jkheit

Q: Messages.app/Facetime Broken/Not-Working in Yosemite 10.10

Hi all.

 

I'm wondering if anyone else is having a problem with Messages.app/iMessage/Facetime after upgrading/installing Yosemite (the release version)? My Messages doesn't work.

 

The Problems

(A) Specifically, when you enter your AppleID in Messages.app->Preferences->Accounts->iMessagesAccount you get the following error:

 

 

Quote:

 

Could not sign in to iMessage.
Could not sign in. Please check your network connection and try again.
Sometimes the error says it cannot activate.

 

(B) Also, oddly, FaceTime makes me enter my AppleID every time i reboot, but will work for Video FaceTime chats, but not audio?  And once I reboot, it again asks me for my AppleID.

 

My Setup

 

 

I have a 2010 Mac Pro.

 

My Mac Pro is not stock, but nothing that's in there *should* cause a problem, so I wonder if anyone else is having a similar issue. My non stock hardware is:
  1. --MacVidCard 802.11ac and bluetooth 4.0 upgrade card (http://www.macvidcards.com/store/p33...port_Card.html)
  2. --VisionTek 7750 Eyefinity 6 2GB card (https://www.visiontek.com/graphics-c...rd-detail.html)
  3. --OWC Mercury Accelsior E2 SSD (http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/P...Accelsior/RAID)
  4. --Inateck 4 port PCI-E to USB 3.0 card (which has requires no drivers and is a pretty compatible card) (http://www.inateck.com/inateck-kt400...er-connection/)
  5. --Upgraded the 12-core 2.66ghz motherboard to 12-core 3.46 west mere x5690 xenon (turnkey OWC upgrade) (http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/turnk...Xeon_Processor)
Here is some of the troubleshooting I've already done:
  1. I tried making a new guest account and tried to login there, and went so far as to install a clean install on a blank external drive with similar results.
    1. The only caveat is when you make the new guest account of fresh install, when you first put in your AppleID it almost kinda succeeds.  You initially see the screen where Messages tells you it's associating your phone number and a few email addresses together.  But if you try to use Messages, nothing gets through, and when you quit and re-run the app, you get that same 'could not sign in' error.
  2. Went through the stuff here to no avail:
    1. messages "An error occurred while activating. Try again later"
  3. My serial number does show in about this Mac.
  4. Messages/iMessage/Facetime all work(ed) fine under 10.9.x on the Mac Pro, so it should not be a hardware issue, as I didn't change any hardware over after upgrading.
  5. I installed Yosemite on my 2013 13" Macbook Pro and Messages/Facetime all work fine, so it's likely nothing to do with my network.
  6. I have confirmed that others that have done the MacVidCard 802.11ac/bluetooth upgrade are not experiencing this issue.
  7. Same with the USB card.
  8. Since I installed a fresh OS on an external drive, I doubt the OWC Accelsior has anything to do with this.
  9. I called apple support, and they are stumped and getting engineers to figure it out. One support guy at apple said the broken Messages.app problems were his only unresolvable problem he was getting this since Yosemite launched (and that it has been an exceptionally smooth launch), and had 4 calls on the same issue early morning the day after launch (he's one level up from the entry support folks and the only level above him are the actual software engineers).
  10. The video card seems highly unlikely to matter here. Then again, I'm not sure the hardware should matter at all...Which leaves me with...


My Suspicion

 

 

I think there may be an interplay between 2 things going on.  One, although I haven't changed my motherboard, perhaps changing the processor tray makes something fail with the Messages authentication?  And second, perhaps there is some corrupted data up on iCloud that alone or in combination with the processor tray, is tripping up Messages verification? The solution might be to bring my machine in and have them do some magic to make the serial number authorized on their system?


Appreciate any thoughts and thanks for any help. Thanks!

 



Posted on Oct 18, 2014 2:27 PM

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Q: Messages.app/Facetime Broken/Not-Working in Yosemite 10.10

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  • by arjay67,

    arjay67 arjay67 Nov 7, 2014 5:23 AM in response to jkheit
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 7, 2014 5:23 AM in response to jkheit

    I'm having a nearly identical problem. I'm currently working with a Senior TS rep and Apple Engineers to resolve. If I find the resolution, I'll let you know.

  • by Jackve6,

    Jackve6 Jackve6 Nov 7, 2014 9:06 AM in response to jkheit
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 7, 2014 9:06 AM in response to jkheit

    Howdy.  I have a mid-2010 MacPro with EXACTLY the same problem as you with iMessaging and FaceTime.  Both worked perfectly in Mavericks.  I have tried the complete troubleshooting guide provided by others, which was pretty significant, and no change resulted.  I also have a MacAir (2012) and it all works perfectly on that machine with Yosemite.  I am using a Samsung SSD EVO with a few workarounds to get Trim to work in Yosemite.  Anyway, thinking that might be a problem, I got a 1T HDD, formatted it and did a completely clean install of Yosemite.  I then removed the SSD, but in the HDD and tried all over again.  ABSOLUTELY NO CHANGE with iMessage, but I don't seem to be prompted to login to FaceTime overtime I start up, with the clean install.  There are some other strange glitches, but those are for another thread.  However, I will need to start something about iCloud Drive.  Why can't they just get this thing right from the start?  It is not as though they don't have some good examples out there to copy (e.g. DropBox and Box).

