Q: Is there some way I can compile just Gaim, without all of these protocols?
A: Sort of, yeah. There's actually two ways to do it.
Use the --with-static-prpls option to ./configure along with
--disable-plugins. This will let you choose which protocols are compiled in
with Gaim, but you will not be able to use any other protocols or plugins.
You'll need to compile any protocols that you specified in
--with-static-prpls. Oscar and TOC are defaults.
Change to the directories for the protocols you
want to compile (e.g. <code>src/protocols/jabber</code>), and
run <code>make</code> from there. Then after you've compiled all of
them, change back to <code>src/</code> and run <code>make gaim</code>.
<pre>./au2h.c BuddyArrive.h
open: No such file or directory</pre>
A: You're not using <code>gmake</code>, are you? You need to be using
Q: I compiled Gaim, but when I restart, it did not update.
A: If you previously had an rpm or a Debian package installed, you need to
remove that first. When you restart Gaim, it will give some errors about your
plugins. This is normal. Simply go into the Plugins dialog
(Tools->Plugins) and reload them. These errors will only happen once.
Q: I can't compile Gaim CVS.
A: Make sure you have gettext <= 0.10.40 or gettext >= 0.11.3, autoconf 2.11
or 2.53, and automake 1.4p<i>x</i>. If you are still having problems, make
sure that your gettext package includes the program <code>gettextize</code>
(for gettext <= 0.10.40) or <code>autopoint</code> (for gettext >= 0.11.3).
If it does not, look for another package.
We don't support gettext 0.11.0 through 0.11.2. It may work for you, but
If you are using autoconf 2.50+, do not use a version of gettext lower
than 0.10.39. You will get errors in the <code>po/</code> directory.
If you have Slackware, you need to get non-slack packages for autoconf,
automake, gettext, and libtool. You also have to copy the contents of
/usr/local/share/aclocal to /usr/share/aclocal. This is due to bugs in
Slackware and the auto* packages.
Q: I have a question about GTK2.
A: Don't ask untill the changelog says it works.
Q: How do I register for a new account?
A: This depends on the protocol.
<p><b>AIM:</b> Go to <a href="http://aim.AOL.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp">http://aim.AOL.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp</a>.</p>
<p><b>ICQ:</b> Go to <a href="http://web.icq.com/register">http://web.icq.com/register</a>.</p>
<p><b>Yahoo:</b> Go to <a href="http://edit.yahoo.com/config/eval_register">http://edit.yahoo.com/config/eval_register</a>.</p>
<p><b>MSN:</b> Go to <a href="http://registernet.passport.com/">http://registernet.passport.com</a>.</p>
<p><b>Gadu-Gadu:</b> Use the official client to create an account.</p>
<p><b>Jabber:</b> See the question <a href="#jabber-register">How do I register a new Jabber account?</a> below.</p>
Q: Why is gaim crashing when somebody sends me an IM?
A: If you're using a version older than 0.55 (or Ximian or Debian's 0.54
package), you can be crashed remotely through an IM using one of two strings.
The solution is to upgrade to the latest version, where both exploits are
If you are using a version newer than 0.55 and gaim still crashes, please
Q: How do I use MSN, Yahoo, Jabber, IRC, Gadu-Gadu, Napster, or Zephyr?
A: First load the plugin. Protocol plugins come with Gaim, so just go to the
Plugins dialog (Tools->Plugins, or the Plugins button on the start
screen) and then click "Load." The protocol plugins are named
<code>lib<i>protocol</i>.so</code>, so MSN for instance is provided by
After you have loaded the appropriate plugin, use the
Account Editor (Tools->Accounts, or the Accounts button on the
start screen) to add the account.
A: TOC can, in a limited way. Most protocols are capable of it, but Gaim
hasn't implemented anything yet.
Q: When will file transfer be supported? Is it being worked on?
A: File transfer is not currently being worked on. It will be supported if
someone writes a patch using a generic user interface and without adding any
GTK+ to the protocol plugins.
Q: How come there's no Export Buddy List?
A: It would be the same as the <code>cp</code> command.
Gaim stores your buddy list in the <code>$HOME/.gaim</code>
directory. You can copy it out of there.
Q: Will Gaim save my buddy list to the server?
A: Gaim already does this in MSN, Yahoo, and TOC. As of version 0.53,
this support exists for Oscar as well. Improved Jabber support is being
Q: Can Gaim import my buddy list?
A: This depends on the format of the buddy list. Gaim cannot import
<a href="http://www.licq.org/">Licq</a>
contact lists. Gaim has mixed success importing Windows AIM buddy lists. If
you want to try, click File->Import. This is accessible after you sign on.
