Ralph Johns

iChat Information Pages


iChat Icon

iChat

These pages are about iChat.

They consist of old info about iChat 1, 2 (AV), 3 as well as new stuff about the latest incarnation, iChat 5.

The info in these pages has been somewhat reorganized. I hope to make sure that things are grouped in a more logical order to explain somewhat how iChat has got from iChat (ver 1) though to the current iChat 5.x.x

The Menu at the top will contain everything but may change from page to page.

Eliminating Problem Areas

Part 2

The actual original page 4 contained so much and needed clarity regarding the New Error logs for iChat 3.1.5 (Tiger 10.4.7 and above) that I have split it into a couple of extra pages (This one and Error Logs).

Part 2 deals with the areas covered by the links listed below which are in fact Intra-page links. For those you who have been to this page before will spot the re-ordering of the items - starting with a Review of pages 3 & 4 as a lead up to considering SIP issues as the problem.

Connection Problems
The Text in A Box (SIP Issues)
Error Logs in 10.4.7 and above: First Look

There are further subdivisions of info listed in the About this Page panel on the right.

This page does presume that you have checked the ports used for SIP Invites in iChat are opened or allowed in your Mac Firewall if needed and in any Routing devices

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Review

If you are still having problems it may pay to start from fairly near the beginning again. Don't presume that you got it right. Double check. One of the things I often go through on the Apple Discussions about iChat is asking those simple questions again.


"Have you done the Quicktime Setting ?"

"Is the Bandwidth Limit drop down set to NONE ?"

"Is the Mac Firewall On and have you set the Ports there ?"

"Have you opened the ports in your modem and any separate router ?"

"What, if anything have you done to set up your LAN (Modems/Routers/Computers) to work with iChat ?"

Sometimes I am convinced some people just need to hear the question phrased differently or sometimes you just have to use the "tell them three times" approach.

Care should be taken to ensure the ports are open to the correct protocols. See the requirements in the Apple Doc 93208 (Now called Article HT1507). Whatever means you use - these ports have to open. The style shown in the Apple Article lends itself mainly towards to Port Forwarding. If you use Port Triggering these same ports will need to appear somewhere in your set up. Not all devices will require the protocols to be set in (particularly) Port Forwarding but in some cases Port Triggering.


iChat 3

This document (HT1507) above has been updated for Tiger/iChat 3 and therefore Jabber. In Note 1, under the tables, it now also lists the three TCP ports, 5220, 5222 and 5223 Jabber.

 

Notes

I still think it is phrased badly as it talks of "22 Ports" when talking about the A/V side and does not clearly point out the Login, Jabber and Bonjour ports increase this to 29 for all of iChat (but it took a lot of prompting to get the Googltalk (5223) in there).

With some devices it may well be possible to telnet/Command Line Interface into the device and set up ports the way the tables show (but they still miss Jabber ports in the Configuration B version). However Port Forwarding is closer to Configuration B but set, in most devices, on a port by port (or group by group) basis.

 

Leopard

iChat 4 ports do change from the earlier iChat 2 and 3 ports. They are somewhat listed here in Article HT2282. It refers to the fact that the A/V ports are reduced to just 16939-16402 and that the preferred starting port is 16402 and that it tries them in reverse order.

It goes on to say the port 5678 for the A/V Invites should also be enabled but misses the basic Login port, Bonjour and Jabber ones completely. Refer to both to get a complete list (HT1507)

Firmware

As these two pages (4 and 4a) deal with problems with connecting it is worth considering whether you have an older device with it's original Firmware. This Firmware is the software that makes your Modem or router work. An older device can get a whole new lease of life and solve some issues if the Firmware is updated.

Finding links for your device may be difficult via a manufactures web pages if your device is out of manufacture. I found a link on ThinkBroadband Guide link (Edit 2024:- CLosest Link I could find currently - different device to mine but same software but pitures only.) when I couldn't see one on the Alcatel site.



This is fairly broad brush information which I have tried to keep fairly simple. Or rather have tried to explain things simply - which is not the same thing.


This is not a step by step approach (other than the SIP Unbinding below for Speedtouch and some Draytecks) as there are just too many routers and modems. You will have to read around the information about your device.

Some of the more popular ones are found at these links.

For Linksys Edit 2024:- Linksys no longer list devices one at a time. This Link is to the Advance settings page. About halfway doown on the left hand list is Port Triggering and on the right Port Forwarding (A few lines higher).

For Netgear EDit 2024:- I have picked an older device and linked to that, on the Configuration page. At the bottom of the page are links to five pages of Topics. Port Forwarding does show up (Page 4 when I looked) but many useful links on the way.

