How to Fix iMessage

[mrkonow]

Hi,

just got iMessage working again.

Asus Sabertooth Z77 i3570k Mav 10.9.4, Chameleon 2.2.1 r2884 with NVRAM 1.1.2

Everything was working fine on my rig, an then about 2 weeks ago, i logged off iMessage because i was going away and didn't want my guests to have access to iMessage. So a couple days ago i tried logging in and got the error dialog with the code.

I started reading this post and for some reason i changed my SysDef, tried logging in and the error box still was present, but the customer code was gone. So I started to follow the steps here, and everything was in check and i was still getting the error.

The step that helped me was the Part 1, Step 4. After that the error box with customer code came back on and i proceeded to Part 2, Step 8.

I had to call Apple twice. On the first time, the support guy asked me my serial number, and it was invalid. So i freaked out and said that i wasnt near the computer and that i might have written the number wrong, so he told me to call back when I got to the computer and we hung up. On the second time, i got to a different guy and he told me that he had seen this before, so he checked my security questions and "lifted" the block.

So now it works. Thank you guys for this tutorial.

 

[Draven]

@Draven,

First delete nvram.uuid.plist in /Extra see Part-1, Step-5e

To verify the new nvram.uuid.plist first take a look at 'uuid' in the file name, it should match your SmUUID - See 'UUID Summary' in part 2 of the guide eventually it should be the same value as:-

IORegistry: IODeviceTree : efi / platform / system-id

To Verify the contents of nvram you can use the Terminal Command 'nvarm -x -p' which will show you the contents but encoded in Base64 or use iMessage Debug which will convert the important values into hexadecimal - see Part-1, Step 5d.

if your nvram.uuid.plist is ok then then run iMessage Debug again and check that first 12 digits of MLB match your new S/N, MLB should be 17 digits in total so ensure that last 5 digits of MLB remain the same on each boot.

Finally If ROM is still zeros then manually inject en0 MAC address as new ROM Value - See Part 1,Step 5d

Reboot a few times and check again, if both ROM & MLB are persistent then you should be good to go


Cheers
Jay

Thank you for making that very simple for me Jay!

The MLB does not match my valid Serial Number, but it is consistent upon reboots.
MLB is "4D1EDE05-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8838C14:MLB G8944B4EJ4B22XN"
My serial number is CK######XYL
Is this a problem? Or should I manually inject the MLB too?

My ROM is still 0's so I will try to manually inject that.

 

[Gerard71]

Hello I read posts about recent problems with iMessage
I have 3 hackintosh, z77xup5-th, Probook 4530s, Intel NUC
three functioning properly with iMessage and it suddenly stop working 3 at the same time, with the message AppleID 's and contact Apple
I used to buy a real mac mini and iMessage has run right away but still not on hackintosh


So I do not think the problem comes from an ID blocking at apple
there must be something new in the activation of iMessage which shows a apple that is not true mac, but unfortunately I do not know what it is ......

 

[Draven]

Thank you for making that very simple for me Jay!

The MLB does not match my valid Serial Number, but it is consistent upon reboots.
MLB is "4D1EDE05-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8838C14:MLB G8944B4EJ4B22XN"
My serial number is CK######XYL
Is this a problem? Or should I manually inject the MLB too?

My ROM is still 0's so I will try to manually inject that.

I manually injected the ROM, then got the error message saying to contact Apple with a customer code. Did that, they unblocked it. I was able to get into iMessage but when I try to send a message the contact appears red and it says "so-and-so" is not registered with iMessage.

 

[jaymonkey]

The MLB does not match my valid Serial Number, but it is consistent upon reboots.
MLB is "4D1EDE05-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8838C14:MLB G8944B4EJ4B22XN"
My serial number is CK######XYL
Is this a problem? Or should I manually inject the MLB too?.

@Draven,

Yes that will cause an ID miss-match, as i said before you need to re-Inject MLB before contacting Apple.

