Continuous friendly name reset on MSN

[EviL]

Since this morning the friendly names are changed automatically. Probably MSN protocol has been changed to push them regularly (it happened to me twice already, I set the friendly name I want and after a while it is reset) from some WindowsLive? source or something like that, because the same happened to friends with Pidgin or Trillian, or probably anything is not Messenger. My guess is that servers try to force their names and only Messenger is able to ignore those messages when it already has custom friendly names manually set by the users.

[Robby]

2.5.5 is old.

[EviL]

2.5.5 is the one provided by the latest Ubuntu Karmic repositories. I know it's not Pidgin's responsibility to provide an up-to-date one in such repos, but still, this is an issue from this morning (at least for me and friends with different client, so I assume is a new MSN protocol change), so it's worth mentioning because I'm not 100% sure it would be already addressed in 2.6.3 :)

[Robby]

Okay :)

[Dimmuxx]

This can't be fixed since it's the server that does it and it happens with the official client too.

[EviL]

But then why some of my contacts still have it unchanged?

[Dimmuxx]

You are talking about your own "nickname" right? It doesn't happen to everyone but some on my list lost theirs today.

[evil]

yes, in pidgin it is referred as friendly name. i cannot understand what made it change only for someone. usually these weird things happen to clients other than Messenger, but if someone experienced the same with it, my theory is wrong. still, the replacing nick is my name taken from windows live website, so it must be some microsoft mess...

[andrea.grax]

It's a change somewhere in the msn servers. I've got the same issue from this morning with pidgin 2.6.2

Logging in and out reset my friendly name to my name , as per the live profile page.

Changing my name on the live profile also change my friendly name in pidgin

[deryni]

Ticket #10765 has been marked as a duplicate of this ticket.

[firewave]

Same here, Ubuntu, PPA version, 2.6.3 (last).

I confirm it's a change on MS servers :(

[Universe_JDJ]

Confirmed here as well. Pidgin 2.5.3, WinVista?.

[Duologic]

Bug confirmed on Pidgin 2.6.3 (Arch Linux Rolling Release)

[dbbolton]

Confirmed on Debian squeeze/sid

pidgin:

Installed: 2.6.3-1 Candidate: 2.6.3-1 Version table:

*** 2.6.3-1 0

990 http://ftp.us.debian.org testing/main Packages 500 http://ftp.us.debian.org unstable/main Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

[Dimmuxx]

I thought this was the old problem with the server losing your name which happens from time to time but seems it's something new so disregard my earlier comments.

It looks like that the official client sets your nickname when you login though since everyone on my list using it seems to have their correct nickname.

[deryni]

My understanding is that we believe the issue here is that the server is resetting friendly names to whatever is stored on live.com when accounts log out. pidgin does not appear to be setting the friendly name every time it logs in (though apparently the official client does).

[deryni]

Ticket #10773 has been marked as a duplicate of this ticket.

[TheCycoONE]

Also started happening to me and all the Pidgin/Adium users on my list in the past few days. I'm using pidgin 2.6.2 on Windows Vista.

[Dark Dude]

Aye, same happening to me too, and I'm using Pidgin 2.6.2 on Windows XP. The same also happens to me via Pidgin 2.6.2 on Linux 9.10...

Looks like Microsoft are doing their usual market abuse, forcing other competing clients to have substandard services...

[Kalastor]

I get the same problem.

Sabayon Linux 5.0 - Pidgin 2.6.3

Also a friend of mine, using Windows Vista - Pidgin 2.6.3, is having troubles.

Microsoft had surely changed the Protocol.

[deryni]

Not the protocol just server behaviour.

[fruktfrukt]

Crap. I hope somebody comes up with a quick band-aid plugin for this if the devs don't take notice. Does the Pidgin API allow modifying protocol plugin behavior by another external plugin?

[deryni]

What exactly about this do you think we haven't "take[n] notice" of? This is a server change, the only "solution" pidgin has is to set the friendly name at each login. Which up until now was apparently not necessary and we don't do it. At the moment we aren't certain this is a change that is going to stay as it strikes us as a monumentally stupid idea. If it looks like it is staying I imagine such a fix will be put in place (possibly for the next release).

