<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/"
  type="topic"
  id="prob-conn-auth">

  <info>
    <link type="guide" xref="prob-conn"/>
    <link type="seealso" xref="create-account"/>
    <desc>
        An error message which says "<gui>Authentication failed</gui>" appears
        in the main window.
    </desc>
    <revision pkgversion="2.28" version="0.1" date="2009-06-17" status="draft"/>
    <revision pkgversion="2.28" version="0.2" date="2009-07-23" status="draft"/>
    <revision pkgversion="2.28" version="0.3" date="2009-08-14" status="review"/>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>Phil Bull</name>
      <email>philbull@gmail.com</email>
    </credit>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>Milo Casagrande</name>
      <email>milo@ubuntu.com</email>
    </credit>
<!--
    <copyright>
      <year>2009</year>
      <name>GNOME Documentation Project</name>
    </copyright>
-->
    <include href="legal.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" />
  </info>

  <title>I get a message that says "Authentication failed"</title>

  <p>
    This kind of error happens when your instant messaging service is not allowing
    you to connect because it does not recognize your username or password for some reason.
  </p>

  <steps>
    <item>
      <p>
        Make sure that you are connected to the Internet, or to a local area network. 
      </p>
    </item>
    <item>
      <p>
        Make sure that you have registered an account with the service you are trying
        to connect to. If you do not have an account, most services will not allow
        you to connect.
      </p>
    </item>
    <item>
      <p>
        Click on the <gui>Edit Account</gui> button in the error message.
      </p>
    </item>
    <item>
      <p>
        Type your username and password again to make sure that they are correct.
      </p>
    </item>
    <item>
      <p>
        Deselect the <gui>Enabled</gui> check-box next to the name of your account, 
        and then select it again to try to reconnect to the service.
      </p>
    </item>
  </steps>
</page>
