Messages Application not alerting, pls advise

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Level 1

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Messages Application not alerting, pls advise

Note: This is a Mac problem despite references to iDevices below.

Background...

Having fun with having Mac, iPhone, iPad all in sync when sending and receiving using Messages Application even when using mobiles phone numbers as the destination. Of course the mobile number has to be linked in to a Apple ID that you have setup with Messages.

Ditto with the other person you are messaging. I type a message it appears on all my Apple stuff, as it does the other person. No problem with the getting the text on any devices.

Problem...

However on the Mac no alerts are occurring. That is, no built in old iChat style Messages alerts like sounds or dock icons bouncing, nor the new ML Notification manager, not one indication on the Mac that you need to open or bring Messages Application to the front to see a new message.

I have checked settings, and tried with Messages Application open/hidden or quit, makes no difference.

Similar configurations with iDevices work fine. That is they will bring up their respective notifications as per their settings. The lack of alerting is just a Mac problem hence why this is in Apple Mac OS X discussion.

However here is the rub, if I send a message to myself it works! In this case even if the Messages Application is quit, the dock icon show a waiting message count, and over in the top right hand corner near Notification icon there appears an alert.

So in summary, messages come in on all devices in a conversation, alerts only come in on iDevices, except when I send to myself.

Both Macs involved are running the latest ML 10.8.5.

Any thoughts? (It really feels like a bug in Mac OS X)

TIA.

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Sep 23, 2013 7:43 PM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

Sep 23, 2013 9:10 PM in response to SyncMan

Back up all data.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/Application Support/NotificationCenter

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

Services ▹ Reveal

from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item selected. Move the selected item to the Desktop, leaving the window open. Log out and log back in.

Test. If there's no change, or if the notifications you expect to see are not shown, put the folder you moved back where it was, overwriting the one that may have been created in its place. Log out and in again. Otherwise, delete the folder you moved.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C). In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens (command-V). You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

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Answer 2

Sep 24, 2013 12:57 PM in response to SyncMan

Hi,

First of all iChat/Messages alerts are played through System Preferences > Sound > Sound Effects as if they were System Alerts.

This means the Output for Sound Effects should be a sound output device that you can actually hear.

Next.

As you know the Sounds linked to Action in Messages are set in Messages > Preferences > Alerts.

These play the sounds though Messages at this point when you test them here so it is not a complete test.

However try changing some of the Sounds linked to some of the actions.

I am not using my Mountain Lion boot at the moment but if there is a Box to tick to make the Dock Icon bounce also select this (It will only work when the app is "behind" other apps)

Also check each Buddy.

Ina Buddy List select a Buddy.

Do a Get Info (CMD and i keys together)

In the Info panel change it to Actions.

Check that there is not a sound that is unavailable or whether it has been set to None.

The Individual settings made this way override the Global one set in the Preferences.

Sending to yourself my trigger the Sent sound rather than the Message Received one.

In my experience Messages set sounds override the Notifications NO Sound option.

8:57 pm Tuesday; September 24, 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

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Answer 3

SyncMan Author

Level 1

0 points

Sep 25, 2013 6:03 PM in response to SyncMan

Thanks kindly for all the replies, but this just solved itself without any action taken.

Maybe it was something odd we were doing, or something odd in the iMessage system, maybe a server issue, who knows!

Mind you it may occur again, like most mysteries :)

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Answer 4

Sep 26, 2013 1:05 PM in response to SyncMan

Hi,

Thanks for letting us know.

Just for clarity:-

It will not be the iMessages server or anything away from your computer.

The Sounds are contained within the App (and/or the System Sounds and the User's Sound folder) and played by the app when testing or by System Preferences > Sound > Sound effects in day to day running.

9:05 pm Thursday; September 26, 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

Reply