Agent FAQ

The Agent News Reader FAQ & Error list

TIPS FOR AGENT AND FREE AGENT

TIP #1: Those Pesky Winsock Errors!

Here is a listing of common winsock errors, their definitions, and 
our suggestions from the Agent Support Team.


- WSAEAFNOSUPPORT: Error 10047

If you have downloaded the 32-bit version of Free Agent and are
seeing this error, it probably means that you are running a 16-bit 
winsock driver (such as the one used with Netcruiser or Compuserve).
You will need to either use the 16-bit version of Free Agent, or 
upgrade to a 32-bit winsock driver to correct this problem. Windows
95 does have a 32-bit winsock driver included in the package. Please
contact your Internet service provider for assistance on setting it
up for use with their service.


- Connection Refused By Server: Error 10061

This error means that the server is either too busy to accept more 
connections, or possibly has been taken down for maintenance. You 
might try replacing the name (i.e. news.news.net) of your server 
(specified on the Options | User & System Profile | System tab) with
the numeric IP address for your server (i.e. xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx). You 
can get this information from your Internet service provider.


- Host Name Not Found: Error 11002

This error indicates that the news server name lookup failed, but 
that it might succeed if you try again. There is a little-known INI
option that may solve his problem. If you set the following 
AGENT.INI option, Free Agent will do just that, until it times out:

[Online]
RetryGetHostName=1

If that doesn't work, replace the news server's domain name with its 
IP address, in the Preferences | System Profile dialog, so as to skip
the name lookup.


- Host Name Not Found: Error 11004

This error means that the winsock driver was unable to find the mail
server. Please double-check the name of the mail server. You might 
also try entering the numeric IP address for your server. (This 
information is available from your Internet Service Provider.) This 
error can also occur if you are running low on memory. Try closing 
another application, or try connecting to your news server before 
running Free Agent.


- Error Trying To Connect To Server: Error 500 or 502

The error probably means that Free Agent is attempting to log you 
into your news server, but your server doesn't actually require a 
login. Open the Preferences dialog. On the User Profile page,
uncheck the option "Server required authorization login".


- Operation Timed Out

Try increasing the settings under the [timing] section of the 
AGENT.INI file. A full description of each setting is available in 
the Free Agent help files.


TIP #2: Windows Error 2 - Unable To Launch Application For File

If you are using Windows 95 and see this error when downloading a
file, (e.g. .bmp or .jpg), Open up Explorer in Win 95 (not Internet
Explorer), and click on View->Options. On the Options dialog, click
on "File Types". Find the file type that you are having trouble with.
Select it and click Edit. In the box that says "Actions", click on
"Open", then click the "Edit" button. On the dialog that comes up,
make sure that "Use DDE" is NOT CHECKED.


TIP #3: How To Decode MIME Attachments

The best way to handle MIME/base 64 decoding is to upgrade to Agent!
However, you can also download a freeware program called "Wincode",
authored by Snappy Software, from the following URLs:

This site is available for access from midnight to noon, EST:

http://snappy-software.com

This is their "mirror" site: 
http://www.members.global2000.net/snappy/index.html


The current version of WinZip also decodes MIME/base 64 attachments. 
You can download it from the following URL:

http://www.winzip.com

(Note: This program is shareware. If you decide to use it, you'll 
need to purchase it.)


TIP #4: Deleting an Outgoing Email Reply to a Newsgroup Message

Copies of all messages you send are stored in the Outbox, which is
where you'll need to go to delete them. Select Window|Open Outbox
from the menu, find the message you wish to delete, highlight it, and 
hit the Delete key.


TIP #5: Other Resources

A great source for Free Agent and Agent tips is the "Unofficial Agent
Mirror Site", at http://www.znet.com/~lance/
 This site was created by our own Lance Boehm, Agent support
representative extraordinaire. (You may have seen him in the 
newsgroups!)

Also, you can check the "Unofficial Agent and Free Agent FAQ" at
http://www.mav.net/wguynes/forteagent/agentfaq.html
The "onofficial FAQ" was created by a long-time Agent user.


