Note: The following is a slightly re-edited version of a post titled "NateOn 네이트온 for Non-Koreans (Pidgin)" that originally appeared on http://blog.portblue.de/ on March 30th, 2009. The original website has since been closed, and most of the steps described here don't work anymore. Since the instructions might still be useful to some people I am keeping them here nonetheless. After all, only the websites have changed, while the procedure remains largely the same, afaik. If someone would be willing to contribute and help me update this guide, I'd be more than happy :) Get in touch via the comments section below.
When you live in East Asia for a longer period of time, you will notice that a large percentage of people here don't necessarily use the larger chat networks like Windows Live (MSN) or ICQ to communicate, although the former is relatively popular. In China the most common chat programme is QQ, a network almost unknown of in the west, but one of the largest in the world. Now what QQ is for the Chinese, NateOn is for Koreans. NateOn itself doesn't differ very much from MSN, in fact it used to be compatible to MSN until some time ago, or so I heard :) But it has evolved into a separate independent network and has even overtaken MSN in South Korea in terms of user numbers. Its main advantage is its connection to Cyworld 싸이월드, South Korea's larget social network community.
There are websites explaining to foreigners how to set up a QQ account, but setting up a NateOn account is somewhat more complicated and not encouraged by Nate itself. The main obstacle here is that new users will usually need a Resident Registration Number 주민등록번호 to register, a code number similar to American social security numbers, but only available to South Korean citizens. Foreigners living in Korea will also receive a similar number with their "alien registration card", which can be used in a similar way. But for people outside of Korea there is little chance of getting around this barrier. Usage of other people's numbers or number fraud had been common when submission of a valid registration number became mandatory for signing up for online services in Korea, but is nearly impossible these days. Thankfully, there is another, legal way to get a NateOn account.
Getting a NateOn Account
The trick is to register a Korean Cyworld account. Cyworld and Nate are basically the same network, so Cyworld accounts can be used with NateOn as well. The difference between registering with Nate and registering with Cyworld is that the latter offers another way of registering without the need for a resident registration number: You will have to scan your passport and e-mail it to Cyworld's help desk. Getting a Korean friend to help you with this is recommended.
Setting up Pidgin-NateOn
The next step would be to find a way to incorporate NateOn into a multi-protocol messenger, in order to reduce the number of programmes you have running at the same time. Fortunately, this can be done with Pidgin 피진. After completing the registration above, completing the following steps should be a piece of cake :)
A little background information first: Pidgin is a free, open source, multi-platform chat client that allows you to connect to different chat networks through only one single client. Its more famous Mac counterpart is called 'Adium'. Where you had to use several clients to communicate on MSN, ICQ, QQ etc. before, Pidgin unifies them all. MSN, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, QQ are among the protocols Pidgin supports. You can extend Pidgin's functionality by installing plugins -- e.g. plugins to read your old MSN or Trillian logs, or to make it connect to even more networks, like Facebook Chat or Skype. As you probably guessed by now, there is a plugin for NateOn as well :) called Pidgin-NateOn. Since not many people are aware of this, I will provide a small rundown on the steps required to set up Pidgin with NateOn support here.
I assume you have Pidgin installed already. So head over to Pidgin-NateOn's website and download the plugin (click the small .rar icon at the bottom of the post). The file is really small and should download instantly. Unpack the WinRAR archive to Pidgin's installation folder (by default "C:\Program Files\Pidgin\"). Choose "Yes" when Windows asks if it should overwrite the existing folders. Afterwards, run Pidgin and click "Accounts" -> "Manage Accounts". The Account Manager will come up. Click "Add" in the lower left corner to add a new account. Choose "NateOn" from the protocol list and enter your login details -- that is, enter the E-mail address you use to log on to Cyworld as Username and your password in the corresponding box below. You may choose to have Pidgin remember your password or choose a buddy icon, but that's up to you.
