MailBin 2
Download MailBin 2.1.2
(258 KB, .exe – Requires .NET 3.5)
MailBin is a small application that checks your Gmail account for NZB, Zip, and .Torrent files, allowing you to remotely queue up Usenet downloads at any remote location. It’s a great tool for when you find something you want to download while away from home, but you want it to be ready by the time you get there.
The program works like this:
- You enable POP3 on your Gmail account, and instruct Gmail to delete messages after they have been retrieved via POP. If you have other applications retrieving email via POP, I suggest registering another Gmail account.
- Enter your Gmail user name (Just your user name, not your entire @gmail.com address), password, and a passphrase into the MailBin configuration pane.
- Email yourself any number of NZB, Zipped NZB, or .Torrent files at your Gmail address with the passphrase appended at the end.
- Configure your newsreader and BitTorrent client to automatically pick up NZB files from a specific directory
- MailBin takes care of the rest!
For example, if my email address is testuser@gmail.com and my passphrase is “mailbin“, I would email myself NZB files at testuser+mailbin@gmail.com, just as it is typed here.
Then, once MailBin downloads the NZB or .Torrent files from my account, Newsbin, my newsreader of choice automatically downloads the NZB files that MailBin has retrieved.
How does it work?
Gmail has a well-known feature that allows you to append any string to your email address with a plus sign (+) and have it delivered to your mailbox. We can use this feature to enable a secret passphrase for our communications with MailBin. MailBin will only download email messages that are addressed to your account with the passphrase attached.
As of release 2.1.2, MailBin offers the following features:
- Support for an unlimited number of account and passphrase combinations
- Account login information encryption
- Ability to download NZB and .Torrent files along with Zip archives
- User-defined email download interval and number of messages to scan
- Simple, easy to use interface with a small footprint
- Ability to pause email retrieval
- Minimizable to system tray
- Written from the ground up in C# – new, custom POP3 and MIME parsing engines – no external libraries
- Automatic update notification – MailBin will automatically check for application updates so you always have the latest version at your fingertips
Updates to the software can always be found on this page. I can usually be found Team Hack-a-Day Chat Room, but feel free to leave comments.
All of my applications are free, but if you feel so inclined, donations can be sent here:
Changelog
MailBin 2.1.2 – 2009.09.14
- Fixed update check bug that would cause a NullReference error exclusively affecting Windows XP
MailBin 2.1.1 – 2009.09.10
- Changed update system to check for updates once every 24 hours at most
MailBin 2.1.0 – 2009.09.04
- Converted settings flat file to Windows’ application settings file (Requires import via Configuration pane)
- Added web-based update notification system
- Removed form location/size persistence
MailBin 2.0.8 – 2009.06.22
- Fixed bug where .torrent files would not be properly decoded upon download
MailBin 2.0.7 – 2009.06.16
- Fixed performance bugs, greatly decreasing file download times, memory usage, and CPU load
MailBin 2.0.6 – 2009.06.09
- Fixed bug that caused MailBin to improperly parse messages when encoded in a non-standard fashion by Gmail
- Fixed bug that caused messages to not be deleted once downloaded
- Fixed bug that would cause MailBin to stall on downloading large attachments (still working on speed issues for large files)
MailBin 2.0.5 – 2009.05.15
- Added support for .Torrent files – Newsreaders ignore .torrent files while BitTorrent applications ignore .nzb and .zip files, so they can be dropped in the same directory
- Fixed a bug that would cause zip files to remain in the list of authorized file types even after the file type was removed from the list
- Fixed a bug that would cause attachments to be truncated and unusable in certain situations
- Fixed a bug that would cause accounts to be checked twice in sequence upon running MailBin for the first time
- Fixed the download path folder picker in the configuration pane
MailBin 2.0.4 – 2009.05.01
- Window size & location persistence between application launches
- Window size reset option
- Added countdown timer to next email check
- Added countdown timer pause option
- Various icon changes
MailBin 2.0.3 – 2009.04.27
- Removed text menus, replaced with icons
- Added ability to disable specific accounts
- Fixed bug affecting accounts containing less messages than the user requested that MailBin check
- Fixed various button events
MailBin 2.0.2 – 2009.04.15
- Added auto-check email on startup option
- Added start minimized option
[...] Click here to try MailBin [...]
