iMessage and FaceTime stopped working...

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Level 1

10 points

iMessage and FaceTime stopped working...

Hi, everyone, this is my first post.

I used to regard myself as a poweruser but guess what, since yesterday I have spent almost 20 hours trying to solve this seems trivial problem.

and I gave up, I will not put IT on my CV again.

It all starts from iOS 5, I've forgotten since when my beloved iPhone no longer have the long battery life it used to have.

I decided yesterday to try a simple reset (without deleting data) on my iPhone to see if it would restore the battery life.

After that, I don't even have time to test the battery, I found my imessage and facetime no longer work.

It shows waiting for activation and not letting me to sign in with my apple id ("cannot connect to server due to error, try again" message)

So not even I can't receive imessage on my phone number, I can't receive by email too. Does anyone got any idea about this?

Please don't tell me to reset or something like that, I've tried all kinds of reset, they simply won't work on this phone.

Here's what I've tried:

1. reset network

2. reset all settings

3. restore to a previous backup

4. restore as a new device

5. DFU restore

6. take out sim card and put it back.

7. turn off wifi or 3g

8. remove imessage beta from my computer

.......

I'm in New Zealand by the way. But I'm pretty sure the server's good as my iPad can still use these functions.

iPhone 4, iOS 5.1.1

Posted on Jul 22, 2012 4:12 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 22, 2012 11:14 AM in response to chiaihuang

Same for me. Since a couple of hours FaceTime and iMessage (both on Mac) do not work anymore. Same error message. Seems to be an Apple-Server-Problem?

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Answer 2

chiaihuang Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 22, 2012 11:53 AM in response to philippkloos

hmm, I was hoping its a server problem but seems its the problem with the phone as ipad's working fine. I havn't tried it on mac, I removed message beta because its a very buggy app and I was afraid it would potentially have a clash with iphone.

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Answer 3

Tawnii

Level 2

190 points

Jul 22, 2012 11:57 AM in response to chiaihuang

Sounds about right

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Answer 4

chiaihuang Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 22, 2012 12:34 PM in response to chiaihuang

nothing to do with solving the issue. just a think after I browsed this forum.

I'm one of those early fans of apple, but I really don't like those fanboy fanboys giving answers like "check if you are using a valid apple id what else it could be?" or nothing wrong with the phone its you not using it properly or don't like it don't use it kind of answers. What makes you think others are stupids? Those new fans have to realise this forum supposed to be augmenting technical support, being a fan doesn't make you an expert and does not give you the right of bullying others, after all if early users were like this you wouldn't have heard of Apple now.

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Answer 5

Tawnii

Level 2

190 points

Jul 22, 2012 12:51 PM in response to chiaihuang

If I were to look at the forums. Based on the amount of imessage questions I could deduct that it may be a system issue. No one is bullying or causing any issues but if many are having the same problem then it is probably the case. Many do their best to help and I apologize if you are not having a great experience. I hope this information is helpful. We all try our best to help each other as a community.

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Answer 6

Jul 22, 2012 12:55 PM in response to Tawnii

I just bought an iPhone yesterday, and could not activate my iMessage. So I called Apple and they said something was down (but it was not everyone was having the problem) and that they had technicians working on it. That it could be anywhere from 24-48 hours before the problem was resolved.

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Answer 7

chiaihuang Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 22, 2012 1:10 PM in response to chiaihuang

Tawnii: of course not all the members of this community, there are still many helpful ones like you and I really appreciate it. No need to apologise, I haven't been bullied by anyone yet, just have seen some and turns out its not just my opinion, even "rumor" has it. ^^

Stacyat12: congrats for getting a new iphone. I'll wait for a while then and if it is true I'll hate myself for wasting the whole weekend trying. I was supposed to be working on my thesis. It is possible though, since moutain lion is very likely to be released this week. Thanks.

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Answer 8

chiaihuang Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 22, 2012 3:47 PM in response to chiaihuang

visited my service carrier, turned out everyone would experience the same issue if they turn imessage of then try to turn it back on. If this is apple's server problem, they should notify users about this.

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Answer 9

deggie

Level 10

167,177 points

Jul 22, 2012 3:48 PM in response to chiaihuang

I guess they could send everyone an iMessage...well except for the server problem they are having. :-)

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Answer 10

chiaihuang Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 22, 2012 3:52 PM in response to deggie

just put a notice on the website or notify those who are trying to connect will do. not good enough, apple!

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Answer 11

Jul 22, 2012 3:53 PM in response to chiaihuang

Submit your feedback directly to Apple using the appropriate link on the Feedback page:

http://www.apple.com/feedback

They're not reading the posts here.

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Answer 12

deggie

Level 10

167,177 points

Jul 22, 2012 3:53 PM in response to chiaihuang

Put a message on the servers they are having problems with that they aren't working?

I'd rather they spend their time fixing it.

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Answer 13

chiaihuang Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 22, 2012 4:02 PM in response to deggie

Seems they don't like to admit their problems recently.

I thinks its to do with mountain lion lauch and they are rewiring the server.

For this kind of maintenance, it is usually a courtesy of a network service provider to let users know before hand.

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Answer 14

deggie

Level 10

167,177 points

Jul 22, 2012 4:04 PM in response to chiaihuang

I agree, but we don't know that is what is happening. The coffee shop I go to was having trouble today staying connected with their credit card server who said they were having problems.

Maybe the cyberwar has started and Apple and Visa are the first casualties.

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Answer 15

chiaihuang Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 22, 2012 4:11 PM in response to deggie

then that would be a world headline. but at least the cafe you go to will tell you: "somehow we couldn't use our visa machine so we cannot accept credit cards until the issue fixed."

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