After that is done, click "Add" and close the Account Manager. Make sure Pidgin can connect on port 5004 :) -- that's typically the port used by NateOn. Now wait for the connection to be established. A new group will be created in Pidgin's buddy list that contains all your NateOn contacts. Before you start chatting, make sure you set up Pidgin correctly to enable Unicode support. Enjoy chatting! :)
Update (2011-02-20): Pidgin-NateOn is available on most Linux distributions as well. On Ubuntu, fire up Synaptic and download the package "pidgin-nateon". Synaptic will take care of the setup for you, so the plugin will be available next time you run Pidgin. Since Empathy, Ubuntu's default messaging client, can use Pidgin's libpurple library, this will also enable NateOn support for Empathy. Furthermore, this blogger reports that a native NateOn client for Linux has been released by SK that is GPL licensed and KDE based. Last but no least, there is also a Java based version of NateOn, called Jateon, available now. Check it out if you feel like playing around a little :)
Update (2011-04-08): One user reported that he was unable to enter his full name, since the application form rejects inputs containing spaces. Since English names necessarily contain a space between the family name and the personal name he entered his name as "PersonalnameFamilyname", which seems to have worked. Thanks to user John for pointing this out!
Links
This post was originally published at http://blog.portblue.de/2009/03/nateon-for-non-koreans-on-pidgin/
When you live in East Asia for a longer period of time, you will notice that a large percentage of people here don't necessarily use the larger chat networks like Windows Live (MSN) or ICQ to communicate, although the former is relatively popular. In China the most common chat programme is QQ, a network almost unknown of in the west, but one of the largest in the world. Now what QQ is for the Chinese, NateOn is for Koreans. NateOn itself doesn't differ very much from MSN, in fact it used to be compatible to MSN until some time ago, or so I heard :) But it has evolved into a separate independent network and has even overtaken MSN in South Korea in terms of user numbers. Its main advantage is its connection to Cyworld 싸이월드, South Korea's larget social network community.
There are websites explaining to foreigners how to set up a QQ account, but setting up a NateOn account is somewhat more complicated and not encouraged by Nate itself. The main obstacle here is that new users will usually need a Resident Registration Number 주민등록번호 to register, a code number similar to American social security numbers, but only available to South Korean citizens. Foreigners living in Korea will also receive a similar number with their "alien registration card", which can be used in a similar way. But for people outside of Korea there is little chance of getting around this barrier. Usage of other people's numbers or number fraud had been common when submission of a valid registration number became mandatory for signing up for online services in Korea, but is nearly impossible these days. Thankfully, there is another, legal way to get a NateOn account.Getting a NateOn Account
The trick is to register a Korean Cyworld account. Cyworld and Nate are basically the same network, so Cyworld accounts can be used with NateOn as well. The difference between registering with Nate and registering with Cyworld is that the latter offers another way of registering without the need for a resident registration number: You will have to scan your passport and e-mail it to Cyworld's help desk. Getting a Korean friend to help you with this is recommended.
- Head over to the Korean Cyworld website at http://cyworld.nate.com/ and look for a box in the upper left corner. This is where you will log on to Cyworld when you completed registration. Click the orange link in the lower left corner of the box that reads 회원가입 ('sign up').
- You will be taken to a Flash menu where you can choose from three different options: 'regular user' in the upper left corner, 'company/organization' on the right, and - you guessed it - 'foreigner' 외국인가입 in the lower left corner. Follow the registration for foreigners, click 외국인가입. At the next page, ask your Korean friend to translate the disclaimers for you and make sure you understand what they say. Afterwards check all three checkboxes and proceed by clicking the orange button which reads 동의 ('agree').
- At the next page you will be asked for proof of identity. There are three different options, of which you will have to choose the last one 외국인등록번호(없음) ('no alien registration number'). Proceed by clicking the orange button again. You will be asked for your email address. Click the right radio button 네이트 이메일 없음 ('no Nate E-mail address') and type in your E-mail address. If your domain is not among the ones listed, choose the last option 직접입력 ('direct input') and enter your address directly, like this. Now click the grey button to send a confirmation E-mail to your account. A popup window will open. Check your mailbox, but keep all browser windows open. Cyworld's confirmation E-mail will contain an eight-digit number which you will have to enter in the popup which just came up after you pressed the grey button.
