iMessage on mac not working properly

for the Points

7:44 PM Saturday; March 30, 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

Did you ever find a solution or a cause for your problem? I have the same problem, but curiously it only happens at my house, which has slower internet than when I'm at college. I have zero iMessage problems using the college internet, but every time I go back home I start having the exact problems you describe. It's like iMessage loses its connection or something after sitting there for a few minutes, but doesn't provide any notification or attempt to reconnect. When sending a message, it will show the exclamation point because it failed, but when I click try again, it sends and then it works again for a little while.

I have amazing news! The OS X 10.8.4 update, just released today, purportedly contains a fix for the out-of-order iMessages. I'm not currently home so I haven't installed it yet or tested it, but here's hoping it actually fixes it.

Installed the update yesterday (4 June) and with some exchanges between my wife and myself, I can say with certaintly, that it is not fixed. What part of this problem does Apple not understand?

A little hard when there are no changes to Messages in that Update.

7:51 PM Wednesday; June 5, 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

Saved Chats opened when the Main Messages window has actual chat still visible....

If the Save feature can't save the Chat in the "right order" then it is unlikely that the "history" feature of showing you the previous parts of the conversation are always going to be correct.

However the Combo Update page links to this

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5730

To Quote (My Emphasis)

About the update

The OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.4 Update is recommended for all OS X Mountain Lion users and includes features and fixes that improve the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including the following:

• Compatibility improvements when connecting to certain enterprise Wi-Fi networks
• Microsoft Exchange compatibility improvements in Calendar
• A fix for an issue that prevented FaceTime calls to non-U.S. phone numbers
• A fix for an issue that may prevent scheduled sleep after using Boot Camp
• Improves VoiceOver compatibility with text in PDF documents
• Includes Safari 6.0.5, which improves stability for some websites with chat features and games
• A fix for an issue that may cause iMessages to display out of order in Messages
• Resolves an issue in which Calendars Birthdays may appear incorrectly in certain time zones
• A fix for an issue that may prevent the desktop background picture from being preserved after restart
• A fix for an issue that may prevent documents from being saved to a server using SMB
• Addresses an issue that may prevent certain files from opening after copied to a volume named “Home"
• A fix for an issue that may prevent changes to files made over NFS from displaying
• Resolves an issue saving files to an Xsan volume from certain applications
• Improves Active Directory log-in performance, especially for cached accounts or when using a .local domain
• Improves OpenDirectory data replication
• Improves 802.1X compatibility with ActiveDirectory networks
• Improves compatibility when using mobile accounts

Messages remains at version 7.0.1 which came with the OS X 10.8.2 update.

7:58 PM Wednesday; June 5, 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

Complaint withdrawn. After updating the other machine and restarting Messages, it appears put things in order.

After using it, yes the out-of-order messages issue is still present. As well as the issue with iMessage not updating the current messages for long stretches of time and sometimes displaying an unsent message icon, though the update didn't say it was supposed to fix that one. I didn't think to check the version number of the messages app before and after, but I take your word for it that it didn't change.

Hey socceryo3, did you find any solution to this problem yet?

I have the exact same problem: My iMessage on my MBa is working 100% everywhere but my own appartment, which made me jump to the conclusion that it had to be something with my router or internet connection somehow, but I can't find any solution to this problem anywhere on the interwebs.

I've tried sending an email to my internet provider just now in pure desperation, but supposedly I get a mail back stating "Your internet is working fine, go cry somewhere else".

It's so frustrating! I've come accustomed to iMessage on my MBa, but it's kinda annoying when something seems to block iMessage every 5 minutes which means I have to restart the app to make it work again..

Hi,

Did you check the Date and Time settings on the router.

Messages and any incoming Message, be it from AIM and Jabber Buddy or iMessages relies on Time Stamps.

Whilst it is clear the iMessages cannot do this properly when syncing Messages in particular it does require that the computer is set to the "right" Region and Time Zone in it's own Settings.

That fact it only happens "at Home" does suggest something about the Router.

It may be something like Daylight Saving Time if it is not actually the Region or Time Zone settings.

9:03 pm Friday; August 9, 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

Hi: Read through the original post and the replies. Just bought a new macbook all updated software, and the exact same problems (delayed and out-of-order messages, problems sending on first try) exist.

It seems to me that Messages just doesn't work right despite the updates.

Hi,

As Documented above the Blurb says "An Issue" that "May Cause' the Out of Order iMessages.

This suggests that there may be other issue that cause it.

8:55 PM Monday; September 2, 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

Hi Guys, this is a fix that worked for me.

As mentioned you need to make sure that the imessage settings are identical in both your iOS and Mac. You also need to make sure that your phone number is active on your account (through the apple website).

The FIX is to delete messages in your messages folder on your hard drive. Here's how:

• Quit out of Messages for Mac
• Hit Command+Shift+G to bring up the “Go To Folder” window
• Enter ~/Library/Messages/
• Select all files in the Messages directory and move to trash, files will be named chat.db, chat.db-shm, chat.db-wal, etc
• Empty the Trash and relaunch iMessages

This does not delete the existing messages nore does it remove your settings in iMessage (well it didn't for me). As soon as you relaunch everything should spring back to life.

Good luck!

I have tried your tip and unfortunately cannot empty the trash bin, even after quitting the Messages app.

Any idea on why these files are still in use?