Hi,
Sometimes when I send mail to my areafix hub I can get mail to them with out an issue and sometimes not.
if I send mail to get help with commands the mail goes out fine.
If I send mail to connect an area I get a call out fail in my binkstats.ini file.

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Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Khronos to All on Sat Jun 06 2026 13:29:39

As a follow up I checked my logs and I see on NetMail sending I get a call out fail even though the message seems to have made it out.

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Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Khronos to All on Sat Jun 06 2026 01:37 pm

As a follow up I checked my logs and I see on NetMail sending I get a call out fail even though the message seems to have made it out.

Post log snippets.
--
digital man (rob)

This Is Spinal Tap quote #36:
Bobbi Flekman: Money talks, and bullshit walks.
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Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Digital Man to Khronos on Sat Jun 06 2026 13:07:51

[callout failure: 123:0/1@hobbyspc]
oper = Morningstarr
AKAs = 123:0/1@hobbyspc
caps = 115200,TCP,BINKP
vers = BinkIT/2.41,JSBinkP/4,sbbs3.20d/Win32
host = hobbyspc.synchro.net
port = 24554
info.sys = Hobby Space
info.loc = Mt. Pleasant Nc
info.time = Sat Jun 06 2026 16:59:57 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
localtime = Jun 6 2026 16:59:58
sent_files = /home/sbbs/sbbs/fido/outbound.07b/00000001.dut


This is from the binkstats.ini for the fails

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Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Khronos to Digital Man on Sat Jun 06 2026 05:03 pm

Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Digital Man to Khronos on Sat Jun 06 2026 13:07:51

[callout failure: 123:0/1@hobbyspc]
oper = Morningstarr
AKAs = 123:0/1@hobbyspc
caps = 115200,TCP,BINKP
vers = BinkIT/2.41,JSBinkP/4,sbbs3.20d/Win32
host = hobbyspc.synchro.net
port = 24554
info.sys = Hobby Space
info.loc = Mt. Pleasant Nc
info.time = Sat Jun 06 2026 16:59:57 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
localtime = Jun 6 2026 16:59:58
sent_files = /home/sbbs/sbbs/fido/outbound.07b/00000001.dut

This is from the binkstats.ini for the fails

that's not a log snippet. But anyway, connecting to TCP port 24554 at hobbyspc.synchro.net doesn't seem to be a binkP server there.

When you *do* successfully connect and transfer files, what address and port is it connecting to?
--
digital man (rob)

Sling Blade quote #9:
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Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Digital Man to Khronos on Sat Jun 06 2026 15:50:03

Here are the log messages I ahve.
syslog starts
Jun 6 19:09:53 cwshack synchronet: term Node 1 <Khronos> sent NetMail to areafix (123:0/1)
Jun 6 19:09:54 cwshack synchronet: evnt BBS Events Semaphore signaled for Timed Event: FIDOOUT
Jun 6 19:09:54 cwshack synchronet: evnt FIDOOUT Running native timed event: /sbbs/exec/sbbsecho -ni
Jun 6 19:09:55 cwshack synchronet: evnt FIDOOUT Timed event: '/sbbs/exec/sbbsecho -ni' returned 0
Jun 6 19:09:56 cwshack synchronet: evnt BBS Events Semaphore signaled for Timed Event: BINKOUT
Jun 6 19:09:56 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Running native timed event: ?binkit
Jun 6 19:09:56 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT BinkIT/2.42 invoked with options:
Jun 6 19:09:56 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Attempting callout for 123:0/1@hobbyspc, file: /home/sbbs/sbbs/fido/outbound.07b/00000001.dut
Jun 6 19:09:56 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT JSBinkP/5 callout to 123:0/1@hobbyspc started
Jun 6 19:09:56 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Connecting to 123:0/1@hobbyspc at hobbyspc.synchro.net:24554
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Will encrypt session.
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Peer version: BinkIT/2.41,JSBinkP/4,sbbs3.20d/Win32
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Authentication successful: secure
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Sending file: /home/sbbs/sbbs/fido/outbound.07b/00000001.dut (0.4KB)
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Sent file: /home/sbbs/sbbs/fido/outbound.07b/00000001.dut (0.4KB)
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Deleted file: /home/sbbs/sbbs/fido/outbound.07b/00000001.dut
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Timed event: '?binkit' returned 0
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP [173.185.85.205] Connection accepted on 192.168.1.103 port 24554 from port 57911
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP BinkIT/2.42 invoked with options:
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP JSBinkP/5 inbound connection from 173.185.85.205:57911
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Will encrypt session.
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Peer version: BinkIT/2.41,JSBinkP/4,sbbs3.20d/Win32
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Remote addresses: 123:0/1@hobbyspc
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Inbound session for: 123:0/1@hobbyspc
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP CRAM-MD5 password match for 123:0/1@hobbyspc
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Receiving file: /sbbs/temp/x9b6c2gj.pkt (0.4KB)
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Received file: /sbbs/temp/x9b6c2gj.pkt (0.4KB)
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Moving '/sbbs/temp/x9b6c2gj.pkt' to '../fido/inbound/x9b6c2gj.pkt'.
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP [173.185.85.205] JavaScript service thread terminated (0 clients remain, 0 total, 10 served)
Jun 6 19:10:02 cwshack synchronet: evnt BBS Events Semaphore signaled for Timed Event: FIDOIN
Jun 6 19:10:02 cwshack synchronet: evnt FIDOIN Running native timed event: /sbbs/exec/sbbsecho -ce
Jun 6 19:10:02 cwshack synchronet: evnt FIDOIN Timed event: '/sbbs/exec/sbbsecho -ce' returned 0