Q: Can I set a buddy icon?
A: Yes. Go to the Account Editor (Tools->Accounts from the buddy list),
and click to "Modify" the Oscar account you wish to have an icon. Type the
full path to the image you wish to use in the box labeled "Buddy Icon File."
The file must be below 4KB. It can have any dimensions, and can be in any
format. However, if you wish Windows users to see it, it must be in a format
Windows understands, such as .bmp, .gif, and .jpg.
A: ICQ support is part of the OSCAR protocol, labeled AIM/ICQ in gaim
(see the question <a href="#icq-no-worky">ICQ doesn't work</a> for why).
To use it, simply put your account number in the ScreenName box and your
password in the password box. Leave the server settings alone.
A: Use AIM/ICQ for ICQ. AOL stopped supporting the older versions of the
ICQ protocol. The newer versions are extensions of Oscar, which is labled
AIM/ICQ in gaim. Currently, Oscar supports as much of ICQ as the ICQ plugin
used to. To use Oscar for ICQ, put your UIN in the Screenname box, and leave
the server information alone.
!SECTION AIM/ICQ (Oscar) Protocol
Q: Some of my buddies are not showing up as online, why is that?
AOL has set a limit for the maximum number of people you can
have in your buddy list. This number is currently 200. Gaim 0.58 gives you a
warning if you are over the limit, but if you are using something prior
to 0.58, make sure you are not over the limit (and upgrade to something
The other possibility is that your server-stored buddy list is corrupt.
Unfortunately, Gaim 0.53 had a bug that caused it to corrupt some entries,
especially group names. While this corruption doesn't show in gaim unless
you remove the <code>SCREENNAME.0.blist</code> file from
<code>~/.gaim</code>, it does affect how long the server thinks your list
is. The best way to fix this, is to:
<pre>mv ~/.gaim/SCREENNAME.0.blist ~/</pre>
where SCREENNAME is your screenname, without spaces and in all caps. Then
signon, delete all groups, signoff, and signon again to verify that your list
is empty. Once it is empty, signoff, mv your
<code>SCREENNAME.0.blist</code> file back into <code>~/.gaim</code>, then
Q: IM Image doesn't work, why?
A: IM Image is very sensitive, even from windows. Gaim currently only
supports sending IM Images if the sender is not behind a firewall or nat
device. Given that the windows version of AIM also has trouble in this
situation, we are not sure this is entirely fixable. A work around that is
sometimes effective is to have the reciever, not being behind a firewall,
request a direct connection, then send the immage.
Q: I sent an IM Image, but only a blank line shows up, why?
A: You need to have gdk-pixbuf installed to send IM Images, if the
reciever is also using gaim, [s]he also needs to have this installed.
Q: Why am I getting disconnected when I try to connect to IRC?
A: You will be disconnected if the nickname you chose is already in use on
that IRC server. Try again with a different nickname.
Q: How do I choose which Jabber server to use?
A: The Jabber server name is part of your Jabber I.D., such as
<code>somebody@server.name</code>. So when entering your Jabber
"screen name", the server is specified as part of your JID.
Q: How do I change my Jabber resource to be other than the default of "/GAIM"?
A: When you create your account in Gaim, simply append the desired resource
identifier to your Jabber I.D. For example:
<code>somebody@server.name/resource</code>
Q: How do I register a new Jabber account?
A: As of version 0.52 and up:
<li>Click "Tools->Accounts->Add"</li>
<li>Select "Jabber" for the protocol.</li>
<li>Fill in screen name and password as you normally would.</li>
<li>Check the "Register with server" check-box</li>
<p>A pop-up will tell you whether the registration succeeded or not.</p>
<b>Note:</b> You are strongly recommended to check the "Remember password"
check-box as well, as Gaim presently does no password verification. So if you
don't type in what you thought you did, you're hosed.
Q: How do I use invisibility?
A: Jabber invisibility support is available in Gaim version 0.60 and later.
There are two ways to use Jabber invisibility: on a per-buddy and on a
To use per-buddy invisibility: right-click on the buddy on the Online
buddy list and select "Temporarily Hide From." You will appear to that
buddy to be off-line. To make yourself seen by that buddy again:
right-click on the buddy and select "Un-hide From." Note that the menu
changes based on whether you're currently invisible to that buddy or
The "Temporarily" part is a dead give-away. Your invisibility to
that buddy will last only until the next time you log on or until
you set server invisibility (discussed next) on and off.
