Messages doesn't show conversations after restart

Hi,

I am not sure that you are not seeing the normal function of Messages.

If you delete ~/Library/Messages you will delete the archive folder it contains which is where Saved Chats are placed.

If you deleted the "history" then Messages cannot display it.

If you leave Messages with some Chats in the list then it will Save parts of those chats that are relevant for that day - you may only see part of what you think is a conversation/Chat.

However Double clicking may bring up a Recent Chat which shows more.

Also have you tried Scrolling the chat up/backwards in time ?

This sometimes reveals more of the "history".

9:37 PM Thursday; July 11, 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,

I did study the Screen Shots as well as studying the post to see if I could work out what you were doing.

I could not quite work out what the arrows were supposed to be showing.

In System Preferences > General pane I have the Server, Documents and Apps set to 20 items.

This in turn means an App like Messages will have 20 items in the Recents Lists.

I launched iChat 5 on my Snow Leopard (MacBook Pro) and started a Bonjour Chat with my iMac (Messages)

Like you I was expecting it so show a "History" after sending the first message back and forth.

However this did not happen and on checking my Recents Lists It seems the last "chatting to self" I did was more than 20 chats ago.

I can open much older chats by going to the Archive Folder and launching them.

They appear in separate windows (not in the Main Messages window).

Where I have left a Chat in the Messages window and then shut the App and the computer I have saved chats that have parts of the "same" chat. (I was looking at an AIM chat).

I loaded up the individual (well two of the days) in separate windows.

Next to that the "whole" conversation" over several days (And AIM, Jabber and iMessages attempts) appears in the Messages window

The 17th (top Left) relates to the part on show in the main Messages window (both in red boxes).

The 17th window is scrollable and there is more that is on show.

The same is true of the top of the 18th (Bottom left pic) where the scroll bar indicator is at the top (blue arrow)

AS you can see all the "history" shows in the Main Messages Window (Right hand pic) and the Scroll bar indicator is only a 1/3 of the way down.

I have not been able to find one right now but if I had spoken to this person on the 20th but not the 19th the 19th one would have been blank as nothing new has been saved. (however it saves as you close the app and the chat or conversation is still in place in the Messages window).

In your last pic this seems to be part of what is going on.

I understand that the first two pics you posted show something different.

However the first pic means nothing.

Can you confirm that in Pic 2 that when you separate out that chat in to it's own Window, that the Main Messages window does not show the subsequent IMs ?

I created the Separate window and sent IMs over Bonjour to the iMac but they appeared in both windows

(yes I have the same Buddy pic on both computers)

I don't think the app is not finding the Archive Folder as the Chats are displaying in some windows.

I am not understanding what you are trying to say about restarting the app and having New Messages show up (although I think you are trying to tell me that they were conversations that were there before that disappear)

Try Restarting the Computer is Safe Mode

After doing this and testing Messages Restart the computer normally.

9:33 pm Friday; July 12, 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.

Can you confirm that in Pic 2 that when you separate out that chat in to it's own Window, that the Main Messages window does not show the subsequent IMs ?

Yes exactly. And it is even more crazy: Both windows show different content of the same day! sometimes i write a message and i can't see it in the main window! Only when i double click the IM of the person and the new window opens to the left, everything i wrote and he wrote is visible! That's really curious...

Ok.

Three ways to Save Chats - or rather three points in time that it happens.

1) When you mouse across the open chat in the Messages window and use the small grey "X" that shows up.

2) When you reach the end of the day and shut down the App.

3) At any point during the day when you close and restart the app.

This could mean that there are several "Saved Chats" even from the same day.

(And some of them may be blank if the person or you never sent an IM.)

Regarding the first pic again.

So despite your idea that the first pic means nothing, it underlines what's really going on: both blank parts marked "Neue Nachricht" are no new message. These are the chats to the right (the friends window) which disappear after restarting messages. Sometimes when one of the persons of this two chats write me a post, then suddenly the blank chat turns in that chat of this persons (it appears at the special place the arrow from this person points to) and all of his former messages are visible again. But: only sometimes...

The Messages shows the German equivalent of "New Message" (which really mean new chat anyway) and on starting the App that, when last Open, had two Bonjour Chats going on but on restart lists then as "New Messages" and has no Buddy linked to them.

To a certain extent I can replicate this.

No New Message (i.e. nothing sent from anywhere)

When I Opened Messages I got this window and a Separate Bonjour Chat window that was also empty.