For Some D-Link Screen Shots

For help with Port Forwarding and Trigger port settings; Port Forwarding.com

The Port Triggering list (Of capable devices) no longer exists on this page, as one of the options near the top.

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Connection problems

Or tell me again, Sam

Why is this bit here and in this format ?

Well, it partly because of the way the pages grew out of the original info I put up here. I also believe in the "Tell them three ways/times" method of passing information. Some pages are particularly wordy, some have more pictures to help, most fit somewhere in-between. However It never hurts to rephrase things now and then. So here goes with this sort of follow-up-review of things if pages 3 and 4 have not helped so far.

Start Here

If you can not Audio or Video chat to someone in your Buddy list who you can text to it is likely that the problem falls into one of three areas. (presuming you/they fit the criteria of camera or mic)

  1. Firstly that your uplink DSL speed is not sufficient. A basic option of DSL should have an uplink speed of 128kbps at least. In some countries this is described as the lower limit of "Broadband". (Internationally "Broadband" does not really start until a 256k speed is reached). Anything lower can produce blocky pics and un-synced sound with Video connections. iChat will report an unsustainable connection if the speed drops below 50kbps (Below Dial-up speeds).
  2. Solution

    1. Upgrade your link.
    2. Go to iChat Preferences and in the Video section select NONE as the Bandwidth limit in the Bandwidth drop down. The iChat application will balance the Video and Audio parts of the output. You need to have the Connection Doctor open (from the Video menu), to see the results in the Bit rate. Make sure it does not drop below 100.
      1. With some ISPs, namely Comcast and Road Runner in the States, the practice of restricting the Data stream to combat use by Peer-to-Peer file sharing apps like BitTorrent and Azure is a problem for iChat. Restricting the Bandwidth in this drop down to 500kbps or even 200kbps can help
      2. For different reasons Verizon's FiOS service can benefit from this setting. This is because their service is so fast (At the time) any fluctuation is in fact a large number and iChat's Buffering can not cope. Pinning iChat's Bandwidth use lower gets around this.

    3. Go to System Preferences > Quicktime > Connection speed (or Streaming Tab depending on Quicktime version). Set the speed in the drop down to match your Download speed.
      1. Actually most Broadband speeds are now so fast that using the setting 1.5Mbps is almost mandatory. Certainly in iChat 2 and 3 DO NOT use Automatic or the top speed setting of Intranet/LAN (This is to do with the figure given to iChat (zero) when using this setting).
      2. For Leopard and iChat 4 the Automatic setting is read as 384k and the Intranet/LAN setting also seems to work but I would still recommend 1.5Mbps to get the most from your Connection.

    4. Test your Connection Speed to see if you are getting what you paid for.
      page5.html#_speedtests
  3. Secondly
    That your computer is a G3/500 or less. Apple state G3/600 is minimum. This is around the later models of the Bubble shaped Original iMac design. A Firewire Port is Quoted as a requirement, but read the Solution area.

    Apple Doc 301050 describes the new needs of Tiger and iChat 3.x Edit 2024:- Edited to the Way Back Machine Link

  4. Solution
    1. Download this utility: iChatUSBCam that enables slower machines and USB cameras to be used. (Edit 2024:- I have tested the download Trial Link but it does not work so this is only a Look and See page.)
      It came with a 7 day free trial version.
      iChat 3:- Please note there is a now a combined version on that page that works with all versions of iChat and OS versions
      Some people on the Apple iChat Discussion area have reported that it also improves the functioning of G3 Macs in the range 600 - 900 Mghz
    2. Sub issues around this USB problem appear to be:

      • High usage of processor by other apps. (don't forget USB devices)
      • High usage of Network savvy apps (don't forget iTunes and iPhoto in certain countries).
      • Low levels of RAM.
      • In iChat4/Leopard much of the Video production of iChat is pushed to the Video card so low specs here can be an issue.
    3. Upgrade your Computer :-)
  5. Thirdly
    Somewhat related to both, is the fact that you could be running more than one computer on your Internet link, using up bandwidth (An X-Box or PlayStation are computers).

    Solution

    1. Shut down other computers.
      (NOTE: I have managed to run two computers, using different AIM screen names, over the same DSL link. I.E. Out of the house > AIM server > back to other computer without bandwidth problems. I then had a 1Mb download but only 256kbps Uplink. I would regard this as the Lower Limit)
    2. Try Audio first to see if you can connect. This eliminates most bandwidth and computer usage problems. If this doesn't work then the router/modem or ports in the Mac Firewall, if On, are the likely areas to concentrate on.
    3. Make sure both computers have done the Quicktime setting and have the Bandwidth set to NONE
    4. Upgrade your connection if you can.

