[thelist] PHP - IMAP/POP3 connection problems

[Christine Korza]

Hey fellow evolters...

I have searched the internet high and low... but I can't find anything
referring to this problem, so I would love it if you'd let me pick your
brain for a second...

We have a script that lets us manage a small inbox for site support queries.
Well, intermittently, it will fail to connect to the mail server. Annoying
in itself, but worse (at least for me), that entire browser session is
irrevocably "locked" to trying to establish that connection... no 'stop' or
clicking a different link, refresh... will give the session back. Closing
the browser is the only option. The following is the errors that result:

Warning: Couldn't open stream {mail.protonic.com:110}INBOX in
/disk2/..blahblah..../support.php on line 14

Of course, there are other errors are a direct result of the first error.
(Unable to find stream pointer, and the like)

I have searched some PHP bulletin boards and searched google for some key
words, but I can't find anyone else with this problem. It was very
intermittent and rare at first, but in my opinion (or maybe because I'm
paying more attention), it's getting worse. I haven't yet drawn any
conclusions as to what happens before to lockup. The last two functions in
the script are:

imap_expunge($mailbox);
imap_close($mailbox);

so I'm assuming it's not because we're remaining logged in or something. I
use webmail regularly to read my mail without ever seeing these errors, and
checking with a regular email client fails extremely rarely.

The script DOES work sometimes, so the syntax and integrity of the code
itself appears to be intact. Perhaps, a problem with the server? We're
running an Apache server with FreeBSD, and PHP4.0.6. If it helps, we just
upgraded to 4.0.6 and it appears to be worse since then, though the script
still does occassionally work.

I'll provide any more info deemed necessary. Bear in mind we're with a
hosting provider, so I have limited access. I of course have full control of
the scripts and I can log in to the server with SSH and run most commands,
but most server fixes would have to be referred to our systems admin.
Luckily, he's a completely ingenious fella and very responsive. Quite
possibly the best server admin in the world. :)

At any rate, I'm sorry to write a novel, but if anyone can help out, I'm all
ears.

Thanks,
Christine Korza
crimson at protonic.com
protonic.com Adminstration/Development