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iMessage stuck " updating database " after updating to Yosemite, BUT it works flawlessly when i sign in on Guest account

hi,

I've been reading a lot of post about people having the iMessage issue after updating to Yosemite,

however, my macbook allows me to use iMessage when i use the guest account.

but when try to use it on my primary account it says


" iMessage is updating the database wait or quit and try again "


I've tried rebooting several times,

changing the library ichat folder name to ' ichat.archive '

didn't work .

unchecking my contacts didn't work.

nothing.

if anyone has any ideas on what i should do please help.



according to the activity monitor and what I've read about it ... the IMDPersistenceagent is running and it has something to do with the Messages app; and its consuming most of my CPU , and the fan hasn't stopped running at full speed since i booted this new Yosemite 😠


oh and FaceTime gives me an error message as well, but it says that " there was internal error , sign in failed try again "

MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011), null

Posted on Aug 31, 2015 3:55 PM

Reply
15 replies

Aug 31, 2015 4:35 PM in response to brenee10x

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take an action that isn't working the way you expect. Select any lines that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

Some private information, such as your name or email address, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

Aug 31, 2015 5:47 PM in response to Linc Davis

8/31/15 5:44:39.459 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent) The _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit key is not available on this platform.








followed the instructions exactly. cleared the display - clicked iMessage - this is the log that appeared.

id also like to add that i attempted to sign onto iMessage in another user account, as well as the Guest, and both accounts successfully linked to iMessage. my primary account from which i updated from seems to be the only user account affected.



thank you in advance.

Aug 31, 2015 6:24 PM in response to brenee10x

Back up all data.

Quit Messages if it’s running. Force quit if necessary. After each of the following steps, restart the computer and test. If the problem isn't resolved, quit again and go on to the next step.

Step 1

If you sync Contacts with a service such as iCloud or Google, disable the synchronization in the iCloud or Internet Accounts pane of System Preferences. When prompted to confirm, choose to delete the contacts from the Mac. They'll still be on the servers and on your other devices. Leave the preference pane open.

If Messages works now, re-enable Contacts synchronization, wait for the network contacts to reappear, and see what happens.

Step 2

Make sure you know the ID and password you use with iMessage.

Launch the Keychain Access application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

Select the login keychain from the list on the left side of the Keychain Access window. If your default keychain has a different name, select that.

If the lock icon in the top left corner of the window shows that the keychain is locked, click to unlock it. You'll be prompted for the keychain password, which is the same as your login password, unless you've changed it.

From the menu bar, select

Keychain Access Keychain First Aid

from the menu bar and repair the keychain.

From the Category list in the lower left corner of the window, select

My Certificates

Look carefully at the list of certificates in the right side of the window. If any of them is marked with a red "X" as expired or invalid, delete it. Also delete all items with "iMessage" or "com.apple.idms" in the name, whether valid or not.

Now select

Keychain Access Preferences... Certificates

There are three menus in the window. Change the selection in the top two to Best attempt, and in the bottom one to CRL.

Next, select

Passwords

in the Category list. Enter "ids" (without the quotes) in the search box in the toolbar of the window. Delete all items of type "application password" that have a name beginning in any of the following ways:

ids:

IDS:

com.apple.ids:

Quit Keychain Access. Log out and log back in.

Step 3

Hold down the option key and select

Go Library

from the Finder menu bar. Move the following items from the Library folder to the Trash (some may not exist):

Containers/com.apple.corerecents.recentsd

Caches/com.apple.Messages

Caches/com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent

Containers/com.apple.iChat/Data/Library/Caches

Containers/com.apple.soagent

IdentityServices

Leave the Library folder open.

Step 4

Go back to the Finder and move the following item from the open Library folder to the Desktop:

Messages

Note: you are not moving the Messages application. You’re moving a folder named “Messages.”

If Messages now works, delete the Messages folder on the Desktop. Otherwise, quit Messages again. Put back the folder you moved, overwriting the newer one that may have been created in its place.

Step 5

In the Preferences subfolder, there may be several files having names that begin with any of the following strings:

com.apple.iChat

com.apple.ids

com.apple.imdsmsrecordstore

com.apple.imessage

com.apple.imservice

Move them all to the Desktop. There may also be a file with the name "com.apple.imagent.plist". Move that to the Trash.

Also in the Preferences folder, there's a subfolder named "ByHost". Open it and do the same thing.