Now you have to fill out the registration form. This is quite straightforward:
비밀번호 입력 Enter password
비밀번호 확인 Confirm password
이름 Full name
성별 Gender: 남자 male, 여자 female
생년월일 Date of birth: 양력 Gregorian calendar, 음력 Lunar calendar
유선전화 Landline phone number*
휴대폰 번호 Mobile phone number*
국적 Nationality
메일 수신여부 Receive Cyworld E-mails: 받음 Yes/ 받지않음 No
서류파일 Attach file
Please note that Korean phone numbers are required here (*). Your Korean friend should be able to help you with this. It's very unlikely Cyworld is going to call you anyway. Fill out the form and submit it by pressing the orange button again. I'm not sure what the "Attach file" link does, but this point is optional. - Your first log-in attempt will take you to a page telling you to scan your passport and email it to cycop1@nate.com. Whether you scan it or take a photo is up to you. But make sure the image files are of reasonable file size. Files over 3MB are likely to be rejected by the mail server. Also, ask your Korean friend to write a few lines and thank them for their help. Even though it's a tiresome process, one should always try to show courtesy :) Now all you can do is wait. It can take between a few hours and a few days until your application is processed and not all applications will be accepted.
- After you received your confirmation E-mail from Cyworld, your first login attempt will take you to a page asking you change your password, if the password you have chosen is considered too weak. Enter your old pass in the first box, the new one in the second and in the third. Now you're all set to launch NateOn :) Download the English NateOn client and log in using the E-mail address you just used to log on to Cyworld and your Cyworld password. It seems that NateOn needs write access to its programme directory in /Program Files/, so make sure you run it in Administrator mode or set the permissions accordingly.
Setting up Pidgin-NateOn
The next step would be to find a way to incorporate NateOn into a multi-protocol messenger, in order to reduce the number of programmes you have running at the same time. Fortunately, this can be done with Pidgin 피진. After completing the registration above, completing the following steps should be a piece of cake :)
A little background information first: Pidgin is a free, open source, multi-platform chat client that allows you to connect to different chat networks through only one single client. Its more famous Mac counterpart is called 'Adium'. Where you had to use several clients to communicate on MSN, ICQ, QQ etc. before, Pidgin unifies them all. MSN, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, QQ are among the protocols Pidgin supports. You can extend Pidgin's functionality by installing plugins -- e.g. plugins to read your old MSN or Trillian logs, or to make it connect to even more networks, like Facebook Chat or Skype. As you probably guessed by now, there is a plugin for NateOn as well :) called Pidgin-NateOn. Since not many people are aware of this, I will provide a small rundown on the steps required to set up Pidgin with NateOn support here.
I assume you have Pidgin installed already. So head over to Pidgin-NateOn's website and download the plugin (click the small .rar icon at the bottom of the post). The file is really small and should download instantly. Unpack the WinRAR archive to Pidgin's installation folder (by default "C:\Program Files\Pidgin\"). Choose "Yes" when Windows asks if it should overwrite the existing folders. Afterwards, run Pidgin and click "Accounts" -> "Manage Accounts". The Account Manager will come up. Click "Add" in the lower left corner to add a new account. Choose "NateOn" from the protocol list and enter your login details -- that is, enter the E-mail address you use to log on to Cyworld as Username and your password in the corresponding box below. You may choose to have Pidgin remember your password or choose a buddy icon, but that's up to you.After that is done, click "Add" and close the Account Manager. Make sure Pidgin can connect on port 5004 :) -- that's typically the port used by NateOn. Now wait for the connection to be established. A new group will be created in Pidgin's buddy list that contains all your NateOn contacts. Before you start chatting, make sure you set up Pidgin correctly to enable Unicode support. Enjoy chatting! :)
Update (2011-02-20): Pidgin-NateOn is available on most Linux distributions as well. On Ubuntu, fire up Synaptic and download the package "pidgin-nateon". Synaptic will take care of the setup for you, so the plugin will be available next time you run Pidgin. Since Empathy, Ubuntu's default messaging client, can use Pidgin's libpurple library, this will also enable NateOn support for Empathy. Furthermore, this blogger reports that a native NateOn client for Linux has been released by SK that is GPL licensed and KDE based. Last but no least, there is also a Java based version of NateOn, called Jateon, available now. Check it out if you feel like playing around a little :)
Update (2011-04-08): One user reported that he was unable to enter his full name, since the application form rejects inputs containing spaces. Since English names necessarily contain a space between the family name and the personal name he entered his name as "PersonalnameFamilyname", which seems to have worked. Thanks to user John for pointing this out!
