[Pidgin] #5244: AIM bizarrely broken (server-side contact list problem?)

[Pidgin]

#5244: AIM bizarrely broken (server-side contact list problem?)
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Reporter:  outrider  |       Owner:  MarkDoliner            
    Type:  defect    |      Status:  new                    
Priority:  minor     |   Component:  AIM                    
 Version:  2.4.0     |    Keywords:  contacts appear offline
 Pending:  0         |  
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 Since the issue's symptoms are fairly convoluted I'm going to break the
 entire ticket down into bullet points, which is probably easier to follow
 than a fully-worded description.

 Problem:

   * AIM contacts appear offline after connecting
   * Pidgin lists AIM as online or away
   * my AIM account appears offline to AIM contacts regardless of "local"
 status
   * can't send messages to AIM contacts
   * AIM Express works perfectly fine
   * local contact list doesn't sync with server-side list

 Situation:

   * Ubuntu Gutsy, fully patched
   * Pidgin 2.2.x from official Gutsy repositories, later upgraded to 2.4.0
 from getdeb.net (alongside libpurple and pidgin-data)
   * ~/.purple is located on fileserver, symlinked to cifs mount
   * Pidgin install is local
   * Using Pidgin with the same .purple directory on my laptop and desktop
 (hence the remote location). Never at the same time 'fcourse, and both
 always running the same version of Pidgin.
   * AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo accounts set up and enabled, XMPP account (GTalk)
 set up but disabled.

 Attempted fixes:

   * removing/re-adding AIM account
   * removing/re-adding AIM contacts
   * upgrading Pidgin 2.2.x-ubuntu to 2.4.0-getdeb


 A single one of my AIM contacts works after re-adding him - however,
 Pidgin lists him as an ICQ contact and sends outgoing messages from my ICQ
 account. When ICQ is offline, this contact also appears as offline and
 can't be messaged. All other AIM contacts are broken as described above
 even after re-adding.

 The only thing that immediately stands out from the debug log is this:

 {{{
 (18:33:04) oscar: ssi: syncing local list and server list
 (18:33:04) oscar: Got AIM SSI with a 0 timestamp or 0 numitems--not
 syncing.
                   This probably means your buddy list is empty.
 }}}

 I've attached a full debug log of Pidgin starting and connecting with only
 my AIM account enabled.

 The problem has occasionally occurred before, but went away by itself
 after a day or two so I blamed it on server-side issues. In the current
 case, it has persisted for several weeks of daily use.

-- 
Ticket URL: <http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/5244>
Pidgin <http://pidgin.im>
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