Log out and log back in. Test again. This time Messages should perform normally, but your settings will be lost. You may be able to put back some of the files you moved to the Desktop in this step. Relaunch and test after each one. Eventually you should find one or more that causes Messages to malfunction. Delete those files and recreate whatever settings they contained.

If the issue is still not resolved, quit Messages again and put all the items you moved to the Desktop back where they were. You don’t need to replace the items you moved to the Trash. Stop here and post your results.

If you later decide that you don’t like the results of Steps 3 and 4, you can undo them completely by quitting Messages and restoring the items you deleted in those steps from your backup.

Aug 31, 2015 6:59 PM in response to Linc Davis

i did everything you said to the T.

and it still doesn't work.


and you said at the end " put all those files back in the folders " the ones you asked me to move to the desktop... how on earth ... am i supposed to put all those files back into their respective folders?


I'm able to log onto iMessage in all user accounts on this same Macbook. Except my primary account.

what else is there for me to do ?

i didn't backup prior to upgrading so i really am just at a lost for action.

😐

Aug 31, 2015 7:11 PM in response to Linc Davis

nope i didn't back up .

i have all my files backed up individually. but as far as a system wide rebootable backup type thing? no .

I'm extremely frustrated. I've been trying to solve this since 11AM. it is now 7PM where i am, so i kind of just skipped thru that in hopes your solutions would solve my issue.


any idea on what i should do now?

this is killing me because

i simply just want my fan to turn off.

im **** near in tears.

my fan is running at full speed at all times because of that imessage process .

meaning that its running thru my 100% battery in a matter of 30-40 minutes.

meaning my ability to use my laptop unless I'm strapped to a wall outlet is void.


any help is appreciated.

Aug 31, 2015 7:42 PM in response to brenee10x

I don't get involved in no-backup situations. I'm going to assume that you've backed up all data that you intend to keep, and that you know how to restore anything you need from a backup, bearing in mind that you will eventually lose any data that isn't backed up, no matter what else you do. If my assumption is wrong and you lose data for any reason, please don't ask me for help with that problem. I have none to offer.


If you don't want to put back the files you moved, just delete them. It doesn't much matter, since Messages isn't working anyway. You can always restore from a backup later, if you need to.


I still don't know whether you restarted.

Aug 31, 2015 8:41 PM in response to Linc Davis

yes sir , i restarted after every test. and again at the end of it all.

and yes, i Don't care about losing any data. i know better than to be worried about losing data. i have my 1TB xHD right here with me so all is well on the data end. only thing I'm gonna lose is setting, preferences, etc.


I think i want to just delete this user account as a whole, and just use the user accounts that are actually functional with iMessage.

I've copied all my files, keychains etc. and I've stowed the home folder of my primary account on my xhd just in case i ever wanna go back and look at something.


will all my music and apps still be on the computer after i delete this account and its home folder ?

or will everything be gone ?


what do think about my idea? lol cus i can't find a solution , and I've followed all your instructions.

Aug 31, 2015 8:53 PM in response to brenee10x

Back up all data before proceeding.

Hold down the option key and select

Go Library

from the Finder menu bar. From the Library folder, move the entire contents of the subfolder "Caches" (not the folder itself) to the Trash, then log out or restart the computer. Empty the Trash. Test.

If the problem is not solved, quit all running applications except the Finder. Open the Library folder again in the same way and move the entire contents of each of the following subfolders

Application Support

Containers

Group Containers

Preferences

(not the folders themselves) to a new folder on the Desktop (not to the Trash.) The "Group Containers" folder exists only in OS X 10.10 and later. Log out again.

The account will then be pretty much in a clean state. Test. If you can still reproduce the problem, then put all the folder contents back, replacing any that were created in their place, and log out.

To replace a preference file, you may have to move it to the Trash, then put the old one in its place. The change may take effect only after logging out.

If you can't reproduce the problem in the clean state, then start putting things back piecemeal, starting with items that seem unrelated to the issue. I can’t be more specific. After each group of items, log out and test. At some point, the problem may reappear, in which case you know that something in the last batch of files you restored is at fault. If it never reappears, the problem is solved.

