the blue

Q: Messages Not Working in Mavericks 10.9

Hi there,

 

Anyone else having this problem?   My Messages is just not working.  I am logged in.   It lets me type a message, but then it just sits there and a few minutes later I get the red circle/ "!" saying it didn't go through.  I've tried logging in and out of Messages.  Restarting the computer of course.  Nothing.  I'm stuck.  I can't find another post on this so anyone else having this issue?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 31, 2013 8:29 AM

Close

Q: Messages Not Working in Mavericks 10.9

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

first Previous Page 3 of 5 last Next
  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Dec 3, 2013 12:29 PM in response to macuserdrew
    Level 9 (73,336 points)
    Applications
    Dec 3, 2013 12:29 PM in response to macuserdrew

    Hi,

     


    Could you expand on this bit for me ?

     

    The error message is the standard "cannot sign in, please check your network connection" but it has varied and I have also encountered one along the lines of "The user name or password was incorrect. Try again.".

     

    This particular message tends to appear multiple times, even after I repeatedly dismiss the message. Typically the box will appear five times. After I dismiss the fifth box occasionally the messages app seems to have recognized my information (it provides me with my phone number and the email address associated with my id and the option to enable iMessage).

     

    This view disappears within two seconds, except one time when I managed to click a setting and it hung around for as long as it took me to realize that it wasn't actually enabled and I logged out again.

     

    There are variants to the alert message you can get.

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3970

     

    Obviously you will have checked on the first few item on this list.

    Date and Time including the Time Zone are important checks to be made.

    As are the DNS server info and the Host file.

     

    It is the middle paragraph in the quote above that has me confused.

    If you iPhone is set up with it's Number  and has had an Apple ID added then when you get the  iMessages account to login in Messages you are likely to get a pop up that tells you that the iPhone is using the Apple ID and iPhone Number as possible IDs to send iMessages.

    You would normally have to Accept this pop to add the iPhone Number to the iMessages Account.

     

    However I get the impression you are seeing a different alert.

     

     

    Also at the update for OS X 10.8.2 in Mountain Lion you need to have the Serial Number installed on the Mother/Logic board.

     

    I am presuming that you had iMessages working in Messages in the last updated version on Mountain lion ?

    However I am not sure that you are not talking about a set of Upgrades that have been redone at a later point.

    Doing it this way would upgrade Lion to Mountain Lion at the latest version (you miss out having to do the Combo update install or the one  by one OX 10.8.1 then 10.8.2 and so on).

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png
    8:29 pm      Tuesday; December 3, 2013

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     Couple of iPhones and an iPad

  • by macuserdrew,

    macuserdrew macuserdrew Dec 3, 2013 1:04 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 3, 2013 1:04 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    I should have mentioned that face time is working on both my iphone and my macbook. I have never modified or repaired any component in my macbook. Its never been opened up since I bought it. iMessage worked fine on the latest version of Mountain Lion and for over a month on Mavericks. I checked the DNS and time zone settings as you recommended. No dice.

     

    Indeed I have iMessage set up on my iphone to work with both my phone number and my primary email address (with new messages defaulting to my phone number to keep things tidy).

     

    Here are the error messages I'm seeing.

     

    Screen Shot 2013-12-03 at 1.37.08 PM.pngScreen Shot 2013-12-03 at 1.38.27 PM.png

     

    I have also created a short video of the weirdest scenario, which involves the five error messages and about a second of false success.  You'll see what I mean if you follow the link to this youtube video. This only occurrs when I attempt a sign in with my alternate apple id (the @me address), it fails, then I revert to my primary login (a gmail address). Strange eh?

     

    http://youtu.be/cNkPGQp4O_c

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Dec 3, 2013 1:51 PM in response to macuserdrew
    Level 9 (73,336 points)
    Applications
    Dec 3, 2013 1:51 PM in response to macuserdrew

    Hi,

     

    Regarding the Video.

    Can you confirm that for some (most) occasions it has the error messages and the account details behind it has no Password but does have the Apple ID ?

