iChat problem

[Wrao]

I know I asked about this before, I think it was over at .com though, eitherway, I got an answer, it fixed it, and all was well.

However, it's started happening again, and I can't find the thread that I asked about it before.

so, iChat keeps disconnecting. My internet stays connected, but iChat, after a period of inactivity, all of a sudden drops out, and I have to reconnect.

when I asked this before, someone suggested that I turn off the airport connection, then close iChat, then open the airport connection then open iChat again...at least, it was something like that, I can't remember the specifics, but that did fix it, so if anyone has a clue what I'm supposed to do, that'd be great.

[Brad]

Well, that's a (http://www.adiumx.com)nother reason I d (http://www.adiumx.com)on't i (http://www.adiumx.com)ntend to u (http://www.adiumx.com)se iChat any tim (http://www.adiumx.com)e soon.

Sorry, I guess I'm just not much help at all today. :)

[Wrao]

ya know, I tried to switch to adium, I couldn't do it. I'm too used to ichat, which is a bummer, because I liked a lot of the features adium had.

oh well.

[DMBand0026]

I've had that problem too. Solutions...#1: Deal with it. #2: Adium.

I know it's not perfect, far from actually, but Adium is an awesome app.

[Wrao]

I'd switch to adium if there was a skin that made it look and feel like iChat.

[Luca]

There are skins available that give it the bubble-style layout. The problem with Adium skins is that they must be reinstalled whenever you download an updated version. That's pretty often for something in development like Adium. Still, I prefer Adium's "Smooth Operator" theme over the iChat bubble conversation style.

[Brad]

Also, the next version (should be ready late this week) will include a vastly improved buddy list with many options that can make it look like iChat or Proteus or something different altogether.

Be sure to see this link off the AdiumX front page:

http://www.funmac.com/showpost.php?p=72761&postcount=49

[Wrao]

You guys are a bad influence on me.

I'm now running adium and have spent the past half hour playing around with settings to figure out a nice, comfortable layout.

I defintely like a lot of the features, and I like how customizable it is, but it's going to take a while to get used to.

oh well, I'll report back in a week and see if that's what I'm still doing :lol:


3 things I wish Adium had(let me know if there are ways to incorporate them)

•user Icon display in the contact list(shut up! I like them)
•"available" messages(I have a lot of fun with these)
•Status icons(little green, red and yellow orbs next to persons name to indicate status)

edit: just got around to reading Brad's link, sweet! looks like people are aware of these, I hope that they become available quickly

[Luca]

The only thing that makes me hesitant at all about Adium (and I still use it 99% of the time anyway) is file transfers. They only work some of the time, there's no status indicator to tell you how far along the transfer is or if it's even happening, and after it's done the files often won't open in Preview (assuming it's an image). Generally if it's an image I have to open it with Graphic Converter. It's also much slower than iChat. Proteus's file transfer is a little better, with a status indicator, but that's about the only advantage. It also has problems receiving folders - you can only get individual files. But I forgive them since file transfer is really hard to make work.

Anyway, I still use iChat or just old AIM for file transfers, but Adium is for everything else.

[DMBand0026]

Yeah, you're right. Transfers suck big time with Adium. And it has major issues with fonts too. Last complaint: speed. It bogs down big time if you have a lot of chats open or if you've been using it for a while.

[Wrao]

noooooooooooooooooooooo

adium is doing it too!

okay, this must be something else then, not iChat, not adium, maybe it's my wireless router?

any suggestions?

Also, adium isn't being very good about keeping the list organized, like, I like to have everyone that is online at the top of the list, then away and idle, then offline people, but adium isn't auto arranging the list like iChat did.

[Brad]

okay, this must be something else then, not iChat, not adium, maybe it's my wireless router? Well, it could be that you are losing your wireless connection, but it is automatically reconnecting. I don't have anything wireless; so, I can't vouch for the likeliness of this.

I like to have everyone that is online at the top of the list, then away and idle, then offline people, but adium isn't auto arranging the list like iChat did.View: Sort Contacts: by Status. ;)

Choose "Configure Status Sort" for more options.

