Stupid IRC question. >_>

[Shu]

Whenever I try to connect to IRC it says:

* Unable to connect to server (Software caused connection abort)

. Uh, am I stupid for not knowing what? (Yes, I checked the help file.)

 

[Arrow]

Google for the win.

http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/networks/connectprob.html

If this happens just once in a while, don't worry. The network connection between your client and the server got broken, it happens. Some people using Windows seem to have particularly unstable winsock, welcome to the wonders of Windows. The actual error message is not very informative or even reliable, and there is no fix beyond making sure Windows is up to date with the latest patches. Note that pinging a server will have no effect for this problem. If it's happening repeatedly or only when you visit certain channels or talk to certain people, then you may be the victim of a denial of service attack (better known as "getting nuked"). Don't immediately assume something evil is going on, though, since the vast majority of these disconnects are due to natural causes. Try using different servers/ports, or avoid your usual nickname and channels for a while, see if the problem goes away.

The last sentence serves as good advice, even if this is a problem you're having when trying to connect initially, as opposed to getting disconnected once you're already on.

 

[Blitzzo]

I had the same issue with a small IRC server (small meaning the largest channel typically has 15 users on a good day). The guy running the server said in a Global Notice that there was to be planned downtime, and for all users to disconnect so it could rebuild the database and prevent any nick problems. Well, I didn't disconnect, and so mIRC kept trying to reconnect. At first, it was unreachable, as I got the error, "Connection timed out." However, I soon got the "Software caused connection abort" message. I canceled the connect attempt and when I went back again after an hour to reconnect, it worked.

 

[Shu]

K, I switched servers and it worked, stupid huh? Here comes the horror that is Shu.