FAQ


  • Q: How do I join a channel?
    A: Type "/join #channelname"
  • Q: I can't compile KVIrc (any version)!
    A: READ the instructions in the INSTALL file: the most common problems can be solved by setting the correct environment variables and fiddling with the ./configure options. If the INSTALL file doesn't help you you can try to join #kvirc on IRCNet or Libera: there are many experienced users that can try to help you. If you still can't get out of it, you might try posting your error on the KVIrc mailing list.
  • Q: I can't connect to an IPv6 server
    A: First of all make sure that your IPv6 stack is setup correctly.
    Can you ping6 other IPv6 other machines# ping6 www.6bone.net Is the IPv6 support enabled in your KVIrc executable.
    To find it out, try:/echo $features in the KVIrc commandline. You should get a comma separated list of features compiled in the executable. If the list contains "IPv6" then the support is compiled in, otherwise you must check your compilation stage to guess what went wrong. To connect to an IPv6 server you can use /server -i <servername> If you can ping other IPv6 machines, the IPv6 support is compiled in your executable and you still can't connect to an *existing* IPv6 server then you may have found a bug :) Report it.
  • Q: How do i autojoin channels?
    A: There are many ways to do it. For example:
    1. Select "Scripting/Events" from the KVIrc menu
      Lookup the "OnIrc" entry in the left pane of the window that pops up.
      Right-click on that entry and select "Add handler".
      A "default" handler will be created. In the right pane write:
      join #kvirc
      join #kde-users
      join #somechannel
      ....
      Now click OK and you're done: you have just created a handler for an event.
      Reconnect to a server and KVIrc will autojoin the channels that you have selected
    2. Another option (nicer, if you use several servers) is to go to the servers options page and click the button labelled 'Advanced' on the entry for the single server.
      There is a server-specific "On connect execute..." event
  • Q: On Windows KVIrc seems to slow-down sometimes
    A: This is usually caused by the heavy graphics: try removing some graphic effects like the pseudo-transparency. I have experimented that it happens almost always on 32-bit displays. Switching to 16 or 24 bits may also help.
  • Q: How do I connect to an SSL-enabled IRC server?
    A: Use/server -s <servername>It should work also over IPv6.
    If it doesn't work then your executable might have no SSL support compiled in.
    To find it out type/echo $featuresin the KVIrc commandline. If "SSL" is not in the list then you must go back to the compilation phase and see what went wrong
  • Q: How do I use DCC over SSL?
    A: /dcc.chat -s <nickname> should work.
  • Q: Do I need a SSL certificate?
    A: No you shouldn't need it, but you can use it if you want.
  • Q: How do I create a SSL certificate?
    A: A test self-signed certificate can be created by using the CA.pl Perl script included in the OpenSSL distribution. It will be something likeperl CA.pl -newcert
  • Q: I can't get KVIrc to use my SSL certificate in a DCC
    A: The SSL protocol doesn't require the "client" to send the certificate: it is sent only if the "server side" requests it (it is not the KVIrc case).
    The server side may have a certificate and you can set it in the SSL options page.
    If your Private Key is stored in the certificate file pass the same filename to both Certificate and PrivateKey option.
    Remember to set the password if needed.
  • Q: KVIrc crashes when a certificate is used under Windows
    A: This is probably a bug of the SSL dll shipped with the windows version of KVIrc.
    You might try with a different version of this dll.
  • Q: /me doesn't support the '$' character
    A: This is NOT a bug : this is a feature : KVIrc supports (and substitutes!) variables in all the commands. You can escape your $ sign by using the backslash character: /me has gained \$100 will work correctly.
  • Q: /me doesn't support the '"' (double quote) character
    A: This is NOT a bug : this is a feature : a string enclosed in double quotes will have its whitespace preserved while the other strings will have the whitespace simplified. This is valid for ANY command.
    You can escape your " sign by using the backslash character: /me feels a bit \"foo\" will work correctly.
  • Q: /me can't contain the ';' character
    A: This is NOT a bug : this is a feature : KVIrc supports multiple commands on a single line and uses ';' as a command separator. You can escape your ';' sign by using the backslash character: /me is hungry \;) will work correctly.
  • Q: I don't see the channel popup menus anymore
    A: If something went wrong with KVIrc settings (a crash when the script settings were saved ?) or if you have messed with the scripting options and you want to get back the original behaviour (default script) you can choose "Scripting/Restore default script" from the KVIrc menu.
    (WARNING: It will erase any script modification you have made!)
  • Q: I'm getting compile errors like this:
        In file [somefile]:[someline] internal error:
        Segmentation fault
        Please submit a full bug report,
        with preprocessed source if appropriate.
        See <URL:http:...
    A: This error can have multiple reasons.
    1. A compiler bug: my GCC 3.2 20020903 (default on RH 8.0) spits out 5-6 of them daily. Usually it is solved by simply restarting the "make" command.
      If it doesn't go away or if it gets really frequent and annoying you might try to upgrade the compiler.
    2. A memory corruption: this is really frequent: one of your memory banks is spitting random bytes sometimes. Usually the problems come out under heavy system load (kernel, KDE or KVIrc compilation for example). You can check for memory corruption by trying different RAM modules (or removing them one at a time to discover the broken bank). You can also try a program called memtest and a kernel patch that can force the broken memory banks to be ignored by the kernel (allocated permanently to a dummy kernel task).
      These tools can be found by digging the web with your favorite search engine.
    3. A deeper hardware problem: if upgrading the compiler and changing memory banks doesn't help then it *might* be a deeper hardware problem: bus errors , faulty IDE (or SCSI) controller or even buggy CPU... Well...
  • Q: KVIrc crashes when an URL is printed in the output window
    A: This might be caused by the URL module: the causes are being investigated.
    Try/url.unload
  • Q: KVIrc crashes when the multi-line text input is opened (or in the script center)
    A: If you have installed a new version of KVIrc over a previous installation or if you have changed the Qt libraries that KVIrc is linked to then it might be caused by a broken multi-line text editor config.
    Try removing $HOME/.kvircssexeditorrc and starting KVIrc again.

There is another set of frequently asked questions on the wiki.