From reading around it would appear that routers list that they can either "NAT" or "NAPT" or "PAT". These will essentially be the same thing, or variations used with Port Forwarding, DMZ or Port Triggering but it does appear for iChat that there can be problems for this area.

My knowledge of things Networking are vague (but improving) and you may want to read elsewhere for more detail. Having said that, it appears that not all routers perform Network Address Translation (NAT) the same way and in some cases the two devices involved do not communicate properly, which I tend to refer to on the Apple Discussion pages as 'not playing nicely together'. This can lead to the situation where 1 out of a group of 3 people finds that they can not Video or Audio chat to other members of the group. The only 2 practical solutions I found are:-

  1. Change to using UPnP where you can
Or
  1. Try a different router/Modem at one of the locations, after trying without Port Forwarding/NAT (include DMZ And Port Triggering).

See this in The Trouble shooting page.

Edit:

More recently it has come to light that having two devices such as a Modem that routes and a router that both do NAT can suffer from this problem.

What happens is the NAT in one device adds Addressing info to the Header packets so the data is routes to the right device at the other end. This, when it goes through two devices at one end, adds data about the Addressing part OK but messes up the Port Info.

This can be seen in the Error logs in Connection Doctor when the A/V ports listed are NOT iChat ones - or in iChat 3.1.5 and above with the Error logs (Pop Up variety)

The Solution is to either do Static Routing between the two devices to create a (sub)network of just those two devices (and then the second device to computer becomes a second subnet) or to use UPnP where possible and in at least one of the devices to restrict the actions of NAT.

Summary In Brief of SIP.

Routers pass information (data) in the form of packets. These packets can be sent using different protocols. Basically routers are hardware firewalls and the doors (ports) have to be open to let information pass. TCP and UDP are the main ones but iChat AV also uses SIP (within the data on port 5060). SIP is also used with Voice over IP applications. See note 4 in the document list in the first link of this section. It's near the bottom of that Apple Doc.

So, first off the port has to be open or allowed in the Mac Firewall (if On) and in any routing device.

Secondly you have to check if your ISP blocks the use of the original Internationally set SIP ports (5060-5063) for a VoIP service.

Third. You have to check that you do not have any VoIP equipment or Adapters that "grab" the SIP data and send it to a Phone (despite IP addressing)

And the main point of this page... You have to find out whether your Modem is doing things to the SIP data because it is bound to port 5060.

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SIP Protocol and iChat 2 and 3

Any version of iChat sends a Visible Invite to your Buddy. The process also sends, closely behind, what is called an SIP invite after that which is "behind the scenes" but is the cause of some Connection issues.

SIP
  • This is a protocol that iChat uses to instigate Video and Audio chats and needs to be able to do this on port 5060. If you use any form of SIP/VoIP phone or Voice over IP software you may also need to look into it causing problems as well as checking if the router is SIP aware.

With the prevalence of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services (IP Phones) and similar software applications that also use VoIP you may find that you can not connect. This may be because:-

  1. The device (Modem or an adapter) is SIP aware. SIP is a text based protocol to enable IP phones/Adapters/Applications to connect and use the internet. This protocol uses port 5060 or rather it uses one of 4 ports 5060-5063. iChat also uses this Protocol within the UDP data on port 5060 (in iChat 2 and 3).

  2. The ISP offers VoIP/SIP as a separate paid for Service. (They Block ports 5060-5063 until you pay). Unfortunately as Apple's market share is still relatively small (and iChat's is realistically smaller still) ISP are reluctant to do much about this or at least seem not to care they block other Applications by doing this. Having said this many will reopen the ports if you say that they have started to block an application that was working.
    1. With some ISPs you may find iChat worked but they have since started to offer a VoIP service and Blocked the ports

In iChat 4 with Leopard, Apple have moved the port iChat uses to send the SIP Invite on from port 5060 to port 16402. This seems to make a difference if ISP or VoIP equipment and adapters are used and blocking the 5060-5063 ports but not with SIP aware devices.

Link to more info on SIP

Symptoms of ISP Port Blocking

If this is the cause you will not be able to Video or Audio only chat.

The solution is to speak to your ISP and find out if they are blocking any ports at their level. Negotiate to get the port(s) open.

The Utilities on a Mac can not Port Scan on the UDP protocol.