Links
- Pidgin-NateOn (plugin website) (Internet Archive mirror)
- Pidgin-Nateon Plugin Download (Protocol svn 137 Plug-in Win32 binary): click small archive icon at bottom of post
- Launchpad Pidgin-NateOn Plugin Project
- Pidgin-NateOn Installation Tutorial (Korean)
- Pidgin Homepage
- Pidgin-NateOn Adium Plugin status (Korean)
- NateOn Homepage
- NateOn Messenger (Korean) Download
- NateOn Messenger (English) Download
- NateOn Messenger Mac Version (Korean) Download
- Google Translate: Korean -> English
This post was originally published at http://blog.portblue.de/2009/03/nateon-for-non-koreans-on-pidgin/
is that instant messenger that you mentioned today?
one question, do we have to send a copy of our identification to the cyworld e-mail just to have an account?
what if i was not allowed to send snything from my parents..can't i get an account anyway? =S
yes, you have to submit some sort of identification to cyworld. otherwise you can't get an account. most of the time people use passports, but something else may be accepted too.
Thank you very much for the tutorial and -- in my case -- especially for the link to the blog containing the rar file. I could probably have compiled the source code on Linux but as I'm currently on Windows, I had no idea how to get a working installation on here (bummer, apparently my Korean is still not good enough...). Turns out to be much easier than feared, thanks again! :D
Hi, thanks for the tutorial. Unfortunately, I am experiencing some problems when registering. First of all, when I come to the screen where I have to fill in my name, and personal information, it says: 이름에 공백을 입력할수 없습니다 which means that I can't use spaces. Well... my full name necessarily has some spaces because it's English. So what I did was to write my name like this: FirstnameLastname
Secondly, after having overcome or circumvented this problem, I got to the screen that you described. However, when I go to cyworld.com I don't know how to log in, because I never got to chose a username. Will the username be provided by cyworld? I have no idea. Thanks a lot for answers, your help is GREATLY appreciated!
Yours,
John
Nevermind, I figured the login is the email address you gave. Yet, what's with the problem that the name is one long word.. :P
What do you mean by 'also, asking your Korean friend to write a few lines is recommended -- one should always try to show his courtesy' ? Is it attacted the line in the email with the passport?
Yes, that's what I wanted to say. You should write a few words when you send your passport scans to Cyworld -- e.g. thank them for reviewing your registration. Sorry if my meaning wasn't clear enough.
Many thanks for this tutorial !
It's very clear and well-explained so I was able to sign up by my-self :)
thanks very much for your tutor, but I have problem ;__;
I've attached my passport scan as the identification file (in the last box) but the cyhelpdesk sent me an email, its content:
가입신청을 해주셔서 감사합니다.
회원님은 현재 준회원 상태이십니다..
본인 확인을 위한 서류첨부를 하지 않으신 회원님께서는 본인확인을 위한 서류사본 (국가의 신분증, 여권, 운전면허증, 외국인등록증 사본 중 1부)을
cycop1@nate.com 혹은 팩스(+82-2-421-1286)로 보내주시면 확인 후 가입승인메일을 보내드리겠습니다. (가입신청을 하신 후, 1주일 이내에 관련서류를 제출해 주셔야 승인이 가능합니다.)
I used google to trans and it meant I haven't sent my identification file (although I've). What should I do?
and one more thing, can you post the email content showing if registration is successful? It would be very kind of you to do so ^.^ thanks
Hello Windy,
I'm sorry, I can't find the E-mail. Seems I have deleted it at some point.
Perhaps you should try to mail your passport scan again by attaching it to the E-mail to Cycop?
