How to fix Pidgin issue connecting to AIM, ICQ – receiving ‘unexpected response’
It was recently brought to our attention that the popular open source IM client Pidgin — and potentially Adium in the Mac — are having trouble connecting to AIM and AOL messaging clients receiving a “Received unexpected response from http://api.oscar.aol.com/aim/startOSCARSession” error. There is a simple fix that has been confirmed to work from one of our staff members:
1. On the top menu click on Accounts
2. Modify your AIM or ICQ account
3. On the Advanced tab, untick the ‘Use clientLogin/Use SSL’ checkbox
4. Save and you’re done
Pidgin unexpected response fix
The source of the problem is still unknown, however this fix seems to be working for everyone. BTW, going back and forth with previous versions of Pidgin will not work, so just try the above.
34 Comments so far
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
This fix works on the latest update to pidgin 2.6.4 on debian squeeze. Thanks.
mike
13 Jan 10 at 7:51 pm
Worked; thanks.
ArcherSeven
13 Jan 10 at 10:03 pm
Thank you so much! I really was confused as to why it was acting up.
mire
13 Jan 10 at 10:05 pm
Goodness, this problem has been bothering me for the past few days! Thanks so much for the fix, it worked perfectly.
rubics
14 Jan 10 at 1:36 am
it did not work for me… i’ve tried multiple times
leetal
14 Jan 10 at 2:31 am
Worked a treat, thanks!
Jase
14 Jan 10 at 3:56 am
great, thanks :)
mataks
14 Jan 10 at 7:03 am
Running Linux & Pidgin 2.6.5
Made the change and it works like a champ- thank you
J T
14 Jan 10 at 1:33 pm
THANK YOU! I have been using Pidgin 2.6.5-1.fc12 on Linux (Fedora 12) for quite a while with no problem until just the other day. Something changed. Don’t know if it was a Pidgin update or something on AOL’s side. But this fix did the trick. And so painless! Yay!
Keith
14 Jan 10 at 5:02 pm
Worked easily! Thanks for the fix.
Luketh
14 Jan 10 at 7:24 pm
Thanks a bunch! I tried an old version with no luck, then googled the error and this page was one of the first in the results. Works perfectly!
Joe
14 Jan 10 at 8:06 pm
Worked like a charm. Thanks a million.
Duyun Chen
14 Jan 10 at 8:58 pm
It worked indeed, but WHY is all this?
Sean
15 Jan 10 at 7:25 am
This made my day… I really didn’t want to re-download AIM and all the bloatware that it comes with. Thank you
Dan
15 Jan 10 at 10:55 am
yeh its working fine…thanks
ignou
15 Jan 10 at 12:30 pm
not working now… i get a “unknown reason” error now
Jen
29 Jan 10 at 12:18 pm
THANKS! WOrked!
Qylie
9 Feb 10 at 4:11 pm
THANK YOU!! This worked perfectly.
I spent most of the morning looking through Pidgin’s forums to come up empty handed. You’re awesome!!
Kristen
9 Feb 10 at 5:40 pm
Worked for me so far — thanks!
Diana
10 Feb 10 at 10:46 am
Thanks a lot! Worked great for me. This had been my problem for quite a while now & its annoying.
Just unticked the “USE CLIENT LOGIN” & still enabled SSL.
I’m on windows btw.
Kerwin
18 Feb 10 at 3:33 pm
Worked for me on CentOS 5. This will make life a bit easier…
Jim
19 Feb 10 at 12:13 pm
It works, the instructions are not very clear, just make sure the status of your check boxes in the Modify Account, match the image posted here by Julio.
-Use SSL CHECKED
-Use Client Login UNCHECKED
Thanks a lot for the fix, it was driving me crazy.
Nestor
20 Feb 10 at 9:37 am
AWESOME!!! I was so frustrated of having to be running to aim apps simultaneously!
Victor
23 Feb 10 at 10:15 am
IT WORKED!! I’ve had this problem for ages and had no idea what to do about it…yay for Google (:
nubiennze
8 Mar 10 at 2:26 pm
works, thanks
tehjrow
25 Mar 10 at 7:39 pm
Works great. Thanks!
CTRtard
14 Apr 10 at 2:42 pm
thanks for the solution. it is a great help!
Johnson
19 Apr 10 at 1:11 am
Works perfectly even with the Windows Binary version 2.6.6
TCPMeta
20 Apr 10 at 9:13 pm
THANKS.
Worked immediately.
OG Bobby Johnson
24 Apr 10 at 3:09 pm
it doesn’t work for me D: …
elese
24 Apr 10 at 7:36 pm
that worked! (linux, pidgin 2.6.5)
Thanks
bas
28 Apr 10 at 3:06 pm
Awesome, that did the trick!
Devora
2 May 10 at 5:16 pm
excellent. solution works for 2.5.8 on windows vista. thanks!
CK
28 Jul 10 at 8:05 am
Holy crap, you are awesome! I haven’t used my AIM in ages, but a friend just moved overseas and that’s all he uses; this article is a lifesaver!
Shirley
29 Aug 10 at 6:30 pm