How to Fix iMessage

[RandomNumber]

I'm still struggling to get imessage to work, but I think I am very close. I need a little guidance. All values seem persistent, even the Apple code that comes up each time I try to log in. I think I have discovered a possible problem in need of a fix. My Board serial number from within imessageDebug is 16 characters long. If I've read the guide correctly my MacPro 5,1 with an 11 character serial number should have a 13 character Board serial number. Am I correct that the Board serial number is synonymous with MLB? In any event I have removed the last 3 characters from my Board serial number within Clover Configuator but imessageDebug still shows the same old 16 character Board serial number. How do I correct this?

I wonder if some of my issues are a product of the fact that I use Chimera to boot to my system in Mavericks as a MacPro 3,1 & I use Clover to boot into my Yosemite system as MacPro 5,1. Initially using this guide (before trying Clover) I used several of the Chimera guide suggestions (unsuccessfully) to try to log into imessage. BTW, the 16 character Board serial number is the same 16 character one no matter whether I boot to Mavs or Yosemite. I no longer try to log into Mavs/Chimera only the Clover/Yosemite.

One other clarification. Each time I try and log in, I am presented with the message to "create an app specific id". I follow that procedure and after providing a code sent to my phone, I get the specific imessage/facetime app specific id. It is a bit unclear exactly what I'm to do with that. I have tried to use it in place of my usual Apple ID, and naturally it leads me to the Call Apple support with the persistent code message. However, assuming I ever do get past that point, does that app specific id become my new Apple id or is it just a one time use? Thanks.

Gentleman, I'm stuck here! I can not seem to change the above mentioned 16 character Board Serial ID to an appropriate 13 character one.

In Clover I use my Mac address for ROM & my 11 character serial plus 2 more to create the MLB on the RT Variable page within the appropriate fields at the top. Even after following the guide section 3.3 iMessageDebug still shows a 16 character Board Serial ID which has no apparent connection to the MLB value entered on the RT Variables page. I've been all over the guide sooo many times. I need some guidance please.

 

[wilsonwilko]

I am currently running clover from a USB test drive. I'm going to run it like this for a day before I install it on my HD. When would be the time to start working on imessage? Can I do that now while booting from USB or should I wait until I have a stable install?
Thanks

I did exactly this - installed clover onto a USB stick and booted into my hack. I got it booting and then then tinkered around and followed the guide for iMessages, except for the changes made were to the USB rather than my root drive. I managed to get everything working fine

I would caution you, when you start changing the iMessage values such as ROM, MLB, SN etc on the USB, if you decide boot from your main drive i.e. not using clover, your MLB, ROM, SN will change back, but your unique hardware will be the same. If you do this too many time you could be blacklisted.

I did this a few times (being a n00b and all that) before making the leap to clover permanent (using all the same values I used on my USB clover to my main driver clover), and it was never a problem, but it's worth knowing.

Good luck!

 

[taaronnicholson]

iMessage began working for me yesterday - no special magic, no fake or real SNs. I'm using Clover 3176. It never worked before, and all I did was log in.

I can't explain it, but it doesn't matter to me!

 

[jaymonkey]

Gentleman, I'm stuck here! I can not seem to change the above mentioned 16 character Board Serial ID to an appropriate 13 character one.

In Clover I use my Mac address for ROM & my 11 character serial plus 2 more to create the MLB on the RT Variable page within the appropriate fields at the top. Even after following the guide section 3.3 iMessageDebug still shows a 16 character Board Serial ID which has no apparent connection to the MLB value entered on the RT Variables page. I've been all over the guide sooo many times. I need some guidance please.

@RandomNumber,

Thats a strange one, not really sure what is going on there .... although i do seem to remember someone did post something similar about a month ago ....

First lets be sure your referring to the correct parameter, there is no such thing as 'Board Serial ID' there is 'Board ID' and 'Board Serial Number' it is the latter which should match the injected MLB value in iMessage Debug, but the field should be left blank in your clover config file if your injecting MLB using the RT Variables method.

The only thing i can think of is a possible miss-match between your OS S/N and the Mac System Type.

Try with a new set of ID's to see if the problem happens again, I would disconnect the system from your network while trying this...

