FAQ

Overview:

What OSes are supported?
Currently we only support all flavours of Linux as well as Windows XP and higher.

How do I install Gfire on my OS?
See here.

How do I install Gfire on Pidgin Portable (PortableApps)?

  1. Get the latest version of the Gfire for Windows (.zip Version)
  2. Make sure Pidgin Portable is closed before you go on.
  3. Copy the .zip file to E:\PortableApps\PidginPortable\App\Pidgin (Where ‘E’ is the drive of your PortableApps USB Drive)
  4. Extract the archive in place. So watch out not to create an extra subdirectory with your decompression software.
  5. Start Pidgin Portable and have fun with it!

Thanks to Bensawsome for his tutorial!

How do I detect games?
To detect games you first have to set them up. To do so, first go into your accounts menu. There is a “Games Manager” available. It asks you for a few values:

  • Game: The name of the game you want to add (in English; there is some auto-complete feature)
  • File for detection: Select the file that keeps the game running. This is mostly the one you use for starting it.
  • File for launching: Some games like World Of Goo use scripts or launchers for starting the game, but the game actually runs by some other binary. In this case select the file for launching here. Otherwise just let the “Use same file” flag active.
  • Launch Prefix: If you need to run your games/launch scripts through some other program like the Python interpreter insert the command here. Make sure to use quotes for paths containing a space. You can also use this field to set some environment variables. It for example allows you to set the WINEPREFIX for the specified game.

How do I set up server detection?
On Linux: see here.
On Windows: The current implementation requires at least Windows XP SP2 to work and administrator privileges for Pidgin. Additionally the game needs to use the first active network device in your system. We know this is ugly and it will be changed in the future, but it’s all we can offer for now. To use it, enable it in your accounts advanced preferences.

How do I set up file transfer?
To use file transfer you need to set up Pidgins P2P capabilities. This will in most cases be the setting up of a STUN server. You can do that in Pidgins Preferences, Networking Tab. A server that is known to work is stun.ekiga.net. If you still got connection issues after that, make sure your firewall and router don’t block incoming UDP packets. To be sure you can limit the port range in the mentioned networking tab and configure your router for port forwarding on this port range. After that, you should be ready to go.

I can’t connect, the server tells me that my Xfire version is out of date!
Xfire changes versions very fast and you always have to use the latest version. Gfire automatically updates its version setting. So just click reconnect and you’ll be online again.

Why don’t my friends show up under my friends list and their respective groups?
Pidgin has the policy of unique buddies. This means that one buddy should only be present in one group at a time. This means that your friends will always be in the “Xfire” or any of your custom groups. Clan members will be in at least one clan group. If you have the same buddy in multiple clans, he will still be only displayed in one of them.

How do I make suggestions for Gfire if I can’t help with the project directly?
Suggestions can be done through our forums or our bug tracker. We prefer the forum first though, because it offers a better discussion board for the users.

When will feature X be added to Gfire?
We will add specific features when we have the time, the knowledge and are willing to do so. Feel free to submit patches which add new features at any given time!

This plugin makes my Pidgin crash or does something else very wierd!
Please report all errors to the Gfire team with a good description, if possible a backtrace. Please report bugs on our bug tracker. You can find it here.

What are Gfire’s dependencies?
Gfire currently depends on libpurple 2.5.0 and higher, Glib 2.18 and higher as well as GTK+ 2.14 and higher (if you don’t deactivate the use of it).

How do I compile from GIT?
To compile from GIT you will need to have git and all build dependencies installed. How to do this depends on your distibution.
The actual compilation can be done by the following commands:
git clone git://github.com/gfireproject/gfire.git gfire-git
cd gfire-git
./autogen.sh
./configure --prefix=/usr
make
(sudo) make install

How do I join the Gfire team?
New members are always welcome, more info can be found here. Just send us an email to support@gfireproject.org!