Q: Unable to sign into iMessage after El Capitan upgrade

I usually use @mac.com, @me.com, @icloud.com interchangeably.  I noticed that my FaceTime and Messages on Mac I had usually typed in @me.com, but in my iCloud System Preferences, I was logged in to iCloud under @mac.com.  So I went back to FT and Messages and used my @mac.com username and they started working.

El Capitan

MacBook Air

Hi,

After many tests and other "fixes" it sometimes comes down to the fact the account (Apple ID) is blocked at the iMessages server.

This can happen as the Auth Token in the Keychain for the IDS: Apple ID-Auth Token is what is used for you Mac to have a Unique Login to the iMessages servers.

Why this only happens to Macs is a mystery (and is why when you contact Apple Support they involve the Engineers).

Contact Apple Support (there is no way round it at this stage)

The Level 1 people are Script led and looking for Hardware and Software issue to come under Apple Care and want to charge you for anything else.

Insist it is an Apple ID problem and ask to speak to a Level 2

Originally Level 2s did seem to know about this (There are other forms that have been going on since OS X10.8.2 when the Serial number was first needed) and what they did was reset the iMessages server from your Mac's Login.

Now they "claim" they have not heard of it and try to do all the things the Level 1s would normally do then revert to contacting the Engineers on the other line.

Eventually you will get told they will call you back and somehow before they ever do the accounts works again but days have passed.

Politely insist they do it now (they may still take overnight (I have not found a set of phrases that makes it go any quicker now) before you see any results.

My best guess is that it is a security feature that is over zealous  to stop other people pretending to be you.

9:49 p.m.      Wednesday; October 21, 2015

Hey there,

First time posting to this site - I found a fix that worked for me. My iCloud ties various emails together (i.e. ****@me.com @icloud.com @gmail.com etc).

The following fixes 2 scenarios:

1. Your contacts are all in red and their status appears as offline

2. Your iMessage accounts shown in the Buddy window will not connect to an Available status and remain as offline - furthermore, the app asks for your password over and over again and again without connecting - even after you enter the correct password for your account.

Login to the associated Gmail account on a web browser

Navigate to https://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps

Turn On

Open your iMessage - navigate to the Buddy window. Click on the account that is offline and change the status to Available. This account should now connect. Yay!

HI,

That is odd but still in keeping with other posts that people who have contacts Apple Support are saying about their experiences.

What is strange is that soon after the OS X 10.8.2 update that changes Messages to version 7.0.1 and the needs for the Serial Number people who had issues like this were reporting the Level 2 person was saying they were looking at the iMessages server and could "see" the Mac was not logged in.

Glad to hear yours is now working again.

8:52 p.m.      Thursday; October 22, 2015

SO this was not you ?

Re: El Capitan iMessage Stopped Working (no handoff no text forwarding)

See Also 15083san

8:55 p.m.      Thursday; October 22, 2015

Same issue here: unable to log in to Messages->iMessage on OSX Capitain with

   "an error occurred during authentication"

I have an active Google Talk account listed above my iMessage account.

I disabled the Google Talk account (Account Type: Jabber / uncheck "Enable this account"), went back to my iMessage account, clicked "Enable this account" and it worked.

I then went back and re-enabled the Google Talk Jabber account and now they're both working.

Resetting NVRAM somehow worked this time after previous failures.  Go figure.

Hi,

I was replying to 15083san who posted at least twice saying it was for the first time but in two different threads.

The one I pointed to in this thread I had made a reply.

Re 1.

Open Keychain Access and go to the Preferences then choose the First Aid Tab.

On mine these are all ticked (the default settings).

The most important tends to be Synchronising the the Mac User Account login password to the Login Keychain.

Next copy this path:-

~/Library/Keychains

Use the Finder > Go Menu > Go to Folder and paste the path into the dialogue box.

When you are in the Keychains folder right-click the Login one and select Get Info.

Scroll to the bottom.

It should list your Shortname  and your should have Read and Write access.

Highlight your name.

Unlock the Padlock and then use the cogwheel like icon under the list.

The text should be greyed out if you Own the file. It will read " Make yourShortName (Me) the Owner"

If it is dark text you do not Own the file.

Re 2.

This sound like there is an issue with the iCloud Keychain

Check that you Own it and have Read and Write permissions.

Re 3.

I have not noticed this myself but it is also not an App I spend a lot of time in.

9:27 p.m.      Friday; October 23, 2015

Tried everything -- resetting the PVRAM worked for me on a 2012 Mac Pro with El Capitan installed.

Tried resetting PVRAM 4 times on 2008 MacBook Pro with El Capitan Beta 10.11.1 and still doesn't fix it. Had no issues with previous releases. Sent Feedback to Apple. Hopefully they will fix this problem very soon. Can still message on both iPhone 5s and iPad Mini.

Go to Keychain access > login > delete all items that start with com.apple then try again

This worked for me.

Thanks! This did the trick! Just had to do a quick reentering of my e-mail settings as well so I would try to be more selective in deleting just the specific Keychain log-ins in the future. Much appreciated!!