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** Clean Install OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 -- iMessage/FaceTime Activation Doesn't Work

Starting a new thread here since it seems like the other one is getting cluttered up with keychain issues and such.


ISSUE SUMMARY:

There is an issue activating iMessage / FaceTime on a clean install of OS X El Capitan 10.11.4. Error message in iMessage when logging in is "An error occurred during authentication." FaceTime hangs and doesn't report an error. iCloud login works fine as does system login using Apple ID.


DETAILS & ATTEMPTED TROUBLESHOOTING:

  • I have tried this on several different iMacs/Mac Book Pros in our office AND I have tested used two unique apple IDs. None of this makes any difference: it doesn't work on any clean installations.
  • The obvious steps of formatting the drive and reinstalling OS X El Capitan has no impact.
  • The same Apple IDs can successfully login to iMessage/FaceTime on a clean install of OS X Yosemite machine. Updating a machine from OS X Yosemite -> OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 results in being able to successfully login to iMessage/FaceTime. (Note: I would follow these steps instead of posting here, but OS X Yosemite isn't compatible with iMac 5k Late 2015 models)
  • Followed steps in other posts to remove items from the keychain / change the keychain password. This did not make any difference. (Note: I wiped the machine and started over after this step so as to rule out further messing up the machine by tinkering with the keychain)
  • Tried the OS X El Capitan 10.11 installer followed by the 10.11.4 combo update. No difference.


So....Is there a BUG in OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 that is preventing iMessage activations on clean (aka non-upgraded) OS X installations? Does anyone else care to test what I'm seeing?

Posted on Mar 23, 2016 5:23 AM

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Posted on Apr 24, 2017 2:04 AM

Finally everything works like a charm 🙂

41 replies

Mar 23, 2016 12:48 PM in response to antknee869

I am not sure about that. I did a network recovery back to OS X Yosemite because thats what my machine came with and now I am seeing the issue in Yosemite as well. I really think its a Server side issue at Apple because of the iMessage patching that was done both server side and in the OS X 10.11.4 build to mitigate iMessage vulnerabilities. Just my opinion though, no hard facts.

Mar 23, 2016 1:01 PM in response to Diegosos

I agree, but only now that I've spent hours trying to get this to work! What really bugs me is that Apple's System Status page shows iCloud and iMessage as in full working order, when people are having problems with iCloud Keychain across iOS and OS X, accompanied by iMessage and FaceTime issues in El Capitan. There are strong indications of server issues (albeit ones that seem to be affecting El Capitan in particular) and yet the status page shows everything as hunky dory.

Mar 23, 2016 1:12 PM in response to Uinluan574

woow interesting that you have the issue in Yosemite, i am not going to do internet recovery to get mavericks to log in there, the process is just daunting and long... But if you couldnt log in in yosemite, then i am starting to beleive that is the server then. Is just to weird that on Monday I was running 10.11.4 used facetime and imessages on tuesday with no problem, then decided (my luck) to fresh install el capitan, which i now regret from the bottom of my heart. So here are the key facts that are found so far:


- Fresh installs of 10.11.4 seems to refuse letting you sign in to facetime and imessage (there is also a terrible bug witht he keychain BTW)


- It seems to be affecting people who fresh installed as opposed to those who were signed in beforehand and then ran the update.


- Every other service (icloud, and software) seems to be fine


- restoring and installing again seems to have no effect


- some people are experiencing it in older OS's


-ABSOLUTELY every troubleshooting from apple support or online seems ineffective


- if is a problem with server traffic, then someone who has been on this issue for more than 10 hours should get at least a chance to log in (if traffic is the culprit), and yes i have been dealing with this since yesterday...


-if its because of the launch of the SE, is actually tomorrow not today. if the launch was today i would understand, but is not is tomorrow, so people havent started buying it yet and signing in... So its just weird (maybe people started buying it in australia and new zealand, but is just not that many users trying to log in just yet!!!



I Would understand glitches and bugs from an os with third party software, but knwing that its actually apple products and services as well as software not working properly together, is reason enough for them to be at least a tiny bit embarrased, coz it just looked like they are rushing updates just for the sake of realising something, I think as users that we are, i would definitely prefer to wait a little bit longer to get a proper OS tested and with minimal bugs.

this update just brought the most annoying problem on An apple product and for my opinion the most ridiculous and dramatic bug i have ever seen after an update.


if anyone has mor facts or info please just add!!! Or correct me if anything i wrote here is wrong 🙂

Mar 23, 2016 2:10 PM in response to bevnetcraven

I am having the same exact issue withiMessage, "An error occurred during authentication." Not to mention Facetime not connecting. The issue seems to be a clean installation of OS X El Capitan 10.11.4. You're suggesting that the only solution would be to do a clean install of Yosemite then upgrade to El Capitan 10.11.4. Although I would prefer to do a clean installation of OS X El Capitan 10.11.4, it is becoming apparent that it is impossible because of software issues/bugs. I've been on the phone with Apple for hours trying to fix this and with no luck.

Mar 23, 2016 4:11 PM in response to bevnetcraven

I am new to mac i bought Macbook Air 13 and on first start i have created apple id but always lag on accepting conditions so i restart macbook i skip apple id and go to t he app store i clicked on log in and type in my apple id and password and always is there running endless circle as loading and i can't log in. I am logged into iCloud but i can't log in to the store.I have verified my apple id and all but still can't log in to the store so please help.

Mar 23, 2016 4:31 PM in response to KebabCZ

Apple's System status finally now acknowledges a problem for 'some users trying to sign in' to iMessage and FaceTime.


User uploaded file


KebabCZ: as above, there is little you can do but wait for Apple to resolve the problem. Also, if you can't be bothered to use punctuation, don't expect people to bother trying to make sense of your wall of text.

Mar 24, 2016 3:27 AM in response to bevnetcraven

It looks like this is a server side problem and not 10.11.4 itself.


This morning my Messages and FaceTime logged in ok (after some wait).

Also, my Keychain is syncing again after I reset it during my troubleshooting. I don't recommend doing that, as it means multiple password entries...


iCloud.com Photos, ICD and Notes are not still accessing the server.

** Clean Install OS X El Capitan 10.11.4 -- iMessage/FaceTime Activation Doesn't Work

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