Theatwar

Q: Unable to sign into iMessage after El Capitan upgrade

Hello,

 

I'm running OS X 10.11 on a Mac Pro (Mid 2010, 2x2.66 GHz with 64 GB RAM).

 

I upgraded to El Capitan using Software Update, and ever since I've been unable to sign in with my Apple ID to activate iMessage. All of the folks I used to be able to chat with (and whose chat conversations were synced with my iPhone) now have a "-------(phone number)------- is not registered with iMessage" when I click on their names.

 

When I try to sign in with my Apple ID, I get the following alert:

 

"Could not sign in to iMessage. An error occurred during activation. Try again.". After clicking "OK", a message appears in red underneath the Apple ID sign in page: l"An error occurred during authentication."

 

Things I have already tried, to no avail:

 

1. Quit out of Messages, reset my computer's NVRAM, booted up in Safe Mode, log onto Messages, reboot into Normal Mode -- this was a solution posted in:

 

Can't log in to iMessage on El Capitan

 

...but sadly it did not work for me.

 

2. Quit out of Messages, moved all "com.apple.iChat", "com.apple.imagent", and "com.apple.imservice" preferences to a new folder on desktop, then restarted Messages and tried to log in again -- also failed.

 

Would appreciate any tips to restore my ability to log into iMessage with my Apple ID!

Mac Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 3, 2015 12:07 AM

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Q: Unable to sign into iMessage after El Capitan upgrade

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  • by braden85,

    braden85 braden85 Oct 3, 2015 9:19 AM in response to Theatwar
    Community Specialists
    Oct 3, 2015 9:19 AM in response to Theatwar

    Hey Theatwar,

     

    I understand that you are seeing an iMessage activation issue, and that you have already tried some troubleshooting steps. I have a few more troubleshooting suggestions for you, and they can be found here:

    Check your device settings

    1. Make sure that you’re connected to a cellular data or Wi-Fi network. If you're using an iPhone, you'll need SMS messaging to activate your phone number with iMessage and FaceTime. Depending on your carrier, you might be charged for this SMS.
    2. Go to Settings > General > Date & Time and make sure that you've set up your time zone correctly

      Still not activated after a day? 

       

      It might take up to 24 hours to activate iMessage and FaceTime. If you've waited more than 24 hours, follow these steps:

    3. Make sure that your device has the latest version of iOS.
    4. If you're using an iPhone, contact your carrier to make sure that you can receive SMS messages.
    5. Contact Apple Support.

     

    If you get an error when trying to activate iMessage or FaceTime - Apple Support

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201422

     

    Take care, and thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities.

  • by Theatwar,Helpful

    Theatwar Theatwar Oct 3, 2015 9:23 AM in response to braden85
    Level 1 (22 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2015 9:23 AM in response to braden85

    Thanks for the reply! Actually, iMessages are working just fine on my iPhone -- I should have made that more clear -- but I am unable to sign into iMessage after upgrading to El Capitan on my desktop Mac Pro.

  • by braden85,

    braden85 braden85 Oct 3, 2015 1:32 PM in response to Theatwar
    Community Specialists
    Oct 3, 2015 1:32 PM in response to Theatwar

    Sorry about that, Theatwar . This article may be the more relevant one:

     

    Get help signing in to Messages, FaceTime, and Game Center - Apple Support

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204408

     

    Even so, the basic message I wanted you to get was to check your “Set Time and Date Automatically” setting. There is further information in the article above, as well. Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities!

  • by jayv.,

    jayv. jayv. Oct 3, 2015 1:34 PM in response to Theatwar
    Level 4 (1,290 points)
    Oct 3, 2015 1:34 PM in response to Theatwar

    An Issue a lot of folks are having. Unfortunately the only "fix" that seems to have the most success is the one you tried already.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Oct 3, 2015 1:45 PM in response to Theatwar
    Level 9 (73,376 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 3, 2015 1:45 PM in response to Theatwar
  • by Theatwar,

    Theatwar Theatwar Oct 3, 2015 6:44 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (22 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2015 6:44 PM in response to Eric Root

    Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, quitting out of Messages and using Activity Monitor to force quit "imagent" did not resolve the issue.

     

    What's very strange is that once I installed El Capitan, I was able to use messages -- this issue did not come up until I restarted the machine about a day later and then noticed that I wasn't receiving texts on my Messages program that were coming through to my iPhone.

     

    Does anyone else have some thoughts? Would love to troubleshoot some more ideas.

  • by Theatwar,

    Theatwar Theatwar Oct 4, 2015 10:20 AM in response to Theatwar
    Level 1 (22 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 4, 2015 10:20 AM in response to Theatwar

    Now there's something definitely going on with my machine and iCloud. Yesterday I started getting interrupted multiple times by the Finder notifying me that I had to sign into iCloud via Preferences -- I'd sign in, everything would be fine, and then a few minutes later, I'd have to do it again.

     

    Hasn't happened yet today... but very, very strange.

     

    *EDIT: Just happened again. The exact warning that pops up is:

     

    "This Mac can’t connect to iCloud because of a problem with "[myusername]@mac.com". Open iCloud preferences to fix this problem."