Download IPNetMonitorX from this link (Use the download button for the Trial)
It will run as a trial for 21 days. Long enough for you to test. The process is:-
Find a friendly Buddy who will tell you their Public IP (this link will show the person connecting their own Public IP so you will see yours).
Select UDP Port Scan after opening the IPNetMonitorX Utility.
Type in the IP to test against.
Scan port 5060 through 5063 (full range of SIP ports)
If you get the message " No Response" in the bottom bar - then the port(s) is blocked somewhere between the two of you.
Check the scan to the IP of your Modem and any router you have to check it is not your end.
Try other Buddies to eliminate and test further
If you know the ISP server IP that gives you your IP test against that as well. (Mine appears on the Status page of my Modem as the Gateway Address linked to the Public IP address I am getting).

Check any Contract details you have both in a physical form and possibly sent as Email or PDF you might have that deatils if any ports are restricted. When this first came to light on the Apple Discussion Boards, ISPs had changed the settings without sending out info that things were changing and people were able successfully to contest this.

You should now have enough information to say to the ISP you know they are Blocking the 5060 port.

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Symptoms of SIP Binding on the Modem.

Unfortunately this appears as an intermittent problem affecting some Buddies that you contact.

  • Some, a small group, you can contact all the time.
  • Another small group you can connect to now and then.
  • The largest group of your Buddies you can not connect to at all.

This is obviously dependent on some extent on the size of your Buddy list. It will not really be obvious until your Buddy list has about 10 or so Buddies. As a consequence it is difficult to pin down.

With a Buddy List of 50 the split tends to be about 10:10:30

The most known about modems that it effects are the Thomson Alcatel Speedtouch Series modems that have Version 3 and 4 firmware.
Later Version 5 and 6 firmware models also has a similar problem but has no work around.
Some Drayteks are also effected.
Alcatel also produce firmware for other devices particularly some Branded ones for specific ISP "free" modems.

This can/could be checked to some extent in iChat 2.x by the Connection Doctor (pull down from the Video menu). An interpretation of the messages listed here at the Apple Discussions/iChat FAQs may help. (Edit 2024:- Linked the current Numbering system at Apple DIscussions)


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Where to Look for Failure Message: The Connection Doctor

In all versions of iChat there is in the menu to the right of Buddies, which will read "Video" if you have a Camera and "Audio" if you have only a Mic.

In the menu is the Connection Doctor which, when used, pops up another Window.

The normal use is the Statistics option but it also has an option to display Errors.

The general format of the iChat failed chat message looked like this:-

  • 2005-03-08 18:34:32 +0000: xxx did not respond. Tried to send UDP SIP "invite" to the following IP addresses and ports:
    136.xxx.xxx.xxx:5060 192.168.0.2:5060


  • In iChat 3 in OS 10.4.7 and above you will get an Error 8 log

This shows a time stamp and then the User involved ("x"ed out here) and the the Public IP with Port and then the LAN IP and it's port

You are looking for one (if you are in iChat 2) that looks like this:
  • 136.xxx.xxx.xxx:5060

This example shows that only the Public IP and the port as open/available. There is no LAN IP listed.
NOTE: This can also mean:
  1. The Buddy is on Dial-up or other non routing connection device)

  2. The Buddy is on DSL and has not got the last group of 20 ports open.

  3. A log that shows both Pubic IP and LAN IP or at least other ports (16384-16387 in iChat 2 and 3) means that it is not an SIP problem.

iChat 3

The Connection Doctor in iChat 3 is not so forth coming with any information about failed contacts (until the 10.4.7 OS Update) and the ports and IP addresses involved like iChat 2 was. Therefore it is of little help here.

So your options in iChat 3 are to check the manufactures web site for Spec details on the modem in question or jump in and try the Telnet command below.

At the 10.4.7 Update Apple added the creation of a log file to iChat and an option to send it to Apple. It has a "Details" reveal triangle that will reveal the log itself. Dragging the window wider helps with viewing the Log. The log can be very long. Posting part of it on the Apple Discussion Boards in Chat 3's forum can be the best way to get an answer. The bit you need to post is from the top and only down to the line saying "Binary Images for iChat" that start the bottom section. I am not going into all of the options here but it may be one of the reasons you are getting Error -8. Consider SIP if the Log only has titles or very little info between the Error -8 and Binary Images lines. See here for an example at the top of that page or see the coloured example in the last section on this page.


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Back to ISP and VoIP related stuff for a moment

If your ISP offers such a service or you have an application that can dial other internet or landline phones (Softphone application) you may need to check if this is the cause of your problem. Try turning off any such applications.


Vonage and similar adapters.

These are used to make landline phones work over the internet. Often the adapter is placed between the modem and the computer and handles SIP traffic ("grabs" it and directs it to the Phone, hence the problem).

The solution is to move the adapter to the same level as the computer:-
  • Modem < - > Router < - > Computer and adapter (on different Ethernet ports)

This may mean buying another device to achieve this.

