Yosemite Messages + Google (Jabber) Account = Broken

Hi Ralph,

I followed your instructions, yet after a chat was made with the 2 buddies, I typed a message but when I hit send, nothing appears in the message window and the message leaves the text box. Both buddies show up in the window, both say their status (idle, online, etc), show their avatars, etc?

hi,

I am going to have to come back to you on this.

I have the Psi App (A Jabber only app) on another computer and I have an account with a server.

However I can't find the Password (it does not appear in the Keychain) so that I can use it elsewhere (I have a newer version on my iMac)

I do have yet another Jabber account I have not used for a while (link with my MacBook Pro).

In both cases I need to have them up and running before I can test from Google on the iMac.

Of one account I am definitely sure the server is no more.

Testing in Message with multiple accounts is not very satisfactory as the Main window doe snot separate then out in to separate chats.

At least that is what is happening on my iMac with my AIM accounts.

8:07 p.m. Thursday; June 25, 2015

Hi Ralph,

I have exactly the same problem.

I tried adding google account to Messages app, and it won't work.

And, like this user, when I uncheck "Activate this account" in Messages app prefs or in Internet Account prefs, server settings are greyed out, I cannot change a thing. I tried all the ideas you gave, nothing as un-greyed the settings.

I am willing to provide you with screenshots.

Cheers,

--Maxime

HI,

I did go away and create another Jabber ID using the app called Psi.

Then my wife fell and broke her femur requiring surgery to put it back together leading to me not coming back to post on this.

This app can (has) login into my Google account as well.

However even from the Psi app I cannot seem to send the required Authorization Request that is needed so that both Buddies can "see" each other.

It also makes not difference if I use the Messages app to Login to Google and the Psi App into the new Jabber account, or even the Google Web Mail Page.

I did discover I had been moved to Hangouts without being asked.

In the Web Mail setting page you can select whether the Chat option is visible and in searching for a way to send Requests for Authorization I found you can select to go back to Chat.

Now, my Google ID is with Google Mail or at least it was originally. This allowed you to use it with Google talk when it came out.

Google also brought out a PC app by the same name.

Originally they used the Flash Plug-in to do Video and Audio Chats within a Web Browser and later produced their own Plug-in to do Video chats within a web Browser Login.

It seems nowadays that some people have accounts via their place of work that can use Google's various Apps and other options but the ID is related to their firm's Domain Name.

It does seem that in Messages people have less control over the settings than you would expect.

As I don't have this type of account with Google I have not further suggestions over what I have posted earlier.

7:31 p.m. Saturday; July 11, 2015

Rafael,

You seem to have a lot of knowledge in dealing with things like Jabber.

How do I completely delete a Jabber account from my macbook pro, any answer would help.

Thanks,

Warren

hi,

On the basis you seem unable to read my name and copy it I am not sure you can manage this. 😉

In Messages go to the Preferences > Accounts

Highlight the account then use the Minus icon/button under the list. This should remove it from the App.

You may get a message to say do it in System Preferences > Internet Accounts if you are using Yosemite.

In Applications/Utilities open the Keychain Access app.

Have Login selected top left.

Have Passwords selected lower left.

In the right hand pane find the item regarding the Account and Highlight it.

Now use the Backspace Button to delete it.

8:01 p.m. Wednesday; July 15, 2015

Thanks Scott Konradt. I came across your solution on accident and it worked for me. The other thing to remember is to not hit the "Use Default Settings" button as that checks settings for "Automatically find server and port" and the "Use Kerberos v5 for authentication", which when enabled prevents Messages from connecting / or holding the connection to the Google Talk servers

Hi Ralph,

I know we've transitioned a little bit topic wise, but I was hoping you might be able to help / confirm what's going on with my iMessage.

We recently switched over to Google Apps for work and want to integrate Google Hangouts/Talk with iMessage.

My personal email that ends with @gmail.com has no problem connecting with iMessage

Our company email that ends with @companyname.com (using Google mail platform), however, will not connect with iMessage.

When we try and connect the Jabber account (associated with @companyname.com). With the basic settings, the account won't connect and I get the error message:

"Messages can’t communicate with the Jabber account “Company Name." The operation couldn’t be completed. Connection refused"

If I change the Server Settings, and uncheck "Automatically find server and port" - the Jabber account will briefly login and then immediately disappear.

Given that this is an account with Google Apps for Work, I do not have an option to choose "less secure" apps, nor anything involving 2-step verification.

I've scanned all the forums, tried all the solutions, and can't seem to find an answer to the problem.

I'm hoping you can help! Let me know if you need more info.

Hi,

In Older versions of iChat and Messages the Google Accounts used the server talk.google.com

This is different to other Jabber servers which use the bit after the @ as the server name (You had to manually change this in iChat 3 - at iChat 4 they added the specific Google Account to get around this.)

The reason fro this was that Google Mail IDs (used for Google Talk) came in two forms (@gmail.com and @googlemail.com).

In Yosemite and the El Capitan beta the App changes this to look like this.

