telnet problem

Question

I am trying to use telnet to send an email. Everytime I put in the command "open whatever.com 25" its says "Strike any key to continue" When I do that it says "connection to host lost". I thought it might be the built in firewall in xp so I killed the alg.exe process but still get the same message. I have a dial up ISP with an accelarator so I disabled that but still the same message. I am rookie and advise would be great thanks!!!

p2hvt

DELL-Cody · Answer

It appears that the mailserver you are telnetting to is not configured as an open relay, or is configured to reject any session that does not originate from an approved list of client software.

p2hvt · Answer

Cody when you say 'from an approved list of client software'  Could you be more specific?  I am not sure what you mean.  Also the mail server or rather the webpage about the mailserver says that anyone can use it to send emial via telnet.   Could my problem be a result of too many people accessing the mail server?

Mr Black · Answer

I am running Windows XP Professional on my Dell Dimension 4600 and have
just recently exprienced some trouble with my telnet and ftp.

Both these programs worked perfectly before and have only just recently
started to play up on me.

The problem is that:

1) I cannot access ftp web sites and can not download files via ftp.

-it comes up with a message that it cannot open page.

2) and I cannot use telnet to connect to remote PCs (which I need for my uni).

- it comes up with a message: press any key to continue and when I do it says
connection to host lost or sometimes it just disapears.

I have called Dell technical support and they could not help me.

I have already
- repaired Windows
- re-installed Windows
- re-formated my PC and installed Windows again
- installed other telnet and ftp programs

However none of these have fixed the problem.

This is a strange problem, since my internet connection works fine and I can use html
with out any troubles.

Im pretty sure that this is not a hardware issue since I can connect to the
internet fine and can surf the web and check emails fine.

It also cannot be a virus since reformating and reinstalling has accomplished nothing.

Can anyone help me in regards to this problem???

p2hvt · Answer

Mr Black me and you have the same problem. Every time I try to use telnet to send email I get the same message. 'Strike Any Key to Continue'  When I do this I also get the 'connection to host lost'  message.  Mr Black let me know if you have any luck figuring this out!!  Thanks

Mr Black · Answer

Yes. I thought you did. Thats why I posted my message as a reply to yours.

Well... I've been trying to find a solution to this problem for about two weeks now, and with no luck.

As I mentioned before, I have tried nearly all that I can do, but nothing seems to work! And I dont want to play around with any settings which I dont understand, because I might create more problems.

Its a weired problem and I wonder whether any others have the same issue?

I have spoken to technical support multiple times with no success. I have also emailed DELL and no proper or usefull suggestions were given.

I am excpecting a phone call from an IT Technician on Monday (Tommorow). If I find the solution I will definetly post it to you.

jwatt · Answer

The problem is that:1) I cannot access ftp web sites and can not download files via ftp. -it comes up with a message that it cannot open page.2) and I cannot use telnet to connect to remote PCs (which I need for my uni). - it comes up with a message: press any key to continue and when I do it saysconnection to host lost or sometimes it just disapears. Regarding the FTP problem - have you set 'Use Passive FTP' under IE's Tools/Internet Options/Advanced/Browsing? If you're connected to the Internet through a router, you'll need that. A telnet connection is straightforward compared to an FTP connection. It sounds like something's blocking TCP port 23. The telnet client initiates a connection to TCP port 23 on the machine running a telnet server, and negotiates some options. After that, the 'login' prompt should appear in the telnet window. If the connection is closing immediately, there should be some log entries on the server left behind. Perhaps incoming telnet connections are blocked from the IP address or network you're connecting from. Someone should review the logs on the machine running the telnet server and see if the problem is being logged. Jim

Mr Black · Answer

Im not using a router. And I have already tried the passive ftp option.

As for Telnet, it was working fine before and the sever which I connect to has no problems from other machines, it only has this problem from my PC.

???

jwatt · Answer

As for Telnet, it was working fine before...

Was there something that changed that caused Telnet to stop working?

