PC NTMMTA: Err Msg: Could Not Start the Mail External... (131117)

SYMPTOMS

The following error is generated when you try to start the Multitasking MTA for Microsoft Windows NT (NT MMTA) as a service:

Could not start the Mail External - [instance name] service on
\\sharename

Error 2140: An internal Windows NT error occurred.

CAUSE

This is a generic error generated by Windows NT. The possible causes are:

Incorrect share name to the home postoffice. For example, if the server\share name is \\HUB\MSMAIL, and you enter \\HUB\MAILDATA, when you start the service, you will get a 2140 error message.
Incorrect password for the service account.
Incorrect entries in the EXTERNAL.INI.
The Novell NetWare user account does not have proper rights on the Novell server.
Incorrect UNC path syntax to the home postoffice when you define the service. The format should be \\server\share.

The 2140 error may also be caused by the following:

On start up of the NT MMTA service, an invalid UNCName exists for the home postoffice (PO).
The OS/2 sub-system has been removed, and you try to run EXTERNAL.EXE as a service.
Each user account on each Novell server has only a certain number of connections allowed to that server with that account (enabled in Syscon). If the MMTA dynamic connection is exceeding that allowed number of connections for the service account, then the service will fail to start with the 2140 error.

NOTE: The following error will also be generated when you run the Windows NT EXTERNAL.EXE from a command prompt with the OS/2 sub-system missing:

Cannot find EXTERNAL.EXE

RESOLUTION

To check the service account password, go to Control Panel, Services. Double-click the service, and check the password used.

Ensure that all the options specified for the service account in Service Manager and EXTERNAL.INI are correct. Also, check for misspellings and wrong entries.

Ensure that the NT MMTA ID that will logon to the Novell server has RWCEMF trustee rights to the MAILDATA directory.