If this fails you will need to find out if your router has the protocol SIP "bound" to port 5060. See below

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Unbinding SIP

Starting with Version 4 or less firmware On Thomson-Alcatels

(with some reference to Other Makes)

Scroll up the page if you are not sure why you might need to do this.

This may not be an option you can change in the browser interface with your modem. It is possible to Telnet them some from Terminal (or other Command Line Interface).


Only a few modems will have this (Changing the SIP Binding) as a setting you can change in the set up pages accessed from your Browser. There are in fact other ways you can access your modem. One of these is with a Telnet command. This has to be done from an application or Utility that can issue Command Line Interface (CLI) instructions. Your ever helpful Mac has such a Utility. It is called Terminal. It is found in Applications/Utilities on your Hard drive.

So open Terminal. It will look like this:-

Welcome to Darwin!
Ralph:~ Ralph$


It will show your (short) name instead of mine obviously !


You need to enter the instructions I have laid out in the Text Box below. Scroll down until you can see the purple box below the White one. This shows all the entries made on my Alcatel with the entries Bolded. The "picture" only shows like this if the window is dragged big enough to see all of it. You may only see a few lines just above where you are making entries if the window is small.

Oh yes !! It is also case sensitive !! Everything in lower case except for SIP when it is input. The following white box is to show the order (as well as the instructions) where as the following Purple Box shows the Instructions and the feedback as shown in Terminal (if the window is big enough)


Like this: (you need to type in the bold bits only)
Where you see [Return] use the Return/Enter Key.

Open Terminal
Type in - telnet (your routers IP) after the Welcome to Darwin message and names at the $ point [return]
(may need password if you set one for the modem).
Hit enter if you didn't or after you have typed in the password.
(Mine displays a Unix drawing in this point)
Then type =>nat unbind [return] (the 'arrow'(=>) should already there)
application = SIP [return]
port = 5060 [return]
Quit Terminal.

Like this

Welcome to Darwin!
Ralph:~ Ralph$ telnet 10.0.0.138
Trying 10.0.0.138...
Connected to speedtouch.lan.
Escape character is '^]'.
Username : ( hit enter here if no Password )
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
*                             ______  SpeedTouch 510
*                         ___/_____/\ 
*                        /         /\\  Version 4.2.5.0.0
*                  _____/__       /  \\ 
*                _/       /\_____/___ \  Copyright (c) 1999-2003, 
*               //       /  \       /\ \              THOMSON
*       _______//_______/    \     / _\/______ 
*      /      / \       \    /    / /        /\
*   __/      /   \       \  /    / /        / _\__ 
*  / /      /     \_______\/    / /        / /   /\
* /_/______/___________________/ /________/ /___/  \ 
* \ \      \    ___________    \ \        \ \   \  /
*  \_\      \  /          /\    \ \        \ \___\/
*     \      \/          /  \    \ \        \  /
*      \_____/          /    \    \ \________\/
*           /__________/      \    \  /
*           \   _____  \      /_____\/
*            \ /    /\  \    /___\/
*             /____/  \  \  /
*             \    \  /___\/
*              \____\/
*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
=>nat unbind
application = SIP
port = 5060
[port_end] = 5060
:nat unbind application=SIP port=sip port_end=sip
Failed to delete NAT binding on port 5060 : the binding doesn't exist.

If this has not been done before then the last two lines will not appear.

Also the Port End Line is added by the Process.


Quitting Terminal is at least one way of ending the Terminal Session.

Variation for a Version 5 Firmware device according to Speedtouch.co.uk

The Good News
From this Apple Discussion Thread posted by AwolAdam (It's on Page 2)

Adam had a BT Home Hub, which was in fact a later Thomson-Alcatel firmware Branded as BT item. which used IP 192.168.1.254 to access it rather than the common 10.0.0.138 in earlier devices.
It does not tell you if there is a picture or not after entering the password, if there is one, but does refers to Terminal waiting for more Input (Command Prompt).
I have bolded the bits that need typing - you will see in the first bit the commands are linked on one line.