[...] main benefit of using Mailbin 2 is that the NZB and Torrent files do get processed immediately on a computer system which could [...]
sh*t…..all done like described but….
“[...]
[ 06/22 - 10.08.27 ] Checking account: a*****n@gmail.com+urka@gmail.com
[ 06/22 - 10.08.27 ] Mail socket connected.
[ 06/22 - 10.08.27 ] Mail session Authenticated.
[ 06/22 - 10.08.28 ] Mailbox contains 2 messages.
[ 06/22 - 10.08.28 ] Found 0 messages addressed to MailBin
[ 06/22 - 10.08.29 ] Mail session terminated.
[ 06/22 - 10.08.29 ] Mail socket disconnected.
[...]
”
Why?!?!?
argo,
If MailBin is not finding any attachments, it can be due to a few different reasons:
1) What version of .Net do you have installed?
2) What file types are you sending yourself? Are these file types listed in the configuration as “allowable” files?
3) From what service are you sending these messages?
Different mail services, e.g. Yahoo, Gmail and MS Exchange send messages in slightly different formats. As those are three of the biggest services, I have tested MailBin on messages sent from them.
Other services such as Hotmail or AOL may encode messages differently. If you did send yourself messages from these other services, I would need to see the full content of the message (found by clicking “View Original” from the menu near the Reply button in Gmail) to diagnose the problem.
Thanks for your feedback!
using .Net 3.5 for *.torrent files by Gmail…I send the email from inside Gmail to myself using address id+passphrase@gmail.com
mailbin set as follow
http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/504/34398906.gif
…so what?!? O_o
Argo,
Ok, two problems – one mine, one yours:
I just now noticed that in your post, that the program log shows it is checking your address as “a*****n@gmail.com+urka@gmail.com” which means you input your entire email address into the user name field.
If you remove the “@gmail.com”, you should be good to go.
The other problem is on my end. I tested a few torrent downloads and found that MailBin was not decoding torrents correctly. I have rectified the problem and I will post a new build shortly.
Thanks again for your feedback!
DrNathan,
ok, sorry, a silly problem: in my case the change of the user name who supposed works and allows me to correctly save the *.torrent file in the dedicated folder.
Many many Tnx !!
Why i cannot download the attachment?
[ 09/23 - 04.26.41 ] Checking account: gargio70+arkham@gmail.com
[ 09/23 - 04.26.41 ] Mail socket connected.
[ 09/23 - 04.26.41 ] Mail session Authenticated.
[ 09/23 - 04.26.42 ] Mailbox contains 1 messages.
[ 09/23 - 04.26.42 ] Found 1 messages addressed to MailBin
[ 09/23 - 04.26.42 ] Downloading messages, please wait…
[ 09/23 - 04.27.16 ] Mail session terminated.
[ 09/23 - 04.27.16 ] Mail socket disconnected.
What exactly did you send yourself? From what mail service did you send the message?
Is that file type listed in the “Accepted File Extensions” list in the options pane?
If so, I will need the complete message from Gmail. You can get it by selecting “Show Original” from the menu in Gmail that appears next to the Reply button. You can send the information in a text file to drnathan(at)teamhackaday(dot)com.
[...] downloading a torrent file from your office to your home computer – delivered via an email. MailBin 2 is a free portable Windows application written atop .NET that can check your Gmail account for [...]
Dr. Nathan,
I’m having the same problem as Argo above. Mailbin is connecting to my gmail, but not seeing any messages addressed to it. I’ve tried sending from multiple accounts both zipped and unzipped .nzb file. I also tried changing my passphrase, but no luck. Any ideas?
[ 01/03 - 09:53:23 PM ] Checking account: xxxxxxxxx+download@gmail.com
[ 01/03 - 09:53:24 PM ] Mail socket connected.
