Bizhub C450 and C550 Scan to Email issue.

[kronical]

I have a customer who previously had a C450 mfp scanning to email through their company proxy server, and has been working fine. Recently, scanned pages are no longer being attached to the email, rather being embedded into the body of the email in code. We have swapped all boards, HDD and upgraded the firmware ROM with no success in correcting the issue.

As a short term workaround, and essentially a test, we have deployed a new C550 in it's place and are experiencing the same results. We have brought out a small tabletop AIO and configured it the same as the bizhubs, and this machine sends the emails appropriately, with proper attachment.

Here is the BODY of the received email (maybe there is something here that can help identify the problem) I have omitted the majority of the embedded code to keep this post from being to big.


To:chris.martens@oce.com
Subject:Message from 45C-1
Sender:fpcopier@francotyp.ca
From:fpcopier@francotyp.ca
Reply-To:fpcopier@francotyp.ca
X-Mailer:Generic 45C-1
Date:Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:11:33 -0500
Message-Id:<4B056025.005.00206B5B0108.fpcopier@francotyp.ca>
MIME-Version:1.0
Content-Type:multipart/mixed; boundary="GENERIC_Internet_Fax_Boundary"
Content-Transfer-Encoding:7bit

--GENERIC_Internet_Fax_Boundary
Content-Type: application/pdf; name="test.pdf"
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="test.pdf"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64

JVBERi0xLjQKMSAwIG9iago8PC9UeXBlIC9YT2JqZWN0Ci9TdW J0eXBlIC9JbWFnZQovTmFt
ZSAvSkkxYQovV2lkdGggMTcwMAovSGVpZ2h0IDIyMDAKL0JpdH NQZXJDb21wb25lbnQgOAov
Q29sb3JTcGFjZSAvRGV2aWNlUkdCCi9GaWx0ZXIgL0RDVERlY2 9kZQovTGVuZ3RoIDIgMCBS
Cj4+CnN0cmVhbQ0K/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAyADIAAD//gALNDVDLTEgUTc2/9sAQwAFBQYH
BgYIBwcHCQkICgwUDQwLCwwZEhMPFB0aHx4dGhwcICQuJyAiLC McHCg3KSwwMTQ0NB8nOT04
MjwuMzQy/9sAQwEFBgYJCAkNCwsNExANEBMbFxQUFxsiHhsXGx4iKiYiHh4 iJiotKSYiJikt
Mi0pKS0yMjItMjIyMjIyMjIyMjIy/8AAEQgImAakAwEiAAIRAQMRAf/EAB8AAAEFAQEBAQEB
AAAAAAAAAAABAgMEBQYHCAkKC//EALUQAAIBAwMCBAMFBQQEAAABfQECAwAEEQUSITFBBhNR
...
NjU1MzUgZiAKMDAwMDAwMDAwOSAwMDAwMCBuIAowMDAwNDM3Nj I4IDAwMDAwIG4gCjAwMDA0
Mzc2NTAgMDAwMDAgbiAKMDAwMDQzNzc0MyAwMDAwMCBuIAowMD AwNDM3NzYxIDAwMDAwIG4g
CjAwMDA0Mzc5NjAgMDAwMDAgbiAKMDAwMDQzODAxOCAwMDAwMC BuIAowMDAwNDM4MDkzIDAw
MDAwIG4gCnRyYWlsZXIKPDwvU2l6ZSA5Ci9JbmZvIDggMCBSCi 9Sb290IDcgMCBSCj4+CnN0
YXJ0eHJlZgo0MzgxOTYKJSVFT0Y=

--GENERIC_Internet_Fax_Boundary--


The proxy server being used is Proxy+ 3.00 Build 232
Attempts to configure email scanning directly to the ISP SMTP server have failed, as it seems all connections in and out of the network must go through this proxy server. It is looking like there is an incompatibility between the KM bizhub and the proxy server, which does not make any sense as this did work in the past. Any thoughts?

[KonicaNet]

It is an email fax, NOT an email. This can happen when someone uses a FREE email server that is not up to date with current email specifications. You can email the Proxy3 company your entire message posted here and I would think they'd tell you right away that your version is outdated, buggy, or someone changed it to send all emails from the copier as Internet Faxes. (It can do that).

You said the AIO works fine. Give it the same IP\name as the copier and try again. I forgot where to add the spaces to be compatible with the old smtp specs, but I think it is the username or subject field. Try adding a space to the begining and ending of the subject line and try that. It might also happen if they changed the username on the copier because for some reason that is stuck in my head (in my head-'username 1 word, no numbers, and a space before and after it')

The email server is either misinterpreting the incomming email as an internet fax, or it is set to convert the emails to faxes. The AIO might be 'compatible' with the email server - but it may also be using an outdated smtp specification.


Content-Transfer-Encoding:7bit[/SIZE]

--GENERIC_Internet_Fax_Boundary

[kronical]

We're dealing with a Proxy server not an email server, but what you are saying definitely makes sense and I will have to check into this.
The issue originally appeared on the clients C450, and I had replaced all boards, reconfigured the entire machine using new IP and machine name, with no success. The AIO then came out to test, and was connected to the same network port/cable that the 450 was on, but I don't recall which IP was used. The AIO is still onsite and being used in the interim for scanning, but is ridiculously slow. We have brought in a new C550 and connected it in place of the 450, using the same IP but again another hostname. What really catches my eye is that the original email header appears at the beginning of the body, as if the original message was forwarded, which would make sense if it is being redirected as a fax. What is hard to explain is that 2 bizhub machines from different generations are having the same issue, while the 3rd machine which is not KM based, is working fine? I am suspecting the customer has reinstalled, upgraded or downgraded the proxy version, which has created an incompatibility between the encoding used by the KM machines and the proxy.
I will try the 550 with adding a space in front of the subject line to see if the server is misinterpreting, or if it was set.

[KonicaNet]

We're dealing with a Proxy server not an email server, .

Wrong, The Proxy+ 3.00 software is much more than a simple proxy server. The new way SMTP has worked for the last several years has changed. The AIO might be using the old protocol and their Proxy+ 3.00 only able to interpret that old protocol. It can also forward emails into faxes and also is an email server\relay\forwarder\fax\etc.

Just charge them for everything - LOL

[kronical]

Ah... lol
The part about the whole thing that doesn't make any sense is that the C450 originally was working fine. Unfortunately the customer claims that they did not make any changes to the system (ie upgrade/downgrade versions) We will be going out on Monday to look at your suggestions.

[RobboUK]

We are having different issues with Compression when scanning to email.

If the Email/proxy server is older and free for instance maybe its not up to the task of handling the new type of compression on files.

Its just a stab in the dark to be honest but it would explain why the old machine worked.

[kronical]

Yes the old machine did work, but it stopped working. This is why we put the new machine in.

[kronical]

OK We have solved this issue...
With numerous calls to the customers ISP/email provider, it took a fantastic 6th call for them to suggest the one thing that we haven't tried.
We reconnected the C450 and removed our C550 from the customers location, then configured the C450 to connect to the SMTP server (which is relayed through the proxy) via SSL. The issue is now resolved. We suspect that the customer was messing around in the settings and didn't set it back, or quite possibly, the setting was cleared when the customer had a power failure building wide. Either way, turning on SSL seemed to have corrected the issue. Thanks for all of your help guys!

[RobboUK]

Glad you got it sorted, Did not expect it to be something that simple.

Im sure you didnt either lol.

[kronical]

HAHA no not at all, considering the ISP does not use SSL for their SMTP transmissions.