5

AOL started bouncing emails from my mail server with the following error:

521 5.2.1 :  AOL will not accept delivery of this message.
554 5.5.0 Remote protocol error

On the troubleshooting page AOL asks for specific error code but all I get is a generic message. The emails are sent from Outlook, without any attachments. I don't send out any mass email/newsletters, only personal email.

What can cause this and how should I proceed? Without the specific code I can't proceed with AOL. Have anyone had this problem?

Andrew Schulman
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moorray
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  • Your mail server correctly set up (mailname, reverse ip in dns, stuff like that)? A tcpdump on your mail server, to see the actual smtp dialog? – Dan Feb 20 '15 at 12:06
  • Currently this doesn't really constitute a question. Please follow [these guidelines](http://meta.serverfault.com/questions/3608/how-can-i-ask-better-questions-on-server-fault) to reword your question to something that people may be able to help you with. – BE77Y Feb 20 '15 at 12:07
  • @BE77Y thanks for the hint, I added some questions. – moorray Feb 20 '15 at 12:31
  • @Dan I tried but the communication is encrypted. I don't want to play around with encryption in the middle of a workday. I guess sendmail will provide the important info in the logs anyways... – moorray Feb 20 '15 at 12:33
  • Possibly related: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24907191/aol-rejecting-email-sent-via-php-mail-error-5-2-1 – Mike B Feb 20 '15 at 15:59

2 Answers2

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Checking around for similar errors, and looking through AOL's Postmaster errors, nothing immediately ties up with what you've reported but doing some cross-referencing (for example from this thread), the linked error codes (521 5.2.1 which you reference in your question) are possibly linked to the 421 CON:B1 error code from the above-linked error code list from AOL, which reads:

21 CON:B1 The IP address has been tempfailed due to a spike in unfavorable e-mail statistics.

It strikes me as odd that they would have ambiguous error code reporting, but since we currently do not have very much else to go on, I suggest that you check your IP reputation using the AOL tool and follow up accordingly.

BE77Y
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    Thanks for answering. Unfortunately AOL tool reports my IP reputation as _Undisclosed_ and grepping my logs for AOL (aim.com etc) I see only a handful of messages from users who reported the problem. – moorray Feb 20 '15 at 15:59
  • @moorray Same boat too. All the sudden it's wonked out, IP rep as *Undisclosed*. This happened last year too, I'm assuming it's the ambiguous error reporting BE77Y mentions above. You can try using one of these forms https://postmaster.aol.com/trouble-ticket – dhaupin May 16 '16 at 15:00
  • If they are in process of updating your 'reputation' to 'poor' OR they are in process of whitelisting your IP, you will get undisclosed. I can't guarantee this as I do not work there, but have had experience w/ OP problem/question.. and the aol 'postmaster' group in general. – B. Shea Mar 02 '17 at 21:59
1

You can try submitting the form with no error code selected, and hope for the best. If you're lucky, a human being might read it.

You can also try contacting AOL Postmaster by phone, on +1 703 265-4670 (reportedly AOL postmaster operations are now being handled in India; you've been warned).

Michael Hampton
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