Documentation

Troubleshooting tips

1. Do not delete Adium and reinstall it

This almost never works. It only works for certain very specific types of problems (such as if you "slimmed" your Adium, as mentioned later); if you get to the point of asking us for help, we'll tell you if it's appropriate to try a delete and reinstall.

Otherwise, don't bother to try it—it won't help.

However, troubleshooting Adium's preferences does make sense. Further down, you will find details on that.

2. Make sure you're using the newest Adium release

If you're using an older version, the newest release of Adium may already include a fix for your problem.

  1. Choose Check for Updates... from the Adium menu.
  2. Click Install and Relaunch

If you are using a beta version or a nightly build, the last stable release from the Adium Website may be better suited for your use.

3. Remove any non-standard Xtra

If you've installed plug-ins or other Adium Xtras, they may be causing your problem (depending on the problem - a contact list style won't cause message view problems, for example).

Try this:

  1. Quit Adium.
  2. Remove the Xtras
  3. Launch Adium again.

If that works, start moving Xtras back – relaunching Adium after each one – until the problem reoccurs; then you've found the bad one. Please do not create a ticket for a non-standard Xtra. The Adium team isn't responsible for Xtras that aren't bundled with Adium, and creating a ticket is not an effective way to get the Xtra fixed. Instead, please report the problem to the Xtra's author.

Information on removing and (re)installing Xtras is available in the Adium Xtras documentation.

4. Try a fresh set of preferences

Corrupt or old preferences can be a good source of crashes and other odd behavior. It may also happen that you've managed to configure your Adium in such a way to discover a bug that requires a specific combination of preferences to trigger. It's easy to rule out both of these by trying a fresh set of preferences.

Navigate to the following locations:

  • Home Folder → Library → Application Support → Adium 2.0
  • Home Folder → Library → Preferences → com.adiumX.adiumX.plist

And then:

  1. Quit Adium.
  2. Rename the "Adium 2.0" folder to "Adium 2.0-old".
  3. Rename the "com.adiumX.adiumX.plist" to "com.adiumX.adiumX-old.plist".
  4. Relaunch Adium. Check if your problems persist.

This is a very common fix for many issues and therefore is a highly recommended step - please try it even if you don't want to trash your preferences altogether since it can at least help narrow down the problem and may provide alternate solutions. In many cases where this solves the problem we do not have the manpower to discover why the preferences were causing a problem (as this can be a lengthy process), so your only solution may be to lose all or some of your preferences.

If that doesn't work, then you may as well revert to your previous preferences:

  1. Quit Adium.
  2. Delete the new "Adium 2.0" folder and the new "com.adiumX.adiumX.plist" file that Adium created.
  3. Rename your "Adium 2.0-old" folder back to "Adium 2.0" and "com.adiumX.adiumX-old.plist" to "com.adiumX.adiumX.plist".

5. Try a fresh user account

Occasionally, an issue in Adium can be caused by a strange setting for your OS X user, or other installed software (especially system mods and hacks). Temporarily creating a new user (in System Preferences → Accounts) is the best way to check against these issues.

Create the account, log out of your account (Apple Menu → Log Out), and log into the new one. If the problem doesn't occur on the other user account, then you know it's something in your current account. If you don't know where to go from there, Contact Us and we'll help you narrow the field.

6. Try another client

In some cases the problems encountered in Adium can actually be a result of a server-side problem (i.e. connection problems). These problems can be confirmed by logging in to your account using the equivalent mainline client; for example if the problem is with MSN, login with Microsoft Messenger to see if it occurs using that client as well.

If the problem persists across different clients, then there is likely nothing we can do to solve the problem except wait for the server issues to be repaired; please do not open new tickets regarding these kinds of problems.

If it still doesn't work

Still have your problem? Please see Reporting Bugs, which tells you how to search for existing tickets (in case there already is one) and how to file a new one if one doesn't already exist.

Not sure whether the problem lies with Adium? Ask on the Adium forums, in the Adium IRC channel, or on getsatisfaction.com.