Maybe now Gnus uses a TLS stream by default, and that's why I get the
> issue again?

Sounds like the NNTP server in question does something weird when you're
using TLS.  Perhaps it's not flushing the output correctly or something?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  bloggy blog http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Tassilo Horn]

Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org> writes:

>> here's another info.  I think, I've had that problem once before and
>> solved it by not using a secure connection to that server.  At least the
>> comment in my ~/.gnus.el seems to indicate that.
>> (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods
>>              '(nntp "Uni"
>>                     (nntp-address "news.uni-koblenz.de")
>>
>>                     ;; TODO: Why the heck do I get those endless hangs when
>>                     ;; sending away messages via this account with TLS or
>>                     ;; SSL?!?
>>
>>                     ;; (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
>>                     ;; (nntp-port-number 563)
>>                     ))
>> Maybe now Gnus uses a TLS stream by default, and that's why I get the
>> issue again?
>
> Sounds like the NNTP server in question does something weird when
> you're using TLS.  Perhaps it's not flushing the output correctly or
> something?

Might be.  Then I'll contact our datacenter.  The Inn version they are
using is pretty outdated anyway.

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: Posting to my university's nntp server hangs

[Tassilo Horn]

Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org> writes:

>>> here's another info.  I think, I've had that problem once before and
>>> solved it by not using a secure connection to that server.  At least the
>>> comment in my ~/.gnus.el seems to indicate that.
>>> (add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods
>>>              '(nntp "Uni"
>>>                     (nntp-address "news.uni-koblenz.de")
>>>
>>>                     ;; TODO: Why the heck do I get those endless hangs when
>>>                     ;; sending away messages via this account with TLS or
>>>                     ;; SSL?!?
>>>
>>>                     ;; (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
>>>                     ;; (nntp-port-number 563)
>>>                     ))
>>> Maybe now Gnus uses a TLS stream by default, and that's why I get the
>>> issue again?
>>
>> Sounds like the NNTP server in question does something weird when
>> you're using TLS.  Perhaps it's not flushing the output correctly or
>> something?
>
> Might be.  Then I'll contact our datacenter.  The Inn version they are
> using is pretty outdated anyway.

Ok, that really seems to be the case.  When I use

(add-to-list 'gnus-secondary-select-methods
	     '(nntp "Uni"
		    (nntp-address "news.uni-koblenz.de")
		    (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-plain-stream)
		    (nntp-port-number 119)))

as a select method ensuring that it won't upgrade to TLS, I can post
without issues.

Bye,
Tassilo