Use the magic wand to generate a new SMBIOS for the type of Mac you want, make sure you shake the date and batch numbers, check that the generated S/N is valid but unregistered. Generate a new SmUUID in terminal and inject it on the SMBIOS page, use the last 6 bytes for your ROM value (this is known as the 'Alt ROM' method detailed at the end of Chapter 7.1), finally copy the new S/N to MLB in RT Variables section and add digits to make up to the correct length.

Save and reboot, check with iMessage Debug and make dump of output. Shutdown and repeat if all looks good then you should be able to use the new ID's or use the info to help you debug why the previous config is not working.

Good Luck
Jay

 

[RandomNumber]

@RandomNumber,
First lets be sure your referring to the correct parameter, there is no such thing as 'Board Serial ID' there is 'Board ID' and 'Board Serial Number' it is the latter which should match the injected MLB value in iMessage Debug, but the field should be left blank in your clover config file if your injecting MLB using the RT Variables method.

The only thing i can think of is a possible miss-match between your OS S/N and the Mac System Type.......
Jay

@jaymonkey, sorry for the confusion with my terminology. I was referring to the 'Board Serial Number'. I'll try your suggestion and report back. Your suggestion did serve to clarify the whole process for me. Thanks.

 

[Dnerve]

Working fine after 10.10.3 update!

 

[jaymonkey]

Working fine after 10.10.3 update!

@Dnerve,

Confirmed, iMessage also working for me after 10.10.3 update

Thanks for the feedback
Cheers
Jay

 

[RandomNumber]

@RandomNumber,

Thats a strange one, not really sure what is going on there .... although i do seem to remember someone did post something similar about a month ago ....

First lets be sure your referring to the correct parameter, there is no such thing as 'Board Serial ID' there is 'Board ID' and 'Board Serial Number' it is the latter which should match the injected MLB value in iMessage Debug, but the field should be left blank in your clover config file if your injecting MLB using the RT Variables method.

The only thing i can think of is a possible miss-match between your OS S/N and the Mac System Type.

Try with a new set of ID's to see if the problem happens again, I would disconnect the system from your network while trying this...

Use the magic wand to generate a new SMBIOS for the type of Mac you want, make sure you shake the date and batch numbers, check that the generated S/N is valid but unregistered. Generate a new SmUUID in terminal and inject it on the SMBIOS page, use the last 6 bytes for your ROM value (this is known as the 'Alt ROM' method detailed at the end of Chapter 7.1), finally copy the new S/N to MLB in RT Variables section and add digits to make up to the correct length.

Save and reboot, check with iMessage Debug and make dump of output. Shutdown and repeat if all looks good then you should be able to use the new ID's or use the info to help you debug why the previous config is not working.

Good Luck
Jay

@jaymonkey did as suggested above and it resulted in the exact same persistent 16 character Board Serial Number within imessageDebug. I guess maybe I should wipe the drive, re-install Yosemite & start fresh now that I understand the process a little better. Any intermediary ideas before I proceed with that?

 

[esafeddie]

@jaymonkey did as suggested above and it resulted in the exact same persistent 16 character Board Serial Number within imessageDebug. I guess maybe I should wipe the drive, re-install Yosemite & start fresh now that I understand the process a little better. Any intermediary ideas before I proceed with that?

Hi - If I may offer some advice, before you wipe your Drive its good practice to log out of all Apple Services i.e App Store, iTunes also 'De-Authorize this Mac' in iTunes and most important of all iCloud. The reason behind this is, when you create new values on your Hack without logging out from Apple Services, you are leaving behind a Ghost machine on your account still logged into the Apple Services which can cause some confusion.

Follow the GUIDE closely for creating your new values and hopefully you will be successful - Good Luck.

 

[jaymonkey]

did as suggested above and it resulted in the exact same persistent 16 character Board Serial Number within imessageDebug. I guess maybe I should wipe the drive, re-install Yosemite & start fresh now that I understand the process a little better. Any intermediary ideas before I proceed with that?

@RandomNumber,

Should not be necessary to wipe your drive since all ID's are injected at boot time via Clover, you just need to make sure that everything is correct and it should work. I don't understand how you can be getting the same (16 digit) MLB value if you changed all your ID's .... somethings not quite right ?

Make sure your boot Clover correctly and editing the correct config.plist..

Cheers
Jay