This post aged a bit already, so the registration process might have changed. Please take that into account.
Good luck!
Excellent little guide! Thanks in particular for the Pidgin NateOn Win32 plugin link which was just what I was looking for. Danke vielmals. :)
This recent posts link lists the NateOn Win32 plugin versions (for now, anyway). Newest version is actually 2.5.6. Thanks for a great tutorial.
[http://kaisyu.ohpy.com/#post:/::get:control=MyOp&op_url=kaisyu&control=MyEle&branch=&ele_type=xtr:opm]
Hi, good to find your article regarding nateon for non-Koreans. I already had my Cyworld account, but couldn't successfully set up "nate on".
After I downloaded "nateon" English version, it says that my OS does not support the program. I use "Vista" system.
Is any way that you can help me set-up? Thanks in advance. ^_^
Maggie
Hi, good to find your article, as I have problems to set up "nateon" English version.
A message said: "your OS doesn't support the program." I use "Vista".
I do not know how "pdgin" works. Since I can bearly read Korean for Korean version set up, your response would be helpful, thanks a lot.
Maggie
Hello Maggie, seems like the English version of Nateon is a little outdated. I'd love to help but I don't have Vista running anywhere. I suggest you give Pidgin another try -- it's not as hard to use as it looks :)
Thanks for your prompt reply! But my difficulties are 1) poor Korean.. 2)a PC beginner ......@@" I downloaded "pidgin" from the Korean site, but my PC couldn't open "dll" file... I also went into pidgin homepage, do I need to register an account for free download?
Actually I have been searching info online to overcome the set up problem, but got frustrated for the difficulty I mentioned above.. -.-
It would be great if you could help me through, anyhow, I thank you for the help so far.. :)
Maggie
The DLL file is only the plugin for Pidgin -- the addon which enables Pidgin to use the NateOn network. Pidgin itself is free software and available in many different languages. You won't need to register on the Pidgin homepage to download the programme.
You have to install Pidgin first (here is a tutorial: http://www.top-windows-tutorials.com/install-pidgin.html), then the NateOn plugin. I know this Blog here is a little on the techie side, but I can't give a detailed rundown on the separate installation steps, sorry. Perhaps you could ask a friend for help?
Great Tutorial. Thanks alot. Sent my passport and drivers license. Waiting for approval.
You are right, doesn't seem to have Vista version for "Nateon Eng". I downloaded "nateon pidgin" from the link you provided, but there was no "nateon" on the list, did you or anyone encounter the same problem? Actually, not many people use "nateon eng", or know much about nateon pidgin :-( Anyway, really appreciated your help. :)
Maggie
Stefan, thank you very much for this potentially life-saving tutorial (i.e. a girl I like uses NateOn).
I sent in my passport photo and information. Waiting for the confirmation e-mail. Downloaded Pidgin too (the MSN program for Pidgin doesn't seem to allow Korean characters to be used though).
You're a real life saver! I owe you a soju if I ever meet you.
Hey Lurker, glad I could help.
On the issue with the Korean characters check out this previous post "Making Pidgin Unicode compatible"
http://www.chayx.net/2008/06/how-to-make-pidgin-unicode-compatible.html
Good luck!
Hey Stefan, me again.
So I guess they approved an account for me. My only problem now is that I followed all your steps, but for some reason, after I enter my log-in name and password for NateOn on Pidgin, it crashes the program!
Weird. But the English NateOn works fine for me. I guess I'll have to use that. Thanks for everything again.
Hey Lurker, a Pidgin crash could be related to a lot of things. Software you're running in the background (Internet security software), your GTK version, Pidgin version or the version of your NateOn plugin.
I use Pidgin 2.6.2 and the GTK framework that came with it. The Pidgin-nateon plugin version I use is 2.5.2.
