iMessages not sending/receiving at all from OSX 10.8

Question

Level 1

8 points

iMessages not sending/receiving at all from OSX 10.8

I have Messages fully installed and my apple ID connected and verified in Mountain Lion. But anytime I try and send an iMessage to either an iMessage-enabled cell phone or their associated apple ID, it fails with the red ! icon.

Trying to send to my own apple ID from my iPhone also fails.

I have verified that all phones are on Wi-Fi, and the apple ID's being tested are properly set up to receive iMessages on the iPhones.

Any ideas? Both are iPhone 4S, one on AT&T and one on Verizon (though as I said, both are connected to wifi during the tests).

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6), 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM

Posted on Sep 6, 2012 9:44 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Sep 7, 2012 2:08 PM in response to rcb17

Hi,

Are you sending to iPhone Numbers or to Apple IDs

If to iPhone Numbers then it will not matter if they are also On line over Wifi as they may not be connected via the Cell/Mobile Phone service.

Can you send from your Phone to the Apple ID on the Mac ?

If you can do this can you send a return iMessage ?

Try it with the iPhone Number and the Apple ID as Caller ID on the phone.

I have also seen posts about people getting the red Exclamation mark but their Contacts still getting the messages (Although your own iPhone would suggest this is not true in your case)

Try removing the Apple ID from the Phone and in Messages and them re-add it.

In Messages Menu > Preference > Accounts > Account Details Button > Sign Out Button.

10:07 PM Friday; September 7, 2012

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

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Lion 10.7.2)
 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

rcb17 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 20, 2012 7:25 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Sorry for the late reply. I am still having the issue after upgrading all my iDevices to iOS6, and upgrading OS X to the latest release from yesterday. This morning the Messages application on OS X gave me the option to receive and start convos from either my apple ID (rob@barthle.com) or my phone number. But no combination of setup is allowing messages to go from OS X to iOS. I am testing with my own iPhone and my wife's (uses a different apple ID for messages).

Any ideas?

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Answer 3

Sep 20, 2012 12:42 PM in response to rcb17

HI,

DO you know if these ports are allowed in your router ?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4245

If your router is doing UPnP it means the ports should be allowed.

8:42 PM Thursday; September 20, 2012

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

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.2)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and and iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Reply

Answer 4

rcb17 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 20, 2012 12:53 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

I have a Time Capsule with the default config as the primary router. I'm more than a little leery about opening some of those ports, especially 80 and 443 as I have a local web server set up for web development. FaceTime and iMessage works fine from my iDevices to other iDevices over WiFi, and FaceTime works fine on my OS X. But I'll give them a try and see if it changes anything.

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Answer 5

rcb17 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 20, 2012 1:02 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Opening the ports did nothing. 😟

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Answer 6

rcb17 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 20, 2012 1:10 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Using this site (http://www.firebind.com/tests/imessage/) it confirmed my ports were set up fine without having to open them manually. So it's not a port issue. Also not seeing any others with this problem is not making me feel any better... 😕

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Answer 7

Sep 20, 2012 1:32 PM in response to rcb17

Hi,

An Apple Base Station has Port Mapping Protocol instead of UPnP to allow apps to use various ports.

In most routers all ports up to a threshold of port 1024 are open anyway.

(Your web Browser uses port 80 to find most web pages and port 443 for secure Logins to place like Apple Support Communities or your Bank.)

Messages has moved lots of it's Login ports to port 443.

In some ways this makes it easier to use (less set up) but also makes some port very busy and difficult to check for erroneous traffic.

9:32 PM Thursday; September 20, 2012

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

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.2)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and and iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Reply

Answer 8

rcb17 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 20, 2012 3:39 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

I am well versed in the major ports used today. I appreciate the insight to what Messages is using. The problem is not port related clearly though, so I'm at a loss what to try next.

Reply

Answer 9

rcb17 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 21, 2012 10:24 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

Okay I have a new problem. It might be some kind of progress, I don't know.

I have been playing with the different accounts tied to my apple ID (my apple ID, a @me.com address, and my phone number) and have both iOS and OS X set to use all three. Both are set to start new conversations from my phone number.

When sending from OS X to myself, I see the message delivered on OS X when sending to my phone number. Sending to the 2 email addresses results in failures. iOS never gets it in any case. Conversely, sending to any of the three options from iOS gets immediate delivery on iOS, but nothing in OS X.

I'm about ready to give up on this. This is the first time something from Apple did not "just work" for me in the 4 years I have been living in the Apple ecosystem.

Reply

Answer 10

Sep 21, 2012 11:42 AM in response to rcb17

HI,

Check Date and Time plus Time Zone settings on all devices.

7:42 PM Friday; September 21, 2012

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

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.2)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and and iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Reply

Answer 11

rcb17 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 21, 2012 11:48 AM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

All the same.

Reply

Answer 12

Sep 21, 2012 12:08 PM in response to rcb17

Umm,

That is a real mystery.

Right this second I cannot think of anything else.

As today is iPhone Friday it seems the servers are having problems keeping up anyway.

(my own phone is protesting it cannot send to my Apple ID, after several minutes)

8:08 PM Friday; September 21, 2012

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

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.2)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and and iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Reply

Answer 13

rcb17 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 21, 2012 12:15 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

There is one other thing I can think of. My apple ID is not the primary apple ID on this computer. Our family has an apple ID that we use across all devices for sharing calendars, reminders, notes, photo stream, etc. Messages is signed into my personal apple ID (same as my phone). I can't/won't change that, but I wonder if it has anything to do with this.

Also of note, I never have received any kind of confirmation email or anything regarding the linkage of my phone number with iCloud. When I deactivate messages on OS X, and re-activate it, I get a popup notice on my phone that the email addresses and phone number are now active on my MBP. But if there is some other kind of confirmation process, I've yet to see one.

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Answer 14

Sep 21, 2012 12:49 PM in response to rcb17

HI,

I have an older Apple ID that I have linked to iCloud and received an @me.com name in return.

I have tried both in Messages whilst leaving the iCloud login as one of these.

The fact that iCloud is using the @mac.com and Messages the original Apple ID, as it were, does not seem to be an issue.

When I updated I did the Mac first the the iOS devices.

I was advised on the Mac which Names/IDs both my iPhones and my iPad were using. (i.e not by email but within the OS software, most likely Messages)

8:49 PM Friday; September 21, 2012

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

 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.2)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and and iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Reply

Answer 15

rcb17 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 21, 2012 5:51 PM in response to Ralph-Johns-UK

For whatever it's worth, now FaceTime on OS X won't connect either. I log in perfectly fine, everything looks normal. And every single FaceTime call I try fails to both phone numbers and email addresses. THis is ridiculous. Works fine from my iPhone with hte same apple ID.

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