The info goes on to describe how to call up a menu version and select the commands piecemeal

(0906 3022114 - is the advertised number on their web page 
- http://www.speedtouch.co.uk/ - 
though SAYNOTO0870.com help with a non premium rate 02073090226)

They sent back the following text

For your firmware version: (EDIT: The Terminal bit)

Start the telnet session (telnet 192.168.1.254)
Username: admin
password : ???? (type in the password and or Hit enter)
On the command prompt enter:
-------------------------------------------------------------
connection unbind application=SIP port=5060 <enter>
saveall <enter>
-------------------------------------------------------------

Or with the menu: ( Ralph's EDIT: Like the above Version 4 Firmware but with menus
It is a sort of "click this and go" method using arrow keys, Tab and enter
Small amount of typing.) ------------------------------------------------- on the prompt: (use the Arrow keys and Tab for Ok or Cancel) menu <enter> (Edit you may have to type this word) goto <connections> <enter> goto <unbind> <enter> fill in : Application: SIP port : 5060 press <Tab> to goto <OK> press <Tab> to goto <Cancel> on the prompt type in: saveall <enter> ----------------------------------------------------
The Bad News

The only problem with this is that although the Instructions do the Unbinding as far as can be seen by the End User it does not fully remove the link and action with SIP and port 5060 in Version 5 and 6 firmware. As a result you may only see a partial improvement in the number of Buddies that you can reach in an A/V Chat. Having said that, if you have a small Buddy list it may give just the one person you need.

We tend to refer to this on the Apple Discussion pages as a "Partial Unbind". If you have a large number of Buddies or several that you can not reach yo may need to consider another modem or putting it in Bridge Mode and getting another routing device to route behind it.


The BT HOME HUB (a Thomson-Alcatel Inside)

The BT HOME HUB is in fact made by Thomson-Alcatel based somewhat on their own 780 device. This is the only Branded device I know about that does not keep the "Speedtouch" name to the device. Thomson-Alcatel Speedtouch modems are also popular in Europe and Australia

The BT HOME HUB gets automatically updated On-line as part of the deal with BT. The current Firmware lists it at Version 6.2.(followed a letter). When it was at 6.2.2.6 it had a spot in Advanced > .telephony for allowing the SIP ports in the web browser interface.

However at earlier firmware this seems to follow the same telnet command as for the Version 5 firmware listed in the above text box.

Essentially you should not have problems with this device now.

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Error Messages in 10.4.7 and above

As you probably came to this page or page 4 looking for something about the Error logs of 10.4.7 and above. This bit below is from a longer section on page 16a.

I have given a great deal of thought to whether to include it due to the complexity of trying to explain it.... But here goes....

In it's usual manner of not actually saying they are aware of a problem, Apple have added a "Feature" to iChat at the 10.4.7 update that produces a Log file that can then be sent to Apple. It is specific to A/V chats.

What happens is the chat fails and a slide out window appears with a message about improving iChat with the info. There are two buttons at the bottom for Sending to Apple or not. Once the message is dealt with the window appears and you are left with just the Video Chat window (I say Video because that is where it is most reported) with the same message it always had in the failed Video chat window Header. The actual message varies depending on the cause. (If it said Bandwidth Error before this log came out the Video Chat Window will still have that written across the top of your Frozen picture, after you deal with the pop out.)


On the Log window there is a "Details" reveal triangle. Clicking on this will show you the actual log and the error code. They are made up of three parts as coloured here.

Date/Time:      2006-07-05 21:11:03.403 +0100
OS Version:     10.4.7 (Build 8J135)
Report Version: 4

iChat Connection Log:
AVChat started with ID 485234091.
ralphjohnsuk1: State change from AVChatNoState to AVChatStateWaiting.
0x157a780: State change from AVChatNoState to AVChatStateInvited.
0x157a780: State change from AVChatStateInvited to AVChatStateConnecting.
[Edit Name]: State change from AVChatStateWaiting to AVChatStateConnecting.
[Edit Name]: State change from AVChatStateConnecting to AVChatStateEnded.
Chat ended with error -8
0x157a780: State change from AVChatStateConnecting to AVChatStateEnded.
Chat ended with error -8
Video Conference Error Report:


Video Conference Support Report:


Video Conference User Report:
Binary Images Description for "iChat":
0x1000 - 0x170fff com.apple.iChat 3.1.5 (436)
/applications/iChat.app/Contents/MacOS/iChat
[EDIT]

(Edit 2024:- I have edited the Binary Images blue section into three lines to stop the second line breaking the bounds on the right )

... At this point the log goes on with all the bits loaded into action currently running the OS and iChat.

As you can see this one ends in Error -8 ( Chat ended with error -8 )

The above Log was also a failure where nothing but the invite got through, so just the titles got listed.

Video Conference Error Report:


Video Conference Support Report:


Video Conference User Report:
With iChat 4 the details or info in this section can look as if it is more but semantically it is nil unless you get the info listed below.

Often the Log report will show much more in each title area.

If you see this much apparently repeated over and Over the issue is not SIP related.

