dl30
Level 1 (9 points)
Apple Pay

Q: Messages in Sierra Did Not Upgrade

I upgraded to Sierra and my messages app did not upgrade. It is still the older version with all of my conversations contact's names replaced with their phone numbers. If I try and type in a name to add a contact on a new message, the app crashes.

 

When I look at the date modified of the application in the application folder says "May 7, 2012" whereas all of my other apps haves dates with the current year (2016). I have tried reinstalling Sierra again with no change.

 

Please let me know if anyone knows how to fix this.

 

Thanks!

MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011)

Posted on Sep 22, 2016 8:48 PM

by dl30,Solvedanswer
dl30 dl30
Level 1 (9 points)
Apple Pay
A:

Found a fix for anyone that may be having the same problem! I discovered the root of my problem was a problem with my Contacts database. When I opened Contacts, the app would crash or I would get various error messages. There may have been a corrupt file when I boot disk installed Sierra and then transferred over my files using Migration Assistant. After scouring some other threads I found a solution that fixed my problem. See the steps below:

 

Sign out of Messages bye going to Messages preferences > Accounts > Sign Out (with iMessage account selected)

 

Make a backup of your contacts by exporting them to a vCard, close Contacts

 

Open iCloud System preferences.

Disable Contacts in the iCloud preferences, by unchecking the box next to Contacts. It will ask if you want to leave a copy on your Mac, choose no.

 

Open Finder and type cmd-shift-g. That will open a dialog box asking for a path to go to. Paste in the following and click Go: ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook

 

You will see several files and folders including addressbook-v22.abcddb, Sources, Metadata, etc.

Select everything in the folder and delete it all (I moved the contents to a new folder on my desktop until I knew the final steps fixed the problem, then I deleted the folder).

 

Start Contacts and see if it works ok. Add some test contacts and delete some.

If it works ok, Remove all of the test data you entered so that it doesn't get merged into your iCloud contacts in the next step.

 

Re-enable Contacts in the iCloud system prefs. Test and see if it works ok.

Sign back into iCloud account in Messages preferences.

 

Thank you to all who gave me suggestions!

Posted on Sep 23, 2016 11:39 AM

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dl30

Q: Messages in Sierra Did Not Upgrade

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  • Helpful answers

  • by KonKrypton,

    KonKrypton KonKrypton Sep 22, 2016 11:50 PM in response to dl30
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2016 11:50 PM in response to dl30

    Save a backup copy of your Messages application on a flash drive, then delete Messages from your Applications folder on your Mac. It may ask for an admin username/password. Be sure to empty the trash after you do this. Then try reinstalling Sierra again and see if that doesn't copy the new Messages application to your Mac. If anything goes wrong, you still have your original Messages application and can replace it from the flash drive.

  • by -numbermaniac,

    -numbermaniac -numbermaniac Sep 22, 2016 11:55 PM in response to KonKrypton
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 22, 2016 11:55 PM in response to KonKrypton

    You can't delete Messages. "“Messages.app” can’t be modified or deleted because it’s required by macOS."

  • by KonKrypton,

    KonKrypton KonKrypton Sep 23, 2016 1:26 AM in response to -numbermaniac
    Level 1 (54 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 23, 2016 1:26 AM in response to -numbermaniac

    I imagine you could override that in the Terminal. Haven't tried it though. You could also boot from another drive (like an external USB drive) and then you probably could delete it from the original drive, but you'd likely need admin ability.

  • by dl30,

    dl30 dl30 Sep 23, 2016 7:13 AM in response to dl30
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Apple Pay
    Sep 23, 2016 7:13 AM in response to dl30

    Thank you for the suggestions so far. I realized I diagnosed the problem wrong. I thought I had an older version of messages because I did not see any of the new features that are in the iMessage app in iOS 10. When I researched the new features of the messages app in Sierra, I found that I DO have the newer version.

     

    The problem that remains is that my contact names are not present on conversations (only their phone numbers), and when I try to add a contact to a new message the app crashes. If I start typing in a name to the recipient field the app crashes. If add a contact using the + symbol I get this error message: "Internal Error. An uncaught exception was raised. Choose "Continue" to continue running in an inconsistent state. Choose "Crash" to halt the application and file a bug with Crash Reporter. Choosing "Crash" will result in the loss of all unsaved data."

     

    Either way, the app crashes.

     

    Ideas?

  • by dl30,Solvedanswer

    dl30 dl30 Sep 23, 2016 11:39 AM in response to dl30
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Apple Pay
    Sep 23, 2016 11:39 AM in response to dl30

    Found a fix for anyone that may be having the same problem! I discovered the root of my problem was a problem with my Contacts database. When I opened Contacts, the app would crash or I would get various error messages. There may have been a corrupt file when I boot disk installed Sierra and then transferred over my files using Migration Assistant. After scouring some other threads I found a solution that fixed my problem. See the steps below:

     

    Sign out of Messages bye going to Messages preferences > Accounts > Sign Out (with iMessage account selected)

     

    Make a backup of your contacts by exporting them to a vCard, close Contacts

     

    Open iCloud System preferences.

    Disable Contacts in the iCloud preferences, by unchecking the box next to Contacts. It will ask if you want to leave a copy on your Mac, choose no.

     

    Open Finder and type cmd-shift-g. That will open a dialog box asking for a path to go to. Paste in the following and click Go: ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook

     

    You will see several files and folders including addressbook-v22.abcddb, Sources, Metadata, etc.

    Select everything in the folder and delete it all (I moved the contents to a new folder on my desktop until I knew the final steps fixed the problem, then I deleted the folder).

     

    Start Contacts and see if it works ok. Add some test contacts and delete some.

    If it works ok, Remove all of the test data you entered so that it doesn't get merged into your iCloud contacts in the next step.

     

    Re-enable Contacts in the iCloud system prefs. Test and see if it works ok.

    Sign back into iCloud account in Messages preferences.

     

    Thank you to all who gave me suggestions!

  • by -numbermaniac,

    -numbermaniac -numbermaniac Oct 1, 2016 9:30 PM in response to KonKrypton
    Level 1 (12 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 1, 2016 9:30 PM in response to KonKrypton

    FWIW @KonKrypton, I tried deleting it as both sudo and su, and it said not permitted both times. Probably a system-level lock of some sort.