sbbsecho.log starts
2026-06-06 19:09:55 Created NetMail (1.msg) from Tom Moore (123:0/2) to areafix (123:0/1), attr: 0181 (PRIVATE, KILLSENT, LOCAL), subject: mypassword
2026-06-06 19:09:55 Packing NetMail (1.msg) from Tom Moore (123:0/2) to areafix (123:0/1), attr: 0181 (PRIVATE, KILLSENT, LOCAL), subject: mypassword
2026-06-06 19:09:55 SBBSecho (PID 15603) exiting with error level 0, NetMail(0 imported, 1 exported, 1 packed)
2026-06-06 19:10:02 Importing /home/sbbs/sbbs/fido/inbound/x9b6c2gj.pkt (type 2e, 0.4KB) from 123:0/1 to 123:0/2
2026-06-06 19:10:02 Sanitized message attributes (LOCAL) at offset 101 of packet: /home/sbbs/sbbs/fido/inbound/x9b6c2gj.pkt
2026-06-06 19:10:02 SBBSecho (123:0/1) To: Tom Moore (123:0/2) Attr: 0081 (PRIVATE, KILLSENT) Imported
2026-06-06 19:10:02 SBBSecho (PID 15607) exiting with error level 0, Packets(1 imported, 0 sent), NetMail(1 imported, 0 exported, 0 packed)

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Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Khronos to Digital Man on Sat Jun 06 2026 07:23 pm

Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Digital Man to Khronos on Sat Jun 06 2026 15:50:03

Here are the log messages I ahve.

Jun 6 19:09:56 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Connecting to 123:0/1@hobbyspc at hobbyspc.synchro.net:24554
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Will encrypt session.
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Peer version: BinkIT/2.41,JSBinkP/4,sbbs3.20d/Win32
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Authentication successful: secure
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Sending file: /home/sbbs/sbbs/fido/outbound.07b/00000001.dut (0.4KB)
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Sent file: /home/sbbs/sbbs/fido/outbound.07b/00000001.dut (0.4KB)
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Deleted file: /home/sbbs/sbbs/fido/outbound.07b/00000001.dut
Jun 6 19:09:57 cwshack synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Timed event: '?binkit' returned 0
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP [173.185.85.205] Connection accepted on 192.168.1.103 port 24554 from port 57911
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP BinkIT/2.42 invoked with options:
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP JSBinkP/5 inbound connection from 173.185.85.205:57911
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Will encrypt session. Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Peer version: BinkIT/2.41,JSBinkP/4,sbbs3.20d/Win32
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Remote addresses: 123:0/1@hobbyspc
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Inbound session for: 123:0/1@hobbyspc
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP CRAM-MD5 password match for 123:0/1@hobbyspc
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Receiving file: /sbbs/temp/x9b6c2gj.pkt (0.4KB)
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Received file: /sbbs/temp/x9b6c2gj.pkt (0.4KB)
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP Moving '/sbbs/temp/x9b6c2gj.pkt' to '../fido/inbound/x9b6c2gj.pkt'.
Jun 6 19:10:01 cwshack synchronet: srvc 0050 BINKP [173.185.85.205] JavaScript service thread terminated (0 clients remain, 0 total, 10 served)

