Usenet not working

[#1]

fixed here without changing anything on my client side

thanks for all your help and efforts

[#2]

That's an old version of Tbird.

Tbird has recently reconverged with Mozilla and is currently release 102.something,

This may or may not be related to experienced issues.

[#3]

Totally the opposite @greygit - the ThunderBird project was initially created by the same group who created Firefox, but although it still uses the some core, it is now a separate project, and the current release is definitely 91.11.xx (depending on the OS you are using) - the M$ release may be a point ahead of the Ubuntu one, as Ubuntu carry out changes to integrate it.

[#4]

I am using ThunderBird on Windows and it says I am fully up to date when I ask to update it. 

[#5]

You will be fully up-to-date, @gladman TB default installation procedure puts you on an automatic update profile nowadays, in fact I think that what one of the changes introduced for long-time users back in the Mozilla days.

[#6]

[#7]

Ah, so it is a 'non-upgrade', i.e. direct download and as such, not essential for those on the last point release  version of 91, read the v102 release notes.

[#8]

I'd be reasonably sure that the 9*. line is going to be withdrawn in the non-too-distant future. As far as I can ascertain it isn't offered as an immediate upgrade because there are (may be) various add-ons that could be uncompatible.

I got it when I flattened a system. There are security fixes (currently unexploited) in the 100 line which may not be implementable in the 90's.

[#9]

I wouldn't know about that - If you know anything about the Mozilla program range, you should know that they only offer the latest version on the website, but if for any reason (really old OS/personal choice/w.h.y.) you want to use n older version, they are still available via the '0ld Editions' on their site, or on oldversions.com .

You are correct in that it isn't an immediate update because of add-on compatibility, but the add-on authors will be aware of changes which may render them not  safe/difficult to transfer and will be addressing this.

[#10]

usenet.plus.net and news.plus.net not working again for several days now (16 Aug 2022) I get the error: 'Could not resolve newsserver hostname'.

[#11]

There is something a bit weird going on here. After the repair usenet, via MessengerPro on a Mac, worked for a few days then stopped with a cannot connect error. There was no such issue with NewsHound on RISC OS.

On the Mac, which has a manually configured IP, the fault only occurs if the router's, an Archer VR900, address is used for DNS, DNS from a Pihole connected to Plusnet's servers  or directly from Plusnet's servers works just fine. 

This seems very very odd so the only decent thing to do was ignore it and just use a setting that works. However something did change as BernardinSussex describes. On the other hand no one else has noticed!!

ping news.plus.net does not return with the fault present.

dig news.plus.net, attached, does not show any noticeable difference.

[#12]

Which of the two hostnames are you using and do you know what DNS server addresses your connection is configured to use?

Things look to resolve at this side following a quick check: -

~$ dig news.plus.net @212.159.6.10

; <<>> DiG 9.16.27-Debian <<>> news.plus.net @212.159.6.10
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 8168
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 27, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1472
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;news.plus.net.                 IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
news.plus.net.          86400   IN      CNAME   usenet.plus.net.
usenet.plus.net.        86400   IN      CNAME   europe.isp.giganews.com.
europe.isp.giganews.com. 300    IN      CNAME   isp.news.ord.giganews.com.
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.102.136
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.102.132
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.101.138
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.102.138
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.101.137
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.102.133
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.102.137
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.101.135
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.101.133
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.101.142
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.102.140
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.101.136
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.101.132
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.102.141
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.102.134
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.102.139
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.101.134
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.102.142
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.101.140
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.101.141
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.102.135
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.101.143
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.101.139
isp.news.ord.giganews.com. 300  IN      A       69.80.102.143

;; Query time: 385 msec
;; SERVER: 212.159.6.10#53(212.159.6.10)
;; WHEN: Tue Aug 16 09:52:14 BST 2022
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 511

bob@penguin:~$ telnet news.plus.net 119
Trying 69.80.102.136...
Connected to isp.news.ord.giganews.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
200 News.GigaNews.Com
group  plusnet.service.customer-feedback
211 37590 14 37603 plusnet.service.customer-feedback

[#13]

---

@pittdj70 wrote:

On the Mac, which has a manually configured IP, the fault only occurs if the router's, an Archer VR900, address is used for DNS, DNS from a Pihole connected to Plusnet's servers  or directly from Plusnet's servers works just fine. 

---

Only just noticed this reply. 

It could be somethign to do with the size of the DNS response (which now looks to be pretty large!)

I'm relying on a Pi-hole myself for local DNS and Thunderbird doesn't seem to be grumbling.

[#14]

I tried both usenet.plus.net AND news.plus.net

I use Messenger Pro 9.00 / NetFetch 5.53 on RISC OS

DNS Lookup shows:

A Records :

[0] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.135
[1] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.133
[2] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.138
[3] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.140
[4] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.137
[5] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.141
[6] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.137
[7] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.132
[8] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.143
[9] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.143
[10] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.140
[11] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.134
[12] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.139
[13] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.132
[14] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.139
[15] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.142
[16] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.141
[17] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.136
[18] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.142
[19] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.138
[20] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.135
[21] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.133
[22] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.136
[23] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.134

------------------

AAAA Records: None

------------------

CNAME Records :

[0] Name : usenet.plus.net | ttl: 21600 | value: europe.isp.giganews.com.

------------------

MX Records: None

------------------

NS Records: None

------------------

PTR Records: None

------------------

SRV Records: None

------------------

SOA Records: None

------------------

TXT Records: None

------------------

CAA Records: None

------------------

DS Records: None

------------------

DNSKEY Records: None

------------------

AND

A Records :

[0] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.135
[1] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.142
[2] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.138
[3] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.136
[4] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.137
[5] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.139
[6] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.143
[7] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.133
[8] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.132
[9] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.140
[10] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.141
[11] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.139
[12] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.136
[13] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.137
[14] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.138
[15] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.142
[16] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.134
[17] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.140
[18] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.133
[19] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.141
[20] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.134
[21] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.102.143
[22] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.135
[23] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 300 | ip: 69.80.101.132

------------------

AAAA Records: None

------------------

CNAME Records :

[0] Name : news.plus.net | ttl: 21600 | value: usenet.plus.net.

------------------

MX Records: None

------------------

NS Records: None

------------------

PTR Records: None

------------------

SRV Records: None

------------------

SOA Records: None

------------------

TXT Records: None

------------------

CAA Records: None

------------------

DS Records: None

------------------

DNSKEY Records: None

------------------

[#15]

---

@bobpullen wrote:

---

@pittdj70 wrote:

On the Mac, which has a manually configured IP, the fault only occurs if the router's, an Archer VR900, address is used for DNS, DNS from a Pihole connected to Plusnet's servers  or directly from Plusnet's servers works just fine. 

---

Only just noticed this reply. 

It could be somethign to do with the size of the DNS response (which now looks to be pretty large!)

I'm relying on a Pi-hole myself for local DNS and Thunderbird doesn't seem to be grumbling.

---

The problem is the other way around. DNS from the Pihole is good, it is DNS via the router, 192.168.1.1 that fails.

I have now tried Thunderbird on the Mac and that does "grumble", that is totally fail to fetch posts, but it had fetched the Current Group List, with the Mac getting DNS from192.168.1.1. All good with DNS from the Pihole.

That rather makes me think it is the router, Archer VR900, that can't cope.It can't be that, the RISC OS machine is fine.

It's no big deal, everything else is OK.