Native Email - pop3 account shows deleted emails as unread.....

Hi Guys

This is a strange one - and though I have scoured the forums as have not found anybody with exactly the same Native Email issue (if there is already a very pertinent thread, please can you direct me to it)

Looking for some help please from you techno whizzes

I have issues with one of the four email accounts I access on my PlayBook via the Messages App (eg Native Emails)

My four email accounts:

• POP3 Account - via 3rd party ISP - alex@my_domain_name.com - ISSUE
• IMAP Account - via 3rd party ISP - alex@my_other_domain_name.com - no issues
• Gmail Account - no issues
• LinkedIn Account - no issues

Issues (only in POP3 Account):

• Emails that have been deleted STILL show up when I search on 'Unread' emails (86 of these at the moment) - yet these emails do not show up in the standard message listing
• Unread Email Counter (eg top left corner of main PlayBook screen) still shows these Unread emails (eg 86 at the moment)
• Searching on 'Unread' emails, opening one of them, does bring up the Delete Icon (eg Trash Can), but tapping the Delete Icon does not delete the email!
  
• Searching on 'Unread' emails and then doing Select and Highlighting these ALREADY DELETED emails does NOT generally bring up the Delete Icon (eg Trash Can)
• Searching on 'Unread' emails and then doing Select and Highlighting BOTH 'normal emails' and these 'ALREADY DELETED' emails WILL bring up the Delete Icon (eg Trash Can) - BUT when I tap the Delete Icon, only the 'normal emails' will be deleted
• NOTE: these 'ALREADY DELETED' emails are no longer on my email server - as have been deleted via another channel (eg MS Outlook, BB9900, WebMail)
• NOTE: This POP3 Account frequently loses connection and I have to: tap on the yellow triangle in the Maibox, which takes me to the POP3 page within Accounts, and then I have to tap 'Save' for the PlayBook to reconnect with the POP3 Server.... which will then work for 2-30 minutes.... until I have to tap on the yellow triangle again

Background:

• The erring POP3 Account is my main business email account
• This email account is accessed from: MS Outlook, BB9900, WebMail & PlayBook (only errors I get are with PlayBook Native Email)
• I get up to 4,000 emails per day into this email Account - 99% which are deleted within 4 hours (these emails are usually small notifications and 6-10kb in size)
• The POP3 Account always has lots of spare storage capacity (generally run at 80Mb usage out of 240Mb total capacity)

What I've tried so far:

• Don't use the PlayBook for 48 hours - this causes the Unread Email Counter (eg top left corner of main PlayBook screen) to Clear - but then when I get new emails the Unread Email Counter then jumps into life and shows the new TOTAL of BOTH new normal emails and these errant unread emails
• Three finger salute (eg Power & 2xVol Buttons) - this has exactly the same effect as not using the PlayBook for 48 hours (see bullet immediately above)

Any ideas?

All help gratefully received

If I had to guess, this sounds most likely to be a problem with the POP3 server and interaction with the mail client.

Take a look at http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1939.txt and notice there is an implied soft delete (DELE n) while the server is in TRANSACTION state (client logged in and mailbox locked). Any soft deletes become permanent when the logged in client issues a QUIT command and the server goes to UPDATE state. This state change explicitly requires a QUIT from the client, so if the client is keeping the session open until timeout (as you suggest with "frequently loses connection") the QUIT command may never arrive. In that condition the messages marked as deleted are (correctly) retained.

If I was investigating this I would post an easily identified test message then login manually (command line) to the server and look at the current messages. Issue a DELE for the test message and then issue QUIT to force the server back to UPDATE state. Then see if the test appears on the tablet.

[Edit - this refers to the base POP3 protocol. There are updates and extensions which may complicate the analysis]

Hi branta

Thank you for your help

I don't actually have the ability to log into my mailserver, as it is a virtual one that the ISP manages/provides - but I will log another call with their help desk and give your advice to one of their more advanced techies

Thanks

Alex

I am certain manual login is possible even on a virtual server - otherwise your mail clients would be unnable to login. You *must* have the server details, username and password to setup your mail clients on PC and tablet. All you would do is enter the POP3 commands manually instead of using mail software to do it. However you pay for the service and helpdesk so let them have first crack.