iTunes 11.3.1 Update and iMessage Issues.
I've done a bit more investigation into this and can report the following summary:
I installed the iTunes 11.3.1 Update on 8th Aug 2014 on my Sony Vaio hackingtosh around 19:20 ....
iMessage ceased working on this and another system the day after installing the update ..... the symptoms were i was no longer able to login to iTunes which would result in authentication errors in the console log and contacts turning red text in iMessage.
All attempts to re-activate iMessage using the tips from the guide have failed to work so far, so this may be a new issue we are looking at ..... so far the only thing i can identify that changed between iMessage working and not working was the install of the iTunes 11.3.1 update. Since iTunes now relies on the soagent daemon which i believe processes all iCloud authentication this would make sense if this update also includes an update to soagent ?
As far as I can tell the issue only seems to be with the very latest iTunes 11.3.1 update leased in the last few days, those with iTunes 11.3.0 seem to be unaffected.
Temporary fix / Workaround - I have been able to get iMessage working again by restoring a TimeMachine backup from the 5th Aug 2014 which was prior to installing the iTunes 11.3.1 update ..... its still not conclusive and i am continuing to monitor and investigate the situation. However it does point that the issue is local to your machine and not on Apples backend servers.
Notes:
- If iMessage is working for you right now i recommend making a clone or full TM backup.
- If you have not installed iTunes 11.3.1 update it may be worth holing off until its been confirmed as the cause of the issue.
- If you have installed the Update but not run iTunes yet and iMessage is working make a backup now .... before running iTunes, if iMessage stops working after you run it please provide feedback. I have a feeling that the issue may start after running iTunes 11.3.1
If you think you've been effected by any of the above please provide feedback.
I have updated Part 1 of the guide with a warning of this potential issue.
Cheers
Jay