diff -u sendxmpp-1.14/sendxmpp sendxmpp-1.14.patched/sendxmpp
--- sendxmpp-1.14/sendxmpp	2008-12-18 03:37:49.000000000 +0100
+++ sendxmpp-1.14.patched/sendxmpp	2008-12-18 04:47:07.000000000 +0100
@@ -290,14 +290,15 @@
 		componentname	=> $comp
 	};
 	$arghash->{port} = $port if ($port);
-	if (!$port) {
-		@res = $cnx->Connect(%$arghash);
-		error_exit ("Could not connect to server '$host': $@") unless @res;
-	} else {
-		@res = $cnx->Connect(%$arghash);
-		error_exit ("Could not connect to '$host' on port $port: $@") unless @res;
-	}
 
+	@res = $cnx->Connect(%$arghash);
+	if (!@res) {
+            my $err = $cnx->GetErrorCode();
+            $err = $@ unless $err;
+            $err = ($err->{'text'} ? $err->{'text'} : $err->{'type'}) unless (ref $err ne "HASH");
+            error_exit ("Could not connect to server '$host'" . ($port ? " on port $port" : "") . ($err ? ": $err" : ".")) unless @res;
+        }
+        
     xmpp_check_result("Connect",\@res,$cnx);
 
 	if ($comp) {
root@devil:/usr/src/xmpp/sendxmpp-1.14/patches# cat add_cmdline_type.patch 
diff -ur sendxmpp-1.14.orig/sendxmpp sendxmpp-1.14/sendxmpp
--- sendxmpp-1.14.orig/sendxmpp	2008-12-18 03:37:49.000000000 +0100
+++ sendxmpp-1.14/sendxmpp	2008-12-18 15:52:41.000000000 +0100
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@
     
     usage() unless (scalar(@ARGV));
     
-	my ($subject,$file,$resource,$jserver,$port,$username,$password,$component,
+	my ($subject,$file,$resource,$jserver,$port,$username,$password,$type,$component,
 	$message, $chatroom, $headline, $debug, $tls, $interactive, $help, $raw, $verbose);
     my $res = GetOptions ('subject|s=s'    => \$subject,
 			  'file|f=s'       => \$file,
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@
 			  'username|u=s'   => \$username,
 			  'password|p=s'   => \$password,
 			  'message|m=s'    => \$message,
+			  'type|y=s'       => \$type,
 			  'headline|l'     => \$headline,
 			  'chatroom|c'     => \$chatroom,
 			  'tls|t'          => \$tls,
@@ -251,6 +252,7 @@
 		'username'    => ($username or ''),
 		'password'    => ($password or ''),
 		'chatroom'    => ($chatroom or 0),
+		'type'        => ($type or ''),
 		'headline'    => ($headline or 0),
 		'interactive' => ($interactive or 0),
 		'tls'         => ($tls or 0),
@@ -332,7 +334,7 @@
 					$_, #$$cmdline{'recipient'},
 					$$cmdline{'component'} || $$config{'component'},
 					$$cmdline{'subject'},
-					$$cmdline{'headline'},
+					$$cmdline{'type'} || ($$cmdline{'headline'} ? 'headline' : 'message'),
 					$txt)
 			} @{$$cmdline{'recipient'}};
     	}
@@ -373,13 +375,8 @@
 #
 sub xmpp_send_message ($$$$$$) {
     
-    my ($cnx,$rcpt,$comp,$subject,$headline,$msg) = @_;
+    my ($cnx,$rcpt,$comp,$subject,$type,$msg) = @_;
 
-	my $type = 'message';
-	if ($headline) {
-		$type='headline';
-	}
- 
     # for some reason, MessageSend does not return anything
     $cnx->MessageSend('to'      => $rcpt . ( $comp ? "\@$comp" : '' ),
 		'type'		=> $type,
@@ -565,6 +562,10 @@
 
 Connect securely, using TLS
 
+=item B<-y>,B<--type> I<type>
+
+Use specific message type. The default is 'message'.
+
 =item B<-l>,B<--headline>
 
 Send a headline type message (not stored in offline messages)