Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!imagen!geof
From: geof@imagen.UUCP (Geoffrey Cooper)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo
Subject: Re: sendmail problem
Summary: locked file?
Message-ID: <1793@imagen.UUCP>
Date: 17 Aug 88 20:45:46 GMT
References: <8808162127.AA08397@cod.nosc.mil>
Organization: IMAGEN Corporation, Santa Clara, CA 95052-8101
Lines: 29

In article <8808162127.AA08397@cod.nosc.mil>, dennis@PEANUTS.NOSC.MIL (Dennis Cottel) writes:
> We are running SR9.7, TCP3.1beta.  Sendmail is running on a DSP80A
Us too.

> say "554 \dennis... unknown mailer error 1" with the accompanying
> message
> 	mail: cannot append to /usr/spool/mail/dennis
> 	mail: can't send to dennis
> or maybe just "554 \dennis... unknown mailer error 2".

We've seen this too.  I believe it is indicative of /bin/mail (which is
invoked by sendmail) hitting a locked file.  This is an unknown error
since a Unix program should never hit a locked file, since Unix doesn't
have file locking.

Sometimes the problem is that someone just happens to be reading their
mail just as the sendmail is happening.  This is understandably rare.
Sometimes the problem is some other program (e.g., a mail reader
program) that keeps the mail file open or opens it periodically to
check for mail).

I believe that if a system crashes (or the boot button is pressed!)
while the mail file is open, the mail system can decide that the file
is locked when the locker doesn't believe it is.  Then the mail file
stays locked until....?  I fix that by crp'ing onto the supposed locker
node (obtained using llkob) and running "ulkob -f".

- Geof-- 
UUCP: {decwrl,sun}!imagen!geof ARPA: imagen!geof@decwrl.dec.com