"There was a communication error during your chat"

Question

Level 1

8 points

"There was a communication error during your chat"

My mom just purchased a new iMac about a month ago. Up until a week or so ago, video'ing through iChat was working flawlessly. Now, I can see the invites come in, but when I hit accept, nothing happens and she gets an error on her end. I am able to connect with friends on my end, so it seems to be isolated to her setup. It doesnt matter if I initiate the chat, or if she does - either way the video chat doesnt work.

We both have OSx 10.7.3.

We are trying to connect through her GMail account, but she also has an AIM account with friends online and is unable to video chat with them via iChat most time.

I have tried the following:

1. Rebooting her iMac - didnt resolve the issue.

2. Video Chatting with the chat bots (appleu3test01, 02, 03) - I could see the advertisements in each instance

3. Rebooting the router - didnt resolve the issue.

4. Double check Internet Connection Sharing is turned off - it was

5. Double check the firewall is off - it was

6. UPnP is enabled on the router - I thought I found a post saying to check that

Below is the error message she is getting (let me know if you want more):

Date/Time: 2012-03-20 20:51:42 -0500

OS Version: 10.7.3 (Build 11D50b)

Report Version: 4

iChat Connection Log:

2012-03-20 20:51:14 -0500: 0x7fbbacdfa1d0: State change from No State to Invited.

2012-03-20 20:51:26 -0500: 0x7fbbacdfa1d0: State change from Invited to Connecting.

2012-03-20 20:51:36 -0500: 0x7fbbacdfa1d0: State change from Connecting to Ended.

2012-03-20 20:51:36 -0500: 0x7fbbacdfa1d0: Error 1008 (Did not receive a response from 0x7fbbacdfa1d0.)

I'm starting to think it could be the router, but I'm not sure what specifically to check for. Any ideas?

Thanks for the help!!

-Jerad

iMac (20-inch Mid 2007), Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Mar 20, 2012 7:05 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Ralph-Johns-UK

Level 9

76,795 points

Mar 21, 2012 2:20 PM in response to jeradw

HI,

Before UPnP was enabled how were the ports iChat uses opened in the router set up ?

If it was Port Forwarding are these ports still listed as Active ?

And if they point to one IP (Computer) is that IP the one the computer has ?

The Account/Buddy List you/she start from is not that important at this stage (the results will be the same).

The 1008 error code in iChat 6 (or Messages beta) is the same as the error 8 in earlier versions.

Basically it is a bit of a catchall to say that something about the connection is not working.

Mostly this tends to come down to the Ports in the Router not being allowed (Or pointing to the "wrong" IP if Port Forwarding and DHCP is left On)

There is more to the Log

What look like Repeats of the attempts to connect

They should list the Port each end is using (this should ideally be port 16402 in ichat 4 and above)

It may pay to see those repeats (Down as far as the Line that Reads "Binary Images for iChat - I don't need after that)

Old Logs are in The Home Folder Library/Logs/iChatConnectionErrors

Access this in the Finder. Go Menu > Go to Folder and copy and past this:-

~/Library/Logs/iChatConnectionErrors

(you cannot access the Library as it is Invisible)

This way you can get access to the same log as above.

9:19 PM Wednesday; March 21, 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 2

jeradw Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 22, 2012 7:28 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Before UPnP was enabled, all of the ports were allowed through. It was a pretty standard router setup.

As a shot in the dark, I had my parents unplug the router, wait thirty seconds, and then plug it back in. After this very basic troubleshooting step, they were able to make numerous video chats last night. I figured this would basically be the same thing as the "Reboot" button on the admin console of the Linksys router - something that I had tried the night prior. Apparently not?! 😕

Anyways, it SEEMS to be working right now. I am going to continue to test with them over the next couple of days to make sure. If they end up having the problem again, I will post up the remainder of the logs.

Thanks for the help!