That's 2 successful BinkP connections/sessions. Compare that to the unsuccessful ones?
--
digital man (rob)

Breaking Bad quote #11:
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Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Digital Man to Khronos on Sat Jun 06 2026 16:28:04

What's weird about this is these show that everything is good but the sats file shows a failed connection on call outs sometimes.
Not just this peer all of my FTN peers.
What doesn't seem to work for me is if I send an areafix request to add all areas to my downlink.
Its as if the other side never gets the message.
I will check with the hub to see what messages they are getting on their side when I send the %+ALL areafix request.

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Khronos wrote to Digital Man <=-

Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Digital Man to Khronos on Sat Jun 06 2026 16:28:04

What's weird about this is these show that everything is good but the
sats file shows a failed connection on call outs sometimes. Not just
this peer all of my FTN peers.

Digital Man, jumping in here because I noticed something. I wasn't super-aware of the 'binkstats.ini' file, but went and looked at mine,
and.... I also see a *LOT* of "callout failure" entries - in fact it is
the vast majority of them. Some say success, and I see no pattern on
who/when that happens with. But it seems to be in error, as pretty
much every one of those callouts are in fact successful. I think
something is amiss with how that file is recording things, just wanted
to mention it.



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Re: Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Gamgee to Digital Man on Sun Jun 07 2026 08:11 am

Khronos wrote to Digital Man <=-

Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Digital Man to Khronos on Sat Jun 06 2026 16:28:04

What's weird about this is these show that everything is good but the sats file shows a failed connection on call outs sometimes. Not just this peer all of my FTN peers.

Digital Man, jumping in here because I noticed something. I wasn't super-aware of the 'binkstats.ini' file, but went and looked at mine, and.... I also see a *LOT* of "callout failure" entries - in fact it is
the vast majority of them. Some say success, and I see no pattern on who/when that happens with. But it seems to be in error, as pretty
much every one of those callouts are in fact successful. I think
something is amiss with how that file is recording things, just wanted
to mention it.

Naturally, just after sending the above I need to send a followup: I did notice a pattern now after looking more at 'binkstats.ini'. What I saw was that when my system calls out to a MYSTIC board, I get a "callout success" entry - but calling a system using BINKIT or BINKD, I get the "callout failure" entry. Every single time. Got to be something to that...

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Re: Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Gamgee to Digital Man on Sun Jun 07 2026 08:18 am

Naturally, just after sending the above I need to send a followup: I did notice a pattern now after looking more at 'binkstats.ini'. What I saw was that when my system calls out to a MYSTIC board, I get a "callout success" entry - but calling a system using BINKIT or BINKD, I get the "callout failure" entry. Every single time. Got to be something to that...

The corresponding log output for that BinkIt session should provide the reason. --
digital man (rob)

Rush quote #25:
Throw off those chains of reason and your prison disappears
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Digital Man wrote to Gamgee <=-

Re: Re: Sending mail to areafix
By: Gamgee to Digital Man on Sun Jun 07 2026 08:18 am

Naturally, just after sending the above I need to send a followup: I did notice a pattern now after looking more at 'binkstats.ini'. What I saw was that when my system calls out to a MYSTIC board, I get a "callout success" entry - but calling a system using BINKIT or BINKD, I get the "callout failure" entry. Every single time. Got to be something to that...

The corresponding log output for that BinkIt session should provide the reason.