MLB should be OS S/N + additional alpha-numeric characters to make 17 digits total, however i notice you have 11 digits (CK######XYL) - if you are using a 11 digit S/N then your probably using an I/D of Mac Pro 3,1 or 6,1 - not sure why but this can cause issues with some systems - if this is on your GA-Z77-UP5-TH then try using imac 13,1 the hardware spec is a much closer match: Use this method:-

• Disable FileNVRAM using the updated method in Part-1, Section-5e
• When you get to Step 8 Run Chameleon Wizard
• Select pre-made SMBIOS iMac13,1 and click a few times on each of the <Random> buttons
• Save Changes to SMBIOS
• Continue Part-1, Section 5e from Step 9
• Run iMessage debug - check ROM value - you may need to reset it to en0 MAC address
• MLB should now be valid

Note: Changing System Type requires changing S/N as first two digits are tied to System Type - which will be done automatically by Chameleon Wizard - See Part-1, Section 3

I manually injected the ROM, then got the error message saying to contact Apple with a customer code. Did that, they unblocked it. I was able to get into iMessage but when I try to send a message the contact appears red and it says "so-and-so" is not registered with iMessage.

If you did that without sorting out the MLB then you'll get packet authentication issues .. which usually results in the contacts showing up red...

Cheers
Jay

 

[jaymonkey]

So I do not think the problem comes from an ID blocking at apple
there must be something new in the activation of iMessage which shows a apple that is not true mac, but unfortunately I do not know what it is ......

@Gerard71,

The block is caused by multiple ID miss-matches on Hackingtosh systems
On a real mac the following system identities are hardcoded and can never change:-

• Sm-UUID
• OSX S/N
• System Type
• MLB
• ROM

When you connect to Apples iCloud all of these ID's are stored as a device against your AppleID. A badly configured hackingtosh can cause one or more of the above values to change (non persistent) or have invalid values, thus causing an ID miss-matches. Each time a miss-match is detected your IP is logged. To many miss-matches against the same IP will trigger a block to that device against your AppleID.

Additionally Apple also have black lists for non unique UUID's, cloned/leached S/N's, ROM values .. etc

Its all explained in the guide, if you have three hacks then i suggest that you check and resolve the ID's on all three before contacting Apple to remove the blocks.

EG: You have Z77-UP5-TH which sufferers fro Sid Bug (see Part 2 of the guide) the BIOS does not return a full 128bit SystemId UUID as such the hardware UUID generated by OSX could potentially match black lists (maks). You should be injecting a new SmUUID (SystemId) if your not already ....

It's more of a security system to protect your AppleID and iCloud data rather than directly aimed at Hackingtosh systems, in the past Apple was more lenient with miss-matches but they have updated their checks twice so far this year - Once in April and then a week or so ago after the recent iCloud hacks.

Cheers
Jay

 

[jadik]

Very helpful! Indeed, I also needed to contact Apple Support with my customer code. After following your instructions to configure VoicePass & SMS, the call was quick, the Apple Support Team was helpful & resolution was efficient. Total call time: <4m

My difficulty (and perhaps this may help someone else) surrounded having multiple Mac boot drives. The smbios.plist in the primary boot SSD was causing conflicts with the smbios.plist in the active OS SSD. The two smbios.plist files were configured for different systems, originally operating on different hardware. That had influenced different system-types, S/N, etc. Only after having resolved this discrepancy, did my nvRAM MLB & ROM issues get resolved, allowing me to land squarely on the request to contact Apple Support. 4 minutes later, my AppleID was enabled & iMessage/Messages app was again operational.

This has been a challenging headache to navigate. When you consider the potential fallout from unauthorized access to your personal messaging platform, however, it becomes clear why it should also be a feel-good moment, and I feel it worthwhile to have invested the required extra effort.

Thank you, jaymonkey & others, for taking the extraordinary amount of time to document in detail & update this complex collection of issues! Your efforts are greatly appreciated!!

Jadik

 

[bodybybuddha]

Thanks Jay and everyone else that contributed to this!! Just got my Messages fixed.