-Jerad

Reply

Answer 3

Mar 22, 2012 1:27 PM in response to jeradw

Hi,

Before UPnP was enabled, all of the ports were allowed through. It was a pretty standard router setup.

It most likely depends on how these ports were opened.

Most routers by default do DHCP. Meaning there is a DHCP server issuing IP addresses to the computer and devices on the LAN.

In System Preferences > Network > Advanced Button > TCP/IP it will tell you how you are connecting to the router.

Most likely it is "Using DHCP"

IF...

The computer is on every 24 hours or so It will renew the DHCP lease so that the computer will keep the same IP.

If...

There are several devices that get IPs from the router and the computer is Off for 24 hours then the IP may Change.

The most common method of opening the ports in the set on the router is to use a method called Port Forwarding.

This tends to be set in a table where you list the Port from the Internet side and tell it which Port to send it to on the Computer.

Quite often it knows the computer to send it to as you list the IP to points the ports to.

Obviously the issue comes when the IP of the computer changes and the ports in effect no longer apply.

Using Port Forwarding and UPnP can conflict on some routers.

Mostly this is to do with the "Control" over the ports.

You can think of it as the router having control over Port Forwarding and the computer or the ports for UPnP

Example Pics

Port Forwarding on Linksys

You can see it points the ports to the IP 192.168.1.100 (the default start point of the DHCP range that Linksys routers use)

UPnP on Linksys

You have obviously found this.

"Rebooting" the router will reset the DHCP Leases and give the "First" IP to the first device reconnected to the router.

8:27 PM Thursday; March 22, 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

jeradw Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 23, 2012 1:46 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

The router is setup to do DHCP - not a manual IP system. She is connecting via DHCP.

When I said all of the ports were allowed through, I guess I meant there were no ports being forwarded.

http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/iChatPicsFolder/8%20modem-router/Linksys%20Router/sl ides/3_Router_Modem-PortForward.html

That page is completely blank on the router that she has.

Reply

Answer 5

Mar 23, 2012 1:54 PM in response to jeradw

Umm,

If the Port Forwarding pane is Blank did she have DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) Enabled ?

I ask as the ports must have been opened some how.

Opps forgot you had rebooted

I figured this would basically be the same thing as the "Reboot" button on the admin console of the Linksys router - something that I had tried the night prior.

Was this in fact a Factory Reset ?

If it was just a Reboot and the power Off wait and On again, neither should have removed any settings

iChat 6 logs in to AIM on port 443 (we have been suggesting this since iChat 2)

However it uses port 5678 to send the Visible Invites for Video and Audio Chats

It then moves to port 16402 to Connect using the SIP process and then Video (or Audio Chat) on the same ort

These two are not changeable and they are above the port 1024 threshold (All ports below this are open in the router).

AS you say it is working I am just being curious as to why it didn't (Or rather was but had stopped)

8:54 PM Friday; March 23, 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

jeradw Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 23, 2012 2:05 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

If the Port Forwarding pane is Blank did she have DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) Enabled ?

Dont think so - unless its turned on by default.

Was this in fact a Factory Reset ?

If it was just a Reboot and the power Off wait and On again, neither should have removed any settings

Nope - i found an actual "Reboot" button. Sorry - I guess what I was trying to say was there wasnt anything in there to begin with. No port forwarding was ever setup - to begin with, or now. Its totally blank - always has been. 🙂

Reply

Answer 7

Mar 23, 2012 2:22 PM in response to jeradw

Strange.

Filing under wierd for now.

I will let you move on 😉.

9:17 PM Friday; March 23, 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 8

jeradw Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 23, 2012 2:42 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Yeah I figured it was going to go under the wierd category. 😁

Thanks for the help though!

Reply

Answer 9

Mar 23, 2012 2:46 PM in response to jeradw

No Problem.

Must say that my wierd category is getting a bit large nowadays

Thanks for the extra points

9:45 PM Friday; March 23, 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