User Support Forum

We just moved or data to a new computer using Window 8.1. We are using PC 11.55 with the latest Maint Release. I get the following error message when I try to email directly form my profile.

A problem occurred in connecting to the SMTP server prior to sending the emails.
The SMTP serve reported an error code 501; syntactically invalid EHLO argument(s)

I get the following log report when I do a test on the connection.
3/31/2014 11:50:09 AM <-- [00000067] 220 ESMTP Mon, 31 Mar 2014 11:50:04 -0400: UCE strictly prohibited
3/31/2014 11:50:09 AM --> [00000022] EHLO Church_OfficeHP
3/31/2014 11:50:09 AM <-- [00000043] 501 Syntactically invalid EHLO argument(s)
3/31/2014 11:50:09 AM --> [00000006] QUIT
3/31/2014 11:50:09 AM <-- [00000060] 221 bosauthsmtp04.yourhostingaccount.com closing connection

The SMTP server reported an error code 501; Syntactically invalid EHLO argument(s)
I checked the setup and it is identical to the old machine and it test ok.

The default email setup seems to work ok. Any ideas?

Hello Tom,

I suspect the computer name is the culprit. The underscore might be causing this problem.

Also, I just noticed on the first line of that log you quoted "UCE strictly prohibited"

UCE is Unsolicited Commercial E-mail

Since I can not change the computer name and I am not sure what is meant by UCE since this is just a connection test, what is the solution?

Also why does the default address in the setup work if the underscore might be the problem?

tborgal wrote:Since I can not change the computer name and I am not sure what is meant by UCE since this is just a connection test, what is the solution?

Also why does the default address in the setup work if the underscore might be the problem?

Tom,

Windows allows characters that Linux may not, and you can change the Computer name from the System application in the control panel.

However, are you using a secure SSL connection on that server?

This was set up by our IT guy and I am not sure about the Secure SSL connection. Also if I change the computer name I will loose my network connections.

If there was an issue with the connection from the server why does the default email setup work?

tborgal wrote:This was set up by our IT guy and I am not sure about the Secure SSL connection. Also if I change the computer name I will loose my network connections.

If there was an issue with the connection from the server why does the default email setup work?

FWIW ... when I Googled "501 Syntactically invalid EHLO argument(s)" the answer is basically the same that Zorak mentioned, the underscore is not a valid hostname character.

That said, another reason given for your error is that authentication is needed, thus you may need to see if something has changed. The quick fix is to check what your local email program (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc) has setup for the SMTP server.