203.0.35.33 writes:

I have a user who is running a 4.61a Notes client on her laptop. She is constantly prompted that she has 'new mail', but when she refreshes her screen (F9) no new mail appears in her inbox. Why is this so? Can anyone shed some light?

Emma

202.135.17.81 writes:

Solution:
There are a number of circumstances that can cause you to receive false new mail notification. Use the following information to troubleshoot this issue:

1. First, verify that you are using the correct Location document. Then, within the Location document, verify that the Mail file field specifies your mail file. (The Mail file field specifies which database your Notes client should poll for new mail.)

2. In Notes 4.x, a sequence number is stored in the mail file and the NOTES.INI file (NewMailSeqNum). The sequence number is incremented in the mail file when new mail is received.

When polling for new mail, the Notes client compares the NewMailSeqNum variable in the NOTES.INI file against the sequence number in the mail file. If the number is different, a new mail indication is received. When you refresh your mail view after receiving new mail but before the mail file is polled, you will see new mail. However, the NewMailSeqNum NOTES.INI variable is not updated. Thus, when the mail file is polled, you receive a new mail indication (with no new mail) because the number kept in the mail file is different than the NewMailSeqNum.

When Notes is first set up, the NewMailSeqNum does not exist. When you access your mail file for the first time, this variable is added to your NOTES.INI file.

If you remove the value of the NewMailSeqNum in the NOTES.INI and restart Notes, this will re-synch the value stored in your mail file with the value stored in your NOTES.INI.

NOTE: The polling interval issue has been reported to Lotus Quality Engineering and an enhancement request has been submitted.

3. If your workstation is shared by multiple users (who switch location documents but share the same NOTES.INI file), false mail notifications may occur because the NewMailSeqNum is updated with the current mail file's number. Therefore, if users are switching location documents (thereby pointing to different mail files), the NewMailSeqNum in the NOTES.INI file and the number in the currently chosen mail file will be out of synch.

4. Check for multiple NOTES.INI files. (Check both your local C: drive and mapped drives.) The NewMailSeqNum in the NOTES.INI in use is compared against the internal number in the mail file and is updated by the polling function.

5. If a user receives a mail-enabled document in which there is a Readers field and the user is not listed in it, the user will correctly receive a mail notification, but no new document will display in the views.You can try to access the user's mail file from the server's workstation with the server's ID. If the server is reader, the documents will be displayed. Another troubleshooting method is to add a "Log_Mailrouting=30" line on the mail server's NOTES.INI, and when a "false" mail notification arrives,check who the sender is in the log or on the server's console.

Subha