There is no official way for a plugin to do this, but unofficial ways can be done.

[Dark Dude]

A fix wouldn't be too hard. Just have it so that Pidgin stores the friendly name locally instead of waiting for it remotely...

[deryni]

Yes, that would be why I said that 'the only "solution" pidgin has is to set the friendly name at each login' earlier.

[CADE20]

I can confirm this for version 2.5.3, 2.5.5 and 2.6.3, so I think it is indeed something has changed on Microsoft's side.

When you change your friendly name back, it successfully gets stored in accounts.xml, however, the next time pidgin starts, this field gets overridden. So even though it is a problem with the server, there might be a better way for pidgin to determine whether to use the locally stored friendly name, or the name the server sends.

[Zoen]

I'm not sure what's going on, but here's my contribution:

I use Pidgin 2.6.3, and this has been happening to me for the past few days. Anytime I disconnect and reconnect MSN with Pidgin, I lose my display name. HOWEVER, if I sign onto regular MSN, my display name is unchanged.

Hope that can provide a bit of extra insight into this issue.

[retrospectacus]

This was really annoying so I made it store the friendly name and then set it when you login. Patch submitted

-Adam

[rekkanoryo]

Ticket #10798 has been marked as a duplicate of this ticket.

[Coeluh]

Having the same problem here!

[nox-Hand]

Agreed, server behaviour, gotta be. Two confirmations, 2.6.1, 2.6.3. Windows XP, two computers.

Be a shame if we can't work around it, since making a permanent fix that sets it at login would not allow you to "import" your name from having used another IM application (like when on another computer). Or perhaps I am incorrect. Prove me wrong, I have but words ;-)

[Coeluh]

For me it would not be such big a deal to setting it fix.

[nox-Hand]

Replying to Coeluh:

For me it would not be such big a deal to setting it fix.

Naturally, not everyone would have great dismay if a quick fix was made -- yet thinking of the user base, and indeed also the target group which seems immensely wide for Pidgin, it could backfire to not find a proper fix. Let's see how it plays out with the servers, though.

[Coeluh]

Replying to nox-Hand:

Replying to Coeluh:

For me it would not be such big a deal to setting it fix.

Naturally, not everyone would have great dismay if a quick fix was made -- yet thinking of the user base, and indeed also the target group which seems immensely wide for Pidgin, it could backfire to not find a proper fix. Let's see how it plays out with the servers, though.

Well if you make it like an option to: "not get friendly name from server", it might work out as a temporary work around

[nox-Hand]

Replying to Coeluh:

Replying to nox-Hand:

Replying to Coeluh:

For me it would not be such big a deal to setting it fix.

Naturally, not everyone would have great dismay if a quick fix was made -- yet thinking of the user base, and indeed also the target group which seems immensely wide for Pidgin, it could backfire to not find a proper fix. Let's see how it plays out with the servers, though.

Well if you make it like an option to: "not get friendly name from server", it might work out as a temporary work around

I suppose -- depending on whether setting the name on Pidgin sends it to server -- meaning that it would "lock" (until said option was disabled) your name to whatever you set it to, every time you log into Pidgin - and after, if one opened it on for example Windows Live, one would now have the Pidgin locked nickname (and after changing on WinLive?, it'd go back next Pidgin Launch. Of course, it's all things that can be addressed.

[andreamer]

I confirm the issue in pidgin pidgin 2.6.3-2 on kde 4.3 and Archlinux.

Every time I start pidgin, my nickname on MSN acount is replaced by my e-mail.

It's VERY annoying, please i need some workaround, still i know it's not pidgin's fault it's MSN

[retrospectacus]

Patched dll for Windows pidgin 2.6.3

[retrospectacus]

I got my patch compiled for Windows v.2.6.3 - thanks BigBrownChunx?!!

[Dark Dude]

Ok, I replaced libmsn.dll in the Plugins folder with the one retrospectacus uploaded, but it's still resetting every time I go offline. Do I have to do anything else to make it work?

