Q: Yosemite Messages Screen Sharing Broken?

Scotomatic:

I am re-reading some of these posts and just went to check the Internet Setting preferences.

Somehow my AIM account was not enabled for iMessages. 

I don't know yet if that is going to solve my issues yet because I still have to test out dumping openDNS settings at the router.

Also, I have gmail active for iMessages and thought this should work but did not.

I am wondering now about the security updates we keep getting from Apple if for some reason they needed to uncheck the AIM account for security reasons.

Otherwise, having the AIM account disabled for iMessages is a bone headed move on my part.

There are so many moving pieces here, this is not as easy to set up as it used to be.

Skype for the Mac is very easy to use.  Unfortunately, you can not control the screen being shared with you.

You can only give oral commands.

Check your Dad's Internet Settings under the Mavericks System Preferences to be sure they are set up correctly.

If not, that may be one reason screen sharing is not working.

I am writing up a checklist that I can share later after I have figured this out on my end.

I have a couple of AIM accounts. One was enabled, one was not. But that wasn't the issue because as I mentioned, I was able to initiate screen sharing successfully from his computer to mine, but not vice versa. Actually, I was able to connect via screen sharing and he gets the message on his end that says he is sharing his screen with me. However, the video feed of his computer screen never appears. I only hear audio from his side. I have rebooted both his and my computer, but no success.

We are having the same issues. 

However, we are not getting the video feed from either system even though we can show we are sharing the screen in the menu bar.

I show two gmail accounts but only one AIM account.  It is going in and out of enable and disabled automatically for some reason.

On one of the routers: One by one I have tried the following to no avail:

I tried disabling SPI on the router.

I tried disabling the openDNS usage from the router.

I turned the firewall off so that stealth mode is not active.

I turned on the WAN ping bit on the router.

I probably need to go through this on the router on the other side as well.

There is something fundamental that is having problems.

I think I need to go back and read a basic setup of instructions for screen sharing and iMessages to see what I may be doing wrong.

I don't quite understand the naming issue with the messaging accounts that was mentioned previously.

Hi,

If it is to an non Yosemite computer then you will be using AIM or Jabber connections to do so.

This Means that both ends should have the Video menu and Screen Sharing there Enabled.

IT is worth checking in Messages and System Preferences > Internet accounts that any AIM Screen Name is Active for Messages.

IF at some point you have enabled your AIM name to be a Mail account as well make sure the Messages app is listing the right form of the Name.

General speaking it should be "Username" only and not the @AIM.com  bit at all.  (it can sometimes make a differences if it is an AOL account in the first place.

I gained my AIM name via Netscape years ago.

Internet Accounts lists it as my Screen Name@AOL.com but in Messages it is only listed as my Screen Name.

This makes a difference for A/V connections.

8:13 pm      Monday; March 23, 2015

I checked the AIM accounts to ensure everything is set up properly. Everything seems fine.

I tried a second AIM account as well which behaved the same way. The interesting thing is that my dad said that my account appears to be set to "Away" even though on my end it is set to "Available." The part that is confusing is that we are able to connect partially via screen sharing. He gets a successful message on his screen that says he is sharing his screen with me and I start hearing his voice.

His screen just never appears on mine as the last step of the process. I'm not sure why this final part doesn't work -- like something is blocking it. It works the other way around where I can share my screen with his.

Hi Scotomatic:

I have been better able to use Jabbar/Gmail account to make a connection then the AIM/AOL account.

I have not address the naming issue yet but I can't get as far now with the AIM accounts.

I was able to remotely share a Yosemite window screen down to a user using Mavericks.

However, we were unable to share the Mavericks screen up to the Yosemite computer screen.

Screen sharing is basically the Apple Remote Desktop application running for everyone. 

I use Apple's Remote Desktop application to support the machines I have in my small business.

I have been toggling back and forth between Screen Sharing and Remote Management system preference settings to no avail.

Do you or have you used apple remote desktop on your or your Dad's computer.

I have Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) and we had an update to ARD recently that may have caused some issues.

Do you recall accepting an ARD update recently on your machine and your Dad's machine?

I don't yet have two machines using Yosemite to confirm my suspicions as I have been slow to upgrade my systems, waiting for version 2 of Yosemite.

