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Level 1

30 points

Buddy's don't show up!

I have several AOL buddies that don't show up on my iChat buddy list as active when they are on line. I have tested this with AIM, and the same buddy name will show as active in AIM but not in iChat. I even encounter buddies that invite me to video chat from the AIM name I have on my list and while active iChat with them their buddy name still shows light gray, not connected.

Anybody else find this issue?

MacBookPro, Mac OS X (10.4.9), 2GB RAM

Posted on Jul 25, 2007 2:43 PM

40 replies

Jul 26, 2007 11:07 AM in response to Scott Herman

No,

If you open the AIm application and look in the Buddy List there (in AIM for Mac or a PC) you may have different Groups.

Even if they are in one Group in iChat people in the Recent Buddies group in AIM are unlikely to show up.

Check in AIM to see what group he is in there.

@Tony,

He shows up in AIM but not in iChat so he can not be blocked from the Buddies end.

8:07 PM Thursday; July 26, 2007

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 26, 2007 11:24 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

I don't show a "Recent buddies" group in my AIM. Almost all of our iChats have the same two groupings, Family & Friends. All the screennames on my computer are the same. I added a Neighbors and slid this buddy into it just to see if that made a difference. It did not.

My wife's computer has a group, Buddies, that is only on her screenname, not the other 2. This buddy shows up on that list there, on the Friends list on the others.

I really appreciate all the time and trouble you are going through for this minor problem. I have noticed this with other buddies recently too so it is not JUST this one buddy. But the time & energy you are expending on my behalf is wonderful.

I have to run for a while but I will check in later.

Thanks, Scott

Jul 26, 2007 11:56 AM in response to Scott Herman

Hi

Did you rename the Friends & Family from Buddies ?

Did you Add Friends & Family and delete Buddies ?

What happens if you Add a group called Buddies ?

8:56 PM Thursday; July 26, 2007

j.v.

Level 5

4,155 points

Jul 26, 2007 12:05 PM in response to Scott Herman

Unless I have missed this in the thread, perhaps try this:

Since buddy lists are maintained on AOL servers, then try deleting the buddy name from the "broken" list and then manually re-add that person as a new entry on the buddy list. I have run into a problem once before where it appeared that a buddy entry was somehow corrupted on the buddy list (stored at AOL) because he would be grayed out even though he was online, and simply deleting that entry and manually readding it cleared it up. Actually, the particular buddy as well as myself both had to delete each other and manually re-add each other to our respective buddy lists, even though I showed up on the buddy's buddy list as on-line.

One other thing to check, and it is, admittedly, a long shot, but make sure that somehow parental controls did not get turned on for this computer user account and that this particular buddy was somehow declared "off-limits" via parental controls.

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 26, 2007 6:11 PM in response to j.v.

J.v.,

Thanks for the suggestion. I have deleted the problem buddy & readded him several times. I have not had my buddy delete me and re-add me though. I might just try that as so far nothing else has worked.

Scott

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 26, 2007 6:12 PM in response to Defcom-UK

Defcom,

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 26, 2007 6:15 PM in response to Defcom-UK

Defcom,

I have asked him to check his AOL buddy list to see if somehow it is blocking me. It shouldn't be an issue since using my account on my wife's MacBook she can see him as ONLINE. At least I know this isn't the only computer having the issue as her desktop (iMac G5) with my screenname also doesn't show this buddy ONLINE when he is.

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 30, 2007 6:11 AM in response to Scott Herman

More information:

The "buddy" I have referred to showed up on my iChat today? I am not at home and have a faster Internet connection here than at my house (2mbps vice 750kbps). This buddy also confirmed that he DID NOT have me blocked.

I can't figure any of this out and I still have several other buddies who continue in stealth mode to me.

Just wanted to update everyone.

Jul 30, 2007 1:50 PM in response to Scott Herman

Ok,

The idea that j.v. had about the Parental Controlls is not too far fetched.

If you had another Mac User Account you had set up to test Parental Controls and set it for iChat and then Deleted that Mac user account the Parental Controls can get stuck.

9:50 PM Monday; July 30, 2007

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 30, 2007 2:37 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

No kids here. I've never set any parental controls on any of my computers. Also, the three user accounts we have have never been deleted once they were added.

Thanks for the thoughts though.

Jul 30, 2007 2:47 PM in response to Scott Herman

Can we go back to the renaming of Groups in iChat ?

What are your current Group names and how did you make them ?

10:46 PM Monday; July 30, 2007

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 30, 2007 3:11 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

My group names are the same way I have names sorted in "Address Book." I use family, friends, neighbors and work. These were created when I first started using iChat and have remained the same ever since. They are not the same as I have things sorted in AOL. I have a lot more buddies in AIM and they are sorted under almost a dozen groups. HOWEVER, all of my iChat buddies are in groups named the same as they are in iChat.

So far I can only confirm that one of my "missing" buddies has shown up. None of the other 3 that I have recognized have signed on recently enough for me to check on them. I'll have some time this week to work the problem.

Jul 31, 2007 12:15 PM in response to Scott Herman

Hi Scott,

Thank you that is perfectly clear.

The next question is then ....
Do you have some Buddies in several groups in AIM ?

Are these Buddies that do not show up involved with this ?

In iChat > View menu if you deselect "Use Groups" do these Buddies show up ?

8:15 PM Tuesday; July 31, 2007

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 31, 2007 1:44 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

I have people in my AOL Buddy List (AIM) that are not in my Address Book and not in iChat. Some are in the same categories I use on iChat. Many are in additional groups I don't use in iChat.

I do not cross buddies over. A buddy is only assigned to a single group in my Address Book and in iChat.

Something odd did happen as I began this thread. I deleted the buddy in question and re-added him. Shortly after that (and it could be completely unrelated to the delete/readd) I had two buddies show up twice when they were signed on. When signed off, they only appeared once on my offline list but when they signed on they appeared twice, each appeared identical. By deleting and re-adding those buddies that problem was corrected.

The buddy that I was having trouble with that I've been using to test all this continues to show up even now that I am home (my slower I-net connection). I did not try deselecting the "Use Groups" while having the problem. When I deselect that option he continues to show up (as to all the other buddies that are signed on).

The problem may have resolved itself with something I did thanks to all the suggestions. I have two other buddies that I had noticed I had this same "Stealth" problem with. This week I will test with them to see if it continues. Since my test buddy is working now, I'm hoping all of them will be.

Jul 31, 2007 2:10 PM in response to Scott Herman

Hi Scott,

Double check the AIM application Groups.
It does not matter where you place them in the Address Book

The Groups are held at AIM on their servers. The Address Book only holds those that you add extra contact info to such as a "real name" or an Email address.

The AIM Application certainly puts all new contact in the Recent Buddies group.
I am not entirely convinced moving people to new groups in this app does not duplicate the entry.

More than likely this is some oddity that is going to be cured by deleting and re-adding the Buddies and not the fact you have the Buddies in different groups in different applications (even though you use the same screen name yourself)

I had not thought of using iChat's groups feature to effectively sub divide an AIM Buddy list this way by only having some of your groups in iChat.
When you did turn off Groups did all the Buddies appear in the Buddy List.
(or have I misunderstood part of what you are telling me ?)

10:09 PM Tuesday; July 31, 2007

Buddy's don't show up!