iMessage (Messages) on Mac keeps unchecking my phone number

Hi,

What does the iPhone say it is using for Send and Receive ?

8:24 PM Saturday; January 5, 2013

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 an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Hi,

In Messages > (Preferences. Accounts >) iMessages account ticking the iPhone number bocx stays for a while ?

Is the "while" only when the computer is On ?

I.e. do you lose the setting when Messages is shut down ?

Can you do this ?

Have the Finder as the "front" app.

Go to the Go Menu > Go to Folder and type in ~/Library/Preferences into the Dialogue box that appears.

Once in the Preferences set it to Cover Flow view.

Now go to the View Menu > View Options and tick the Modified item.

If not displayed already a Modified column should be added.

Click the Modified title and that column will become the search/Display criteria.

Now if you untick or tick the iPhone Number what com.apple.xxxx.xxx.plist pops to the top (the xx's are not representative of how long any words are) ?

Does anything have "today's" date (or a time from "today")

This should tell us if you have the correct Permissions to write to the .plist involved.

9:42 PM Saturday; January 5, 2013

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 an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Hi,

That now seems to be really odd.

If the .plist pops to the top then you have permission to write to it.

Obviously changing the Preferences changes the .plist.

As the Authority Token (Seen in the Keychain) is only needed once (On registration) I am at am loss as to why the setting gets changed.

As a matter of interest what do you have set in Messages > Preferences > General Section fro when you are Away from the computer ?

Not the Status Setting but what to do after you have not made a Keyboard or Mouse Entry for 10 Minutes (Called going Idle)

There are two settings.

The more general one below Fast User Switching and the other in the top Section about setting the Away Status.

Does your computer go Idle ? (i.e. All you Buddy list get set to Away which you have to change when activating the computer again -it may not get as far as Sleep.)

6:45 PM Sunday; January 6, 2013

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 an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

OK.

8:49 PM Saturday; January 12, 2013

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 an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

I know this an old post but wondering if you ever found out what was causing this. My 2011 iMac with El Capitan is doing the same thing. I'll notice that I suddenly get no messages on the Mac and in preferences that "you can be reached at" is unchecked. Seems to happen fairly regularly and I always leave the machine on and app open. My iPhone is set properly. Interestingly enough, my iPad will sometimes stop receiving messages but everything is set properly there.

I also just noticed that FaceTime on my iMac had the same option unchecked for some reason (it was always checked and working in the past). So, something is unchecking these options on Messages and FaceTime on the Mac for some unknown reason.

Hi,

This is an old post that only applies to the Mountain Lion version of Messages.

The info I was talking about is now stored in a new .plist.

Generally speaking you can change the info in the App and it tends to be permanently saved to the plist on closing the App.

Some info is Written to the .plist straight away.

It is also slightly more complicated now as the App is a Sandboxed one which means if it Crashes it does not bring down the whole OS with it.

This in turn means there is a Read and Write route as well as the end storage .plist

Do this bit from earlier:-

Have the Finder as the "front" app.

Go to the Go Menu > Go to Folder and type in ~/Library/Preferences into the Dialogue box that appears.

Once in the Preferences set it to Cover Flow view.

Now go to the View Menu > View Options and tick the Modified item.

If not displayed already a Modified column should be added.

Click the Modified title and that column will become the search/Display criteria.

The Preferences file is where you will find the com.apple.ids.service.com.apple.madrid.plist file.

You can use Quick Look to read the file.

You need to see this line and the details below it.

This is fairly near the top and lists your Apple ID as the Signed in account name and then list the the Aliases for "Receive At".

If you have other Unselected ID/Emails they will also show here.

There is a spot further down about Vetted Aliases that repeats the same info.

The earlier post I made says to tick the Modified Column to use that as the info/search listing for the window's info.

It should look like this when the app is started.

When you change the settings in the Preferences > Accounts for the iMessage Account the "madrid" .plist should come to the top.

To Write to this .plist the app uses the Path ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iChat/Data/Library/Preferences and then an Alias that is connected/points to ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.ids.service.com.apple.madrid.plist

You have to have Ownership and the rights to Read and Write to not only the end file but also all the containing Folders.

Go to the Alias listed above and check it opens the "madrid" .plist.

On each of the Folders Right Click and chose Get Info.

At the bottom of the Info panel is Ownership and Permissions.

Your shortname (Mac User Account name) should be listed.

Highlight that then use the Cogwheel type icon under the list.

This should list you as the Owner by being Greyed Out.

Your listed name should say it can Read and Write to the File and Folders depending which one you are looking at.

7:59 pm Saturday; January 23, 2016