The UK's Tracy and Matt have helped Microsoft identify and fix an e-mail related bug in Windows Mobile 6.1. Full details can be found in their blog post about the issue, but I've copied a few bits below for reference:

I installed the 6.1 update on the TyTN II and set up my Exchange and IMAP4 accounts. Was able to receive email with both accounts, no problem. All was well until I tried to send an email from my IMAP4 account (through SMTP). Upon trying to send mail I simply got presented with the error message above. I checked the account settings, they were all correct, but still unable to send mail.

[According to Microsoft] We are done with it and just checked in a bug fix last week to address what turned out to be a severe product bug that will affect all WM 6.1.x devices until they receive a fix or upgrade to WM 6.1.4. Your help both made us aware of the issue before it bubbled up through the forums and your device actually did help us debug the issue.
 
We are driving the issue with our response team and pushing to make a fix more broadly available independent of a device update.
 
More details on this bug:
Symptoms:
At some point sending e-mail stops working for a given e-mail account.
This will happen if the there is *any* failure to connect to the SMTP server – ever. After that point the user cannot send mail with that account again.
 
Recovery:
The user must delete their e-mail account and recreate it each time this happens.
There is no way to prevent this from reoccurring.

So as you can see, the problem is pretty severe and affects all devices with WM 6.1. The work around, if you can call it that, is to delete the affected account and recreate it.

I also suspect that this bug is related to the problem that many people report with GMail on their mobile and the reason why you must delete and recreate an email account if any of the account credentials change.

Microsoft are working on the problem at the moment and are hoping to make an independent update available. Let's hope that it will be available in that format rather than part of a full ROM update as I suspect that it will take time to filter through the manufacturers and the operator supply channels.

 

 Thanks Bill,

this is exactly problem I am trying to reproduce. Hopefully fix come out soon.

It has been a month since you posted this issue with the 6.1 SMTP.  I have a treo 800w and still cant send email.  Any update out there?  Any 3rd party App that can be uses on the WM 6.1? 

 

HELP

Hi, jcgsl - and welcome to the Connection. I'm really not sure of the status of this bug at the moment - I will see if I can get more information from our contacts in the development team. In the meantime, the workaround suggested in the original post at Tracy and Matt's Blog was to completely delete the non-working account and start from scratch. Have you tried this? And are you still unable to send? If so, then you may have an issue with the way you have set up your account to send mail - for example, the outgoing mail server may be set incorrectly, or may need your credentials and a secure connection to work.

Let us know!

 

recreating the account works for a short while before it goes back to the error message.  Another post I found says the MS is planning to release a CAB file.  You know anthing about that?

 

http://www.tracyandmatt.co.uk/blogs/index.php/2008/09/18/windows-mobile-6-1-smtp-issues

 

Thanks

 

Joe

Hi again, folks. I did a quick read-through of the original Tracy and Matt blog post, and found the most recent update from the development team, which came on October 3:

"I continue to drive this issue hard internally and it has received executive level attention. I am asking for a date for a CAB. You can inform user's that they will not need to flash a ROM update to WM 6.1.4 but they will receive a CAB-installable update that fixes the problem. The big question remains, "When?"

In the mean time, here is a bit more about the cause: This was a horribly unfortunate side-effect of adding a feature to 6.1 designed to help ensure users can send mail on Operator networks that do IP filtering and block sending e-mail via an SMTP server that is not on their network. We introduced an OEM/Operator registry key override in 6.1 that specifies a backup SMTP server. Business logic was added that attempts to use the backup SMTP server address when the user-specified SMTP server address fails. If the backup server address succeeds, it becomes the new default. The bug occurs when the OEM-specified registry key is empty and when sending via the user-specified SMTP address fails for any reason at any time. Once the device gets in this state, SMTP fails without recovery for the account. (Although, Matt, you said you were able to send again by flipping SSL/Outgoing authentication settings. We didn’t see that.) This explains why users hit the bug only sporadically, and why recreating the account solves the problem (if only temporarily – until the next SMTP failure).

It is incredibly unfortunate that this was not caught in testing, nor during the extended Beta period for 6.1, nor in our TAP program, nor by internal “dogfood” usage of 6.1, nor during Mobile Operator trials. It took us weeks to identify reproducible steps even when we received your device and focused on it in August! This is an especially bitter pill given that the feature we added to help ensure sending success (for a known blocking issue on some mobile operator networks) is the very feature that introduced sending failure. Of course, the Outlook Mobile Team is dismayed, disappointed, and determined to make it right, and so we are driving the issue very hard internally.

By the way, the registry key noted above is an OEM-protected key. So while end users cannot add or edit the key, it is possible that the Mobile Operators could OTA-provision the key with an SMTP server address that works on their network and this may well solve the problem. I am asking the team that added this feature for us to investigate if this will work as an additional mitigation. Regardless, we will develop a communication plan to Mobile Operators that they can distribute through their support organizations so that when user’s call with this problem they get an appropriate response. It pains me greatly to hear the testimony of users that are trying in vain to get their problem solved and I will do everything possible to drive a rapid response on this issue."

Hi, Joe - as of right now, I don't know any more than what's in the post you referenced. I will see if I can find out anything more...

There's still no new official information about this issue. However, the discussion at Tracy and Matt's Blog has continued, and it seems that some people have been able to solve the SMTP problem with registry editing. I can't include that information here or encourage you to try it, however. As you know, working with the Windows Mobile registry is for ADVANCED USERS ONLY. Unless you are highly experienced with Windows Mobile, following some of the instructions or tips found there could potentially harm your device or void your warranty. PLEASE NOTE: Neither Microsoft nor the the moderators or administrators of this site can provide any support or advice about working with the Windows Mobile registry. Your use of any of the information found here is AT YOUR OWN RISK.

And here's a new post at Tracy and Matt's blog that talks more about the fix.

THANKS A TON FOR THE LINK TO THE CAB FILE. I am new to WM and can now send email on my Treo 800W for the 1st time in the months that I own it! How MS can continue to overlook this is somehting I am going to stop trying to figure out. I only hope they get their act together before APPLE launches an iphone with a QWERTY keyboard!

 This error appeared for me last night while I was emailing my MVP lead with my Touch Diamond on WiFi and it went into auto-suspend.  I remembered this thread, deleted, and re-setup my email account.

Good news, everyone! Tracy and Matt have just posted the link to the official Microsoft patch for this issue. You can download it as a CAB or PC installer file. Here's the official description of the issue:

This behavior is associated with a feature that is introduced in Windows Mobile 6.1. The feature allows for mobile operators to specify an alternate SMTP server name that is used if e-mail messages cannot be sent by using the user-specified SMTP server name. If the mobile operator does not specify an alternate SMTP server name and if the Windows Mobile 6.1-based device does not connect, the e-mail account is corrupted and cannot send e-mail messages.  

I have already installed the temp fix from Mat's blog.  I wonder if it’s worth messing with to download the MS release?  Also, If I were to download the official MS release do I need to delete the cab file from Mat's site?

I've seen the Tracy and Matt's fix not work on several occasions. I'd remove the cab, soft reset and apply the MS official one.