Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

iChat, typical issue regarding users not showing up

I have two AIM accounts; I have one for Home/Friends etc and one for Work Friends & Co-workers to contact me at.
I put both AIM Names on either buddy list, recently they just stopped showing up on each others list on the same Mac running 10.5.8 and iChat 4

I did all the remove com.apple.ichat.aim or whatever plist files but it reverts to doing that ever so randomly.

it even happened under a different mac running snow leopard and that version of iChat. though that one seems to be abit more stable.


is there a fix or anything for it? atleast something solid..this is the first it has happened to me, just all of a sudden.....


thanks.

Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Feb 19, 2010 11:42 PM

Reply
54 replies

Feb 20, 2010 7:46 AM in response to Frank Einstein

Hi,

Defcom and I who post most regularly in all 4 iChat forums has noticed that there does seem to be something odd going on with AIM login at the moment.

I have 3 AIM based Logins and sometime I have had only one login and the other two not do so at first of second try and then a day later it be the reverse.

It used to be that in early December AIM would release Old Screen Names that seemed to be no longer used. This would be repeated 3 more times a year
Of course some of these would be in other people's Buddy List and it is the clearing of these and Syncing the Servers that seems to cause the issue.

The first time AIM did this there was a lot of disruption probably based on the numbers involved.
The three other times a year seemed to be less of a problem.

I would not say that this last week is connected with this regular clear up of old Screen Names but AIM does seem to be having problems with it's servers.

The latest Beta for AIM on the PC was released a few days ago as was the Beta of the Mac Version both of which are promoting the new FaceBook link up.

User uploaded file

3:46 PM Saturday; February 20, 2010

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

Feb 20, 2010 11:29 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

I don't understand?
I dont think thats correlated to the issue I'm experiencing.


basically i have ZPowerMac1 & ZPowerMac2 (as examples).
ZPowerMac1 is home/friends/close family, etc
ZPowerMac2 is work friends & co-workers.

They BOTH sign on and appear online as I can chat with other outside members, HOWEVER, since i put ZPowerMac1 on ZPowerMac2's buddylist (and vice versa) they dont appear online on each others buddy lists.
As before, when i would sign on with both Screen names (Zpowermac1 & Zpowermac2) i could see Zpowermac2 on my Zpowermac1 buddylist and click the name and send the im, just to see if it would work, as theyre both online on the one Mac im using).

However all of sudden they stop appearing on each others buddylist yet still sign in on line i jsut cant see my other aim names that are on my computer on my buddylists, yet they sign on.

Feb 20, 2010 12:23 PM in response to Frank Einstein

in addition to my previous post, i tried on a new standard user account on 10.5.8, and low and behold it works, both names show up on each others buddy lists (as both are open on the same mac), so i dont understand how ichat can easily get so corrupted or screwed up?

abit irritating and annoying to say the least. still no real fix for my main/current account.

Feb 20, 2010 12:32 PM in response to Frank Einstein

Hi,

I am sure I have no Buddies in my list that are not current in one form or another either But I still have problems logging some of them in over the past few days.

It stands to reason that there will be other oddities based around this.

User uploaded file

8:32 PM Saturday; February 20, 2010

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

Feb 20, 2010 1:00 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

what?

i dont think we are on the same page here.



what iam saying i have two iChat Buddy list windows open.
they (2) are my screen names (ZPowermac1 & Zpowermac2), on Zpowermac1's buddy list Zpowermac2 does not show up, EVEN THOUGH IT IS ONLINE, because theyre both on my Mac running.
And vice versa, Zpowermac 1 does not show up on Zpowermac2's buddy list, though again it is on line....because they are MY screen names and they have shown up online for the length ive used ichat up until this point.


I log on to windows and do the same thing, theyre there. so what is wrong with iChat? how do i correct this.

Feb 20, 2010 1:10 PM in response to Frank Einstein

Hi,

You could try deleting com.apple.ichat.AIM.plist on one of the computers and see it it is the iChat Login.

If port 5190 on the UDP Protocol is not open in your modem or router you may also have issues with the Buddy List feedback.

I still favour the fact that this week AIM seem to have been messing with their servers and that always produces some special weirdness.

I don't think it is anything to do with your iChat.

User uploaded file

9:10 PM Saturday; February 20, 2010

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

Feb 22, 2010 10:50 PM in response to Frank Einstein

This is just pathetic what iChat is doing.
its messing up my local AIM names that dont show up when I sign them on with my Mac.
I have two buddy list windows (AIM) signed on at once with two different AIM names (co-workers & friends) and my names dont appear on the other buddy list (not other friends list, but my own)

and i removed every iChat plist file in ZPowerMac > Library > Preferences

EVEN Though everytime i reenter each name it automatically retrieves the information somehow.

now this happens; it used to show my AIM screen name in the box but now its blank...what the h*ll is going on?
it used to show my aim name before the Helvetica 12 info

User uploaded file



This is frustrating; this has never happened before and everytime i trash the preferences file it never solves it long term, now this screen name disappearing tells me something is up.
its not AIM Servers as all my stuff works fine on my work machine at workrunning the same set up.



can anyone help??

thanks!

