Problems with Ident... but what problems?

[spookster]

Hi!

I'm running under WinXP and Mirc. My ISP is supossed to be running with a proxy.

I usually conect okay with Efnet and I've been downloading stuff from their channels for a while now, but today, I don't know why, I get this message:

-irc.blessed.net- *** Looking up your hostname...
-
-irc.blessed.net- *** Checking Ident
-
-irc.blessed.net- *** No Ident response
-
-irc.blessed.net- *** Found your hostname
-

I get it with any server I try. After getting it, I can connect, but with the ~ behind my nickname, and if I try to enter ANY channel, I find myself alone there.

I don't know what to do, I have tried disabling my antivirus, I have the Windows firewall turned off, I even oppened port 113, and of course, I have the IDENT options correctly configured in Mirc, but I keep getting that message... What can I do, I'm desperated! I haven't changed anything since the last time I conected, why s this happening?

Is there any other way to enter Efnet channels that is not with Mirc?

Thanks a lot.

[Pills]

A lack of ident wouldn't keep you from joining channels that those with ident are in, or from seeing people with ident. That could be a problem with mIRC itself, or that you're just joining empty channels.

[wundr]

My ISP is supossed to be running with a proxy.

I think this is the key here. Look at this diagram:

YOU | -----------> |ISP's PROXY| ----------> |EFNet IRC Server |

Notice that the computer that is actually connecting to the IRC server is the proxy. That is the computer that EFNet sees as where the connection is coming from. If the proxy server isn't running identd and isn't configured to ask your computer for an ident response, then, to the IRC server, you don't have a working identd.

I get it with any server I try. After getting it, I can connect, but with the ~ behind my nickname, and if I try to enter ANY channel, I find myself alone there.

The tilde (~) that shows up is the IRC server's way of signifying that you don't have a working identd. That, however, has nothing to do with channels being empty. Are you trying to join channels that you KNOW there should be people in? Or are they channels that are on a different network? having or not having ident isn't related to being able to see other users in channels or not.

I don't know what to do, I have tried disabling my antivirus, I have the Windows firewall turned off, I even oppened port 113, and of course, I have the IDENT options correctly configured in Mirc, but I keep getting that message...

Along with what I said above, you should note that if you have to connect through your ISP's proxy, and you don't control the proxy, you might not be able to fix it. Is there any way you can connect to the IRC server directly?

Is there any other way to enter Efnet channels that is not with Mirc?

Yes, there is. Go to the front page of this web site and click on "webchat". This will take you to http://chat.efnet.org . Also, you can try http://webchat.xs4all.nl . Both of these are web-based clients that are run by EFNet admins.

Good luck!

p.s. :

I usually conect okay with Efnet and I've been downloading stuff from their channels for a while now

EFNet is an IRC network... Internet Relay Chat. It might be worthwhile reading http://www.irchelp.org/download

[spookster]

YOU | -----------> |ISP's PROXY| ----------> |EFNet IRC Server |

Notice that the computer that is actually connecting to the IRC server is the proxy. That is the computer that EFNet sees as where the connection is coming from. If the proxy server isn't running identd and isn't configured to ask your computer for an ident response, then, to the IRC server, you don't have a working identd.

Yeah, but the weird thing is that I have supossedly been behind that proxy for a while, since I haven't changed my ISP, and until today, everything worked just fine!

The tilde (~) that shows up is the IRC server's way of signifying that you don't have a working identd. That, however, has nothing to do with channels being empty. Are you trying to join channels that you KNOW there should be people in? Or are they channels that are on a different network? having or not having ident isn't related to being able to see other users in channels or not.

Yeah, I know for sure that the channels are not empty, because I got a friend to check it... Weird.

Is there any way you can connect to the IRC server directly?

What do you mean, like avoiding the proxy? Not with my ISP, I think...

Yes, there is. Go to the front page of this web site and click on "webchat". This will take you to http://chat.efnet.org . Also, you can try http://webchat.xs4all.nl . Both of these are web-based clients that are run by EFNet admins.

You see? It's very weird, I still see empty channels there!

EFNet is an IRC network... Internet Relay Chat. It might be worthwhile reading http://www.irchelp.org/download

[/quote]

Sorry 'bout that. But don't worry, I wasn't talking about anything illegal at all anyway

Thanks a lot, wundr and pills!!

[wundr]

Yeah, but the weird thing is that I have supossedly been behind that proxy for a while, since I haven't changed my ISP, and until today, everything worked just fine!

Not all servers require a working identd. Maybe until now, the server(s) you usually use haven't required identd, but recently they changed that, and so you became unable to connect. Or, maybe your ISP's proxy server was running an identd before, but they recently turned that off.

Yeah, I know for sure that the channels are not empty, because I got a friend to check it... Weird.
...
You see? It's very weird, I still see empty channels there!

Are you *sure* you are typing the channel names correctly? Send me a private message on these forums and tell me what you are typing to join channels, and I can check those and tell you if you are typing them correctly.

What do you mean, like avoiding the proxy? Not with my ISP, I think...

Does all traffic from your computer automatically go through the proxy? With my old ISP, they had a proxy server I could use, but I could also choose to connect directly to servers. Some ISPs (maybe yours), however, don't allow their customers to connect directly.

As I said above, not all servers require identd. Some servers allow non-idented clients from certain areas, and some allow all non-idented clients. I just checked a couple channels I am in, and saw a number of non-idented clients on:
irc.prison.net
irc.easynews.com
irc.nac.net
irc.inter.net.il
irc.desync.com
irc.servercentral.net
irc.blessed.net
irc.choopa.net
irc.mzima.net
irc.efnet.nl

Some of these servers may only allow a certain number of non-idented clients or only non-idented clients from certain ISPs or certain areas (e.g. from the US, or from North America, or from the Netherlands), so you may not be able to connect to all of them. I would guess, however, that you should be able to connect to at least one of them.

[spookster]

I have tried joining #help and the channel was full, so I guess the problem was ONLY with teh channel I ws trying to join... I typed everything okay, but still the channel looked empty. I'm betting for a netsplit here.

No, I'm afraid I can't conect directly; I have to go through the proxy Anyway, I'll try all the non-ident servers you've wirtten, I hope one of them will work for me. Thanks heaps!!!