Thanks for the feedback
This is intended as a quick and easy guide to enable the average user to configure for iMessage services.
It is acknowledged that it will not work in all cases but should assist a great many people if only by giving an understanding of the processes involved to enable iMessage.
It is not intended as a help thread, requests for help will be deemed off-topic and removed.
For help with iMessage refer to the comprehensive How to Fix iMessage Guide thread.
Links to all of the referenced files are at the end of this first post.
Despite them being at the end of the instructions, now is a good time to download them.
If you have tried and failed previously then there are some steps to take before you start again.
Open Safari and log in to iCloud.com
Click on Find iPhone
Click the down arrow next to All Devices
If there are spurious devices in the list from previous failed attempts click each one and Remove from Account.
You should also remove any unwanted devices from your Apple ID through the link on the iCloud page,
or by directly logging in to your Apple ID page.
Sign Out of iCloud.com
Close Safari
Open System Preferences - iCloud : Click Sign Out
Disconnect from the network then Restart
Open a Finder window and click on your User Name then in a blank area right click and select
Show View Options and from the resulting window select Show Library Folder.
Open the newly revealed Library folder and select Caches
From the Caches folder delete all files and folders beginning with :
In Finder navigate to Username/Library/Preferences and delete all files and folders beginning with
- com.apple.iCloudHelper
- com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent
- com.apple.Message
Empty the Trash and Restart.
- com.apple.iChat.
- com.apple.icloud.
- com.apple.ids.service
- com.apple.imagent.
- com.apple.imessage.
- com.apple.imservice.
**************************************************************************Start here
It has been said that you must have a credit card registered with your AppleID in order to use iMessage,
I can neither confirm or deny this as I have never tried it without.
You must have a working Ethernet connection which is defined as BuiltIn and en0.
An easy way to determine this is with the DPCIManager app.
It is possible to connect with a Wireless adaptor but you must have working Ethernet which is BuiltIn and en0 too.
This is the most basic fundamental and the one that is overlooked most by laptop users although it is equally valid for desktop users too.
The exception to this is when you have a machine that does not have Ethernet, in this case it is acceptable (with the appropriate SMBIOS) to have the Wireless adaptor as en0 but it must be identified as BuiltIn too.
If your Ethernet interface is identified as anything other than en0 you may need to reset your network configuration files.
Open the Terminal application and browse to /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ then delete these two files :
Empty the Trash and then Restart.
- NetworkInterfaces.plist
- preferences.plist
The next requirement is a correctly configured SMBIOS.
In the interests of simplicity the examples shown will use the CloverConfigurator app but it should be noted that this is not the only (or best) way to achieve the required result.
What is certain is that you should never edit your config.plist file with a text editor as this can corrupt the formatting. A corrupt config.plist is the same as having no config.plist at all.
You should already have determined the optimum System Definition for your hardware.
If you subsequently change your System Definition you must run through the procedure detailed in this guide again.
Before starting to configure for iMessage you should ensure that your config.plist is otherwise correctly set up for your specific hardware.
The following examples refer only to changes required to your existing config.plist.
It is not suggested that anything not shown in the examples should be removed from your own config.plist unless specifically mentioned.
If you haven't already, install CloverConfigurator to your /Applications folder.
From the /Applications folder run Clover Configurator
Mount the EFI partition
File - Open - EFI/CLOVER/config.plist
In the left pane select Rt Variables
From the ROM dropdown list select UseMacAddr0
Make sure that the MLB box is empty
Set BooterConfig to 0x28
Set CsrActiveConfig to 0x67
In the left pane select SMBIOS
Click the Magic Wand tool
Click on the picture appropriate for your intended System Definition.
From the dropdown list, choose the desired System Definition.
Click the shake buttons several times to generate a Serial Number - Click OK.
Copy the Serial Number and check it on http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/
Paste the Serial Number into the box and click Lookup
Prove that you are not a robot
If you see this response your serial number is invalid - Go back to the magic wand and generate another one.
If you see a response similar to this it means that you have generated a serial number in a recognisable format and it is ok to proceed to the next stage.
Open the https://checkcoverage.apple.com site and paste your Serial Number into the box
Enter the required code and click Continue
This is the part of the process which confuses people the most so pay particular attention :
If you see the message "Your Service and Support Coverage" and a picture of a computer
then you have generated the Serial Number of a computer that is already recorded in Apple's database.
Do not use this Serial Number - Go back to the Magic Wand tool and generate a new one.
If you see the message "We're sorry, but this serial number is not valid. Please check your information and try again" and the Serial Number has passed verification at everymac.com then it is OK to use this Serial Number for your config.plist.
This is so important that it is worth repeating :
You need a Serial Number that everymac.com confirms is in the correct format and that Apple says is not valid.
It does not mean that it is not a valid Serial Number - It means that it is not already registered.
Quit Safari
Open a Terminal window and type uuidgen (and press Return) several times to generate some random UUIDs.
Copy one of your random UUID numbers from the Terminal window and paste it into the SmUUID box in Clover Configurator.
In Clover Configurator select File - Save
Quit Clover Configurator.
Restart
From your /Applications folder run Clover Configurator,
Mount the EFI partition.
Select File - Open - EFI/CLOVER/config.plist
Once your config.plist file has loaded into Clover Configurator :
Open a Terminal window
Open a Finder window and browse to the location where you downloaded simpleMLB.sh
Drag simpleMLB.sh from Finder onto the Terminal window, click inside the Terminal window and press Return
Copy the generated number then paste it into Clover Configurator - SMBIOS - Board Serial Number.
In Clover Configurator select File - Save
Quit Clover Configurator and Terminal.
Restart
Open a Finder window, browse to the location where you downloaded iMessageDebug and run it.
Press y and Return to save a copy called iMessageDebug.txt.
Restart
Open a Finder window and browse to the location where you downloaded iMessageDebug and run it.
Compare the output with the saved copy.
If the two copies are the same you may reconnect to the network and proceed to set up iMessage.
The last line in the output of iMessageDebug is subject to change but does not appear to be a cause for concern.
If you follow the guide and get a failed ROM in iMessageDebug you may need to install EmuVariableUefi-64 and RC Scripts with the Clover installer. This seems to particularly apply to those with 100 series motherboards.
**************************************************************************The examples shown are for the Clover boot loader that has been installed in UEFI mode.
If you have installed Clover in Legacy mode then the procedure is the same except that your config.plist
is located in the /EFI/CLOVER folder on your System disk.
For brevity the guide is for users of El Capitan as this is the operating system that most people will be using at the time of writing.
If you use a different version of the operating system then you should adapt these instructions to your own requirements.
This is not intended as a help thread, requests for help will be deemed off-topic and removed.
For help with iMessage refer to the comprehensive How to Fix iMessage Guide thread.
Clover Configurator - iMessageDebugv2 - simpleMLB - DPCIManager
With regard to your questions the guide is not ambiguous.
