Today, my Pidgin IM client started giving the error, “Received unexpected response from http://api.oscar.aol.com/aim/startOSCARSession”, when connecting to the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) server. Apparently, it can also happen when connecting to ICQ. Fortuantely, the fix/workaround on Windows and Linux is really easy.
- Go to Accounts
- Modify the AIM or ICQ account
- On the Advanced tab, clear the checkbox labeled Use clientLogin
- Save
Are you using Adium? It may also have this issue on the Mac. If you’ve solved it, post the steps in a reply.
Update: Alternatively, in step 3, you can clear the checkbox labeled Use SSL
Thank you, it worked.
any idea what they changed?
Not sure what changed. It happened to me on 2.6.4 and I got notification that 2.6.5 was out. So, I updated, but it didn’t fix the problem. If you run into any more info, let me know.
The 4-step fix seems to work for me.
This error is weird. I only got it when I upgraded this morning to Pidgin 2.6.5. So I said “screw this” and reinstalled 2.6.4… but the error was still there!
unmark SSL in the connection settings of the pidgin and u’ll be able to connect
You are a godsend (if atheistic, um…you are a coincidence of genes that was really really useful to me); I had felt like an idiot for an hour trying to figure that one out.
@ Kelsey: “a coincidence of genes that was really really useful” LOL! That’s a new one. Glad it worked out.
That worked. I had the same symptoms as everyone else. Thanks for the tip!
Unmarking SSL did the trick for me. Never had this problem until 2.6.5. Thanks for posting the solution.
thanks so much for this fix!! worked like a charm. 🙂
Had the same problem in both 2.6.4 and 2.6.5 (Windows). Unchecking the clientLogin tickbox worked perfectly. Thank you so much!
Thanks for the quick fix. MUCH appreciated… worked great on 2.6.4 win7 x64!
I’m using Pidgin 2.6.5, and while disabling SSL worked, disabling ClientLogin definitely worked better. 🙂
Just had this problem happen literally >10 minutes ago.. Googled and voila, your post was made four hours ago. Life saver 😉
Oh christ, thank you. That was driving me nuts.
Thanks for this! I have been trying to log in all day, but failed. Thanks again!
Thanks.
It works fine.
Thank you so much! This was bugging me all morning!
Thanks, worked for me. I was about the post a solution as well to my blog, but found this, and it’s also noted on pidgin.im as well.
I had the same problem. Steps 1-4 worked fine for me. Thanks for posting the fix.
Thanks for posting the fix. I’m amazed how many people have had the same issue. Is there any idea on the root cause of this?
Those 4 steps worked for me. Thanks!
Thank you, that was it.
Same thing… your fix seemed to do the trick. But it was only on an install on a Vista system… my Win 7 was still working as of this morning.
I was using 2.6.4 just fine until Tuesday 1/11/10 when the error started happening. I upgraded to 2.6.5 but that didn’t help. I tried unchecking SSL and that worked so I tried re-checking it and unchecking Use ClientLogin and that worked too. So both options worked for me.