Mac OS X 10.5.x Special Report: iChat problems

Leopard users have reported various problems with iChat communications.

Reader John says:

When I try to share audio, video or photos using iChat Theater on my Core 2 Duo iMac the audio becomes severely distorted. It starts to distort the moment I try to share anything, clips don't even have to be playing and with photos, the distortion begins the moment that iPhoto is launched. I've got a 2.33ghz Core 2 Duo iMac with 3 gb of RAM and an 8 megabit internet connection, so I don't think it's capabilities. It also runs just fine on my MacBook. It also seem to have gotten worse with the latest Quicktime upgrade.

Aaron advises removing iChat plists:

I experienced an issue where I would have to open my iChat video window, close it, and then reopen it to have video work. If you delete ALL your com.apple.iChat.xxxxxxxx files and reopen iChat it should fix this.

Here are some further laments about iChat in Leopard. From GH:

I find that when I try to add a buddy, it sometimes takes three or four attempts to get the entry to appear on my list. And once there I can't move any entry from one folder to another, eg from Buddy to Family. I just had a look at iChat and find the last entry I made earlier tonight is no longer on my list at all.

From Jon:

I have always been able to iChat with my parents - G5 iMac and sister - intel late 2006 imac. Since my install of Leopard on my early 2006 intel iMac I have not been able to connect with them. Their status appears in my buddy list and I in theirs and we can both initiate a chat but have not been able to establish communications. The error says that there was a "communications error" and could not connect.

And this one, similar, from another reader:

After upgrading to 10.5.1 I was unable to establish a video connection to my brother in Germany, something we had done often before. I have a new MacBook and he has a fairly new iMac, both with built-in cameras. He has DSL and I have a T1 line. When we tried to connect to each other (it did not matter who initiated the connection - the result was the same), his error message was "no bandwidth" and mine was "no data received". We were not able to establish an audio connection either, only a text session.

From Joe:

When I attempt to connect (most times) the picture freezes and Airport Extreme stops and Buddy List closes. After about 5 seconds the Airport Extreme restarts and I can open Buddy List but I still can't video chat without freezing.

I sometimes get for no apparent reason, a message in Buddy List which says I am signed on to tw oAOL accounts at same time and that I should press the number 1 to sign off one of them. I am signed on using AIM but AIM application is not on my computer.

I attempt to video chat with a friend who is using Leopard and I am unable to. His picture freezes on video and I get a spinning wheel and Airport stops and then reopens (see # 3 above). Sometimes (stability again) he is able to connect with me and we can talk and video. Other times he is unable to connect with me without freezing.

From Claudio:

On my iMac 2.8 when I use video effects in the background, soon after the background image blurs and decomposes.

Resources