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Q170471: XCON: 290/4284 Errors Indicate Misconfigured MTA or Connector

Article: Q170471
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): 4.0 5.0 5.5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 17-APR-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.5 
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SUMMARY
=======

The Microsoft Exchange Server Message Transfer Agent (MTA) may return messages
back to originators with Non-Delivery Reports (NDRs) that state:

  Unable to deliver due to MTA congestion.

These NDRs will be accompanied by the following events logged in the Windows NT
Server Event Viewer Application Log:

  4284 A error occurred during connection/disconnection.
  Error code: 8511 [POP4 POP4 DOWN 4 179] (14)

  290 A non-delivery report (reason code unable-to-transfer and diagnostic code
  maximum-time-expired) is being generated for message C=US;A= ;P=Organization;
  L=Server03-970224213600Z-1460. It was originally destined for
  DN:/o=organization/ou=sitename/cn=recipients/cn=recipientnameC=US;A= ;
  P=organization;O=sitename;S=user;G=joe; (recipient number 1); and was to be
  redirected to . [MTA DISP:RESULT 20 136] (12)

MORE INFORMATION
================

This combination of errors usually indicates a misconfigured MTA and/or
connector. To troubleshoot this issue follow these steps:

1. Verify that the Windows NT Servername matches the local MTA name.

2. Verify that the naming conventions used to communicate between the two
  servers are functioning correctly.

3. If X400 connectors are being used, make sure all the manually entered
  information is correct on both servers.

If any of these are incorrect, this behavior is by product design.
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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbExchangeSearch kbExchange500 kbExchange550 kbExchange400 kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : 4.0 5.0 5.5
Issue type        : kbinfo

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