Mercury Mail not working after following instructions in manual

I am carefully following the instructions for installing Zen-Cart on my local PC in the book, "e-Start Your Web Store with Zen Cart". But the Mercury Mail is not working correctly. Here is a recap of what I've done to this point:

-I am running Windows XP SP2

-Downloaded XAMPP-win32-1.4.16-installer.exe (page 33)

-Made sure that I had no previous copies of Apache, MySQL or Mercury Mail server on my PC prior to install

-Installed XAMPP in the folder: c:\server\xampp

-Restarted my computer as advised on page 34

-Was able to launch the XAMPP control panel, and Apache, MySql, Mercury Mail are running. Stopped FileZilla. (page 35)

-Started Firefox web browser and http://localhost brought up the correct screen (page 35)
-Clicked on the English hyperlink which brought up the correct XAMPP for Windows screen (page 36)

-Set up a domain in Windows XP by editing the hosts file at c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. Added these lines to end of file:
127.0.0.1 https://www.example.com # For browser access
127.0.0.1 mail.example.com # For email accesss
127.0.0.1 example.com # For mercury mail server
(page 37)

-Browsed to https://www.example.com (which resolves to: http://example.com/xampp/) and see the XZMPP for Windows page (page 37)

-Configured Apache to use the new domain by modifying the file at c:\server\xampp\xampp\apache\conf - deleted the line ServerName localhost:80 and replacing it with:
ServerName www.example.com:80 (page 37)

-Browsed to http://example.com (which resolves to: http://example.com/xampp/) and see the XAMPP for Windows screen again (is this different from the XAMPP welcome screen?). (page 38)

-Configured Mercury Mail by stopping the service in the XAMPP control panel (page 38)

-Edited the file at c:\server\xampp\xampp\MercuryMail\mercury.ini - deleted the line myname: localhost # Canonical name for this server and replaced the line with:
myname: example.com # Canonical name for this server
(I put a : after myname even though the manual does not show a colon after myname. Is this correct??)
Also added this line under the line localhost.com : localhost.com
example.com : example.com
(page 38)

-Started the Mercury service in the XAMPP control panel (Apache service was already running). Went to the Mercury Mail link in the XAMPP control panel. Tried to send a message from [email protected] to [email protected] with subject: Test Message and Message: This is a test message. Clicked on the send button and it does not work. I get the error "Error! The message was not successfully sent!" every time whether my virus software is running or not, whether the Windows Firewall is working or not.

I need help with this, please. This isn't my area or expertise for sure, which is why I have really worked at following this manual precisely.

vadkins

Check to see that your computer does not have another program hogging onto the mercury port for email. To do this:

1. Open up your XAMPP Control Centre and stop all services.
2. Click on your Windows Start button and navigate to All Programs > apachefriends > xampp > port checking.
3. All ports should show as free. If not, you will need to stop that program and then restart the servers in your XAMPP Control Centre.

Thank you so much for your response. Unfortunately, I checked the ports as you suggest and I find that all of the ports are free. Here is the results of the port check:

I did the port check and all the ports look like they are free. Here's the results of the port check:

Apache (HTTP) 80 free
Apache (WebDAV) 81 free
Apache (HTTPS) 443 free

MySQL 3306 free

FileZilla (FTP) 21 free
FileZilla (admin) 14147 free

Mercury (SMTP) 25 free
Mercury (POP3) 110 free
Mercury (IMAP) 143 free

What's next to fix this problem please?

vadkins

After extensive testing, it has been determined that Mercury Mail working fine on my PC, but because some program running on my PC is blocking the sending of mail.

So I have installed XAMPP another of my desktop PCs, this one runs Windows Vista. The installation has gone well, Mercury Mail is working and sending messages successfully.

Many thanks to the Zen-Cart manual's author for all of his help with this!

Hi,

I have the same problem, I checked the ports as you said and everything is free.

I am running xampp on windows 7. The apache and mysql are working great but the mercury doesn't send emails.

When I try to send a test email from the mercury admin, I get:

Error! The message was not successfully sent!

Please help me here...

What version of XAMPP are you using?

Hi I am suffering the same difficulty and would also welcome help. I am running version xampp-win32-1.7.3a of xampp, thankyou, Tim

You need to use the version of XAMPP recommended in the book in order to minimize any headaches. Do remember to download the PDF update as advised when you purchased the book.

Thank you for your prompt response.
Unfortunately I could not find any older versions of XAMPP when I was setting up and I am somewhat reluctant to now go back to an earlier version as I will need the later version when I upload to my server. So thank you again and if you have any further thoughts I would be most grateful.
Does anyone else have any suggestions, please?
Tim

I got the same problem. I had to do a reload of xampp/zen-cart because for some reason my admin / password did not work any longer. So I loaded the latest xampp and all went well; except the test email. It fails and status shows "SMTP deactivated. I have been searching for about 4 hours now. Anymore ideas ? And Mercury service is running.
Thanks!!

Michael

If you are using the latest XAMPP version, you might want to consider searching for solutions via the XAMPP forums.

Btw, the latest XAMPP versions run PHP 5.3.x by default which also means you need to patch your Zen Cart manually to work with it.

I'm having the same problem also using Win 7 and Xampp 1.7.3. Also, I have an error message on the pc's desktop saying that a programme (Mercury) is attempting to show a message. I can't it to actually show the message however. Finally, impossible to get to the Xampp page for windows by entering https://www.example.com/xampp despite following all the relevant steps in the Zen Cart manual. Any ideas ?

Hi petek,

As mentioned in one of my previous post in this thread, if you would like to use Mercury as a mail server for testing, it is advisable to use the XAMPP version mentioned in the book due to changes introduced in newer XAMPP versions.

Alternatively, you can ignore the setting up of a local mail server and do your testing on a live server instead. This will save you a lot of time and hassle. Just remember to set "Send E-mails" field in the Configuration > E-Mail Options screen to false while testing on your local computer.

Btw, the latest Zen Cart version is v1.3.9b. It works with PHP 5.3.x and has many security/bug fixes. So you might want to consider working with that version if you do not have any custom mods. Lastly, the free PDF update for the book with regards to v1.3.9b is also available on our site.

canopy:

Hi petek,

As mentioned in one of my previous post in this thread, if you would like to use Mercury as a mail server for testing, it is advisable to use the XAMPP version mentioned in the book due to changes introduced in newer XAMPP versions.

Alternatively, you can ignore the setting up of a local mail server and do your testing on a live server instead. This will save you a lot of time and hassle. Just remember to set "Send E-mails" field in the Configuration > E-Mail Options screen to false while testing on your local computer.

Btw, the latest Zen Cart version is v1.3.9b. It works with PHP 5.3.x and has many security/bug fixes. So you might want to consider working with that version if you do not have any custom mods. Lastly, the free PDF update for the book with regards to v1.3.9b is also available on our site.

Thanks, I didn't realise I could get an update to the book (which I purchased back in January 2008). I've just downloaded it. Actually, I will be using Xampp to test 1.3.9b, 1.3.8a has been up and running for a long time now. Would you know what the message is in Win 7 saying that "a programme (ie Mercury) which is perhaps not compatible is attempting to send a message" ?