But that's just it - there *is* no reason. The callout is a complete
success, but it's entered in 'binkstats.ini' as a "callout failure".
This happens EVERY SINGLE CALLOUT to a SBBS system, but works every
single time to a MYSTIC system. Here are the log snippets for a callout today:

First is the sbbs.log entry:

Jun 07 17:44:48 palantir synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Attempting callout for 1:135/391@fidonet, file: /sbbs/fido/outbound/00870187.dlo
Jun 07 17:44:48 palantir synchronet: evnt BINKOUT JSBinkP/5 callout to 1:135/391@fidonet started
Jun 07 17:44:48 palantir synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Connecting to 1:135/391@fidonet at vague.ddns.net:24554
Jun 07 17:44:49 palantir synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Will encrypt session.
Jun 07 17:44:49 palantir synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Peer version: BinkIT/2.42,JSBinkP/4,sbbs3.21e/Win32
Jun 07 17:44:49 palantir synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Authentication successful: secure
Jun 07 17:44:49 palantir synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Sending file: /sbbs/fido/outbound/6a25f459.pkt (1.3KB)
Jun 07 17:44:49 palantir synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Sent file: /sbbs/fido/outbound/6a25f459.pkt (1.3KB)
Jun 07 17:44:49 palantir synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Deleted file: /sbbs/fido/outbound/00870187.dlo
Jun 07 17:44:49 palantir synchronet: evnt BINKOUT Deleted file: /sbbs/fido/outbound/6a25f459.pkt

Here is the corresponding entry in binkstats.ini:

[callout failure: 1:135/391@fidonet]
oper = Vague
AKAs = 1:135/391@fidonet
caps = 115200,TCP,BINKP
vers = BinkIT/2.42,JSBinkP/4,sbbs3.21e/Win32
host = vague.ddns.net
port = 24554
info.sys = Vague BBS
info.loc = Largo, FL
info.time = Sun Jun 07 2026 18:44:10 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
localtime = Jun 7 2026 17:44:49
sent_files = /sbbs/fido/outbound/6a25f459.pkt

I see this exact same thing on many different (downlink) versions of
BinkIT, if that means anything. I am using BinkIT v2.42, system last
updated 2-3 weeks ago. My logs show it has been happening for quite a
while.

I realize that it isn't really "hurting" anything, unless one was trying
to analyze/publish connection stats, but something doesn't seem right.




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But that's just it - there *is* no reason. The callout is a complete success, but it's entered in 'binkstats.ini' as a "callout failure".

You and Khronos were both right - it was a bug in BinkIT, not your
configs, and no mail was ever actually lost. It was purely a
stats-recording bug.

In a binkp/1.1 session (what you get with Synchronet, binkd, and most
modern mailers) the two sides exchange a pair of M_EOB ("end of batch")
frames to close out. When your side reached the end by *sending* that
final EOB, the peer would close the connection first, and BinkIT would
then try to send one more EOB onto the already-closed socket. That
harmless send failure was being treated as a failed session - so a fully-successful callout got logged as "[callout failure]" in
binkstats.ini, with the sent file(s) still listed, which is exactly why
it looked so contradictory.

binkp/1.0 peers (Mystic) send only a single EOB each and close
differently, so those were always recorded correctly - matching the MYSTIC-works / SBBS-fails pattern you spotted.

Fixed in git just now: a closing-EOB send failure is ignored once all
of your sent files have been acknowledged. You'll see correct accounting
(and JSBinkP/6 in the vers= field) after your next update + recycle.

Thanks to you both for the clear reports and log snippets - they made
this an easy one to pin down.
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Digital Man wrote to Gamgee <=-

But that's just it - there *is* no reason. The callout is a complete success, but it's entered in 'binkstats.ini' as a "callout failure".

You and Khronos were both right - it was a bug in BinkIT, not your configs, and no mail was ever actually lost. It was purely a stats-recording bug.

In a binkp/1.1 session (what you get with Synchronet, binkd, and most modern mailers) the two sides exchange a pair of M_EOB ("end of batch") frames to close out. When your side reached the end by *sending* that final EOB, the peer would close the connection first, and BinkIT would then try to send one more EOB onto the already-closed socket. That harmless send failure was being treated as a failed session - so a fully-successful callout got logged as "[callout failure]" in binkstats.ini, with the sent file(s) still listed, which is exactly why
it looked so contradictory.

binkp/1.0 peers (Mystic) send only a single EOB each and close differently, so those were always recorded correctly - matching the MYSTIC-works / SBBS-fails pattern you spotted.

Fixed in git just now: a closing-EOB send failure is ignored once all
of your sent files have been acknowledged. You'll see correct
accounting (and JSBinkP/6 in the vers= field) after your next update + recycle.

Thanks to you both for the clear reports and log snippets - they made
this an easy one to pin down.

Excellent! Thank you, DM, as always.



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