When attempting to sign into Face Time on my iMac, I consistely get this error message:
An error occurred during activation. Please try again.
Face Time does work in my iPhone and iPad, and I am using messages seamlessly between all 3. I have tried both a wired, and Wifi connection on my iMac, and still receive the error message. 😐
Who can help me figure this out?
iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)
Try these:
-Turn FaceTime on/off in System Preferences
-Check that your email address is verified in Facetime>Preferences
-Make sure Date/Time Zone is set correctly
Copied from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203585
OK - I verified my email address, and date and time.
In System Preferences, I dont have an option Face Time?? Even when I have Face Time open, (but not logged in) I don't have a Preferences option like in any other application. 😕
Preferences should be there in the FaceTime application.
See if the the troubleshooting steps in this support article help:
If you get an error when trying to activate iMessage or FaceTime - Apple Support
And a question - are you using Two-Step Verification or Two-Factor Authentication? If so, you have to generate an App-Specific password for FaceTime and Messages:
Using app-specific passwords - Apple Support
Best of luck,
GB
...appreciate the screen shot. My Preferences are greyed out....
Thank you. Most of the trouble shooting is focused on iPhone or iPad. I completed the 2-step and still nothing. 😟
OK, a couple of things. If the Preferences under the FaceTime option when you open FaceTime is greyed out, then how did you sign into FaceTime on your Mac?
Also, when you say you completed the Two-Step, does that mean that you were not using it before and you just set it up?
Cheers,
GB
Thanks for your reply.
But your first post implies that the Preferences were not grayed out when you first tried to sign in. If you got that message, then you signed in the account, and it got the error. Correct?
Once you get the Preferences active so you can sign in again, the with Two-step, you will have to create an App-specific password. It is that password that you will use as the password with your Apple ID when you try to sign in again:
Using app-specific passwords - Apple Support
To see if we can get the Preferences back so you can try to sign in again. Have you quit the app and rebooted the Mac? If not, do so and see if that makes your Preferences under FaceTime accessible again.
Cheers,
GB
Ah OK I understand now.
No, even though I had not even looked at preferences when attempting to log-in, I'm certain they have been unavailable. I did now know that by using 2-step it would generate a new password that I would use to sing in. 😕
And, yes, I have quite and re-started numerous times, with no change.
OK, so you need to try to sign in on that screen again. Type in your Apple ID, and then in the Password section, type in the App-Specific password, and see how that works. Once you are able to sign in, you should then have access to Preferences. Here's the snippet from the FaceTime support article with an additional link for Troubleshooting:
Check that your email address is verified in FaceTime > Preferences.
Post back with questions or issues!
Cheers,
GB
<sigh> I have tried everything.
Now when entering my Apple ID and system generated password (I tried typing, and copying/pasting) all is says is Your AppleID or Password was incorrect.
Still no enabled Preferences
OK, not to be annoying, but are you absolutely certain that the Apple ID you are typing in is correct? You are putting in the entire email address, right? You can also generate a new App-specific password, and try that one.
You can also just try signing in with your Apple ID and your regular password if the above doesn't work, just in case there is some disconnect on the server end with your Two-Step.
And your Mac is connected to Wifi, correct?
Sorry this is such a pain.... 😟
If that doesn't work, then you probably are going to have to contact Apple. I cannot think of any other reason why this would not work:
APPLE SUPPORT PHONE NUMBERS WW
GB
I appreciate you sticking with me on this one. 😉
In order:
Thank you!
You are most welcome - just sorry we couldn't get to the bottom of it. If you get a resolution from Apple , and are so inclined post back with what you found?
Cheers,
GB
Why can I sign into Face Time on my iMac?