Sep 1, 2015 9:42 AM in response to Linc Davis

i haven't tried this method yet,

because now i am actually interested in wiping this account clean.

main reason being : when i view my storage info in finder it says i have 10 GB of photos and 15 GB go 'other ' i have NO photos on my laptop . and i Don't have a lot of self created documents certainly not 15GB worth.. so I am thinking that perhaps wiping this user account will free up those 25GB? I'm a Film Student so i need my memory for production... do you know of a safe way to go about investigating the misused memory ? or should i legit just wipe it off ?

Sep 1, 2015 10:15 AM in response to brenee10x

For information about the Other category in the Storage display, see this support article. If the display seems to be inaccurate, try rebuilding the Spotlight index.

Empty the Trash if you haven't already done so. If you use iPhoto, empty its internal Trash first:

iPhoto ▹ Empty Trash

In Photos:

File Show Recently Deleted Delete All

Do the same in other applications, such as Aperture, that have an internal Trash feature. Then restart the computer. That will temporarily free up some space.

According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation—not the mythical 10%, 15%, or any other percentage. You also need enough space left over to allow for growth of the data. There is little or no performance advantage to having more available space than the minimum Apple recommends. Available storage space that you'll never use is wasted space.

When Time Machine backs up a portable Mac, some of the free space will be used to make local snapshots, which are backup copies of recently deleted files. The space occupied by local snapshots is reported as available by the Finder, and should be considered as such. In the Storage display of System Information, local snapshots are shown as Backups. The snapshots are automatically deleted when they expire or when free space falls below a certain level. You ordinarily don't need to, and should not, delete local snapshots yourself. If you followed bad advice to disable local snapshots by running a shell command, you may have ended up with a lot of data in the Other category. Ask for instructions in that case.

See this support article for some simple ways to free up storage space.

You can more effectively use a tool such as OmniDiskSweeper (ODS) or GrandPerspective (GP) to explore the volume and find out what's taking up the space. You can also delete files with it, but don't do that unless you're sure that you know what you're deleting and that all data is safely backed up. That means you have multiple backups, not just one. Note that ODS only works with OS X 10.8 or later. If you're running an older OS version, use GP.

Deleting files inside a photo or iTunes library will corrupt the library. Changes to such a library must be made from within the application that created it. The same goes for Mail files.

Proceed further only if the problem isn't solved by the above steps.

ODS or GP can't see the whole filesystem when you run it just by double-clicking; it only sees files that you have permission to read. To see everything, you have to run it as root.

Back up all data now.

Install the app in the Applications folder as usual. Quit it if it's running.

Triple-click anywhere in the corresponding line of text below on this page to select it, then copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

For ODS:

security execute-with-privileges /A*/OmniDiskSweeper.app/*/M*/* 2>&-

For GP:

security execute-with-privileges /A*/GrandPerspective.app/*/M*/* 2>&-

Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. You'll be prompted for your login password.

The application window will open behind other open windows. When you scan a volume, the window will eventually show all files in all folders, sorted by size. It may take a few minutes for the app to finish scanning.

I don't recommend that you make a habit of doing this. Don't delete anything as root. If something needs to be deleted, make sure you know what it is and how it got there, and then delete it by other, safer, means. When in doubt, leave it alone or ask for guidance.

When you're done with the app, quit it and also quit Terminal.

Sep 1, 2015 11:00 AM in response to Linc Davis

yes I'm very familiar with omni sweeper , i use it to delete but it doesn't tell me what the " other " is . hence, the other can't be found.


and of course all my trashes are empty in all apps.


yet and still my finder shows that i have 10GB of photos. and 15 GB of " other "


I've never done a backup so there isn't any backups on my hd.

the only thing that i have left here are self created documents and music.

I've deleted EVERYTHING else.


i just deleted all masters in my iPhoto library and the finder STILL reads 10GB of memory used for photos.


I'm really just interested in wiping clean at this point, because the memory is clearly tied up and and not running correctly.

Sep 1, 2015 1:54 PM in response to brenee10x

Hi,


This is normally caused at an update by the ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iChat/Data/Library/Messages/Archive folder getting corrupted and not showing as a Folder.


Navigate as Linc has said to the ~/Library then open the Folders in the path above.

If the Archive item is not a Folder then change it's name.

Recreate a Folder and call it Archive.


Restart Messages.


If you have a Back Up then you can fill the Archive folder from the Back Up so that it has a "History"





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9:54 p.m. Tuesday; September 1, 2015


 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

iMessage stuck " updating database " after updating to Yosemite, BUT it works flawlessly when i sign in on Guest account

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