Messages not responding on Macbook

Do a backup.

Quit the application.

Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J. When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder. Select Library. Then go to Preferences/com.apple.iChat.plist. Move the .plist to your desktop.

Restart the computer, open the application and test. If it works okay, delete the plist from the desktop.

If the application is the same, return the .plist to where you got it from, overwriting the newer one.

Thanks to leonie for some information contained in this.

I have this problem too. Tried your recommended steps, and didn't work.

For me, the icon bounces in the doc for about 45-60 seconds before finally opening. It's annoying as ****. Any other suggestions would be most appreciated.

Does it work once opened?

Yes.

In that case go to the Contacts app > Preferences > Accounts and select just one account to sync with.

If you are using only one account deselect that (Elect to keep the Contacts "On the Mac") and see if that improve things.

9:33 pm Tuesday; May 19, 2015

Hi everyone!.

I'm having a similar problem with iMessage on my Mac.

The icon jumps (only once) on the dock when I try to get it started but that's it. It never opens and I can't even access to the application menu since the pointer is replaced by this "colorful thinking wheel". I tried it several times (even rebooting) but each and every one I had to force the exit.

HELP please!... :-(

Try a restart.

Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.

Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

Isolating an issue by using another user account

If the problem is still there, try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account. Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don't do them all at once.

Safe Mode - Mavericks also Yosemite

Safe Mode - About

Eric,

Thanks a lot for your quick reply and sorry for my late one 😊

I'll study your instructions in detail 😕 and let you know.

Thanks again.

Regards,

Adriana

Ralph seems to be the font of all knowledge here and I wonder if he (or anyone else) has any advice re my Messages problem:

I've been using Messages (and iChat before that) without problem since I first got a Mac in 2008 up until (I think) the move to Yosemite. Now pretty much every time I try to make a video call with a colleague I end up with the "there was a communications error during your chat" message - "Messages didn't receive a response from Xxxxx". I get this response even though I know via texting that my Chum has received a request to join and clicked accept! I've changed my AIM account to an iCloud address and deselected "Allow AOL's server to relay video chats" as these two actions seemed to work with my UK based contacts but not with colleagues based outside UK (e.g. Ukraine). Bizarrely my UK colleagues seem better able to connect with me rather than me to them although they get "comms error" frequently too. I'm on fibre-optic broadband and everything used to work flawlessly - until Yosemite...

Is this an issue with the AOL AIM service? Are there other video link service providers? Interestingly, a recent problem setting up Messages for a friend - with a Yahoo email account - it turned out that Yahoo no longer supports video conferencing!

Any thoughts? I've copied and saved "Details" a number of times - sometimes 30+ pages although today only 6 pages:

--------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------

Many thanks for any help provided.

Hi,

From OS X 10.4.7 these connection error logs have been available to read.

http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/page16a.html

More recently the Error Numbers used in Messages have changed with a sort of general "1000" added to the numbers.

1008 would therefore relate to Error 8 on the link page above.

If it is not a Port issue the Error 1008 can be a bit of a catch-all for everything it can't fit into more precise errors.

This bit from the first paragraph is the main info:-

... State change from Connecting to Ended. 2015-06-24 16:09:13 +0100: 0x62800018f080: Error 1008 (Did not receive a response from 0x62800018f080.) ...

Your invite goes out on port 5678 using the UDP protocol.

Your Buddy sees the Visible invite on port 5678 as well.

What happens then is the SIP part (Session Initiation Protocol) resends and invite but this time behind the scenes and it is this that the Log is about.

So you then have this:-

Video Conference Error Report:
133.457950 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-473/SIP/SIP.c:2255 type=4 (900A0015/316)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
[]

The first line here is actually a title to this section so I have bolded it.

The next bit to look at is:-

[INVITE sip:user@rip:16402 SIP/2.0

Via: SIP/2.0/UDP lip:16402;branch=z9hG4bK60fa874c1ea61568 Max-Forwards: 70
To: "u0" <sip:user@rip:16402>
From: "0" <sip:user@lip:16402>;tag=163467942

Call-ID: 1e51a82f8462ac2-1a82-11e5-b306-c768da4d4012@lip CSeq: 1 INVITE
Contact: <sip:user@lip:16402>;isfocus
User-Agent: Viceroy 1.4

Content-Type: application/sdp Content-Length: 686

rip = Remote IP = Buddy.

lip = Local IP = you.

Max forwards. (nowhere is ever more that 64 internet connecting servers away from anywhere else so the 70 allows for LAN based items)

It says here the app is trying port 16402 (where it should since iChat 4).

isFocus says you did the inviting.

That is followed by:-

v=0
o=Scubaman 0 0 IN IP4 lip
s=0
c=IN IP4 lip
b=AS:2147483647
t=0 0
a=hwi:1056:8:2800
a=iChatEncryption:NO
a=bandwidthDetection:YES
m=audio 16402 RTP/AVP 110 12 124 3 0 a=rtcp:16402
a=rtpmap:110 X-AAC_LD/22050
a=rtpmap:3 GSM/8000
a=rtpmap:0 PCMU/8000
a=rtpmap:124 iLBC/8000
a=fmtp:124 mode=30
a=rtpID:836342453
m=video 16402 RTP/AVP 123 126 34
a=rtcp:16402
a=rtpmap:123 H264/90000
a=rtpmap:126 X-H264/90000
a=rtpmap:34 H263/90000
a=fmtp:34 imagesize 1 rules 30:352:288 a=framerate:30
a=RTCP:AUDIO 16402 VIDEO 16402
a=fmtp:126 imagesize 0 rules 30:640:480:640:480:30 a=fmtp:123 imagesize 0 rules 30:640:480:640:480:30 a=rtpID:2503453442
]

It tells you the shortname of the Local user (it can show the AIM screen Name if the connection progresses a bit further)

The s=0 should be the bit where your Buddy's info should be - generally indicative that your end did not "see" any response in the SIP bit.

It goes on the say which ports the Video and Audio will be on (they have both been on the same port since iChat but the basis of the report is from earlier).

Then it tells you the size of the pic (640 X 480 is Max). The 30 is Frames per sec.

The very last section tells you what it can see about your router.

It is doing Full Cone. Messages likes this and will show Green In the Connection Doctor > Network tab.

Try this:-

In the Messages app > Preferences > Accounts and the System Preferences > Internet Account check the details of the AIM/AOL account.

I found that in Yosemite a plain AIM screen Names was added to Internet Accounts as an AOL account and the @AOL.com was added to it.

In Messages Mine stayed as a Plain Screen Name (No @AOL.com or @AIM.com) and it worked in Text and Video chats.

I have heard of some finding Text Chats work with Messages showing ScreenName@AOL.com but not allowing Video.

If this has happened delete the account in Messages.

Set up the account again (chose AOL) and list only the Screen Name.

It should now be listed in Messages as just a Screen Name and tell you it is an AIM account.

If it plays up whilst you set this up delete the account in Internet Accounts and use Messages only to set it up.

8:57 p.m. Wednesday; June 24, 2015

Ralph,

Many thanks for your prompt and comprehensive response which I'll check out and feedback results.

Best regards

Scubaman31 (John!)