However, I am now wondering if the ARD update may not have been compatible with older systems.

That might explain why the Yosemite machine is able to share its screen downward but not the other way around.

My Macbook Air  laptop is still on Mountain Lion 10.8.5.  I just tried screen sharing again with a Yosemite computer on a LAN using Bonjour.

This should avoid port router issues and most remote connection issues.

I can share a Yosemite computer screen down to my laptop on Mountain Lion but not the other way around. 

The Mountain Lion screen will not share up to the Yosemite screen.

If I mischaracterized this previously, I am sorry.

As I mentioned above, I was able to confirm a similar result with a remote Mavericks user.

This makes me wonder about the latest ARD update, particularly because it is what provides the screen sharing.

Ralph Johns may have more insight on the ARD update issue than I.

Thanks for all your comments Ralph. 

Hi,

If your end says you are logged in and Set to "Available" and everyone else is seeing your as "Away" it suggests that there is a second Login somewhere.

For AIM accounts go to Messages > Preferences > Accounts > Accounts info and uncheck the box for Enable this account so you log Out then Uncheck the Allow Multiple Logins before Logging back in again.

You used to get an error message back from the AOLSysMesages account that let you send a number to log out the other instance but I have not seen this for a while (you sent 1 if another Login was there before the current attempt or 2 if you though there was a second login as well before you current attempt).

With some many versions of AIM for different devices it may well take a while to track down the login.

You should not forget and web Login to AIM because it stays Logged in for a default 2 week period if you don't log out specifically before leaving the page.

For Jabber (includes Google and Facebook chat) you need to change this Priority setting

Again you have to Log out first.

When this was first Added to the iChat or Messages settings it listed a Priority of 23 which was the same as a Web page login to Google's Web Mail Page where GoogleTalk could be accessed.

I have never quite worked out if higher numbers are a higher priority or if zero just outranks them.

What this does allow you to do is set a different priority on each device.

So a work computer could out rank the home one when it logs in and a  phone could outrank that so you could stay in touch when away from both computers.

It does rely on you turning Off or Logging out of devices not being used.

As I have said again this can also be a Web Site Login and Google's default is also two weeks.

You can specifically Log out on a web page to "correct" this.

9:18 pm      Tuesday; March 24, 2015

Ralph,

Thanks for the big effort to try to help me out. Following your instructions, I was able to get my name to appear with a green dot next to it as available on my dad's computer. Unfortunately, the same result. We are able to connect and I hear the successful connection sound. I hear his voice, but my screen never shrinks down to reveal his screen. I checked his screen sharing settings in both the System preferences and in Messages. Everything is checked appropriately.

I changed the priority settings in Jabber. I logged out of all accounts online as you suggested.

Not sure what else to try.

Thanks again for the help.

Scott

Hi Ralph:

So what you are saying is that multiple logins is not good.

I have not had any problem getting to show that I am available and away.

I can see how these accounts may not know which computer to share video with if they are all logged in at the same time.

They do know which computer to share audio with.

Scotomatic is correct - Everything seems to start up properly between the two systems but the final step of actually showing the screen video does not occur, even though the system that is sharing its screen seems to think it is doing so properly. The one way direction between Yosemite and Mavericks/Mountain Lion seems really fishy to me. 

I have a few more tests to try before I give up.  In the mean time, I decided to report this as a bug to Apple and Apple Remote Desktop group. 

Thanks again.

Hi,

I use Little Snitch  which can be set to Alert before Allow the ports and IP addresses an app is using.

I don't have two Jabber accounts at the moment so I tested between two AIM Accounts on my iMac (Yosemite) and MacBook Pro (iChat5)

I see this in Little Snitch

At the bottom of the Messages section is port 443 (the iMessage login).

the Port 5678 on UDP is the visible invite to the other computer.

The 16402 is the Audio chat  for the Screen Share (Same port as a Video Chat of Audio Only chat is normally on).

Below that are the ports the start of the app uses to check the Internet Speed.

The 3 highlighted in App's own highlight blue  are the ones that popped up during the Invite process about the VNC connection.

Two of these are outside the documented ports for Messages/iChat or for the ARD app itself  (port 5900).