Video Conference Error Report:
3.324349 @:0 type=4 (00000000/22)
[VC_SIP_INVITE_ERROR]
[19]
3.324228 @SIP/SIP.c:2437 type=4 (900A0015/22)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
[]


Video Conference Support Report:
2.824908 @SIP/Transport.c:1218 type=1 (00000000/0)
[INVITE sip:user@u0en1.1 SIP/2.0
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 192.168.1.100;branch=z9hG4bK567eedca227e0a8e
Max-Forwards: 70
To: "u0" <sip:user@u0en1.1>
From: "Name here" <sip:user@192.168.1.100>;tag=174545644
Call-ID: d2f87adc-0b95-11db-9fe2-9d41aeb913c4@lip
CSeq: 1 INVITE
Contact: <sip:user@192.168.1.100>;isfocus
User-Agent: Viceroy 1.2
Content-Type: application/sdp
Content-Length: 507

v=0
o=Ralph 0 0 IN IP4 192.168.1.100
s=name here
c=IN IP4 192.168.1.100
b=AS:2147483647
t=0 0
a=hwi:34:2:999
a=bandwidthDetection:YES
a=iChatEncryption:NO
m=audio 16386 RTP/AVP 12 3 0
a=rtcp:16387
a=rtpmap:3 GSM/8000
a=rtpmap:0 PCMU/8000
a=rtpID:-1574383262
m=video 16384 RTP/AVP 126 34
a=rtcp:16385
a=rtpmap:126 X-H264
a=fmtp:34 imagesize 1 rules 30:352:288
a=framerate:15
a=RTCP:AUDIO 16387 VIDEO 16385
a=pogo
a=fmtp:126 imagesize 0 rules 15:160:120:160:120
a=rtpID:-1178528325
]
[]
1.824612 @SIP/Transport.c:1218 type=1 (00000000/0)
[INVITE sip:user@u0en1.1 SIP/2.0
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 192.168.1.100;branch=z9hG4bK567eedca227e0a8e
Max-Forwards: 70
To: "u0" <sip:user@u0en1.1>
From: "name here" <sip:user@192.168.1.100>;tag=174545644
Call-ID: d2f87adc-0b95-11db-9fe2-9d41aeb913c4@lip
CSeq: 1 INVITE
Contact: <sip:user@192.168.1.100>;isfocus
User-Agent: Viceroy 1.2
Content-Type: application/sdp
Content-Length: 507


		EDITED Repeats below until

Video Conference User Report:			(Which was empty in this case)

There are four common error code numbers and these relate to the actual message on the failed Video Chat window.

Error Number Message on Chat Window Cause and Solution
Error -8 (User) Did not Respond Generally a Port Problem somewhere. Can be a NAT related issue.
Check the middle part of the Log for port Numbers (See below). This will tell you if the ports are the "Right" ones. Use Page 3 and Page 4 to help. Try to avoid NAT if you can.
Error -22 Not Enough Bandwidth Generally this is caused by iChat being capped somewhere as to the Internet speed it has or can see.
Check the Quicktime setting first. Then the Bandwidth Limit in iChat. Test the Internet speed you are getting.
Error-7 No Data Received for 10 Secs Anything that ends the call other than the Red close button
Make sure you are still on line and restart the call.
Can be caused by "Protection" features in the router or Modem
Error -21 Can not Get Video From Camera Despite what it says this generally is a catchall for chats failing at the last stage of connection. You get the noise and the change to the Picture in Picture Video chat window but then nothing. It normally points to not enough Bandwidth just at the point of Connection
Treat it as a Bandwidth Problem. Check that other apps or computers are not using up your Bandwidth. Some starting a download or Mail asking for new mail from the servers are likely causes. See Also this Apple Discussions Thread


Realistically it is better to look at the page 16a stuff for a full run down on this.

In short Error Log -8 is about iChat not getting through. Where it is not getting through can, to a small extent, be gained from the Log. If, like the excert above, it has no details in between the titles listed then start with looking at page 4 and 4a about making sure port 5060 is open. If it has info in between the titles then it is more likely to be the way your LAN is set up. (Two DHCP servers or two lots of NAT or both). See Page 4 Sorting


Error - 22 is fairly well clear in the table above to sort the Quicktime Setting out or the iChat Bandwidth Limit

Error - 7 can happen just as the Chat connects. You tend to hear the connection tone that you have selected in the iChat Preferences but then your picture does not become the Pic-in-Pic and then the Log pop-up appears. Make the same checks as for an Error - 22. Also check another or your computer is not doing a download and using up Bandwidth. and check for DOS or SPI filters/Firewalls in your router or Modem. iChat 4 now using one port causes this more often than earlier versions

Error - 21 Is also related to some extent. If the camera also does not appear in the System Profiler (Apple Menu > About This Mac > More Info button) under the USB for In-built cameras - then you may need to take the battery out and put it back in again. Or Reset the PMU (Start at this Apple Doc 93240 )

Summary

Check, check and recheck is the basic premise. Just because you think you set something before don't presume it is the same now. DHCP servers are by their very nature, issuing new IPs to devices and computers on your LAN.