     

    Then I click on the "iCloud Preferences..." button and re-log in.

  • by Theatwar,

    Theatwar Theatwar Oct 4, 2015 12:36 PM in response to Theatwar
    Level 1 (22 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 4, 2015 12:36 PM in response to Theatwar

    I've also tried to create a new user using System Preferences/Users & Groups, then I restarted my computer and tried to log into this new user. OS X prompted me to sign into iCloud for this new user account, I tried signing into iCloud using my name & password, but soon after I logged in I got the "This Mac can't connect to iCloud because of a problem..." pop up.

     

    I tried logging in again using iCloud preferences, then opened Messages -- and hit the same snag, I just can't seem to log into messages on this desktop (this time under a new user account) without running into the same issue as on my regular user account -- I get the "Could not sign into iMessage..." warning.

     

    This is driving me crazy. Short of hauling this giant Mac Pro tower into my local Apple Store for a Genius Bar session, are there any other troubleshooting tests I can do to at least narrow down what the issue may be?

     

    Just grasping at straws at this point, but could it be related to my Keychain, perhaps...? When I open Keychain and unlock my iCloud Keychain, I've tried to run "Keychain First Aid" while keeping the "iCloud" Keychain selected, I get a window that shows my User Name (I can edit this) but oddly there's no window present for entering a Password, when I click on Start with either "Verify" or "Repair" selected, I get a blue warning in the dialogue box:

     

    "Keychain can't be unlocked automatically. Please attempt to unlock ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain from Keychain Access."

     

    And then the Keychain locks, even though I've already "unlocked it" with my password before attempting to use Keychain First Aid.

     

    After that another warning pops up on my desktop -- "accountsd wants to use the "login" keychain. Not sure what this is...?

     

    Perhaps this is a completely unrelated issue with my desktop or perhaps it's related to my issues trying to get iMessages to work but I thought perhaps it was worth mentioning.

     

    Would appreciate any help or suggestions, thanks all!

  • by Theatwar,

    Theatwar Theatwar Oct 5, 2015 5:24 PM in response to Theatwar
    Level 1 (22 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 5, 2015 5:24 PM in response to Theatwar

    Spent an hour on the phone with Apple Support trying to troubleshoot this issue -- I discussed both my inability to log into iMessages with my Apple ID, and also the issue of constantly having to sign into iCloud after restarting the machine. (Once logged in, I seem to be okay, but I did notice that every time I restart, my "login" keychain needs to be unlocked.)

     

    The rep helping me seemed to think it could either be a separate issue, or could be all related to having to fix whatever the issue is with my Keychain, as I am unable to use Keychain First Aid (again, I can't seem to enter a password when using Keychain First Aid within Keychain Access).

     

    First she had me restart my computer, then go to my Library and place the "Keychain" folder in the Trash (without emptying), and then restart. She said this would reset my keychain and give me a fresh start.

     

    Upon restarting, I first had to sign into iCloud again, then we tried launching Messages -- unfortunately, the same issue came up, iMessage would not let me sign in with my Apple ID.

     

    She then decided that something must be wrong with my El Capitan installation and took me through the steps of how to reinstall El Capitan by restarting in Recovery Mode.

     

    However I haven't done that yet as it strikes me as a biiiiig step to take.

     

    I am still holding out hope that the experts in Discussions might have some alternate suggestions for fixing my problem(s).

  • by Theatwar,

    Theatwar Theatwar Oct 6, 2015 1:11 PM in response to Theatwar
    Level 1 (22 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 6, 2015 1:11 PM in response to Theatwar

    Still holding out help for some suggestions regarding my inability to sign into iMessages, or my inability to use Keychain First Aid.

  • by Kristian 73,

    Kristian 73 Kristian 73 Oct 9, 2015 8:17 AM in response to Theatwar
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 8:17 AM in response to Theatwar

    I have the same problem.

    I tried to reintall the MacOS el capitan and configure my mac pro as a new machine but the trouble persist. :-(

  • by Kristian 73,

    Kristian 73 Kristian 73 Oct 9, 2015 8:19 AM in response to Theatwar
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 8:19 AM in response to Theatwar

    I tried to reinstall the MacOS el capitan and configure my mac pro as a new machine but the trouble persist. :-(

    I think that it depends on Apple Server.

  • by athleens,

    athleens athleens Oct 9, 2015 8:21 AM in response to Theatwar
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 8:21 AM in response to Theatwar

    I also had this problem (and others related to my keychain).  It turned out that the problems were coming from Junos Pulse, specifically from saving the password in that application.  By unchecking the "save password" setting, I was able to get Junos Pulse to behave and that fixed all the keychain problems, including the inability to log in to iMessages.   They apparently have a patch for Junos Pulse, but it is not yet included in an official release.

  • by conceptDawg3,

    conceptDawg3 conceptDawg3 Oct 9, 2015 8:25 AM in response to athleens
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 9, 2015 8:25 AM in response to athleens

    I don't have Junos Pulse installed (never have) and I am having the same problem. So it's not only a problem with Pulse, though it could be related to other apps using the keychain.

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