Feb 22, 2010 11:19 PM in response to Frank Einstein

after getting some assistance on a nother forum, the image in my previous post, i guess its an occurence with most people who have Leopard & use iChat (when you select Buddies > Messages > View as Text)


other wise no many how many times i alter the plist files, the names still dont show up which is bizarre because an old back from December and October all work fine (all running 10.5.8)



thanks again all!

Feb 23, 2010 11:57 AM in response to Frank Einstein

Hi,

The above pic is what the Messages pane shows when the View Menu > Messages item is changed to Text.
It will also show the Background Pic if you drag a Pic to the Chat window itself (or even to that white Space show in the pic)

There can be several reasons why a Buddy will not appear in the List

1) You have chosen not to "Show Off Line Buddies" and they are Off Line.
2) You have them "Blocked" or Not "Allowed" in the Accounts option in that pic then the Security tab.
3) The same thing happens if they Block or use Allow Buddy list only or Allow Specific People and don't add you to the List involved (either the Buddy list of the Allow Specific People list)
4) Variations on misspelling the Screen Name including:-
a) Adding and AIM Name with @aim.com at the end.
b) Adding an @Mac.com name as an AIM Name (And not including the @mac.com bit)
c) Adding a MobileMe name as and AIM type (and not adding the @me.com bit)
5) In ichat 4 and 5 only setting a Buddy list to Invisible. In iChat 5 this can be done to one Buddy List at a time.
6) If talking about your own Screen Names showing in two places it could be a Buddy List is Not allowing Multiple Logins and one is being Logged out as the other signs in. (It has been some while since iChat allowed you to add your own Screen Name to your own Buddy list).
7) Messing in another Mac User Account using the same iChat Info to Test Parental Controls can also make Buddies Disappear you you do not set the Parental Controls to Allow iChat before changing Mac User Accounts (it marks all none Allowed Buddies as Blocked which is a flag at the AIM server and will be seen that way in the main Mac User Account as in 2) above)

Notes:
Your Screen Names and Passwords are held in the Keychain and are called back from there if you delete the .plists (well in this case com.apple.ichat.AIM.plist)

The Path to the .plists is Hard Drive/Users/(Your account)/Library/Preferences sometime written as Home Folder/Library/Preferences or ~/Library/Preferences

User uploaded file

7:57 PM Tuesday; February 23, 2010

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

Feb 23, 2010 11:13 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Okay i think things are going into a circle and its not getting through.

I have TWO SEPARATE AIM SCREEN NAMES, Zpowermac1 & Zpowermac2
I use them both at the same time, i put Zpowermac1 on Zpowermac2's buddylist, howeve runder Leopard 10.5.8's iChat it does not show up anymore on Zpowermac2's buddylist. it did before a few days prior to this issue.

It workso n my works snow leopard machine and my works 10.5.8 machine.

it has nothing to with being invisible or blocked or mispelled names.
a templated, canned response or fix that may work for non experienced used but that is not the case for this.

after removing all the plists they dont really change anything. it works one time.

is there a way to completely remove the fact any of these screen names were ever used and basically start from scratch?


thank you.

Feb 24, 2010 12:41 PM in response to Frank Einstein

Hi,

I completely understand that you have two Buddy Lists based on different Screen Names that work via the AIM servers. (I currently have 3 myself)

My original post pointed out that there and been some Weirdness at the AIM servers and that in turn implied it may change on it's own in the next few days.

You have stated it has not so I eventually posted every possible thing it could be in settings as we had not touched those in the discussion before.

You can delete a Screen Name for iChat by going to the iChat > Prefere3nces > Accounts pane and pressing the minus key lower left.
You can go to the KeyChain and delete the same reference to your Screen Name
You may find this Users Tip helpful (See the Next Step part for th Keychain bit)
It would then pay to delete the com.apple.ichat.AIM.plist and shut down iChat

This will not lose the Screen Name registration and when you re-enter the details back in to iChat it will pick up your Buddy list as it is held on the AIM servers.

I did forget one possible.
If you have had Recent Buddies turned ON in the iChat > Preferences > Accounts > Account info tab and now it is Off and any Buddies that were in that Group will not be seen now.
It does require though that in the View Menu of iChat that Show Groups is being used.

Variations on this.
Deleting any Groups also loses the Buddies that were in that Group.
A Right (Control) Click will allow you to delete any Buddy Group by clicking on the title bar for it including the Recent Buddies Group.

User uploaded file

8:41 PM Wednesday; February 24, 2010

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

Feb 24, 2010 8:57 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Well im still confused why its only happening on my 10.5.8 machine but the 10.6.2 work machine seems to be fine.

no changes or things were done to that account.
there really should be no reason either that they dont show up in iChat under 10.5.8, since on XP under AIM its fine, no issues.

So im still saying its iChat and nothing to do with AIM. becuase this parcular while it happens with the same 2 names on iChat under 10.5.8 but not on 10.6.2 or XP AIM.


thanks for efforts though, it is a little frustrating..so hope it didnt come off rude to you.

thanks

iChat, typical issue regarding users not showing up

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.