Nathan Bugeja

Q: Unable to send or receive Messages on MacBook Pro

I'm unable to send or receive Messages on my MacBook Pro.  Each message I attempt to send I'm presented with a red exclamation mark, and when I "Try Again" I have no luck.

messages.png

I've attempted to resolve this by disabling/enabling my iMessages account in the Messages preferences, and have also tried signing out and back into the account.

Messages Accounts.png

My MacBook's setup has me running OS X El Capitan v10.11.5:

El Capitan.png

I also use Little Snitch, but from what I can see I've allowed Messages to allow incoming/outgoing connections.

Little Snitch.png

 

Sending and receiving messages from my iPhone 6S and iPad 4 works fine.  I also attempted to enable Text Message Forwarding for my MacBook Pro, but my MacBook does not receive or present the "code" my iPhone requests I enter in order to allow text message forwarding.

 

All of the above troubleshooting has been attempted on various networks (home and work), but I'm at a loss as to how I can resolve this.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Jul 15, 2016 8:27 PM

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Q: Unable to send or receive Messages on MacBook Pro

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 15, 2016 9:56 PM in response to Nathan Bugeja
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    Jul 15, 2016 9:56 PM in response to Nathan Bugeja

    Please read this whole message before doing anything.

    This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

    Step 1

    The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.

    Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”

    While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.

    Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?

    After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.

    *Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.

    Step 2

    The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.

    Please take this step regardless of the results of Step 1.

    Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem.

    Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

    Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.

    The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

    Test while in safe mode. Same problem?

    After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

  • by whosjose,

    whosjose whosjose Jul 15, 2016 11:38 PM in response to Nathan Bugeja
    Level 2 (165 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 15, 2016 11:38 PM in response to Nathan Bugeja

    I also had a similar problem. When I signed out, I was not able to sign back in due to some sort of authorization error.

     

    If you encounter a similar problem, I reached out to Apple Support via phone and I had to perform multiple of tasks and send logs over.

     

    If you do not want to sign out, what does console log show?

     

    *Note that logs can contain personal information so please remove any info it before you share.

     

    <Personal Information Edited by Host>

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Jul 17, 2016 12:21 PM in response to Nathan Bugeja
    Level 9 (72,994 points)
    Applications
    Jul 17, 2016 12:21 PM in response to Nathan Bugeja

    Hi,

     

    Little Snitch allows by Process and not App.

    See this picture

    Screen Shot 2016-07-17 at 20.18.11.png

    The third item is the iMessages login.

    The last is Yahoo if you use it.

    IMAgent performs Background "Listening" for Off Line Messages and helps with Logging in when the app is fired up.

    The top is involved in proving that the login is "you".

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png

    8:21 pm      Sunday; July 17, 2016

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (El Capitan)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     iPhone and an iPad (2)
  • by Nathan Bugeja,

    Nathan Bugeja Nathan Bugeja Aug 12, 2016 10:24 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 12, 2016 10:24 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Hi Linc,

     

    Thanks for the detailed response and apologies for the delay in reply.  I ran the two tests suggested and these were my results:

     

    Test 1

    I created a new login and logged into Messages using my Apple ID.  As a result I was able to successfully send and receive messages without any problems.

     

    Test 2

    After booting into my usual user account in Safe Mode, I still experienced the same issue and was unable to send/receive messages.  After restarting, this issue is still ongoing.

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Aug 13, 2016 12:51 PM in response to Nathan Bugeja
    Level 9 (72,994 points)
    Applications
    Aug 13, 2016 12:51 PM in response to Nathan Bugeja

    Hi,

     

    And Little Snitch ?

    Only allow Messages is not enough.

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png

    8:51 pm      Saturday; August 13, 2016

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (El Capitan)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     iPhone and an iPad (2)
  • by Nathan Bugeja,

    Nathan Bugeja Nathan Bugeja Aug 15, 2016 4:54 AM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 15, 2016 4:54 AM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    Hi Ralph,

     

    I had a look at your screenshots and everything seems to check out on my end.  I've also since removed Little Snitch by running it's uninstaller, but that hasn't helped either.

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Aug 15, 2016 12:17 PM in response to Nathan Bugeja
    Level 9 (72,994 points)
    Applications
    Aug 15, 2016 12:17 PM in response to Nathan Bugeja

    Hi,

     

    Humm,  seems a bit odd.

     

    In ~/Library/Preferences do you still have these items ?

    Screen Shot 2016-08-15 at 20.06.45.png

    To Access the home Library (~/Library) open a Finder window then use the Go menu whilst holding down the ALT key then selecting the Library that appears.

    navigate to Preferences.

     

    If all the parts of Little Snitch have been removed the .plists should not be being accessed by anything.

     

    Try a NVRAM reset. How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

     

    IF the ID works in another Mac User then the App itself nor the computer are at fault.

     

    The issue lies with all the files that might be being used by the Messages App in your regular Mac User account.

     

    If the NVRAM reset does not work we will have to trawl through quite a bit to find out which item is not working.

     

     

     

     

    IF all the

    3Sigcopy2.png

    8:17 pm      Monday; August 15, 2016

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (El Capitan)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     iPhone and an iPad (2)
  • by Nathan Bugeja,

    Nathan Bugeja Nathan Bugeja Aug 21, 2016 6:04 AM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 21, 2016 6:04 AM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    Hi Ralph,

     

    Thanks again for your assistance with this.  I checked ~/Library/Preferences and there were no Little Snitch property list items.

     

    I then conducted an NVRAM reset, but that hasn't resolved the issue.

  • by Nathan Bugeja,

    Nathan Bugeja Nathan Bugeja Aug 21, 2016 6:11 AM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 21, 2016 6:11 AM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Aug 21, 2016 11:36 AM in response to Nathan Bugeja
    Level 9 (72,994 points)
    Applications
    Aug 21, 2016 11:36 AM in response to Nathan Bugeja

    Hi,

     

    So you have tried a NVRAM reset.

    You have tried Safe Boot ?

    You have deleted the com.apple.ids.service.com.apple.madrid.plist and imessages.bag one  and restarted Messages ?

     

    In that case open Keychain Access (Applications/Utilities) and remove the IDS: yourAppleID-Auth Token (where yourAppleID is an email).

     

    You will have had to re-add the Apple ID after deleting the "madrid" .plist

    You will have to do so after deleting the Auth Token.

     

    If that does not work try the two posts by Linc in this Thread Reset Home Folder permissions and ACLs Error

    Do the Orange/Helpful one first  and if required do the Green/Solved one.

     

     

    3Sigcopy2.png

    7:35 pm      Sunday; August 21, 2016

     

      iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (El Capitan)
     G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
     MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
     Mac OS X (10.6.8),
     iPhone and an iPad (2)