  • by Robert Martin 1,

    Robert Martin 1 Robert Martin 1 Nov 7, 2014 12:21 PM in response to Jackve6
    Level 6 (8,040 points)
    Nov 7, 2014 12:21 PM in response to Jackve6

    See if following these directions will help... perhaps the IMagent has become disabled?

     

     

     

    IMAgent is an OSX daemon which runs as part of FaceTime. You can disable it with the following command:

    launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.imagent.plist

    You can re-enable it with the following:

    launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.imagent.plist

    You can test to see if it’s running with the following command:

    sudo launchctl list | grep imagent
  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Nov 7, 2014 1:52 PM in response to Toby DeVoss
    Level 9 (73,348 points)
    Applications
    Nov 7, 2014 1:52 PM in response to Toby DeVoss

    Understood.

     

    On the one hand it does seem the end user is getting caught between Apple and Google and who thinks what is secure.

    On the other there are not that many reporting the issue.

     

    The Blocking of a sign in attempt should at least get a message "Was it you ? You might need to do this" rather than give you no way to rectify it.

     

    For another thread I launched my older version of an app called Psi (a Jabber app effectively).

    I have it set up for two Jabber Logins one of which is Google.

    I don't have Two Step verification (never set it up in the first place) and do have Less Secure App enabled.

    This app also managed to Login

     

    Messages is using port 443 (and SSL)  and the Psi app is using the 5223 port with SSL

    It reports the Certificate is Self Signed  with a "Connect anyway" option button.

     

    This does suggest something about this works and that Google will allow some lesser secure logins if we believe everything they tell us.

     

    I see that there other posts in this thread that I need to read.

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png

    9:52 pm      Friday; November 7, 2014

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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 Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Nov 7, 2014 1:58 PM in response to Robert Martin 1
    Level 9 (73,348 points)
    Applications
    Nov 7, 2014 1:58 PM in response to Robert Martin 1

    Hi,

     

    Simple method.

    Open Activity Monitor in Applications/Utilities

    Find imagent (lower case and with no icon) in the list

    Highlight and use Quit icon top left.

    Confirm Quit.

    It will restart and appear at the top of the List.

     

    Deleting com.apple.ichat.Jabber.plist is more likely to reset the Jabber logins with include Google and Facebook Chat (the app will need a restart).

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png

    9:58 pm      Friday; November 7, 2014

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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 Toby DeVoss,

    Toby DeVoss Toby DeVoss Nov 7, 2014 2:28 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 7, 2014 2:28 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    That sounded promising ..............nope.

     

    Just did a disc repair ...needed work, but did not solve the Message problem.

     

    Keep 'em coming ....I'll keep trying .....

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Nov 7, 2014 2:47 PM in response to Toby DeVoss
    Level 9 (73,348 points)
    Applications
    Nov 7, 2014 2:47 PM in response to Toby DeVoss

    Hi,

     

    When things were GoogleTalk and Chat was added to the Mail Web Page I Enabled it.

    I then added the Account to iChat 3 as it was back then.

     

    I have never upgraded (?) to Google+ or Hangouts (although I do understand I may have been moved anyway).

    However in my Mail web Pages > Settings for Chat I have this:-

    Screen Shot 2014-11-07 at 22.42.23.png

     

    If you can't see the pic it is the central panel of that part of the preferences and Chat is select.

    The top line of the setting radio check boxes is "Chat On"

     

    Is GoogelTalk or Chat in Hangouts (whatever it is called now) active in your account settings - Web Mail page or other ?

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png

    10:47 pm      Friday; November 7, 2014

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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 Robert Martin 1,

    Robert Martin 1 Robert Martin 1 Nov 7, 2014 3:15 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 6 (8,040 points)
    Nov 7, 2014 3:15 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    the bit that I pasted earlier about using Terminal to reestablish the IMagent code worked and solved my seemingly identical problem. Where I was able to launch Messages and FaceTime before, I could do nothing in them and none of my account info was there. Running the line to reestablish IMagent immediately had both working.

     

    That is why I shared it.