Was using 3,1 with basically default settings - it worked so I didn't try tinkering with it. Lost the ability to sign into Messages - after messing around a lot, i got it to the point where I was able to log into Messages for literally half a second before it would kick me out. I did all of the 'normal' steps - removed alternate email address, change credit cards, purchased something in the App Store (free app..) etc. Found this thread and found out that my machine had "000.." for the ROM.

Of course, in reading a lot of the messages in this thread, I was able to really customize the build - now running 13,1, newest nvram file & Chameleon, etc. Once I had customized everything and injected the MLB (just in case) and ROM (rebooted to ensure it all 'took') I was able to get the contact support with code message.

I contacted support by logging into apple support (thanks for the heads up on the VoicePass!). Had them call me back - was on the phone with a support guy in less than 2 minutes.

He started the conversation out by saying something along the lines of "i see we have an issue with your mac mini" - i corrected him and stated it was an iMac. He mentioned that the serial number (i have no idea where he got this as I didn't give one yet...) was to a mac mini. I said that i'm having the issue on my iMac at home, but my issue was about messages and not the computer and that I had a screen shot of a Customer Code. He asked for my apple id and the code - he said that he entered the code and "it took even though the serial number is for a mac mini", but as i wasn't in front of the iMac, we won't be able to verify.

Well, it's verified now -- it works!!

Again -- thank you Jay and everyone else that has helped out on this issue!

JT

 

[jdizzle]

I used FileNVRAM and followed thee steps and it worked great. Rebooted, iMessage was working again.

BUT, I had no sound. I went into multi beast to install the proper audio drivers, rebooted, and now I get the red text all over again, but my sound is back. Any idea what's going on/what I should do to get both working?

Edit:
GA-Z77-UP5 TH
View attachment 97513

I have the same board as you and once my iMessage was fixed i lost audio, did you get yours working in the end?

*update*
I managed to restore my sound by deleting the nvram.dylib & plist, then running my MB install again, which funnily enough kept my iMessage intact!

 

[Draven]

@Draven,

Yes that will cause an ID miss-match, as i said before you need to re-Inject MLB before contacting Apple.

MLB should be OS S/N + additional alpha-numeric characters to make 17 digits total, however i notice you have 11 digits (CK######XYL) - if you are using a 11 digit S/N then your probably using an I/D of Mac Pro 3,1 or 6,1 - not sure why but this can cause issues with some systems - if this is on your GA-Z77-UP5-TH then try using imac 13,1 the hardware spec is a much closer match: Use this method:-

• Disable FileNVRAM using the updated method in Part-1, Section-5e
• When you get to Step 8 Run Chameleon Wizard
• Select pre-made SMBIOS iMac13,1 and click a few times on each of the <Random> buttons
• Save Changes to SMBIOS
• Continue Part-1, Section 5e from Step 9
• Run iMessage debug - check ROM value - you may need to reset it to en0 MAC address
• MLB should now be valid

Note: Changing System Type requires changing S/N as first two digits are tied to System Type - See Part-1, Section 3



If did that without sorting out the MLB then you'll get packet authentication issues .. which usually results in the contacts showing up red...

Cheers
Jay

Little confused with your instructions here Jay. There is no step 8 and 9 in section 5e.

So here is what I did...

1. I reset the NVRAM (Step 5e)
2. Rebooted
3. Changed System Def to 13,1
4. Rebooted
5. Check iMessage debug, the ROM was the same from when I injected en0 earlier so I left it alone
6. Injected the MLB using the new S/N (plus additional alphanumeric characters)
7. Checked iMessage debug and took note of the ROM and MLB
8. Rebooted
9. Checked iMessage debug again and everything was consistent
10. Deleted cache and .plist files (Step 4), emptied trash
11. Rebooted
12. Logged into iMessage, got the error to call Apple with the customer code, so I called. They unblocked the Apple ID, again, but the contact names are still showing up in red saying the Apple ID is not registered with iMessage.

I would switch to Clover but it's not my Mac, and I am working on it remotely. If something was to go wrong with the switch it'd be difficult for me to fix since I wouldn't be able to log into it.