To use per-server invisibility: click "Tools -> Away," select the Jabber
server login for the server upon which you wish to become invisible (if
necessary) and select "Invisible." To become visible again: select
anything else from that same menu (such as "Online"), or set your away
status or log off the server and back on again.
You can set yourself invisible per-server and subsequently make yourself
visible to selected buddies only.
Gaim currently does not retain invisibility settings between logins,
just as it doesn't currently retain "away" status.
Q: I've a buddy that I keep removing from my buddy list but the entry
keeps coming back every time I log in again! How can I stop this?
A: As of Gaim version 0.59 and later: Select the Edit Buddies tab, right-
click on the offending entry, and select "Remove From Roster.
Q: Can I remove a buddy from my Jabber roster entirely?
A: As of Gaim version 0.59 and later: yes. In the Edit Buddies tab, right-
click on a buddy and Select "Remove From Roster.
The buddy will disappear from your buddy list and also will no longer
receive presence notifications from you.
Q: What does "Cancel Presence Notification" do?
A: This selection, available in Gaim version 0.60 and later, and found by
right-clicking on a buddy entry in the Edit Buddies tab, prevents that
Jabber I.D. from receiving future presence notifications when you log on
After you do this, that buddy will have to re-request a subscription to
your presence (and you will have to approve it) for them to again see you
!SECTION Scripts and Plugins
Q: Where can I find documentation on writing plugins and Perl scripts?
A: If you look in the <code>plugins/</code> directory in the Gaim source, you
should see a HOWTO file for C plugins and a PERL-HOWTO for Perl scripts.
Q: How do I compile a plugin for Gaim?
A: To compile a plugin for Gaim, you must have Gaim's source code. There
are two ways to get this: Tarballs, and CVS. To work with a tarball,
follow the instructions below. To use CVS, follow the instructions on the
<a href="cvs.php">CVS</a> page. Please note that normally, CVS is much
more stable than the tarballs!
To work with a tarball, download the latest source code from <a
href="http://gaim.sf.net/">http://gaim.sf.net/</a> and untar it with the
command: <pre>tar zxvf <i>filename</i></pre> where <i>filename</i> is the
After you have a Gaim source code tree, either through tarballs or CVS:
Change to the resulting directory and run the command:
<pre>./configure</pre> This will create the necessary make files.
Move the plugin you wish to compile into the <code>plugins/</code>
directory in the Gaim source code tree.
Change to the <code>plugins/</code> directory.
<pre>make <i>name</i>.so</pre>
where the name of the file you wish to compile is <i>name</i>.c.
Note well the difference in the extensions. If you type <code>make
<i>name</i>.c</code> instead of <code><i>name</i>.so</code>, it won't work.
After <code>make</code> finishes, you can move the plugin to a place that is
more convenient. <code>$prefix/lib/gaim</code> is suggested. If you
installed Gaim by compiling it yourself, <code>$prefix</code> is
<code>/usr/local</code> by default. Otherwise, <code>$prefix</code> is
Q: Where should I report bugs?
A: <a href="bug.php">Here</a>.
Q: Where should I submit patches?
A: <a href="patches.php">Here</a>.
Q: Did you guys reverse engineer it?
A: TOC, Jabber, MSN, Napster, and IRC are published protocols, so we didn't
have to reverse engineer those. Oscar, ICQ, and Yahoo are not published, and
were reverse engineered by other people.
Q: Will Gaim be ported to Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP?
A: When GTK+ 2.0 comes out and compiles well against <a
href="http://www.cygwin.com/">Cygwin</a>, and Gaim has been ported to it, Gaim
should work. It will not happen before GTK+ 2.0 is ported to Windows, though.
Q: Will there be a QT dock app?
A: Right now Gaim, is done entirely in C and GTK+, so a QT dock app is not in
planned. You can either write a patch to do this yourself, or wait until the
core and UI of Gaim are split. A QT UI will probably be considered at that
Q: Does AOL's attempts at blocking Trillian affect Gaim?
Q: Is Gaim affected by the vulnerability found in Windows AIM or
Yahoo Instant Messenger clients?
A: Sure! Look at the <a href="/contactinfo.php">Contact Information</a> page!
Q: Can I give you money/hardware/other expensive things that can be hocked
for cash what with you all being students/full-time-workers and helping to
produce this wonderful software instead of studying/sleeping?
A: No. We're completely fool-hardy and won't accept any gratuities with no
strings attached for just being good guys. That and we'd have to share with
everyone who has submitted patches. ;-)