The fact that you have no router means that the machine's IP address should be the one used to make Telnet and FTP connections. Is it possible that your ISP is blocking outbound Telnet connections?

Are you able to take a look at the logs on the Telnet server and see if the connection is ever getting there?

Jim

p2hvt · Answer

Are you able to take a look at the logs on the Telnet server and see if the connection is ever getting there?

What can you do if you are not able to look at the log? I have the same problem as Mr Black.

jwatt · Answer

Your problem's actually slightly different. He's trying to use the "telnet" protocol (TCP/23), and you're trying to use the "SMTP" (TCP/25) protocol. What they have in common is use of a "telnet" client, and the fact that neither is working.

If you try to deliver EMAIL to the same SMTP server using a mail client like Outlook Express, does that work?

The reason I'd asked about logs from the server was to see whether the connection ever reached the telnet server. If your ISP is small enough, they might be willing to check their mail server logs and see if your connection ever got there.

A much more technical approach would be for you to install a network sniffer like Ethereal, and set it up to monitor traffic going to and from the SMTP server you're trying to connect to. That requires detailed knowledge of the TCP/IP protocol to interpret the output. My hunch is that you'd find that the SMTP server is abruptly closing the connection. That's based on the fact that you said the connection terminates almost immediately. If you or someone you know is familiar enough with the way TCP/IP works, you might want to try looking at the traffic with Ethereal.

Jim

p2hvt · Answer

Jim thanks for the reply.  I use a big ISP so that will not happen,.  Also I am very green when it comes to TCP/IP.  I am just trying to teach myself how to use STMP via telnet to send email.  I found a website that says you can telnet into them and send email.  Everytime I try to open port 25 on this server it gives me the message 'Strike any key to continue'  when I do this I get ' connection to host lost.'  Could this be a situation where telnet is timing out trying to get a response?  Or could it have to do with something else?  Any help would be great. Also I am using a dial up, not sure if that makes a differnce?

jwatt · Answer

p2hvt,

Here's a document illustrating an (E)SMTP session. As you'll see, the server sends the first message after the connection opens. It's followed (in this example of ESMTP) by an EHLO message from the client. In the non-extended version of the protocol, that would be HELO, as explained in RFC 821, the original description of the protocol.

I also found a commented example of SMTP using a telnet client.

Does sending mail to that server using a regular mail client work?

I think you'd said you tried other telnet clients. It's odd that the XP one is so uninformative! The Win2K client doesn't produce a "Strike any key" message under any circumstances I've been able to produce! And that's certainly not part of the SMTP protocol. I wonder where that message is coming from?

Jim

p2hvt · Answer

Jim once again thanks for your help.  But I am still confused.  So let me tell you what I am doing.  I run telnet on Win Xp Home I first set 'localecho'  The I type 'open notreal.com 25' Then I get a message 'strike any key to contiune'  Then comes 'connection to host lost'.  Now it might be important to know that the Domain I am trying to telnet into says its open for anyone to use to send email via their server.  Now I  have tired this same process with my ISP I telnet in and set 'localecho' then type 'open hugeISP.net 25'  the it comes up with a messag 'Hello xxx.xx.xx.xx'   then I type 'helo'  and send my email and  it all works fine?  Does this help?

jwatt · Answer

Now it might be important to know that the Domain I am trying to telnet into says its open for anyone to use to send email via their server. Now I have tired this same process with my ISP I telnet in and set "localecho" then type "open hugeISP.net 25" the it comes up with a messag "Hello xxx.xx.xx.xx" then I type "helo" and send my email and it all works fine? Does this help?

It sure does! The one that's claiming to be open to anyone isn't! The fact that you can get to "hugeISP.net" successfully means that you're doing nothing wrong. By the way, I'm glad you discovered the "localecho" switch. It's enough of a pain using a telnet client for SMTP, and not being able to see what you're typing makes it worse!

If you want, send me a Private Message with the real name of "notreal.com", and I'll see if I can reproduce your result.

Jim

p2hvt · Answer

Jim I sent you the domain via a privite message let me know what  you find!!!  Thanks

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telnet problem

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