[retrospectacus]

Replying to Dark Dude:

Ok, I replaced libmsn.dll in the Plugins folder with the one retrospectacus uploaded, but it's still resetting every time I go offline. Do I have to do anything else to make it work?

Make sure you have the latest version installed and patched, and set the friendly name with Accounts - [msn login] - Set friendly name. Then quit and it should be saved in accounts.xml. Start pidgin and login and it should send the friendly name to the server upon logging in.

[Dark Dude]

It is indeed saving it in accounts.xml, and remains when I go offline or quit Pidgin, but whenever I load it and log back in again, my name resets to Alex, with all traces of the previous friendly name gone from the accounts.xml file >_>

I'm using Pidgin 2.6.3, which is the latest version IIRC, and it's still not working.

[retrospectacus]

Hmmm, mine was being reset to my hotmail address, not any previous nickname... not sure where to go from there :\

[Dark Dude]

Well, Alex is my Hotmail forename, forgive me for not being clear xD

[jgpaiva]

From what I understand, it resets to the first name you have configured in your live account. If you have none, then it resets to your email.

[retrospectacus]

For what it's worth, the patched DLL does work for me. However I have not signed in with the official client for years, or ever configured my live account.

[GoRaXaN]

The patched DLL isn't working for me, some info that might be useful.

Debugging Information

Plugins: Enabled SSL: SSL support is present. GTK+ Runtime: 2.14.7 Glib Runtime: 2.18.4

Library Support

Cyrus SASL: Enabled Gadu-Gadu library (libgadu): Internal GtkSpell?: Enabled GnuTLS: Disabled Network Security Services (NSS): Enabled Perl: Disabled Tcl: Disabled Tk: Disabled Voice and Video: Disabled

[firewave]

libmsn patched, for linux amd64

[yo2boy]

I'm currently on 2.6.3 (Ubuntu 9.10). It's been happening to me for the past week and whenever I set my friendly name to "yo2boy | imma firin mah lazor" or something, it automatically resets itself to "yo2boy". I've been constantly changing it back but it doesn't work after I restart the client.

[yo2boy]

And, can someone attach a fix for i383 intel Linux(preferably Ubuntu)

[pewpewpew]

Patched libmsn.so for i386 from patch diff in thread.

[Coeluh]

I overwrote the old dll with with patched one, and it seems to work here.

[pippolomeo]

the patched DLL didn't work for me. I have a Live account name set, and I don't use an hotmail.com account, as my Live account has been created using an email different than hotmail.*

[ZOMGxuan]

The patch does not work as long as your name is set in your Live account. Unfortunately, there seems to be no easy workaround for this, as you can't unset your Live account name once it is set, only change it to something else.

[ZOMGxuan]

Of course, you could always set your Live account name to whatever you want your display name to be, which is what I'm doing temporarily.

[pippolomeo]

yes, the only problem is for those who would like to set a nickname which contains characters which are not accepted by live.com. in my case, a simple dot

[Zoen]

What happens with mine is my display name will be reset to my actual first name, when my account on MSN has my normal display name.

[Calanyo]

Same here. Was using 2.6.2 (on XP) and my name kept getting reset to my email address. Upgraded to 2.6.3 and the same.

Just tried the patched dll and it's doing exactly the same thing.

As a suggestion for a work-around, how about checking that the name stored on the server is not the same as your username (email address)? If not, then use what's on the server; otherwise, use the locally-stored name.

[retrospectacus]

The patch I submitted was just a quick workaround for myself and my girlfriend (Debian squeeze/sid and Windows, both 2.6.3) and it works for us. I'm interested in creating a proper patch, but I need to get an understanding of the behaviour of the official client... I will do some packet sniffing and see what I can come up with.

[andreamer]

Replying to retrospectacus:

The patch I submitted was just a quick workaround for myself and my girlfriend (Debian squeeze/sid and Windows, both 2.6.3) and it works for us. I'm interested in creating a proper patch, but I need to get an understanding of the behaviour of the official client... I will do some packet sniffing and see what I can come up with.

Thanks, that would be much appreciated

[pippolomeo]

thank you sincerely for taking a look into this!