[Wrao]

Well, it could be that you are losing your wireless connection, but it is automatically reconnecting. I don't have anything wireless; so, I can't vouch for the likeliness of this.

well, my wireless HAS been cutting out from time to time, but, when iChat or adium cuts out, my safari browsing still works.


View: Sort Contacts: by Status. ;)

Choose "Configure Status Sort" for more options.

yeah, that's the problem, I have it set like that, but it's not remembering to automatically update. I've had this problem with iChat before, but it usually sorts itself(ha!) after a couple application restarts and/or setting tinkerings.

[SilentEchoes]

Well this thread makes me glad I am a proteus user.. Adium is nice and everything but after a while I get really fed up of dealing with the typical open source problems on a day to day basis. IE things like 800 preferences to change the way a window looks spread out in 20 different locations.

[Eugene]

Wow, those Adium skins are oogly. Were they designed by Linux users??

[DMBand0026]

well, my wireless HAS been cutting out from time to time, but, when iChat or adium cuts out, my safari browsing still works.

I think that Safari would cut out too, you just don't notice it. I don't think the AIM clients can handle being disconnected for very long at all, so they'll drop you altogether. However, with Safari, it may be such a momentary drop of your signal that you don't even detect it as a page loads.

How's your signal strength? Try moving the computer around and seeing if that helps, it did with mine.

[Wrao]

signal strength is usually a consistent 3 bars, but right now it's 2, rarely drops to 1, and it never hits full.

the router is just down the hall not 30 feet from where I am.

and safari definitely doesn't flatten out when iChat does, because when iChat does it doesn't tell me it's disconnected till like 2 minutes later, and in that 2 minutes I'm browsing hte web, then all of a sudden iChat disconnects.(though I've gotten pretty good at recognizing when people aren't responding to mean that it's disconnected)

maybe I should give proteus a whirl...

[Brad]

and safari definitely doesn't flatten out when iChat does, because when iChat does it doesn't tell me it's disconnected till like 2 minutes later, and in that 2 minutes I'm browsing hte web, then all of a sudden iChat disconnects.(though I've gotten pretty good at recognizing when people aren't responding to mean that it's disconnected)

maybe I should give proteus a whirl...I think it would be *very* likely that Proteus will suffer the same problem unless it has a smart reconnect feature of sorts.

And it makes perfect sense that you keep browsing the web with no problems. Think of this scenario:

You're surfing the web, reading AppleNova in Safari. Meanwhile, iChat is idle connected in the background. While you're reading a page in Safari, your wireless connection is suddenly dropped. However, is is quickly reestablished. iChat and other IM services need to keep a live connection; so, it stalls or signs you off when the connection fails. Safari, on the other hand, only needs a connection when loading pages. So, browsing in Safari, you may never notice that the connection blinks out momentarily.

Even if you're just 30 feet away, as you said, that doesn't mean the connection may not drop out. Other equipment such as cordless phones can interfere with wireless routers. The biggest cause of problems, though, is unknown shielding in walls and furniture. At my aunt's house, you can sit in the corner of one room just 25 feet from the router and have no connectionbut if you move just three feet to the left you get a full signal. I suspect this may be your case, that you may have dead spots on your house that you may be near.

Alternatively, it could be that you just have a bad router or antenna on the router. I've read many cases of Netgear and other wireless routers being returned as defective because they randomly dropped signals.

[DMBand0026]

I have a netgear router, but it works fine. However, dead spots suck. I'm sitting at a desk right now, if I move three feet to the left, I get no signal, the farther right I go, the higher the signal is. I'd say I'm about 100 feet away from the router.

[Wrao]

This is driving me nuts!

I use a Linksys router, we had a netgear one for a while but it blew chunks, the linksys has been almost perfect, save for these weird connection problems, every d-link I've used has been perfect most of the time, but I recall having connection problems in boston too.

oh well, I guess I just have to live with it.

I can't wait till the next version of adium, it looks very good.