I really, really need some advice on iMessage.
I have several machines, one of them is a genuine iMac (2012, 21") and three DIY systems.
One of the DIY machines still works but is sooooo old I don't bother with it anymore.
The other two are on a GA-Z77x-UD5H and on a GA-Z97-D3H.
The system running on the Z97, it's dedicated to a specific purpose and will not ever use any Apple services, I do NOT want it to use email, iMessage, FaceTime, etc, ever. I just upgraded it to Sierra 10.12.2 and it works perfectly as is so I don't need to do anything further with it.
The system that I do need to get working is on the Z77X-UD5H.
This system has been my primary workhorse for several years now. I had it stuck on Yosemite until just a few days ago because I was afraid to try to upgrade it, I have a LOT of stuff on it. In the past it was 99% working with the exception of iMessage/FaceTime. I have used it for years with it connecting to Apple and iCloud, it has worked fine with Apple mail and with my iPhone (6S plus / iOS 10.2). My mail, browser, keychains, etc. are all shared between the two of them. I can open a webpage on the Hackintosh or my iPhone and then also open it on the other device/system. Airdrop works both ways as well.
For all intents and purposes it's been perfect, just without having iMessage or FaceTime on it.
A few years ago I bought one of those bluetooth/wifi adapters that has a real Apple chip in it so that it gives me flawless bluetooth and wifi support.
A few days ago I put a new disk in the Z97 and installed Sierra 10.12.2 on it. I had to copy apps and files from the old disk to the new one and reconfigure most apps but ultimately I got it working with no data loss.
On my main system, the Z77X though, I didn't have a new disk for it, I had to reuse the same system disk, a "Samsung SSD 850 PRO" 256GB. I have a 2tb disk running as a time machine drive and it backs up my system disk hourly.
Just to be safe I made a file by file copy of my system disk to an external USB disk then I figured I would wipe the SSD and install Sierra and reload and start over like I did on the other system. But in messing with it I somehow broke it so it would no longer boot before I even began to install. As I now had nothing left to lose I decided to try installing Sierra with Clover right over my now broken Yosemite install. I had no expectations of it working. But, it did.
After it finished I thought there was no way it would work but I went ahead and rebooted back to the flash drive, ran Multibeast and configured for my hardware. I let it do it's thing then rebooted. I pulled the flash drive out as the POST screen and much to my amazement Sierra booted up and was working perfectly (well almost). ALL of my apps and data was perfectly preserved and fully operational. I didn't have to reinstall or reconfigure anything at all. Apple mail works, iCloud, keychains, everything was as it should be. I went to the Apple store and updated some of my purchased apps (that I hadn't been able to update before because of being stuck on Yosemite).
So now my Z77X-UD5H is 100% up to date. Everything, the OS, the apps, everything is totally up to date now and I'm thrilled about it! Better yet, my audio works better now because it's given me access to some of the other in/out jacks that Yosemite ignored.
BUT, still no iMessage or FaceTime.
I was looking over the iMessage for idiots thread and much to my alarm it has instructions in there saying I should delete all sorts of files that have to do with email, iCloud, etc..
I can't delete my email, I have years worth of emails saved, I can not delete them, there is important stuff in them I have to keep. I download my email from iCloud into my mac for permanent storage so none of them are stored on iCloud.
I don't dare risk losing my keychains! If I lose my keychains I'm really in deep poo.
I've done the steps of checking to see that the serial number assigned to my Hackintosh is valid (it is) and that Apple does not recognize it as being assigned to any machine in their database. So that much of it is good.
I'm just terrified by the part about deleting files
In Finder navigate to Username/Library/Preferences and delete all files and folders beginning with
- com.apple.iChat.
- com.apple.icloud.
- com.apple.ids.service
- com.apple.imagent.
- com.apple.imessage.
- com.apple.imservice.
With 600 plus pages of stuff here to dig through I am overwhelmed, I'm afraid I'm in way over my head here.
It looks like the guides assume you don't have an existing Apple account or an iPhone or a real Mac.
It looks like the guides are basically telling you to start with a clean install. I can't find instructions on how to get iMessage working on Sierra that wasn't a clean install. I can't just burn the whole thing down and start over, I have to preserve my legit account, email, keychains, etc.. I don't know what to do from this point, I'm not some young computer hot shot, I'm an almost 60yro woman that knows just enough about this to get through the most basic instructions.
Could anyone please point me towards a guide that will help me get iMessage working without having to wipe out or risk losing my data?
Thanks!
