1 <page xmlns="http://www.gnome.org/~shaunm/mallard"
3 id="problems-connecting">
6 <link type="guide" xref="index#problems"/>
7 <desc>Diagnose common problems with connecting to an instant messaging service.</desc>
8 <revision version="3.0" date="2009-06-14" status="stub"/>
10 <credit type="author">
11 <name>Phil Bull</name>
12 <email>philbull@gmail.com</email>
16 <name>GNOME Documentation Project</name>
19 <license>Creative Commons Share Alike</license>
21 <include href="legal.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
24 <title>I have a problem connecting to an instant messaging service</title>
27 <cite date="2009-06-14"><name>Phil Bull</name></cite>
28 <p>This is a stub. We should identify the most common causes for a user not
29 being able to connect and document those.</p>
33 <title>I get a message that says "Authentication failed"</title>
35 If you try to connect and an error message appears in the main Empathy
36 window saying that <gui>Authentication failed</gui>, your instant messaging
37 service is not allowing you to connect because it does not recognize your
38 username or password for some reason.
43 Make sure that you have registered for an account with the service you
44 are trying to connect to. If you do not have an account, most services
45 will not allow you to connect.
50 Click the <gui>Edit Account</gui> button in the error message. Type
51 your username and password again to make sure that they are correct.
52 Uncheck the <gui>Enabled</gui> box next to the name of your account and
53 then check it again to try to connect to the service again.
60 <title>I get a message that says "Network error"</title>
62 If you try to connect and an error message appears in the main Empathy
63 window which says <gui>Network error</gui>, Empathy cannot communicate with
64 the instant messaging service for some reason.
69 Check that you are connected to the Internet or network.
74 Click the <gui>Edit Account</gui> button in the error message. Expand
75 the <gui>Advanced</gui> section and make sure that the details such as
76 server address and port are correct. You should be able to find these
77 details from the website of the messaging service. Uncheck the
78 <gui>Enabled</gui> box next to the name of your account and then check
79 it again to try to connect to the service again.
86 <title>My account is not enabled</title>
88 If the instant messaging account that you want to use is not enabled in the
89 drop-down account list when you try to start a new conversation or join a
90 chat, your account details may not be correct.
95 Click <guiseq><gui>Edit</gui><gui>Accounts</gui></guiseq> and make sure
96 that the <gui>Enabled</gui> checkbox is checked.
101 Make sure that your username and password are correct.
106 Expand the <gui>Advanced</gui> section of the <app>Accounts</app>
107 window and make sure that all of the server settings are correct.