Unable to connect to AIM

[jxFive]

Today when executing pidgin. I received an error when attempting to login into my Aim account "You have been connecting and disconnecting too frequently. Wait ten minutes and try again. If you continue to try, you will need to wait even longer."

I waited the allocated time and still received the same response when attempting to login in again. I checked some previous tickets and enabled "Use Client Login." I get the following response with that option enabled "Received unexpected response from ​http://api.oscar.aol.com/aim/startOSCARSession."

I am including a debug report for the first time problem and the issue when using Client Login.

[deadly7]

Confirmed on 2.6.3, and nothing seems to make this go away!

[deadly7]

Perhaps it was just a general crash but after a total of half an hour down, it seems to be back. However only the Pidgin client was affected, I was able to login via regular AIM.

[deryni]

So this is no longer occurring?

[trac-robot]

This ticket was closed automatically by the system. It was previously set to a Pending status and hasn't been updated within 14 days.

[TurboBorland]

I just got this error message today. My computer died (battery) and when I restarted and started Pidgin, everything worked great except for AIM. I got the message: Received unexpected response from ​http://api.oscar.aol.com/aim/startOSCARSession

So, I opened Pidgin's debug window and went to see what was wrong. After searching through a little (other messengers were still open at the time), I came across:

... (18:07:56) util: parsed 286 (18:07:56) oscar: startOSCARSession response statusCode was 400: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <response xmlns="​http://developer.aim.com/xsd/aim.xsd"><statusCode>400</statusCode><statusText>useTLS=1 is not allowed for non secure requests.</statusText><data><ts>1263514339</ts><upgradeData></upgradeData><betaData></betaData></data></response> (18:07:56) connection: Connection error on 0x8c1aef0 (reason: 16 description: Received unexpected response from ​http://api.oscar.aol.com/aim/startOSCARSession) (18:07:56) account: Disconnecting account xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (0x8193018) (18:07:56) connection: Disconnecting connection 0x8c1aef0 (18:07:56) oscar: Signed off. (18:07:56) connection: Destroying connection 0x8c1aef0 (18:07:57) msn: S: NS 000: UBX...

So, from here I saw that it was some kind of option in the client to "useTLS=1" for the entire scope of logging into AIM. As you see, the service that is sending the errors and disconnecting me is coming from an http site. However, attempting ​https://api.oscar.aol.com/aim/startOSCARSession does not redirect nor deny (just won't do anything because it's not used for this direct purpose) and sets up a valid tls session.

From here, I simply went into my account settings on Pidgin and disabled the "use SSL" option. Now, I was worried that maybe doing this would leave some things open or in plaintext that I would not want there. Unfortunately, it still requests connections out to ​http://api.oscar.aol.com/aim/startOSCARSession, but it would at least connect (did not throw the unrecognizable error message in the xml) and everything else also used "SSL" (which was TLS v1.1 for those thinking I mean pre-SSL 3.1).

I have both the debug window log and a wireshark packet capture (from which I verified the packets for my beliefs on what's happening).

[cookiecaper]

I've been receiving this error over the last couple of days as well. I recently upgraded to 2.6.5 through my distribution's package manager, but I don't remember if it ever worked between that time and the time I started receiving these errors.

I can connect successfully if I uncheck "Use SSL" under the Advanced tab on the Modify Account dialog.

[jmoreau]

Same issue here: "Received unexpected response from ​http://api.oscar.aol.com/aim/startOSCARSession." I rolled back Finch to version 2.6.4 and same as well.

[kentyman]

I've been getting the same error for about a week. This only seems to happen at work; not at home. I get the error with both SSL and clientLogin, but not if I turn either of them off. For now, I'm turning off clientLogin (not knowing what it is).

[kentyman]

Oh, I think this was with version 2.6.3, though it could've been 2.6.4. Either way, I upgraded today with 2.6.5 and THEN found the "SSL NAND clientLogin" problem.

[jmoreau]

I created (opened) a new ticket for the specific error I noted here: ​http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/11189

[KnotBigEnuf]

I'm getting this problem today.

Why is this Ticket "Closed"? I don't see an explanation or any correct procedure to avoid it given, just a work-around which those commenting have found, without knowing what it actually does.

Is it a bug? What is the correct solution, and does following it have any other consequences?

[KnotBigEnuf]

OK, I see this problem is still active as Ticket #11142. I have followed the "uncheck Use ClientLogin?" workaround and checked "CC me this Ticket" on #11142 to await a definitive solution.

[paulb104]

I have been using Pidgin since December 1, 2009.

Today I just started to receive the message "Received unexpected response from ​http://api.oscar.aol.com/aim/startOSCARSession".

I can access my MySpace? and Facebook accounts with Pidgin, but not AOL IM.

[paulb104]

Sorry.... I forgot to say that I'm using version Pidgin 2.6.4. I can also log into my AIM account without issue.

[betazed]

I can confirm this on Pidgin/Libpurple? 2.6.5. It is driving me crazy right now as the majority of my buddy's are on AIM.

[darkrain42]

Replying to betazed:

I can confirm this on Pidgin/Libpurple? 2.6.5. It is driving me crazy right now as the majority of my buddy's are on AIM.

This ticket was about a related, but likely different issue. Look at ​http://pidgin.im or ticket #11142 (namely, uncheck "Use clientLogin" or "Use SSL" for your AIm/ICQ accounts.

[archcorsair]

I can also confirm this issue on 2.6.5, deleting the aim certificates and restarting pidgin fixed it once, but it keeps returning.

[archcorsair]

Replying to archcorsair:

I can also confirm this issue on 2.6.5, deleting the aim certificates and restarting pidgin fixed it once, but it keeps returning.

Quick fix: If you disable SSL in advanced, you're able to log in.