I'm using 10.6.8 and upgraded facetime to 1.0.4 and now it won't work 1

Looking for help with pretty much the same issue.

Bump for some help.

I've read other threads that say to add 8.8.8.8 to your DNS servers under System Preferences > Network > Airport > Advanced > DNS, however that did not work for me.

BUMP for help!

how do you bump this as I too have the same problem, and it is really ******* me off , I was supposed to contact family in the UK and others in Mexico, when did they hire all the microsoft losers...?

After the update, FaceTime does not complete the sign on, just sits spinning the gear wheel endlessly.

After trying a number of things includling redownloading the app, establishing a new account and password etc., I simply retrieved a copy of version 1.0.2 via Time Machine, trashed the 1.0.4 version and guess what? FaceTime 1.0.2 signed on with no issues and seems to work as before.

Back in the bad old days of MS Windows, I was used to the fact that updates frequently broke more than they fixed and I have grown accustomed to Apple's superiority in this regard. Unfortunately, Apple really dorked the dog on FaceTime 1.0.4 for Snow Leopard.

eHam … I came up with the same solution for the sign-on issue. FT 1.02 signs on without any problem but the connections still don't work, i.e. I still can't get through to the person I call.

You can even continue to use FT 1.04 after you used FT 1.02 just for the sign-on. There are definitely many bugs in the new version, but the bigger issue seems to be the legal fight over Facetime that some patent trolls (VirnetX) unleashed on Apple. This resulted in large sums extorted from Apple that they now had to pay those a__holes just to keep Facetime running.

The patents VirnetX holds allegedly cover the way Facetime connects two devices in a chat: it used to be a direct end-to-end conection that was fast, reliable, and just worked. Apple then decided to tweek the protocols the app uses just to avoid these significant payments … and that's when most of the problems started. Apple now uses relay-servers to connect the devices and it stopped working properly, more than 500,000 users logged complaints in the days following the switch of protocol … arstechnica has the whole story. AFAIK, the problems are worst for users of devices still running iOS 5/6 or for Mac users who still cling to Snow Leopard (as I do, because I think it's the last useful MacOS X).

So this is another technology that used to work perfectly and that was turned to **** by corporate greed! Also, it's one of the final nails in the coffin of me being an Apple customer: after almost 25 years I guess it's finally time to leave the sinking ship … 😟

MacGunny,

You are correct--while I was able to sign on with FT 1.0.2, it does not seem to connect a call. I tried to call my daughter. Many rings and I gave up. Later received an email from her wherein she said she had tried to accept my call but to no avail.

Further, corrborating your post, I retrieved FT 1.0.4 from the Trash and now it also signs in altho it also will not complete a connection.

In the words of Bill, The Cat, "THBBFT!!"

I am loathe to upgrade my iMac to Mavericks. I did try Mavericks but the differences, changes and whatnot left me confused so I went back to Snow Leopard. I did, however, put Mavericks on my MacBook, which I have only as a backup to the iMac. I suppose that I can use it for my infrequent FaceTime sessions.

I expect Apple will do ziltch to correct the problem as they plan to drop support for Snow Leopard in the near future. I did submit a formal bug report for whatever good that may do.

Well, as of today, there is a solution for Facetime on Snow Leopard … and it works. Go to the AppStore and download the Facetime 1.05 update. It fixed both issues for me on two Macs: the log-in works normally again and the call-connections also succeed like they used to … 🙂

But I guess, there will be more road-bumps coming up because of the ongoing patent-suit by the VirnetX trolls!

Cheers -mg

MacGunny,

Thanks--this fixed the issue. Had a nice long FaceTime session with my daughter last night. In fact, FaceTime 1.0.5 on my Snow Leopard works significantly better than did 1.0.2, which used to drop audio frequently.

Regards,

eh

Does this mean we have to buy the 1.05 update?

If you've used the old version of Facetime on your Mac just open AppStore and it'll show up as a free update. Click on "Update", wait for the ~18 MB download to complete and install … and you're good to go.

I'm also using Facetime on an iPad, which was still running iOS v5.x … and lo and behold, Facetime stopped working there too: it just wouldn't connect anymore. Tried and tried again, no dice. So, a couple of days ago, I finally had to bite the bullet and upgrade to iOS 7.1.1 … the latest release, which I didn't really wanted to do (mostly due to esthetical reasons/bad GUI design). Anyway, Facetime issues were fixed by upgrading to iOS 7.1.1 … provided, the other participant in a chat is also running the latest iOS on his device.

Today, Apple finally announced that there will be no seperate fix for Facetime on iOS devices still running older versions, e.g. iOS 5.x/6.x. The Facetime troubles with older iOS versions are said to be due to an outdated security certificate (AFAIK it's true). The only way for users to fix this is by upgrading to the latest version of iOS for any given device (note, that it can be a version 6.x for older iPhones, iPads and iPods, but will still fix Facetime issues by installing a new and valid security certificate). What bugs me most, is the fact that now I'll also have to update iTunes to the abysmal version 11.x in order to regain the ability to sync my iPhone/iPad with my Macs. I really hate iTunes 11 because the interface just plain *****, unless you like to play hide-and-seek with GUI items!

The next big no-go (and a good reason to throw out Apple products after 25 years) is the fact, that Mavericks no longer lets me locally sync my Macs with my iOS devices (via cable or WiFi). Because Apple decided to remove local SyncServices I'd be forced to move all my stuff through friggin' iCloud, courtesy of ******* NSA!

<Edited by Host>

Thanks for your reply.

The reason I asked is it does not show as an update.

Also many folk say this update does not work on 10.6.

Or it does not let them log in with their apple id.

This latter issue I have with facetime on 10.7 and 10.8.

For a company that had an historic tradition of backward compatibility on its computers (remember those big clunky things we used once?), the "mobile version" changed that tradition.

There is no real excuse for this.

After all, Microsoft can make multiple version of its OS that support 1000s of different hardware devices that they do NOT make!

Don't worry about the little people, the new iphone is coming, that's all that matters.

Hi Graham,

it should be there as an update … and yes, it works fine on 10.6.8 (at least on my 2 Macs). Maybe you need to reset the AppStore app (delete the prefs, clean out user caches etc.) and try again. The apps you bought will not be lost by doing that. I think there's info on the web on how to fix this issue of missing updates in the AppStore.

Most of the acute Facetime troubles come from the ongoing lawsuit with the patent-trolls of VirnetX. So, I'm afraid there will be more bumps ahead due to Apple's remodelling of the whole Facetime infrastructure while running it.

Regarding the other problems, you're unfortunately right! I'm also one of the "little people" who uses his Macs to earn a living. A former research-fellow, I now work in scientific publishing and do everything from scientific papers, posters, videos, slideshows, up to doctoral theses, text books and habilitations. With the advent of the iPhone the professional Apple products started to become less and less useful for me. The Mac hardware also started to deteriorate due to bad design decisions, e.g. using "bathroom-mirrors" as displays, built-in obsolescense ("keyboard defect? throw the MacBook away"). But worst of all, the MacOS started to become a dumbed-down mess, topped up with lots of useless eye-candy.

E.g., with MacOS X 10.6.8 + some plugins I can view, edit, and convert lots of different video and audio formats (even FLAC and other high quality stuff) via Quicktime. On a brand-spanking new Retina MacBookPro I get video output options: iPhone, iPad, Internet … completely useless! And of course, all the old plugins and tools to work with the good codecs don't work anymore on Mavericks. Macs are on their way to become high-priced, but utterly useless TOYS … and they're almost there!