[ 01/03 - 09:53:25 PM ] Mail session Authenticated.
[ 01/03 - 09:53:26 PM ] Mailbox contains 330 messages.
[ 01/03 - 09:53:44 PM ] Found 0 messages addressed to MailBin
[ 01/03 - 09:53:45 PM ] Mail session terminated.
[ 01/03 - 09:53:45 PM ] Mail socket disconnected.
[ 01/03 - 09:55:59 PM ] Checking account: xxxxxxxxx+cheeseburger@gmail.com
[ 01/03 - 09:56:00 PM ] Mail socket connected.
[ 01/03 - 09:56:01 PM ] Mail session Authenticated.
[ 01/03 - 09:56:01 PM ] Mailbox contains 330 messages.
[ 01/03 - 09:56:19 PM ] Found 0 messages addressed to MailBin
[ 01/03 - 09:56:20 PM ] Mail session terminated.
[ 01/03 - 09:56:20 PM ] Mail socket disconnected.
John,
Looking at the MailBin log, it seems like everything is running correctly, so I would need to take a look at an actual message you sent yourself to see what the problem might be.
You can get it by selecting “Show Original” from the menu in Gmail that appears next to the Reply button. You can send the information in a text file to drnathan(at)teamhackaday(dot)com, and I will see what I can do.
DrNathan,
Is it possible to run Mailbin on a Qnap Nas?
This would be really great!
Thnx!
Mars,
Unfortunately, it is likely not possible to do so. MailBin is a Windows-only application – I am assuming that the Qnap runs some sort of modified Linux, correct?
To really take advantage of MailBin, it should be paired with NewsBin, some other news reader, or Bit Torrent client – do any of these sorts of apps run on the Qnap?
Yes, it is linux. I know the Qnap can handle python scripts.
Sabnzbd runs on the Qnap. Sabnzbd checks a certain folder on the harddrive for new nzb’s.
So this program would be awesome. I could let the Qnap run on certain times in the night and i don’t have to look after it.
Well, I really never planned on porting it to any other OS, but I have a suggestion if you have a Windows machine on your network.
You can map a drive in Windows to wherever Sabnzbd is searching for nzb files on your NAS and then configure MailBin to drop the nzb files it finds there.
Sure, it adds an extra step, but it’s not too bad of a flow.
Is MailBin still being developed? I’m having issues with it, just curious if anyone was out there to help.
MailBin checks my gmail account, finds the attachment, downloads the attachment, the message is deleted yet I never see the NZB file attached to the message on my PC. I’ve tried with 2 different computers, same issue. I changed the download location, same thing. Ideas?
It worked before, I reloaded my PC and it stopped working. However, as mentioned above I tried on 2 computers and get the same result. It looks like it’s working, but the NZB file attached to the message isn’t being downloaded.
[ 03/07 - 04:57:41 PM ] Checking account: —–+nzb@gmail.com
[ 03/07 - 04:57:41 PM ] Mail socket connected.
[ 03/07 - 04:57:42 PM ] Mail session Authenticated.
[ 03/07 - 04:57:42 PM ] Mailbox contains 1 messages.
[ 03/07 - 04:57:42 PM ] Found 1 messages addressed to MailBin
[ 03/07 - 04:57:42 PM ] Downloading messages, please wait…
From: —–@gmail.com – Subj:
[ 03/07 - 04:57:44 PM ] Mail session terminated.
[ 03/07 - 04:57:44 PM ] Mail socket disconnected.
StirCwazy,
MailBin is still being actively developed, so you have come to the right place.
One thing that caught my attention was that MailBin was working on your computer before your reloaded Windows, and is now not functioning.
Have you checked to make sure that your installation of .Net is up to date? Technically, MailBin is only supported under .Net 3.5. It *will* work under older versions, but I am not 100% sure of the functionality.
Let me know what version you are on, and if updating solves your issues.
If not, we can look closer at the messages you are sending yourself. From time to time Gmail can send messages in a strange manner that does not conform to their normal encoding methods. This can cause attachments to not be found.