[Calanyo]

yeah, thanks a lot for taking a look :)

I've also noticed that it resets your name when it automatically changes your status to away (or maybe it changes it when you get back - haven't checked exactly when it happens).

[Calanyo]

Strange. I let it go away again and this time it didn't reset the name. :S

[pippolomeo]

maybe a disconnection has happened while you were away

[dowlingw]

It looks like this behaviour is occuring for certain users of the official client software also. Below are some reports from users, however I cannot find any items on the official Live Help site.

Report from user running Mac MSN client: http://windowslivehelp.com/community/t/161075.aspx

Report from user running MSN 8.5: http://www.eggheadcafe.com/software/aspnet/33029562/my-msn-display-name-reset.aspx

[dowlingw]

Suggested Solution: Add a boolean option to MSN accounts to force set the display name on login.

This might actually be useful beyond the scope of fixing this behaviour (set a different display name based off what computer you're logging in from).

[Calanyo]

Replying to dowlingw:

Suggested Solution: Add a boolean option to MSN accounts to force set the display name on login. This might actually be useful beyond the scope of fixing this behaviour (set a different display name based off what computer you're logging in from).

Yeah, I used to do this with mIRC and wanted to do it with MSN but couldn't. I resorted to having a different buddy icon for each machine I use so that ppl know where I am, but most don't look or don't get it.

[gooner]

I have used the libmsn.dll patch file but it still changes the display name when logging off.

[fractos]

Tried with the attached libmsn.dll but Pidgin 2.6.3 started ignoring MSN protocol! My 2 MSN accounts when to (unknown) protocol and MSN was missing from the list of supported protocols in the edit account dialog. Gone back to old version!

[retrospectacus]

I've given up on the packet sniffing - too complicated for me, too much SSL traffic. Since the official client is having problems, MS may update their behaviour anyways. dowlingw's suggested solution seems reasonable, I need to figure out what is making my patch not work for some people though something to do with having a name set elsewhere?... but I heard on the IRC that a pidgin dev had implemented a workaround for the next release anyways, so I'm just going to wait for now.

fractos: that is what happened on my girlfriend's computer when she tried the patched dll on an old version of pidgin (2.5.5 or something) - verify you have the latest version.

[Calanyo]

Sounds like a good plan. Thanks for checking it out for us. :)

[dowlingw]

I completely forgot to mention that I'm currently running 2.6.3 with retrospectacus's patch which seems to be working well so far. I've posted up a copy of the build for anyone who just wants to get by in the meantime:

http://www.autodeist.com/node/126

[andreamer]

I just found the same issue is happening in program "emesene", maybe a common solution could be found.

[qulogic@…]

(In [5471a4305312ead74567c9099c837adcbebb640c]):
Due to a server change, the friendly name on MSN was being changed to the first name of the user as supplied in their Address Book. Cache friendly names and use that at login, with a fallback to the AB name when none has been set.

Fixes #10763.

[andreamer]

Replying to qulogic@…:

(In [5471a4305312ead74567c9099c837adcbebb640c]):
Due to a server change, the friendly name on MSN was being changed to the first name of the user as supplied in their Address Book. Cache friendly names and use that at login, with a fallback to the AB name when none has been set. Fixes #10763.

does this mean the problem is solved? if so, it would be ok right away or in next update?

[Dimmuxx]

milestone 2.6.4 means that it's fixed in 2.6.4.

[firewave]

Good work ! Thx

[GoRaXaN]

Now is working fine, bug fixed in a new release in 12 days! Good work, thx a lot.

[Dark Dude]

Yep, 2.6.4 fixed it for me too =D

[QuLogic]

Yes, it works. We don't need any more "me too"s please.

[fractos]

Good. That appears to be working. Now if only the 2.3.1 typing indicator would come back and they'd do something about the stretchy text box at the bottom all would be well in time for Christmas.

Me too.

[darkrain42]

Ticket #10909 has been marked as a duplicate of this ticket.

[rekkanoryo]

Ticket #10910 has been marked as a duplicate of this ticket.