The NetInfo connection on port 1033 is also new.

Also these ports do not match (other than the Audio Chat part) the port used on the MacBook Pro.

I am not sure what this actually tells us right now except that Messages is still using random ports to do the VNC (Screen Sharing) part whilst doing an Audio Chat along side.

I don't have another Yosemite computer to test the Invoking of the Screen Sharing app.

However if I use the Finders Side bar and the Screen Share button in a Finder window for the "server" for the MacBook Pro I see no alerts in Little Snitch, but Screen Sharing still works.  This is of course Local Network stuff that Little Snitch does not normally look at.

8:16 pm      Wednesday; March 25, 2015

Hi,

Yes Multiple Logins to the same Accounts can cause confusion, more so if they are capable of doing video or Audio Chats.

I have been sat here in the past with three computer On and logged in to the various Accounts I have and then received an Invite.

Like FaceTime now on several devices  you get multiple invites to try an answer and even if you get one started it is not always successful.

Nowadays I only fire up iChat on my other computer to test something.

Changing your Status does depend if the computer you are using has the prime login for the accounts you use.

It does appear though that something is amiss here that is not being easily solved by things that have worked in the past.

8:31 pm      Wednesday; March 25, 2015

A solution to this issue was posted here:

mavericks messages not screen sharing

See the post by UM-LinuxGuru dated Mar 24, 2015 on the 2d page of the thread. [If there's a way to link to a specific post on these forums, somebody please tell me. So far I haven't seen any.]

There's one error in that post: the correct file path is /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement (he left out '/System').

I followed this procedure and it resolved the problem. I don't know what are the risks/pitfalls (if any) of using an older version of Remote Desktop Client, so proceed at your own risk.

Before the fix, I was able to share my screen with my parents, but when I sent a request to share their screen, the request hung after they accepted it. I had previously shared their screen without problems, but I don't recall the last time it worked; maybe it was when I was on Mavericks, before switching (I almost said 'upgraded' ) to Yosemite. (See my posts in that thread.)

I hope this helps.

My system:

MacPro 2009 8-Core 2.26 GHz ('Nehalem')

16GB RAM

Mac OS 10.10.2

Parent's system:

iMac 2010 (I think), 21"

Mac OS 10.9.5

Robert: Thanks for that information.

I upgraded my laptop to Yosemite last night so I now have two computers using Yosemite on my LAN.

Using a bonjour connection between two mac computers over a LAN, I was able to screen share both directions.

With Mountain Lion and Yosemite on the same two computers and the same Bonjour connection, I was only able to share the Yosemite computer screen down to the Mountain Lion Screen on my laptop. I could not share the Mountain Lion Screen on the laptop with the Yosemite computer screen on the mac mini.

Thus, this is a bug in the upgrade to Apple Remote Desktop clients. 

I have already reported this bug to Apple recently.  If more of you report the same, maybe Apple will do something about it.

This further confirms the ARD client upgrade has issues:

Thank you UM-LinuxGuru

"UM-LinuxGuruMar 24, 2015 1:09 PM Re: mavericks messages not screen sharing
Re: mavericks messages not screen sharingin response to David Vrooman

I happened to stumble across this issue. I loaded a test machine with a Mavericks 10.9.0 installer, then selected upgrades to see what would break it. It is RDC Update 3.8.2 v1.1. After spending time with AppleCare, they told me I might see a fix in a week. Right. I need a fix right now.

So, I used my 15 years of Linux diagnostic skills, and came up with a quick fix, which I will test further. I downloaded Apple Remote Desktop 3.7 Client . If you try to install it now, it will say, "Can't, newer already installed." Fine. goto /Library/CoreServices/, archive RemoteManagement, then put RemoteManagement in the trash (as admin), and empty the trash. Now run the 3.7 installer. I now have screen sharing again, while I wait for Apple's fix.

I will test updates 3.7.1 and 3.7.2 if I can find them."

Robert had a correction to this instruction:

"One correction: the path to the Remote Management folder is: /System/Library/CoreServices/  (not /Library/CoreServices/)"

Here is the link to report the bug regarding ARD clients 3.8:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/remotedesktop.html