However then I sent an IM from the MacBook Pro ("Hello on the 13th")

Both the chat windows I had open then filled in the most recent chats (Yesterday in this case)

The other thing is I don't lose the names of the Bonjour Buddies involved.

DO the Buddies computers show up as Shares in the finder Window ?

This should show their Computer Name's (Ralph Johns' Computer for my G4 tower for example)

The Bonjour Chat should show their Name which is held in the My Card in the Contacts/Address Book App. (as in my first blank chat pic shows Bonjour with ralphjoohns@ralphg4 )

If these computers are not showing up in Shares then you may not be able to reslove the Bonjour Chat names either at certain points in time.

This is most likely a local DNS issue if you cannot resolve names.

Check that the computers all have the same DNS settings.

8:18 pm Saturday; July 13, 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,

You said.

all you described is something i know. It's the normal behaviour of Messages.

Even if you have an emty chat e.g. you can at least see the icons of the persons! When you have a look at my screenshots you see no icons anymore... but i repeat myself now.

I had posted.

To a certain extent I can replicate this. ...

... The other thing is I don't lose the names of the Bonjour Buddies involved.

I had explained what I had to tried to replicate your pic. (which is the normal function).

I have know idea about what you do or don't know. I can't look over your shoulder from here.

I can only work with what you post.

My conclusion was that the issue could lie outside of the Messages app, in that IDs that are normally Broadcast from elsewhere were not in fact being resolved.

As you have Reinstalled the whole OS you have replaced the whole of Messages as well during that process.

Deleting the .plists cures any issues that occure because they are corrupt when they are recreated next time you launch the app.

When I restart my App after leaving a Bonjour Chat On show I get this:-

The middle of the chat part of the Messages Window identifies the "Buddy" that I was connected to.

It lists the Shortname of the Logged in Account on the computer called ralphg4

I have an Address Card for Ralph G4 in my Contacts app.

In My Chats and the Pics I posted the "To" spot of the Chat window is also filled in.

My App can tell that ralphjohns@ralphg4 is Ralph G4 even before any new IMs in the chat are sent.

That leaves two options as far as I can tell.

1) the computer is not resolving mDNS info (mDNS is Multicast DNS = Bonjour and since Leopard has required that the Macs DNS server set be On) http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3789

2) There is a computer naming issue.

Regarding 1)

Either port 5353 is blocked to Local traffic in the router in which case no Shared Bonjour computers would show up in the Finder

Or DNS is Off which would be causing other issues over the internet.

Possibly com.apple.iChat.Subnet.plist could be the issue as it technically holds the "Logged in State" of the Bonjour account in Messages and iChat.

In fact my iMac/Messages one comes from a Migration of my Mac User Account from the G4 and reads

It seems it is Identifying me as ralphjohns@ralphg4 as well.

That would suggest the App/computer broadcasts a Mac User Login identifier up until a Chat is started at which point the Buddy's Address Book/Contacts App > My Card info is broadcast.

Mousing over the Buddy list shows the Computer/User ID and List shows their Address Book Name

On the G4 I have Address Cards for PC AIM Account, the Mac Book Pro and the My Card

On the G4 I am "Ralph G4". (the Pics don't match as I changed the iChat Buddy pic)

Somewhere in the link between the DNS (mDNS) and the Contacts app the Bonjour identifier is resolved into the "Real Name" from their Address Book.

You posted:-

Bonjour ist all right,

This actually tells me nothing.

I does not tell me if you did not check the Finder windows to check if they showed up as you don't believe this is connected (It seems to be implied by the bit that followed)

It doess not tell me what you did actually do to test the Bonjour Link was working.

Summary.

I get the fact that something about your app or at least the way it presents itself is not right.

Having tried to replicate your first Pic my judgement is that the issue is not with the App itself (you have Reinstalled and deleted .plists and therefore excluded problems from those sources).

If you are not showing the Bonjour identifier or the Buddy Pic then the computer is not resolving that Buddy name (It does not rely on your Contacts App as the My Cards from the Buddy is sent as the "Real Name")

For Instance My MacBook Pro does not have an Address Card for the G4

I hope with the last section about a small part of your post about "Bonjour being Ok" demonstrates the lack of info you post about some things.

Regarding 2)

This relates to Cloning the computer Hard Drive and placing it on another computer.

This can mean that in System Preferences > Sharing the Name of the computer is the same on two computers

It can also happen if like me you sign in as the First Run Admin Account under the Same Name which then becomes the computer name (all my computers became "Ralph Johnss Computer" (yes it can't cope with names ending in "s")

The iMac has been changed to this.