     

    Then sometimes (once in the video if I got it right) it shows the account logged in with the Apple ID and iPhone Number listed and "Receive At" options.

     

    This only happens with the @me.com ID ?

    As far as I can see the video lists the @Gmail.com ID  (although it is difficult to slide the bar back and see a specific frame as it tends to play from a point as soon as you stop moving the pointer)

     

    As FaceTime works and Messages or the iMessages account does not it would seem it is not actually the connection that is at issue or the lack of the Serial Number.

     

    That would point to either an issue with the Name/Password as far as the app is concerned.

    Most likely that would point to the Keychain.

    The app could be corrupt or it could have issues writing info to a plist.

     

    IF FaceTime is using a Different Apple ID  then do the following.

    Open Activity Monitor (Applications/Utilities) and find the imagent item (lower case and no icon).

    Highlight it then use the Quit icon top left.

    Confirm Force Quit and then restart the computer.

    This app supports both FaceTime and Messages but it starts up when the Computer does so it is running in the background all the time.

     

    If both Messages and FaceTime have the Same ID then do the following:-

    In the Finder > Go Menu hold down the ALT key and select the Library that appears.

    Navigate to Preferences.

    Find com.apple.ichat.plist

    Drag it to the Trash and restart  Messages.

    You may have to reset some Preferences after this.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png
    9:51 pm      Tuesday; December 3, 2013

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     Couple of iPhones and an iPad

  • by RamziB. ,

    RamziB. RamziB. Dec 8, 2013 9:22 PM in response to Michael Hoffman
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Dec 8, 2013 9:22 PM in response to Michael Hoffman

    thanks that fixed it.

  • by johnjspiteri,

    johnjspiteri johnjspiteri Dec 10, 2013 8:03 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 10, 2013 8:03 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    I had Messages showing the "red exclaimation error" on my iMac Mavericks, wanted to add to this thread what worked for me...

     

    If anyone is using Little Snitch or HandsOff... if the APSD process is blocked, that will keep Messages from working on your desktop and not your mobile devices! I made the error of blocking it by accident (while blocking 40 prompts in a row during setup) - Make sure your rules filter is set to "All Rules", the default is "User Defined Rules".

     

    Ralph your answers are great, nice to know people if you are around...

  • by macuserdrew,

    macuserdrew macuserdrew Dec 18, 2013 3:13 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 18, 2013 3:13 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    Ralph,

     

    Thanks for your help. I tried all of your solutions to no avail. Today I was reading a few other threads and discoverd one where an Apple service rep recommended resetting the NVRAM on the macbook pro to delete the time zone preferences. I had tried almost everything else imaginable and presto, that did it.

     

    In summary:

     

    symptoms: imessage and face time working fine with my apple id on my iphone, face time working on mbp, imessage not working on mbp. Error message (as can be seen above) reads cannot activate imessage, try again.

     

    solution: reset the NVRAM

     

    Thanks again

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Dec 19, 2013 12:04 PM in response to macuserdrew
    Level 9 (73,336 points)
    Applications
    Dec 19, 2013 12:04 PM in response to macuserdrew

    Thanks for letting us know.

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png
    8:03 pm      Thursday; December 19, 2013

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     Couple of iPhones and an iPad

  • by francesco-from-switzerland,

    francesco-from-switzerland francesco-from-switzerland Dec 21, 2013 5:03 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 21, 2013 5:03 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    Hi Ralph

     

    thanks a lot. It looks quite your approach has solved the issue on my mac. At least I could login. But still iMessages reports "inactive". We'll see if this is gonna be resolved after a few hours.

     

    Regards

    Francesco

  • by jmelika,

    jmelika jmelika Dec 23, 2013 8:56 AM in response to the blue
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 23, 2013 8:56 AM in response to the blue

    I had a similar issue where iMessage could log in just fine, but the messages I sent would not make it.  They would eventually get a red ! after couple of minutes of sending them.  I could not receive messages either.