TIP #6: Enhancements

Are you interested in additional news and mail features and 
functionality? If so, it may be time to place your order for our 
commercial product, Agent! Agent includes all of the features and 
functionality of Free Agent, *plus* many more news and email feature
enhancements:

- Complete email functionality, including the ability
to send *and receive* email messages

- Address book for keeping track of common addresses

- Multilingual spellchecker that will check your email 
or news message before it is sent

- Email filters to help fight unsolicited mail ("spam")

- Folders for news and email messages

- Email routing for automatically placing inbound 
messages in the folder of your choice

- Watch filters for retrieving interesting messages 
immediately

- Kill filters to fend off unwanted messages ... by 
subject, author, or size

- Crosspost management, so you won't have to retrieve 
and read the same message in more than one newsgroup

- Expanded searching capabilities, to search message 
bodies as well as all fields, across multiple groups

- Sort messages by thread, subject, author, date, or size

- Viewing filters you can configure to see only the headers 
you're interested in. (e.g. unread messages, with bodies)

- Full support for MIME/Base 64 attachments

- Detection of incomplete binaries, so you know when you 
don't have all the pieces to an attachment

- Launch your current Web browser with a simple double-click 
of the mouse on any URL

- Customizable toolbar

These are just the highlights. There are *many* more things you can
do with Agent. There's a reason why Agent is winning awards and 
praise throughout the industry.



Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 21:13:32 GMT
From: agent-support@forteinc.com
Subject: RE: ERROR COdes
To: "David L. Vondrasek"
X-Mailer: Adante 1.01

Hi David,

Here are two lists of error messages frequently encountered that we
use to support Agent:

Here is a list of the Windows error messages that our customers
sometimes see (like Windows Error #2 when launching a binary
attachment): (sorry about the bad formatting)

Value Meaning

0 System was out of memory, executable file was
corrupt, or relocations were invalid.

2 File was not found.

3 Path was not found.

5 Attempt was made to dynamically link to a
task, or there was a sharing or network-protection error.

6 Library required separate data segments for
each task.

8 There was insufficient memory to start the
application.

10 Windows version was incorrect.

11 Executable file was invalid. Either it was
not a Windows application or there was an error in the .EXE image.

12 Application was designed for a different
operating system.

13 Application was designed for MS-DOS 4.0.

14 Type of executable file was unknown.

15 Attempt was made to load a real-mode
application (developed for an earlier version of Windows).

16 Attempt was made to load a second instance of
an executable file containing multiple data segments that were not 
marked read-only.

19 Attempt was made to load a compressed
executable file. The file must be decompressed before it can be loaded.

20 Dynamic-link library (DLL) file was invalid.
One of the DLLs required to run this application was corrupt.

21 Application requires Microsoft Windows 32-bit
extensions.


Here are some common winsock errors:
The following are the most common winsock errors which are reported.

Error 10047 WSAEAFNOSUPPORT:
The definition of the error is:
WSAEAFNOSUPPORT (10047) address family not supported by protocolfamily
If you have recently upgraded to 32-bit Agent .99g and suddenly started
seeing this error, it probably means that you are running a 16-bit
winsock driver (such as the one used with Netcruiser or Compuserve).
You will need to either use 16-bit Agent, or upgrade to a 32-bit winsock
driver to correct this problem.
Win95 does have a 32-bit winsock driver included in the package.
Contact your ISP for assistance on setting it up for use with
theirservice.

Error 10048 WSAEADDRINUSE:
The error means that one of the winsock ports Agent is trying to
connect to is already in use. Check to make sure that no other
winsock applications are using the following ports:119 (for news)25
(SMTP)110 (POP)

Error 10051 WSAENETUNREACH:
WSAENETUNREACH (10051) Network is unreachable
It could mean that the host became unavailable (due to it being down
for maintenance, etc.); the winsock driver not loading; or maybe the
service provider preventing the connection.
Check to make sure: 1) you do not have duplicate winsock.dll's, 2)
That your server name is correct and 3) You also might want to try
establishing a manual connection and then launching Agent. If it
fails to work after establishing the connection manually, than it's
most likely a provider problem.

Error 10061 WSAECONNREFUSED:
The error message "Connection closed unexpectedly by server" (or
WSAECONNREFUSED) means that the server disconnected from your winsock
driver without telling your winsock driver that it was going to do so.
This is usually caused by an extremely busy server trying to free up
resources to handle tasks more efficiently, the server suddenly going
offline (because of a lockup, maintenance, power problem, etc.), or
phone line noise (which would cause the server to think that you
weren't connected anymore. There is not much you can do to address
this problem, except for making sure you have a clean phone line and
contacting your provider to see if they can help.