I hope I have been a little clearer myself as to the thought processes that led me to my earlier post.

8:50 PM Sunday; July 14, 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,

Lets try sorting out a common set of words for this bit.

But in my case the Buddies are being replaced with a blank, new messages tab. Only after clicking the Buddy in the friends window changes the blank new messages tab into the Buddies tab. That not usual.

Yep. I got that the Main Window for Messages shows blank people (Head and Shoulders) icons and "New Messages" (which is wrong and the thing I can't replicate) as per you first pic.

After clicking a Buddy in the Buddy List (friends window)... changes what is showing as "New Messages" and the Head and Shoulders icons to the Buddies icons ?

The Messages app knows there should be Chats displayed but does not show who they are.

Clicking a Buddy in the Buddy List seems to resolve this partly - there then seems to be an issue with how much of the chat is shown.

Can you do the following 1 bit at a time please.

1) Do the chats show in the Recent Items (File Menu ) when you start up Messages (before clicking the Buddies) ?
If No does anything populate this List ?
IF Yes, Post back results (well post back anyway)

2) Go to ~/Library/Preferences and delete just com.apple.ichat.Subnet.plist and restart Messages.

Does this improve things ?

If yes, Stop.

3) In the same folder delete com.apple.imagent.plist and restart the whole computer (IMAgent starts when the computer does)

Does this Improve things ?

If Yes, then Stop.

4) If nothing has worked so far then delete com.apple.ichat.plist itself.

On restarting Messages you may need to reset some settings in the Messages > Preferences (Font, Colour etc. in the Messages Section. Saved Chats in the same pane.) and so on.

Some menu items such as the IM/iMessages style and Show Smilies will need resetting

Restart Messages and report findings please.

9:53 PM Monday; July 15, 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,

So you have the equivalent of:-

So yo only have some of the .plists:-

The ones with the hexadecimal like numbers added to them are used if you are using a network book otherwise they are ignored.

I notice that my Subnet one has a date close to the imported com.apple.ichatAgent.plist (forerunner to IMAgent so I am wondering if Messages uses it any more.

Possibly this one line in the com.apple.ichat.plist refers to the Bonjour account

(it's quite near the bottom of the amount of stuff in my .plist)

The app will not work if the com.apple.IMAgent.plist is not there.

Can you Open Activity Monitor in Applications/Utilities and see if imagent is running (it will be in lower case and have no icon) ?

It is likely to appear close to the Finder as it starts up when the computer does

8:36 PM Tuesday; July 16, 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,

This is very odd.

My window of the Preferences folder says the "Kind" for .plist is Property List and not Document.

com.apple.ichat.AIM.plist and the Jabber one and the Yahoo one hold info about the Logged in state of any Accounts of that particular type.

com.apple.ichat.StatusMesage.plist holds all Saved Status Messages you have created.

The com.apple.iChat.LSSharedFileList.plist is the Recent Lists.

It is partly created by the System Preferences > General pane > Number of Service, Apps and Documents (Saved iChats and iMessages are Documents of Messages)

That leaves com.apple.ichat.plist itself.

It holds everything else except account info that is in the Preferences and some Menu items

So, Saved Chats setting in the Messages Pane, the Font, It's colour, the Balloon colour and any incoming overrides you set.

Anything set in the General pane.

The Mic and camera choices in the Video section if there are options.

The Bandwidth Limit will return to the default "NONE"

The Show Buddy Pics and Names option in the View Menu that effects some Buddy lists and some Chats (depending which Window is "Front") is also stored here as is the Style Choice and whether you display Smilies.

Plists can be read in Quick Look as shown above.

If you have Xcode installed that will open them (there used to be a separate Property List Editor at one point)

At a push you can use Open With and Text Edit but this takes some effort to read in very large .plist files

I am going to test removing the IMAgent .plist and not restarting the computer and seeing if the restart of Messages causes the writing of a new .plist

I will follow that with deleting my com.apple.ichat.Subnet.plist that may not be used in the Messages version.

9:03 PM Wednesday; July 17, 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

Umm,

Deleting com.apple.imagent.plist and restarting the app does not recreate the .plist

Using Activity Monitor the Force Quit imagent in the list and then restarting the App does start imagent up again but does not re-create the .plist

Deleting the com.apple.ichat.Subnet.plist and restarting the Messages App does not see to effect anything and the .plist is not recreated.

9:11 PM Wednesday; July 17, 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