     

    Bob

  • by Robert Martin 1,

    Robert Martin 1 Robert Martin 1 Nov 7, 2014 3:22 PM in response to Robert Martin 1
    Level 6 (8,040 points)
    Nov 7, 2014 3:22 PM in response to Robert Martin 1

    FWIW, I got into trouble to begin with by getting dialog boxes asking for passwords for Face Time and Message when rebooting Yosemite. No passwords worked. Apparently that is a known bug. That is when I found that code. I Used it to delete IMagent stuff. Then neither program worked any more. Using the second line fixed that. Toby, have you tried it?

  • by Toby DeVoss,

    Toby DeVoss Toby DeVoss Nov 7, 2014 7:09 PM in response to Robert Martin 1
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 7, 2014 7:09 PM in response to Robert Martin 1

    I think I may have found a "possible" clue to the problem. A long time ago I stopped using Mail and started using gmail exclusively, therefore, I do not remember how Mail was configured to link to gmail. However, it is linked, and during this seemingly endless quest to enable Messages, I found Internet Accounts in System Preferences ....Internet Accounts shows a link between my gmail account and Messages. When I try to access the account details for Messages there, my passwords will not work.

    internet accounts.png

    Also, I cannot access Mail and get the following alert window. Neither SMTP Server will accept my gmail passwords.

    smtp.png

    Does anybody understand how SMTP works, and how I can reset the account passwords?

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Nov 8, 2014 11:58 AM in response to Robert Martin 1
    Level 9 (73,348 points)
    Applications
    Nov 8, 2014 11:58 AM in response to Robert Martin 1

    Hi Bob,

     

    You will notice that I did not say it was not valid.

     

    I did point out there was a non Terminal way to Quit IMAgent using Activity Monitor and that this allows the app to Automatically restart.

    3Sigcopy2.png

    7:58 pm      Saturday; November 8, 2014

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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 Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Nov 8, 2014 12:22 PM in response to Toby DeVoss
    Level 9 (73,348 points)
    Applications
    Nov 8, 2014 12:22 PM in response to Toby DeVoss

    Hi,

     

    My STMP info does not include my account info like that.

     

    1) For some apps to now access Google you have to set the "Enable  Less Secure apps" login process in the Account settings > Privacy (if I remember correctly)

    2) It cannot use two Step Verification as well for Messages to work.

     

    In Mail > Preferences > Accounts > The Google account

    Use the STMP Button and select the Edit option

    It will take you here

    Screen Shot 2014-11-08 at 20.03.03.png

     

    The Advanced tab looks like this:-

    Screen_Shot_2014-11-08_at_20_04_37.png

    If you feel it is the password highlight it and use th backspace to delete and then enter it again.

     

    Basically the Mail App make two logins; one to the IMAP or POP server (Fetch) and one to the STMP server (Send)

    If you have other accounts and compare them you may find some are using port 25.

    This is the most common one used by mail servers fro STMP connections.

    In some cases your ISP may only allow port 25 connections to their own server and will not pass on "request" to ones outside their control.

    I also have an email address based on an old Dial-up Account. That server will only accept logins from it's Login server (I have to be logged in over dial-up and it will not accept requests coming from my current ISP login to the internet.

     

    Your pic above suggests you have not entered a Description either in the Mail App itself or the Set up for Internet Accounts

    Description.png

    Description2.png

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png

    8:22 pm      Saturday; November 8, 2014

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz i5 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 astroben85,

    astroben85 astroben85 Nov 10, 2014 2:36 AM in response to arjay67
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 10, 2014 2:36 AM in response to arjay67

    Any luck?

  • by jkheit,

    jkheit jkheit Nov 10, 2014 8:29 AM in response to astroben85
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Nov 10, 2014 8:29 AM in response to astroben85

    If you mean with the original problem of Messages.app not working even on a fresh install on my Mac Pro, and apparently several other users macs, the answer is no.

     

    Status is the support at Apple are stumped and it's been bumped up to engineering.  They had me run a diagnostic on the system that didn't have enough info.  They gave me a special debug mode to run Messages.app to give them higher granularity on whats going on (which by the way made my system really unstable and I was glad to de-install it), and that's been sent up to engineering.  Hopefully they'll figure something out--that was done late last wee.  Fingers crossed that I hear something this week.  My guess is this is going to require a system update of some sort. 

  • by Jackve6,

    Jackve6 Jackve6 Nov 10, 2014 8:49 AM in response to jkheit
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 10, 2014 8:49 AM in response to jkheit

    jkheit

    Thanks for posting this recent update.  This thread seems to have taken off in the Google compatibility problem rather than what you originally posted.  I am only interested in your challenges and resolution (if and when that is available).  One thing, it is good to hear that it is not a 'simple' solution' as I was beginning to wonder what I wasn't doing properly.  As I noted in my first email, I even installed a clean download of Yosemite and the problem remained.  Again, with my MacAir there is no problem with anything.  I'll bet there is something to be changed in the MacPro (older models) firmware.  I also bet that the new MacPro (black tube version) works just fine; however, I don't have $4000 sitting around to buy one!

     

    Jack

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