iChat, typical issue regarding users not showing up

Hi,

So deleting the Screen Name in the iChat Preferences > Accounts and re-adding the Screen Name has not cured it ?

Other than checking Every single setting to make sure it is what you think it is I can think of nothing else.

If it were me I would also be tempted to deliberately change settings such as Going Invisible on the 10.6.x machine and then back again as well as making that iChat block the 10.5.8's Screen Name and back again just to see if forcing the change make sit come back to normal.



8:32 PM Thursday; February 25, 2010

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Hi,

I would agree that this seems bizzare.

If the 10.6.2 computer was Blocking the other screen Name then that would flag that name on your Buddy List on AIM and no other computer, Aim Express Login would be able to see it.

IF the Name itself on the 10.5.8 machine was set to Invisible then again it would not show on all other devices.

I have never checked if setting a computer (the 10.6.2 one in your case) to Allow Buddy list only or Allow Specific Buddies only does it for only that machine/iChat. I suspect not and that it is a Flag against name on the AIM server as well.

If the 10.5.8 is set to Not allow Multiple Logins then the name should still pop up as it will be logged in somewhere else, even if you are not getting the AIMSysMessage chat popping up.

That leaves Adding it to a Buddy Group that you no longer have on the 10.6.2 but this seems unlikely if it did show as deleting the group would delete the Buddy and it would not show on other computers.

That in turn leaves the name is misspelt in the Buddy List that does not show it.

One final thing.
If you added it and it did the flashing On and Off and then Disappearing it might be because you tried to add Real name info which is already in the Address Book.
Try adding the details to your My Card in the Address Book and then dragging the Entry in the Middle column to the Buddy List.



10:44 PM Friday; February 26, 2010

Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Hi,

The closest I can come to replicating this was in some testing I did today.

My 3rd account Buddy List did not have the Screen Name of my Second Screen Name in it.

I add it and it did not show up so I thought I was experiencing the same issue as well.
However I checked my iChat > Preferences > Accounts > Security tab settings and the Second account was set to Allow Buddy List only.
As soon as I added the third's name to the second Buddy List the 3rd showed the Second's Buddy Name.

I would log the Screen Name out of every possible instance you may have it logged in with.
(Phone, another computer, another app, AIM Express, Social Networking Site link even the AIM pages them selves)
I would then set the Screen Name to Not allow Multiple Logins and then restart iChat and see if the AIMSYSMessage appears.

I would then repeat this for the computer that does not show the Name.
On this computer I would go as far as to delete the com.apple.ichat.AIM.plist and restart ichat to refresh that login completely.

I would then try changing the Login Port on the Computer that does not show the Name.
Change it to port 443
It is done by Logging out first then changing the Port in iChat > Preferences > Accounts > Server Settings.
In iChat 5, SSL has to be ON and the Enter key pressed to "Set" the port afterwards. (SSL can then be turned Off again - The SSL server tends to be the less stable of the AIM Login servers).

What we are trying to do here is refresh the AIM server login by all means possible to get it to "see" the whole Buddy list.

After doing this I would check if other computers see the same as they did before. (It always possible that the computer that has something set for that Buddy Name has not updated the AIM servers)

If running through deliberate changes does not change anything and nothing changes on this computer or any of the others then it will be time for Feedback
http://www.apple.com/feedback/ichat.html

On the 10.6.2 computer I would also run the COMBO Installer as this can sometimes help sort out a hard to trace issue.

I would do the same on the 10.5.8 computer.

One last thing. Defcom often recommends deleting the Screen Name from the iChat Accounts List on the computer that is not showing the other's Name.
Shut down iChat
Then Re-add the Screen Name. (The Buddy List is held at the AIM servers so you will not have lost it).

This effectively is another way of getting iChat to Rewrite the the com.apple.ichat.AIM.plist (twice in fact on Deleting then re-adding it) but people seem to report it helps.

It would be easier for me if your replies said you had looked and checked something rather than writing categorical denials of what it could be.
It feels sometimes that we are playing 20 questions and I have not guessed what it is yet.
As I have pointed out in this post I discovered a Setting I had forgotten I had made.

As a further test I launched ProteusX ( A multi-service IM app for Mac and checked all 222 names.

I had one (appleu3test01) one of the Apple Test accounts that showed On-line in ProteusX that did not show in the iChat Buddy list.

ProteusX also gave it a Green available Blob but then also reported it was Idle when I moused over it.
When I tried to IM it (They don't reply) It seemed to be sent.
At this point iChat then showed it become active in the Buddy List as an Amber (Idle) Buddy and Idle for 1 Hour 20 min at test time.

The strange thing is ProteusX will tell you when the Screen Name was registered and how Long it has been Currently Logged in for. It claims the Idle time is longer than it has been On-line.

I had one whole group that were Off line in iChat that never showed as a Group in ProteusX (this may have been ProteusX's reaction to an Off Line group rather than the group not being seen)

I moved On-line Buddies in to this Group and it never showed in ProteusX

This last test would suggest it is something about the way an account/Screen Name is flagged at AIM that causes the issue.

The things I have mentioned in this chat should help with that.



9:30 PM Saturday; February 27, 2010

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Hi,

I can think of one possible.

At the AIM Registration site you get an Option to chose a Display name.
(If you Log onto the AIM web site and go to your Account setting you can add it later).
What most people do its add Upper Case and Spaces to their Screen Name. (it is technically possible to set it to anything).

iChat will show Display Names if they are set and you don't have an Address Book Entry for that person. Of course the Display Name could the same as you would add to an Address Book entry which can confuse things.

It is about where you Add some of the Screen Names as well.



I hope this helps.



9:57 PM Saturday; February 27, 2010

Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

It is odd.

I have this web page http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/ContactTesters.html that shows in Table 1 the Apple Test accounts for trying out Video.

There are 6 names.
Currently 5 show as On-line here and I have only 4 showing up in my main Screen Name's Buddy list and in my second Screen Name's List.

This suggests that it it is not iChat but they way the AIM server responsible for relaying the On-line/Off-line Status is reporting to various queries for AIM able apps and Web Links

I am not sure why the Address Book would add an extra dimension to this issue



10:20 PM Saturday; February 27, 2010

Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Reapplying the Combo Version of the Update is an option



3:24 PM Sunday; February 28, 2010

Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"