"Failed getting Skype token" as of 20 Nov

[alexolog]

Running on Windows.

Yesterday everything worked OK Today Pidgin does not connect to skype, claiming "Failed getting Skype token" Both the desktop client and the web interface work OK. I deleted all the cached certificates, but it didn't help.

Please advise.

[alexolog]

Tried to run the script from #479 and got this:

b'{"skypetoken":"","expiresIn":86400}'

[EionRobb]

Can you try logging into web.skype.com in an incognito browser window to see if there's any extra steps that you need to approve?

[alexolog]

Using Firefox's private window works fine on web.skype.com

[dequis]

b'{"skypetoken":"<long string removed>","expiresIn":86400}'

Is <long string removed> something you wrote there? Did you modify the script in any way? Seems like something went wrong somehow

[alexolog]

Nope, used the script as is and only replaced the string I copied from the output. In particular, the string DID NOT say 'yep looks good'

I tried with a couple of other skype account and got the same result (different string though)

[dequis]

Ehhh probably harmless, looks like some issue in the interaction between python3's urllib and the headers sent by the server which makes it return bytes instead of unicode. I'm pretty sure it worked before (the script has explicit python2/python3 support), but I could be wrong. This doesn't mean the method is broken, only a slight bug in the testing script.

Either way irrelevant to this ticket.

[alexolog]

Whatever the problem is, it happened quite suddenly, and wouldn't go away.

[dequis]

Debug log?

[alexolog]

https://paste.ee/p/Vacjo

Account name changed to protect the guilty.

[alexolog]

I tried connecting from another computer and it worked.

Comparing the configuration files showed that the failing machine did not have a 'refresh-token' setting in its accounts.xml file while the other machine did.

<account>
    <protocol>prpl-skypeweb</protocol>
    <settings>
        <setting name='refresh-token' type='string'>long string here</setting>
    </settings>
</account>

When I removed the refresh-token from the other machine, it started failing as well. When I copied it to the first machine, it started working.

[dreamlayers]

When first connecting from a Pidgin install I haven't used a while, I often get "Failed getting Skype token" at the bottom of the Pidgin window. After I click on the button to re-enable the account, it successfully connects, though it may take a bit longer than it should.

[intika]

This could may be help... have a look https://github.com/EionRobb/skype4pidgin/issues/474#issuecomment-263105854

[veritas1980]

I am getting this error starting this morning.

[xvitaly]

I am getting this error starting this morning.

Yes, same problem since today. In debug log I can see HTML with this error:

Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

[veritas1980]

http://heartbeat.skype.com/2016/12/skype_multiple_service_outage.html there's an outage.

[ViperGeek]

In testing authentication via an Incognito window to https://web.skype.com I confirmed -- now that Skype has been fully Microsoft-ized -- two-factor authentication will cause the "Failed getting Skype token" error:

https://account.live.com/proofs/Manage ("Two-step verification")

So now you must choose: a secure 2FA Microsoft account or using Skype via Pidgin.

• Dave

[dequis]

@ViperGeek #385

[xeropresence]

@EionRobb is this still being looked at? I'll often get the "Failed getting skype token" but hitting reenable fixes it 100% of the time. Without any notification that the connection is down I can be disconnected for hours.

[dequis]

The last commit adds a checkbox in the advanced tab, "Use alternative login method", which might help.

[alexolog]

What is the "alternative" method and when it is recommended to use it?

[dequis]

See #556 for implementation details. I'd like to make it the default for everyone soon, but it's opt-in for now just in case it doesn't work for some people.

[alexolog]

Thanks! Is there a Windows build?

[EionRobb]

@alexolog I've just updated the dll at https://eion.robbmob.com/libskypeweb.dll but it's not showing the account option yet

[alexolog]

Thanks Eion!

I know that you are hosting Win32 DLLS for several plugins on your site. Would it be possible to have automated nightly builds for them? Maybe something like http://beam.to/fchat-pidgin ? And if so, would it be possible to have them on a page linked from the main Pidgin site?

[dequis]

but it's not showing the account option yet

Wait, why.

Last-Modified: Sun, 18 Jun 2017 08:13:18 GMT

You sure about that?

[EionRobb]

but it's not showing the account option yet

... because I was silly and didn't update my code locally. @alexolog if you want to grab the latest dll and give it another try?

[ViperGeek]

I just updated to the latest https://eion.robbmob.com/libskypeweb.dll (no version in the DLL header; SHA-1: 6957AB8A67791E907C98580292954ADEBEE1F7E2) and am also getting:

Login error: Invalid value "ViperGeek" for username param "username" (code 40002)

after enabling "Use alternative login method" on the Advanced tab.

• Dave

UPDATE: After converting my username to lowercase, I'm in! Thanks for the great work!

[alexolog]

The new version has 4 checkboxes in the advanced tab, and the top one has no text associated with it.

[dequis]

Login error: Invalid value "ViperGeek" for username param "username" (code 40002)

UPDATE: After converting my username to lowercase, I'm in!

Ooooh, nice find, thanks!

the top one has no text associated with it

Yeah, that's intentional. It made sense at one point. It doesn't do anything now.

[alexolog]

So can it be removed?