The Server Name has changed to gmail.com (which happens to be the ending of my Google Account.

AS you can see it lists "Automatically Find Server and Port" and uses port 5222 (non SSL as well).

If I sign out and manually change it it reverts to this setting.

I believe that this may be to do with System Preferences > Internet Accounts as the Google account there is listed as active for Messages and Mail (Of course it is @gmaill.com for the mail server).

I had a similar issue with my iCloud account and the names linked to since joining iCloud.

Internet Account made the original Apple ID the iCloud ID which meant the Apple ID I was using in iMessages got changed to one ending @me.com

I have to make changes to revert this to the set up I did have which used one ID and the iMessages ID and another fro the iCloud sync for Contacts and Mail.

If I manually change it in System Preferences (untick Messages and then change the server in the Messages App it looks like it is going to Log in but take a long time). It also overrides System Preferences and Activates Messages again

I may have to Quit Messages and possible delete and re-add the account without using System Preferences > Internet accounts.

I did a Search on Google to see if there was easy access to set up for other Apps and got this:-

Google Talk with Messages Mac

As I stated at the beginning part of the original issue was the naming of the Google server compared to the ID being used.

I would look at that first.

I presume that the ID works in a web Mail login that has been set up to display Chat as well ?

I have also been searching for a web page at Google that tells you the set up for other apps. (There used to be one for iChat that listed the Server name change and I was hoping to find any new server name).

9:35 p.m. Thursday; August 27, 2015

Have you tried this?

http://zerflin.com/how-to-enable-google-talk-including-google-apps-on-osx-messag es/

I am having the same issue.

I've two Google Apps (I think they call it Google for Work now) and neither will connect with iMessage.

The first was opened when Google Apps was just starting out and was a free service - I had no issues using it with iMessage and could connect with it just fine up until about 30mins ago! (see below).

The second Apps account was set up about 2 weeks ago and I'm only getting to today to configure it with my Mac devices.

On the first account it was a jabber account, but the new one was a GTalk account.

The first allowed me tabs to select to access, eg. ports, but the second, newer account has absolutely no options that I can access - no tabs and all other fields are greyed out.

I removed BOTH accounts from my devices and re-connected them.

Doh!

Now NEITHER will connect with iMessage and BOTH have limited options to set my own preferences.

I'm no techie so I'm nervous to try the instructions in the link I provided, but I wonder if there's some kind soul that might advise me on whether the steps it suggests look credible.

Many thanks everyone.

There's also this:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/34143?hl=en

From Google:

Hi Alex,

Thank you for contacting Google for Work Support. I understand you you are not able to use Apple iMessages with your Google Apps account.

I am not able to locate and Official Google documentation on how to configure such an arrangement. Further to this iMessage is not supported by Google for Work as an application that should work because ultimately it is not a Google product / service. As a courtesy you might try the following:

- It is not possible to use iMessage with Google hangouts, only with Google Talk, hence, if you have already upgraded to the new hangouts you won't be able to use it anymore, you can try reverting to the old hangouts, although, we can't guarantee it will work.

For more information on reverting to Google chat please refer to this article: https://support.google.com/hangouts/answer/3115176?hl=en.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions on the above information and I will gladly respond.

Regards,

Simon

Google for Work Support

So, it looks like Google have ringfenced us - if we use their new platform - Hangouts - we can no longer hook up to iMessage.

Google Chat hooks up to iMessage, but Google Chat is now an obsolete communications channel.

Meh.

Also see:

http://xmpp.org/2015/03/no-its-not-the-end-of-xmpp-for-google-talk/

And:

http://www.disruptivetelephony.com/2015/02/google-finally-kills-off-googletalk-a nd-xmpp-jabber-integration.html

Got it!!!!

I've gone into my Google for Work admin dashboard, selected Apps>Google Apps>Settings for Google Talk/Hangouts>Advanced Settings

and selected in Chat, Hangout chat or Google Talk.

I had it set up (default?) as 'Hangout Chat only'

Set it so that users can use 'Hangout Chat OR Google Talk', then go back into iMessage and you should see that all your linked accounts (including the GTalk accounts, whether Gmail or Google for Work) can connect.

Let me know if this works for you all.

Hi,

Before I saw you post I had solved it another way.

I went to ~/Library/Preferences and removed the com.apple.ichat.Jabber.plist (Google Talk is a Jabber server)

Then I went to the Keychain app and removed all the Google Oath items from the Login keychain and from the iCloud one (But NOT the Application Password that was used in Mail or Messages before)

Then I checked the Certificates and removed any out of date Google ones (there was only one in my case).

I then made the Google Account in Messages Log in again and it worked.

The Mail app never seemed to bat an eyelid over this but about 1/2 an hour later the System Preferences > Internet Accounts wanted me to re-enter the password for the Google Account.

There was an accompanying email which said Google could not tell if it was a new computer or not. (or if someone else was pretending to be me).

9:33 p.m. Sunday; October 11, 2015

Well, alls well that ends well 🙂