Make sure you know how you LAN is set up and how the IP are issued.

Make sure the ports are opened in each device using one method or another. Use UPnP where you can. If you have to use Port Forward or Port Triggering then try to set Static IPs between the devices.

Check with your ISP if they block Port 5060 if you get nothing in your Error log. This is providing of course that you do not have a piece of VoIP equipment or an SIP aware mode.

If you wish to post your Log on the Apple Discussions please post the bits from the last reference to Error 8 (or your number) to the line I have shown in Blue in the fuller example above (Binary Images). The Binary Images info tells us nothing about why the chat failed. So please don't post them.

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Information Block

This site is about iChat from Version 1 through to iChat 5.x.x
It has had a major Edit in September 2024 moving towards being HTML 5 complaint. It has essentially become an Historical document on how things could be done in iChat.

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

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

About This Page

Review

A review of whether or not SIP in particular is your Starting point

Firmware

A small prompt to consider updating your modem's or router's firmware.

Connection Problems

Like what it says - A review of info from Pages 3 and 4

SIP THE main thrust of the page.

A bit about SIP and how iChat uses it.

Also of course some of the things you might have to check and what to do about sorting them out.

Symptoms of ISP Blocking VoIP ports and
Symptoms of SIP Aware Modems

Two side by side Panels with small amounts of Symptoms to look out for

Unbinding SIP

This works with certain Modems that are SIP Aware.
The list includes Thomson- Alcatels Speedtouch Series and some Draytecks

Vonage and Similar VoIP adapters

A quick look at issues caused by these devices and their Use of SIP

Error Log codes

A start on the info about the Error Logs numbers that have come about from the 10.4.7 update

Notes on Expressions

telnet

Normally written in lower case as above. It is a method of communication with modems and in some cases routers. Used as an alternative to IP (Internet Protocols) used via a Web Browser that is the more common way to access the device. Uses the Command Line Interface (CLI). On a Mac the Terminal application in Applications/Utilities is such an Interface.

Paths

Here I am talking about the way they are written. It is a short form of saying Open this folder then this folder inside that and so on. An example:-

(name of) Hard Drive/System/Library

would mean to Open the Hard Drive then the Library within that. However as the starting place is always the Hard Drive, you tend to see it written as /System/Library using the example above

On a PC this is called Changing Directories

The reason we write them down is that on a Mac Spotlight in Tiger onwards and FInd from the File Menu when the Finder is the Front app will not search certain Folders and sub-folders. These include any folder called Library (or at least those put there at Installation of the OS) They are the One seen at the top Level of the Hard Drive (with System, Users and Applications) the One inside System itself and the one inside of every Mac User account (/Users/AccountName/Library).

Of course your own User account is the one with the Little House icon instead of a folder icon. There is a short form of describing this particular folder as a Path with the tilde ("~") symbol. So on my computer ~/Library/Preferences is the same as Hard Driver/Users/Ralph/Library/Preferences.

You can put this information to Practical use in the Finder. Use the Go menu and Go to Folder item and Copy & Paste some of the examples from this page (where I wrote (Name of) Hard Drive earlier you will have to substitute the name of your Hard Drive or use the shorter leading Forward Slash without the "Hard Drive" bit.)

Port Forwarding, Triggering, DMZ and UPnP

All various methods of open ports in a routing device.

Port Forwarding was developed for allowing one computer on a network to do specific tasks over the Internet. Modern Routing devices get around some of this by having the first 1024 ports open to all to computers which allows Web Browsing and mail apps to access the Internet without any set up.

Port Triggering was developed next as a means of allowing multiple computers on a LAN access the internet ports that some applications use that above the 1024 threshold. On many devices the Protocol used as well as the ports involved have to be stated.

DMZ (Demilitarised Zone) is a variation on Port Forwarding where the device allows an Allow All one stop setting to open all ports to one computer (IP). Can be useful for testing if only one computer is on the LAN.

UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) This effectively gives control of getting through a routing device to the application. All ports on all computers are accessible. They are opened when in use and Close after a timed period of Non use. The routing device advertises that it allows UPnP to other devices around it and there are some concerns if this is advertised over the Internet.

Compatibility

As mentioned above this has had a major Edit/Update in September 2024 meaning that the Browsers listed at the bottom 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 only see a text-based page which, while not the prettiest option, is still entirely usable.

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