     

    The issue I had was related to "Apple Application Integration Certification Authority" Intermediate CA missing from my keychain.  To verify, open your keychain and look under login and Certificates.  If it's not there, grab it from any other Mac you have access to.

     

    Good luck!

    JM

  • by the blue,

    the blue the blue Dec 23, 2013 11:30 AM in response to the blue
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 23, 2013 11:30 AM in response to the blue

    Thanks all.   Crazy that there are so many different problems.

     

    I am still broke after all these weeks.  None of these solutions have worked - I've tried them all.    I went to genius bar - they couldn't solve it.  They referred me to the Apple Support line - they couldn't solve it.   10.9.1 release didn't do it.

     

    Very frustrating - with this, a time machine issue, the lousy new Keynote, and the terrible Apple Maps - my faith in Apple is now shaken for the first time in years.   I'm going to start looking more at Google and other folks perhaps going forward. 

     

    I guess I'll have to do a clean install, but I'm a bit fearful after reloading 500 gigs of data that it won't be fixed as I read somewhere that someone did a clean install and it didn't fix it.

  • by the blue,Solvedanswer

    the blue the blue Dec 27, 2013 5:07 PM in response to the blue
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 27, 2013 5:07 PM in response to the blue

    Ok - so I went to the Genius Bar again today - the guy was stumped - his usual things didn't work and this guy seemed pretty sharp.  So, the only solution for me was to wipe my computer, start over with a clean install, and MANUALLY copy from time machine my files (instead of letting it do it automatically) so that we wouldn't accidentally copy whatever 'bug' was going on back onto my laptop.   This worked.  I'm now reinstalling about 500 gigs back onto my laptop step by step.  Fun.   Thanks everyone for trying to help!

  • by xchristopher hayesx,

    xchristopher hayesx xchristopher hayesx Jan 31, 2014 6:04 PM in response to the blue
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 31, 2014 6:04 PM in response to the blue

    I was having this problem as well, but it just started last week, even though I updated to Mavericks when it came out.

     

    I tried everything suggested in this and similar threads - resetting the keychain, repairing permissions, clearing the NVRAM, deleting every FaceTime and Messages plist file, checking the date and time, and finally reinstalling Mavericks. None of these things worked, so I made an appointment at the Apple Store. The Genius went through many of these same steps and after conferring with three of his coworkers and spending forty-five minutes working on this, he fixed it.

     

    You know what he did? He turned of the firewall, restarted the computer, and turned the firewall back on with no changes to the settings whatsoever. Now it works. Maddening, but I'm glad these programs work again.

  • by Tangri,

    Tangri Tangri Mar 4, 2014 6:10 AM in response to xchristopher hayesx
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 4, 2014 6:10 AM in response to xchristopher hayesx

    "You know what he did? He turned of the firewall, restarted the computer, and turned the firewall back on with no changes to the settings whatsoever. Now it works."

     

    I did this just now and it also worked for me. Yes - very very maddening.

  • by DougQ,

    DougQ DougQ Mar 15, 2014 8:16 AM in response to Michael Hoffman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 15, 2014 8:16 AM in response to Michael Hoffman

    Sorry for the late reponse, I took my iMac in to apple because I had the same problem. I t seems I lost the serial number somewhere down the road. He put it back in for me ( i thing it hade something to do with the logic board)

    and my problem went away. I am now iMesseging and Face Timing again on the Mac.

    Hope this helps.

    Doug

  • by Alf Megson,

    Alf Megson Alf Megson May 21, 2014 7:55 AM in response to Michael Hoffman
    Level 1 (114 points)
    Safari
    May 21, 2014 7:55 AM in response to Michael Hoffman

    I just wanted to interject that I was having the problem with Messages and tried resetting my Keychain only to find that my MBP would not reboot - I was getting an error at the startup screen which began with 'unable to find driver for this platform'.

     

    I tried booting in the repair partition and repairing permissions and running Disk Repair but it didn't help.

     

    It seems the only solution is to re-install Mavericks and hope for the best.

     

    So, I began with a minor problem and ended up with a possible major issue.

first Previous Page 3 of 5 last Next