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I can't log in to Messages or FaceTime with my iCloud account.

Is anyone else having trouble logging in to Messages and FaceTime after upgrading to Mavericks? I can log in to iCloud on the Internet Accounts page, I can log in to iCloud online, but I get an error when I try to login to either Messages or the FaceTime apps using my iCloud ID.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 23, 2013 2:12 PM

Reply
81 replies

Nov 3, 2014 12:17 PM in response to Andra0001

Hi,


In that case I would contact Apple Support and suggest to them you have an Account issue with iMessages.

Stick to the premise that it an Account issue as they will tend to use their Apple Care "hat" and say that it is a Hardware or Software issue and try and charge you for out of Care phone support.


They will not charge if the issue is Account related.


we know from other error messages in Messages that their can be Mac Only issue with your Account/Apple ID

It stands to reason that some will find it affects their Apple ID on the iPhone as well.



User uploaded file

8:17 pm Monday; November 3, 2014


 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
 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

Nov 3, 2014 12:34 PM in response to egrass

Hi,


Form Another Thread I had the info about looking up which devices were logged in to my Account in iCloud (as opposed to anywhere else where the Apple ID is used) and I too found it listed an iPhone 4s that I have turned Off and removed the apple ID form in Messages and the iCloud settings (plus a few other things like Game Center and FaceTime before then doing Factory Reset)


After seeing it listed I too checked the iPhone (I had to Charge it even to see the Settings. It was soooo Off line).


If you means that in Messages > Preferences > Accounts > iMessages account that any Apple Email you used with Messages are showing up (even if ticked as Inactive don't disappear then this is standard practice.

Even Signing Out does not remove the Current Apple ID fully (it lists it in the text field until you change it).

You have to delete the relevant .plist to remove the list and the "aliases" that show up.

Navigate to ~/Library/Preferences and Drag com.apple.ids.service.com.apple.madrid.plist to the Trash.

Restart Messages.


The iMessages Server is separate from the others.

Whilst the app does check the central data base for the Login (the same way iTunes, the App Store, Game Center, FaceTime, Mail/iCloud itself, iPhoto's Photostream) they tend to be all separate servers and the Logins are independent of each other.

To say you are logged in OK to iCloud or any of the other apps and services means little in effect.

It is known that if you see this Error Message it only affects an iMessages login on a Mac.

User uploaded file


There is an issue with iMessages logins if the AppleGothic.ttf Font is inactive or faulty in some way.

As it is NOT in /System/Library/Fonts (where required Fonts are normally found) some people have been turning it Off as they think it is not needed.






User uploaded file

8:34 pm Monday; November 3, 2014


 iMac 2.5Ghz i5 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
 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

Nov 22, 2014 4:21 PM in response to schorg

This worked for me.

schorg wrote:


iMessage and FaceTime login did not work for one account, the other accounts were ok.

Since I use the login keychain for various passwords I did not want to reset the whole keychain.


Finally it helped to delete a single entry in the account's login keychain:

IDS: <apple-id-or-icloud-account>-AuthToken


Since I did not find this hint anywhere, I post it here.


Schorg


Mar 1, 2015 12:56 PM in response to egrass

I spent several hours over the past few weeks troubleshooting my inability to use iMessage in 10.9.5 after upgrading my AppleID password to something stronger per Apple's request. Ever since that password upgrade I saw the below error message. So I deleted numerous preference files, logged in via another user account, via another partition with Mavericks, via another partition with Yosemite, and the result was the same. Then I tried my AppleID with iMessage on my wife's MacBook Pro and it worked. So that narrowed it down to my MacPro 2009 hardware somehow. Then I saw the above recommendation to zap the PRAM and that brought back memories of OS's from 7-9 and I said what the ****. Two zaps and it worked. What a relief.


User uploaded file

Mar 6, 2015 11:53 AM in response to spirit

I spent two weeks with Apple Support and their engineering team regarding this issue. We went through pretty much everything that has been discussed on this forum with no luck. After looking at several data captures, they noticed some firmware was out of date which was causing the issue. I'm not able to use Messages!!!


  1. Power Off Machine
  2. Hold 'cmd' + 'option' + 'r' + 'p' (all at once)
  3. Listen for two apple chimes (I believe your computer will continue to cycle until you release this key combination)
  4. Release keys (let os boot)
  5. Sign in to Messages


Hope this helps someone else!

I can't log in to Messages or FaceTime with my iCloud account.

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