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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

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 31, 2007 3:56 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Ralph,

I know AIM groups are kept on AOL servers. iChat groups are not though. I'm not sure what the connection is?

I think I mentioned before that I do not have a "Recent Buddies" group on my AIM Buddy List or on AOL's Buddy List. When I add buddies I just stick them in the group I want them in. And I haven't added AIM buddies in a while. All my buddies that are in both AOL/AIM & iChat are in groups that are named the same. I do not move buddies from one group to another whether it's in iChat or AOL/AIM. That might account for the the couple of buddy's I have had duplicate when they are online. But that hasn't happened since I deleted & readded them.

My iChat list is completely separate from my AOL/AIM list. I use my Address Book entries for iChat.

When I turned off the groups all my iChat buddies still appeared on the list and were online or offline as appropriat. And with the groups off I had no additional buddies appear from AIM.

Jul 31, 2007 4:56 PM in response to Scott Herman

Hi Scott,

Aargh. I have tried duplicating her settings.

Did you also duplicate the certificate? I think it would be kind of logical if the security system would only allow one identity logged in to the same buddies at the same time. If the same id would try to log in from a different machine to the same buddies would be at least suspect.

Read:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iChat/3.0/en/fz112.html

Jul 31, 2007 6:10 PM in response to Jan Pieter Melchior

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301718

(Can be outdated, did post it anyway)

Message was edited by: Jan Pieter Melchior

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 31, 2007 7:24 PM in response to Jan Pieter Melchior

Neither my wife nor I have a secure certificate that we use. Besides, all these people that don't show up are not Apple users. They are all PC users without video/audio capability.

Thanks for the articles. I am going to try the secure chat with my wife though. We'll see how it works. How do people get access to iChat video chats if they aren't one of the people involved?

Aug 1, 2007 2:41 AM in response to Scott Herman

Hi Scott,

How do people get access to iChat video chats if they aren't one of the people involved?

You can Video Chat One-Way to people who do not have a camera.

Several ways to start the Chat.
1) From the Buddies menu.
2) Right/Control Click on the Buddy in the Buddy list and pick out One-Way chat

The Buddy has to be able to do Video if they had a camera.

Mac users can join multi-Video chats this way. PCs is always 1-1

10:40 AM Wednesday; August 1, 2007

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Aug 1, 2007 4:05 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

My question was more one of why we need secure iChat's anyway. How do people intercept and watch other people's iChats?

Aug 1, 2007 4:12 AM in response to Scott Herman

Hi,

They would have to be a particularly skilled hacker as a first step.

They would have to have access to your Network or a point in the connection in between.

It is somewhat easier in theory to access the text chats as they go through the AIM server. Video and Audio chats are Peer-to-Peer (other than passing through the internet servers)

AIM Sniff would be something along the lines they would need if they had access to your network.

12:11 PM Wednesday; August 1, 2007

Message was edited by: Ralph Johns (UK)

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Aug 1, 2007 8:20 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Thanks for that info. It's interesting.

Scott Herman Author

Level 1

30 points

Aug 12, 2007 1:04 AM in response to Scott Herman

I've been able to work the problem with everyone's suggestions such that the 4 buddies I have identified with this issue now show up when they are on line. To be honest, I have no idea what worked and what didn't. In each case I deleted the Address Book entry and reentered it, several times. In one case I DID somehow end up as a blocked screenname.

If I run across this anymore I will just return to this question and reread the solutions. Thank you to everyone who commented here.

Scott

Aug 12, 2007 5:36 AM in response to Scott Herman

Hi Scott,

Glad to hear you are sorted.

1:36 PM Sunday; August 12, 2007

Buddy's don't show up!