Yahoo! iChat Login Fails every Day

Question

Level 1

6 points

Yahoo! iChat Login Fails every Day

Every day i start ichat and all the accounts log-in just fine. except the yahoo account, which keeps asking me for a password, which even if entered properly won't get accepted. after a while i eventually gave up and stopped using ichat for Yahoo.

strangely enough a few weeks later i tried it again and it logged me in without a problem, which lasted exactly for a day. and then i was back to the same behavior.

i figured that what "made it work" was to log-in to yahoo's website with my Y! ID and then iChat would also allow to login properly. So now, every morning i first log in to yahoo's website, then open ichat and it works ... yet it is VERY annoying.

any other yahoo IM client (adium or yahoo messenger) do not have this bahvior. has anyone figured out how to get ichat to log into yahoo without all those issues?

thanks in advance,

patrick.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7), i7, 8GB

Posted on Feb 27, 2012 8:06 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 27, 2012 1:07 PM in response to Patrick J

Hi,

In the Applications/Utilities open Keychain Access

Check the Yahoo entry (Double Click it)

In the access tab check iChat is allowed to access the info>

9:07 PM Monday; February 27, 2012

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

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Lion 10.7.3)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

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Answer 2

Patrick J Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 27, 2012 1:16 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

hi ralph --

thank you for your post. which entry do you mean? there are several of them:

1.) Yahoo! Messenger

2.) Yahoo: user_name

the first one only allows Y! Messenger it seems and the second one does allow several instances of iChat access... do i need to add it to the first one as well?

thanks in advance,

patrick.

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Answer 3

Feb 27, 2012 1:27 PM in response to Patrick J

HI,

I just checked mine adn I have three !!!.

The first Application one only lists the Yahoo App. (Yahoo! Messanger)

The second (internet password and list Yahoo and name) lists only All apps.

The third (Yahoo and name and full email and listed as Application Password) list two instances of of ichat, imagent and something called internet accounts. (they show as lower case)

As you do not mention imagent I would add that to the one that lists the iChat one.

If that does not work change the access to Allow All.

9:27 PM Monday; February 27, 2012

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

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Lion 10.7.3)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Reply

Answer 4

Patrick J Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 28, 2012 8:34 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

hello ralph --

you are right, there are THREE of them. in my case all of them are the type "application password". i tried what you suggested, and even went as far as allowing all applications access, however the problem remains.

basically, i need to sign in to yahoo on their website first, after that i can simply use iChat without a problem. this seems to suggest that it is something about either the client staying signed in, or that something happens (or doesn;t happen) properly when i close ichat...

another thing i noticed is that only one of the entries in keychain gets a new time stamp, so it seems like it was accessed properly.

a little bit at a loss here. does it work for you?

thanks,

patrick.

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Answer 5

Feb 28, 2012 1:17 PM in response to Patrick J

Hi,

I have moved over to Messages Beta and have no issue logging in the Yahoo Account I have.

I had no issue in iChat 6.0.1 before I changed over.

I am using a Yahoo Name (not MSN/Hotmail/Live) as these did not appear to be accepted in iChat.

(However it makes me wonder if logging in the Yahoo app would let me log in a MSN name by using your "method" ?)

EDIT

It seems I cannot get the Yahoo App to sign in using my Hotmail ID (I understood it could)

Bang goes that idea.

9:17 PM Tuesday; February 28, 2012

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

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Lion 10.7.3)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Reply

Answer 6

Patrick J Author

Level 1

6 points

Feb 28, 2012 3:45 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

hi --

i am glad its working fine for you. i did the same and moved over to iMessages, but like before still have the same problem with logging into yahoo. it's quite strange and hope at some point this will get fixed. i have a very fresh install of lion, so that can't be it either.... :-(

thanks again for your help,

p.

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Answer 7

Apr 1, 2013 11:22 PM in response to Patrick J

This fix doesn't work for me. 😟 I keep getting asked for my yahoo password.

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Answer 8

Apr 2, 2013 2:55 AM in response to fknandrew

HI,

Are you using iChat 6 or Messages in Mountain Lion ?

It seems in both versions the info in the App Menu > Preferences > Accounts > Yahoo Account only lists the Account info and nothing about the server and ports it is using.

The Yahoo option works by using a different plug-in to iChat (or Messages) compared to a Jabber or an AIM Account and is not using the IMAgent that the others use.

The Yahoo account logs in on port 443 to api.login.yahoo.com

It also logs in to a Buddy Image servers to get Buddy pics on port 80 plus two other servers that are probably to do with Status of your Buddy List and their developer server.

Most routers would have these ports open.

The Mac Firewall, if ON, should be set to Allowed Signed Software and iChat should be in the list

You should also see IMAgent and IMServicePlugInAgent for the Yahoo option listed.

10:55 AM Tuesday; April 2, 2013

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.3)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Reply

Answer 9

Sep 24, 2013 6:53 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

I have the same problem, Yesterday Yahoo Messenger was working fine in ichat, and now today, it's saying it's offline when I keep typing in the password right, and I've gone into my yahoo accont to change the password three times and still ichat says something is wrong

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Answer 10

Sep 24, 2013 12:21 PM in response to thatkidfromcanada

Hi,

iChat 6 and the Messages app in Mountain Lion can login and Text chat with other Yahoo users.

There is a separate Yahoo Messenger for Mac that you can download.

Other apps such as AdiumX and ProteusX can also login to the Yahoo servers.

You can also login via a web browser.

I would check out an alternative login route before changing the password.

Go to the Applications/Utilities folder and open Keychain Access.

Find the Yahoo entry and double click it.

Then click the access tab in the info panel that appears.

This should list any App that you use the ID with or it should be set to allow Any app to access the info.

As well as the iChat app it should list things like IMAgent (or iChatAgent if pre iChat 6) and other ancillary part to the iChat set up.

8:21 pm Tuesday; September 24, 2013

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.4)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Reply

Answer 11

Sep 25, 2013 7:10 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

yahoo chat in ichat worked absolutely fineon monday, yesterday and today, everything I do to try and get it to work says the password is wrong, when it isn't. I've tried the keychain access and yet it still doesn't want to work

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Answer 12

Sep 25, 2013 7:11 AM in response to thatkidfromcanada

Update, not sure exactly what I did, but I put my password in and clicked for keychain to remember, and it worked this time

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Answer 13

Sep 25, 2013 12:23 PM in response to thatkidfromcanada

Hi,

Glad to hear you found a solution.

8:23 pm Wednesday; September 25, 2013

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.4)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Reply