Can't login to iMessage on Mac Mini (Mid 2011)

Question

Can't login to iMessage on Mac Mini (Mid 2011)

Note: there was no option for my Mac Mini (Mid 2011), so I selected "Mac mini 2018 or later" for my device.

I just upgraded my Mac Mini to Sierra (10.12.6), however I was having this problem previously as well. I'm doing the following steps to try and login to iMessage:

Enter Apple ID and Password on iMessage login screen.
I get the 2FA prompt and enter the code.
I get the error "Could not sign in to iMessage. An error occurred during activation. Try again."

I couldn't find iMessage in the App Store, so I'm not sure how to ensure I have the latest version. (I'm not a huge Mac user.) I can use iMessage and FaceTime from my iPad; just not my Mac Mini. Not sure what else to do. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thanks in advance,

Owen

Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Apr 17, 2019 12:30 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

684,135 points

Apr 17, 2019 5:30 AM in response to HisRoyalLazines

Messages – Can’t log in

Messages – Can’t log in 2

Messages - If you can‘t sign in to your iMessage account or FaceTime on your Mac

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. Please post back on whether or not this worked. Also try the Safe Mode. Please post back on whether or not this worked.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

Safe Mode - About

If it works in the Safe Mode, try running this program when booted normally and then copy and paste the output in a reply. The program was created by Etresoft, a frequent contributor. Please use copy and paste as screen shots can be hard to read. Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard” and then paste into a reply. This will show what is running on your computer. No personal information is shown. If the log won’t post, try posting it in Pastebin and provide a link in a reply Pastebin

Etrecheck – System Information

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,135 points

Apr 17, 2019 7:54 PM in response to HisRoyalLazines

You are welcome. If the above doesn't work, have someone else attempt to sign in using their Apple ID. If they can successfully sign in and use Messages/FaceTime, it may be your Apple ID. Someone I know had this happen and I was able to sign in using my Apple ID. After a call to Apple Support and then being elevated to a tier 2 support person, it turned out it was a problem with their Apple ID. It took the software engineers 3-4 days to fix the problem. When calling Apple, make sure you tell them it is an Apple ID problem so you don't get charged.

You can also try signing in on another device/computer. There have been a couple of posts where people's device/computer was blocked. You will need to contact Apple for that problem also.

There is a contact link.

Apple ID Support

Apple ID Support (2)

Apple Support by e-mail or chat

Apple Support using Twitter

Or fill out and submit this form.

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Answer 3

Apr 17, 2019 10:13 PM in response to Eric Root

Hey I just noticed something. I went to https://appleid.apple.com/account/manage and logged in...and my Mac Mini wasn't associated to my Apple ID. Only my iPad. But I'm signed in to the App Store on my Mac Mini. So I went back into the App Store to confirm, and had to re-enter my password. Once I did that it showed up in the URL above...but unfortunately iMessage still isn't working. :(

Then, I clicked on my Mac Mini in the URL above, and I got an error "Your request is unavailable. Please try again later." When I click on my iPad it shows my Model, Version, and SN. Logged out of the URL, logged back in...Mac Mini is gone. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Answer 4

Apr 17, 2019 10:38 PM in response to HisRoyalLazines

So I'm able to consistently reproduce the following:

Verify that Mac Mini is not associated to appleid.apple.com
Logout of App Store.
Login to App Store.
Mac Mini IS associated to appleid.apple.com. I can see Name, Version, and SN.
Try to login to iMessage. Fails.
Check appleid.apple.com again, and Mac Mini is gone.

Not sure why it is disappearing like that.

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Answer 5

Apr 17, 2019 2:40 AM in response to HisRoyalLazines

Figured out how to pull the crash report. I am in IT, so I can help troubleshoot from my end. I just have no idea where to start looking on a Mac.

com.apple.message.domain: com.apple.crashreporter.writereport.crash

com.apple.message.signature: backgroundinstruments

com.apple.message.signature2: UNBUNDLED ||| 1.0 (4321)

com.apple.message.signature3: UNKNOWN

com.apple.message.result: NO

com.apple.message.summarize: YES

SenderMachUUID: <removed>

The iMessage app seems to be throwing an error every 10 seconds or so, regardless of if I try to login or not.

Also found these errors in the Console logs:

Apr 17 02:12:33 <MacName> com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.dt.instruments.backgroundinstruments): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

Apr 17 02:13:03 --- last message repeated 2 times ---

Apr 17 02:13:03 <MacName> com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.dt.instruments.backgroundinstruments): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

Apr 17 02:13:24 --- last message repeated 2 times ---

Apr 17 02:13:24 <MacName> com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.ReportCrash[2705]): Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.ReportCrash

I'm currently updating Xcode to the most recent version my Mac Mini will support. Hope it works?

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Answer 6

Apr 17, 2019 3:39 AM in response to HisRoyalLazines

I updated both Xcode and iMovie through the App Store. The most recent versions were not compatible with my Mac Mini, but I forced the update for each of them by going to each App directly and clicking "Update" and installing the most recent compatible update for them.

After updating Xcode, the “backgroundinstruments” error stopped. 

Rebooted.

——————————————

iMessage still not working/logging in.

Now seeing the following repeating error

Apr 17 03:15:54 <MacName> com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.quicklook[1780]): Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.quicklook

Apr 17 03:17:04 <MacName> com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.quicklook[1790]): Endpoint has been activated through legacy launch(3) APIs. Please switch to XPC or bootstrap_check_in(): com.apple.quicklook

Ran the following in Terminal:

qlmanage -r disablecache

qlmanage -r cache

————————————————

quicklook error went away.

iMessage still not working/logging in. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Answer 7

Apr 17, 2019 12:39 AM in response to HisRoyalLazines

Here's the error I get.

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Answer 8

Apr 17, 2019 7:19 PM in response to Eric Root

Hi Eric. Thanks for the reply. Didn't work in Safe Mode. Got some other things to do right now and will try creating a new Admin account later tonight.

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Answer 9

Eric Root

Level 10

684,135 points

Apr 18, 2019 6:27 AM in response to HisRoyalLazines

Contact Apple ID Support using the links I posted earlier.

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Can't login to iMessage on Mac Mini (Mid 2011)

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