These iChat 4 pages are coloured Gray and have the iChat 4 icon on them that was in use at the time, so you know where you are. The icon differs little from the Version 3 version.

These pages have sat here since 2008 with no update. In that time the AIM servers have been closed down (2017) and iChat has been superseded by Message and FaceTime. That effectively make this a sort of Historical Document of how it worked.

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iChat 4 Pictures

You are In:- iChat >> Versions >> iChat 4 >> iChat 4 Pictures Index >> iChat 4 Connection Doctor Index >> Connection Doctor

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02 Drop Down.

Nov 2008

2 Error Log from Dropdown

This is the iChat 4 Connection Doctor's Window Drop Down with the Errors pane selected. It will be greyed out like this is there is no Error info and inaccessible.

The actual message will depend on how the Chat failed. Both the info here and the Message on the Chat window itself should be used together to establish the cause of the failure as much as possible.

On the whole the messages and error reports in iChat refer to the attempts to connect after the Visible Invite has been accepted. If the Buddy refuses, for instance, the Chat window will say they Declined but there will be no Error message in the Error log here.

If they Mute their Mic for longer than 10 secs in an Audio only chat then you will get the 10 Secs Error message and a Error log like the one in the Main Picture (I caused this by turning off my MacBook Pro's Airport Card). As such the 10 Sec error message is about a sudden cut in the receiving of a full data stream without the normal methods of ending a chat used.

From other messages and Error logs it can be inferred that ports are not open and similar Networking issues.

If there have been multiple chat failure while iChat is open the list becomes scroll-able.

A bit about the info here in this Error Log. They are Time and Date Stamped with a + or - in relation to GMT/UTC time. This might point to issues where the computer or in fact the routing device is not using a Time Server. On a Mac it is in System Preference > Date and Time.

Set it to Automatice and list an Apple Time Server. Also set your Time Zone and any Daylight Saving Time that might be in operation.

The next part of the info lists the Auido info as to Port and the IP of the computer on your LAN. It also states that the far end should be sending to this IP and port. It repeats this for a Video stream. In some cases it will also state your Internet side IP. That in turn points to other issues rather than the signal being cut as in this case. Basically the chats connection was further along.

They can get quite involved after this and I would suggest people either send me several newer attempts or post them on the Apple Discussion Boards with the IP info blanked out. However sometime I would see evidence of two routing devices where people might of added a router to add a WiFi component to their LAN but then ichat to struggling to negociate acroos two LANs before getting to the internet

Next - Capabilities

Created with JAlbum 4.0.6

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Created October, 2008 Major Update/Edit October 2024.

 ©  Ralph Johns. Created October 2008

Information Block

This site is about iChat from Version 1 through to iChat 5.x.x
Mostly this is kept as an Historical Document. Some small tense changes have been made but the content is by and large untouched.

It has a mixture of basic info and problem solving help.

The sections below will change for Specifics about info on the page on view

About This Page

A Picture grab of the Error Log tab.

Will be greyed out an inaccessible if there are no messages.

Some explanation of the log is given at the bottom.

Compatibility

As mentioned above this has had a major Edit/Update in September/October 2024 moving towards being fully HTML 5 compliant meaning that the Browsers listed below are likely to no longer work.

I have tested in Safari 18.1, Firefox 130.x and 131.0, Vivaldi 6.9.3447.48 and iCab 6.2.3 (All Mac Browsers) I don't have access to a PC let alone multiple browsers to test on.

The original pages worked with Win/IE 5.5 and later (should work in 5.0, but not confirmed), Firefox 2, Safari 3, Opera 9, iCab 3.02 and later, Mac/IE 5, Netscape 6 and later

Old browsers (IE version 4 or earlier, Netscape 4 or earlier) should/may only see a text-based page which, while not the prettiest option, is still entirely usable.

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