Error 10065 WSAEHOSTUNREACH:
10065 means there was no route to the host.
It could mean that the host became unavailable (due to it being down
for maintenance, etc.); the winsock driver not loading; or maybe the
service provider preventing the connection.
Check to make sure: 1) you do not have duplicate winsock.dll's, 2)
That your server name is correct and 3) You also might want to try
establishing a manual connection and then launching Agent. If it
fails to work after establishing the connection manually, than it's
most likely a provider problem.

Error 10091 WSASYSNOTREADY:
The error means that the winsock subsystem is not ready. This means
either the winsock driver could not be found, or that the winsock
driver did not respond to calls from the application.
Check to make sure you have all the files needed for
yourwinsock/dialer.
Also, make sure that you have only 1 winsock.dll on your system (or
wsock32.dll if Win95/WinNT). If you're using the Windows provided
winsocks, these files should be in either the \windows or
\windows\system directories.
If you are using something other than the Windows provided winsock
(like Trumpet), make sure that the directory the winsock.dll file is
in is listed in the path= statement of your autoexec.bat file.

Error 11004 WSANODATA:
This means that your winsock driver could not locate the server name
specified either on the Options | User and System Profile | System
tab, or the Options | Inbound Email | System tab.
Check to make sure these names are entered correctly.
Another possibility is that you have your DNS (domain name server)
information for your winsock setup incorrectly. Double check with
your provider to make sure you have the correct information.
It's also possible that your provider's DNS server is slow (due to
load), or is offline for some reason. In this case, you may try using
the numeric IP address for the server instead of the name. You can
get this from your provider.


--
Agent Support: http://www.forteinc.com/agsup/

Here is a list of the Windows error messages that our customers
sometimes see (like Windows Error #2 when launching a binary
attachment): (sorry about the bad formatting)

Value Meaning

0 System was out of memory, executable file was corrupt,or relocations 
were invalid.

2 File was not found.

3 Path was not found.

5 Attempt was made to dynamically link to a
task, or there was a sharing or network-protection error.

6 Library required separate data segments for
each task.

8 There was insufficient memory to start the
application.

10 Windows version was incorrect.

11 Executable file was invalid. Either it was
not a Windows application or there was an error in the .EXE image.

12 Application was designed for a different
operating system.

13 Application was designed for MS-DOS 4.0.

14 Type of executable file was unknown.

15 Attempt was made to load a real-mode
application (developed for an earlier version of Windows).

16 Attempt was made to load a second instance of
an executable file containing multiple data segments that were not 
marked read-only.

19 Attempt was made to load a compressed
executable file.The file must be decompressed before it can be loaded.

20 Dynamic-link library (DLL) file was invalid.
One of the DLLs required to run this application was corrupt.

21 Application requires Microsoft Windows 32-bit
extensions.




Server Errors: 400 - 599

These are errors that the news server reports to Agent after the
connection has been completed.

441 400 Bad file number Writing history file - Throttling 

441 400 loadav [innwatch.load] 305 gt 300 

441 Can't send connect request to server, No such File or Directory 
These errors all mean that the news server has an internal problem
unrelated to anything you are doing. Contact your service provider to
have it fixed. When this happens, Agent saves the article you were
trying to post in its Outbox (File | Open Outbox Window), so that you
can try to send it again later, after your news server is working
properly. 

441 Can't generate Message-ID Error 0 
The error is generated internally by the server either if the server
is unable to obtain the current date and time (from itself), or if it
is unable to find out its OWN host name. All of this happens after
Agent has posted the article to the server. We recommend that you
contact your service provider and tell them about the error, since it
indicates a problem with their server. 

441 Posted in the Future 
This error means the date/time on the article, as sent by Agent, is
more than 24 hours later than the current date/time on the news
server. You should double-check your PC's date and time, and the
timezone setting in Agent (on the System Profile page of the
Preferences dialog box). 

441 437 Unwanted news group 
The error means that the newsgroup is not carried by the news server.
Perhaps this is a group that used to be carried and was dropped. 

480 Authentication required for command error trying to post 
This error means that your news server requires you to provide
authentication before you can post. You need to check with your
service provider to find out exactly what is required. In most cases,
you need to supply the server a user name and password. Once you get
this information from your provider, you can enter it on the User
Profile page of the Preferences dialog box. 

500 Command not Recognized 
Your news server is not configured to handle a command issued by Agent
(usually the XOVER or the XHDR commands for retrieving information
about articles). Agent requires that the server accept one of these
commands. You will need to contact your service provider and see if
they can provide a server that honors these commands. 