I never had Pidgin-nateon crash, but I can say from experience that an application crash is typically related to the plugin version. Maybe you should try and get an older version of the Pidgin-nateon plugin. Other than that, I suggest you try the Pidgin forums for help.
hi!
how can i connect it toport 5004? i dont know how to do that...^^;
I got the same problem, I followed ur steps, but there is no NateOn icon in the list of the protocol available.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TO PLAYING MY GAME.
damn i don't know what do i wrong, i fail in register =|
Do you know by any chance what port uses the original NateOn for windows?
hi fabri, unfortunately i don't have the original nateon client installed at the moment, but i can tell you that pidgin-nateon uses port 5004.
if you have the nateon client installed yourself, you can check ports in use through the windows command prompt. click Start --> Run --> type in "cmd", then click OK. now type in "netstat -b" and press enter. you will see a list of all programmes on your computer that have established connections to remote locations, together with their local and remote ports. find the nateon client's exe file and check for the remote port under "foreign address" (the part behind the ":"). hope this helps!
Hey... I wonder if your instruction are current working, since the menus do not seem to be the same right now. DId you write your blog when Cyworld and Nate were different companies? right now, it seems so... I really need to open an account...
The same counts for me. Your tutorial is really great! Unfortunatelly with the new nate/cyworld page is is not possible anymore to use it for opening an account! But I need one too... :(
yah i need one so badly too ... hope they will relax the requirements. I wouldn't mind mobile phone verification.
Thank you so much for this post.
It has been very helpful.
Please continue posting information like this.
You save people from so much trouble.
You are a blessing to this humanity. ^^
I need a nateon account too. Please. Update the steps ...
Hi everyone and sorry for the late reply. Unfortunately I can't help you. I wrote up this little tutorial when I signed up for a NateOn account together with a Korean friend. I can't even read the pages myself. Sorry about that.
I want to korean to english & english to korean translation.Would u heip me?
hi. i successfully set up a cyworld account and can login. however, i cannot login to nate/nateon with the @nate.com id that i use to sign into cyworld. if i use the english nateon application it shows this:
"If you are using the same IDs for Nate and Cyworld, you will automatically sign in NateOn with a Nate ID.
If you want sign in with a Cyworld ID, please change your Cyworld ID email address different from Nate."
i can't figure out how to deal with this...
I wanna ask plzz reply me...:(
if there display like this " 인증번호 생성 시 오류가 발생하였습니다.
다시한번 시도해주세요." what can i do? and what happen to it?
__Plzz reply__
Thanks~♥
With you help I just got my cyworld page to work.
But the id does not work for nateon. Maybe I have to now do more steps?
The message when I try to log-on to nateon is this:
현재 사용하시고자 하시는 네이트 또는 싸이월드 아이디와 비밀번호를 확인해 주세요.
네이트 아이디와 싸이월드 아이디를 동일한 아이디로 사용하실 경우 네이트온은 네이트 아이디로만 로그인 됩니다.
네이트와 싸이월드 아이디가 동일한 경우에, 싸이월드 아이디로 로그인하기를 원하신다면, 싸이월드 아이디(이메일주소)를 변경하세요.
wow, this is plenty useful, and you gathered all nateon pidgin sites and files, i love you :D
i have been using the korean internet for this for long, or simply the nateon app (blech), i'd love to have it on pidgin and it'd be 7th heaven if the notifications worked there.. they dont and i miss out too much :/ have to use the app eventually. the messages dont come through, or maybe its only me, i remember that used to work sometime ago :O
eitherway thanks a BUNCH. i'll track you back, i've been meaning to write a post like this as well, now there's no need to - i wouldnt do this any better :)
wow, this is plenty useful, and you gathered all nateon pidgin sites and files, i love you
i have been using the korean internet for this for long, or simply the nateon app (blech), i’d love to have it on pidgin and it’d be 7th heaven if the notifications worked there.. they dont and i miss out too much :/ have to use the app eventually. the messages dont come through, or maybe its only me, i remember that used to work sometime ago :O
eitherway thanks a BUNCH. i’ll track you back, i’ve been meaning to write a post like this as well, now there’s no need to – i wouldnt do this any better
happy birthday
Thank you very much!
I have NAteon, QQ and MSN and I needed something like this!!!
Hi there I have a question I already signed up in cyworld I am about to send my passport however my passport is already expired. Is it still possible to send it? or is there a possible option to send them as identification card??
Thank you