Diagnose common problems with connecting to an instant messaging service. Phil Bull philbull@gmail.com 2009 GNOME Documentation Project Creative Commons Share Alike I have a problem connecting to an instant messaging service Phil Bull

This is a stub. We should identify the most common causes for a user not being able to connect and document those.
I get a message that says "Authentication failed"

If you try to connect and an error message appears in the main Empathy window saying that Authentication failed, your instant messaging service is not allowing you to connect because it does not recognize your username or password for some reason.

Make sure that you have registered for an account with the service you are trying to connect to. If you do not have an account, most services will not allow you to connect.

Click the Edit Account button in the error message. Type your username and password again to make sure that they are correct. Uncheck the Enabled box next to the name of your account and then check it again to try to connect to the service again.

I get a message that says "Network error"

If you try to connect and an error message appears in the main Empathy window which says Network error, Empathy cannot communicate with the instant messaging service for some reason.

Check that you are connected to the Internet or network.

Click the Edit Account button in the error message. Expand the Advanced section and make sure that the details such as server address and port are correct. You should be able to find these details from the website of the messaging service. Uncheck the Enabled box next to the name of your account and then check it again to try to connect to the service again.

My account is not enabled

If the instant messaging account that you want to use is not enabled in the drop-down account list when you try to start a new conversation or join a chat, your account details may not be correct.

Click EditAccounts and make sure that the Enabled checkbox is checked.

Make sure that your username and password are correct.

Expand the Advanced section of the Accounts window and make sure that all of the server settings are correct.