500 Error trying to connect to server 
This error means that Agent is attempting to log you into your news
server, but your server doesn't actually require a login. Go to the
User Profile page of the Preferences dialog box and uncheck the Server
requires authorization login option. 

502 Authentication Error 
Check to see if your news server really requires authentication. If it
doesn't or if you are not sure, open the Preferences dialog box, go to
the User Profile page, and uncheck the Server requires authorization
login option. If you know that your server does require
authentication, double-check your User Name and Password on this
dialog box. 

502 You are not in my access file 

502 You only have permission to transfer 

502 You have no permission to talk 
These all indicate that you are not properly set up as an authorized
user of the news server. You will have to contact your service
provider or news administrator to get this corrected. 

550 Addressee unknown 
Usually, this means you tried to send an email to someone whose email
address was unknown to the email server, and the server refused to try
to forward the mail to another server. 


Here are some common winsock errors:
The following are the most common winsock errors which are reported.
If this information does not answer your question and you would like a
support representative to respond to you personally, please reply
directly to this email.

Error 10047 WSAEAFNOSUPPORT:
The definition of the error is:
WSAEAFNOSUPPORT (10047) address family not supported by protocolfamily
If you have recently upgraded to 32-bit Agent .99g and suddenly started
seeing this error, it probably means that you are running a 16-bit
winsock driver (such as the one used with Netcruiser or Compuserve).
You will need to either use 16-bit Agent, or upgrade to a 32-bit winsock
driver to correct this problem.
Win95 does have a 32-bit winsock driver included in the package.
Contact your ISP for assistance on setting it up for use with
theirservice.

Error 10048 WSAEADDRINUSE:
The error means that one of the winsock ports Agent is trying to
connect to is already in use. Check to make sure that no other
winsock applications are using the following ports:119 (for news)25
(SMTP)110 (POP)

Error 10051 WSAENETUNREACH:
WSAENETUNREACH (10051) Network is unreachable
It could mean that the host became unavailable (due to it being down
for maintenance, etc.); the winsock driver not loading; or maybe the
service provider preventing the connection.
Check to make sure: 1) you do not have duplicate winsock.dll's, 2)
That your server name is correct and 3) You also might want to try
establishing a manual connection and then launching Agent. If it
fails to work after establishing the connection manually, than it's
most likely a provider problem.

Error 10061 WSAECONNREFUSED:
The error message "Connection closed unexpectedly by server" (or
WSAECONNREFUSED) means that the server disconnected from your winsock
driver without telling your winsock driver that it was going to do so.
This is usually caused by an extremely busy server trying to free up
resources to handle tasks more efficiently, the server suddenly going
offline (because of a lockup, maintenance, power problem, etc.), or
phone line noise (which would cause the server to think that you
weren't connected anymore. There is not much you can do to address
this problem, except for making sure you have a clean phone line and
contacting your provider to see if they can help.

Error 10065 WSAEHOSTUNREACH:
10065 means there was no route to the host.
It could mean that the host became unavailable (due to it being down
for maintenance, etc.); the winsock driver not loading; or maybe the
service provider preventing the connection.
Check to make sure: 1) you do not have duplicate winsock.dll's, 2)
That your server name is correct and 3) You also might want to try
establishing a manual connection and then launching Agent. If it
fails to work after establishing the connection manually, than it's
most likely a provider problem.

Error 10091 WSASYSNOTREADY:
The error means that the winsock subsystem is not ready. This means
either the winsock driver could not be found, or that the winsock
driver did not respond to calls from the application.
Check to make sure you have all the files needed for
yourwinsock/dialer.
Also, make sure that you have only 1 winsock.dll on your system (or
wsock32.dll if Win95/WinNT). If you're using the Windows provided
winsocks, these files should be in either the \windows or
\windows\system directories.
If you are using something other than the Windows provided winsock
(like Trumpet), make sure that the directory the winsock.dll file is
in is listed in the path= statement of your autoexec.bat file.

Error 11004 WSANODATA:
This means that your winsock driver could not locate the server name
specified either on the Options | User and System Profile | System
tab, or the Options | Inbound Email | System tab.
Check to make sure these names are entered correctly.
Another possibility is that you have your DNS (domain name server)
information for your winsock setup incorrectly. Double check with
your provider to make sure you have the correct information.
It's also possible that your provider's DNS server is slow (due to
load), or is offline for some reason. In this case, you may try using
the numeric IP address for the server instead of the name. You can
get this from your provider.

Please email our technical support team if you have any questions.
By Telephone: 1-800-232-4335 Toll-free