Mac Forum / Applications / Other MS Products / June 2008

On 5/18/08 9:18 AM, in article ee9bec9.-1@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,

If you are having issues signing in using the Personal (Windows Live)
service with Messenger 6.0.3 or Messenger 7, please see below for things to
try. This has been modified from earlier versions to add Messenger 7
information, as well as OS 10.5.x to the mix.

Here is some standard troubleshooting to try if you are unable to sign-in.

1. Make sure you entered your password correctly. Passwords are case
sensitive
2. Go to the Sign-in dialog and uncheck ³Save Password², click OK. Then quit
and relaunch Messenger. When you try to sign-in manually enter your
password, but do not save.
3. Try to sign-in again to see if it might be server related. Server issues
may take a few hours to resolve. If you always take two tries after
launching the application to sign-in, please delete your preferences and
setup Messenger again. Information about deleting your preferences can be
found below.
4. Check to see if you have the OS Firewall enabled. 10.4.x If so, make sure
you have an exception for the listing ³MSN Messenger². If not, you will need
to create a New exception. The OS firewall settings are set in System
Preferences | Sharing | Firewall tab. 10.5.x instructions:  System
Preferences | Security | Firewall and either enable ³All incoming
connections²  (allows everything), ³Allow only essential services², or
choose ³Set Access for specific services . . .². The first option allows
everything. The second & third options are potential culprits. If you have
either of the latter 2 options,  you need to make an exception for Messenger
by clicking the + button and adding the application to the list of
exceptions.
5. If you have a firewall on your router, please make sure to add Messenger
as an expection or open the ports for chatting. Port 1863 over TCP.
6. If you are behind proxies, please make sure they are setup correctly in
the System Preferences | Network. If that doesn¹t help, please set them up
manually in Messenger | Preferences | Accounts. Make sure you have the
correct ³Type² chosen.
7. Are you running any network traffic utilities, such as Little Snitch,
NetBarrier, etc. If so, please make sure you are running the latest version.
You will need to make sure you have allowed Messenger as an exception in any
utility that blocks network traffic, or you will be unable to sign-in.
8. OS X 10.4.x and later: Launch the Keychain Access application, located in
your Utilities folder. Look on the left pane for the x509 anchors. Do any
certificates show for the x509 anchors? If so, do you have the ³Secure
Server Certification Authority² certificate? If not, you will need to copy
this certificate from another Macintosh into the x509 anchors in your
keychain, or reinstall the OS. The certificate allows for a more secure
login.  OS X 10.5.x: Launch Keychain Access located in your Utilities
folder. Choose File -> Add to Keychain, then select
/System/Library/Keychains/X509Certificates.obsoleted. You should now be able
to view the x509 anchors. Do any certificates show for the x509 anchors? If
so, do you have the ³Secure Server Certification Authority² certificate? If
not, you will need to copy this certificate from another Macintosh into the
x509 anchors in your keychain, or reinstall the OS. The certificate allows
for a more secure login.
9. Delete your preferences, then try to setup Messenger and sign-in again

If none of the above works for you, please send an Apple System Profile
Report and a Messenger Log. (instructions below). A TCPDump (instructions
below) may also be requested at a later time. Please make sure no other
network applications are running at the time, outside of Messenger when
gathering a TCPDump.  Thanks.

Getting an Apple System Profile Report:
1. Go under the blue apple menu and choose About This Mac
2. Click the ³More Info . . .² button
3. Choose Save and select a name for the file

Enabling Messenger Logs for Messenger 6.0.3:
Quit Messenger
Go to /Applications/Utilities and launch the Terminal application
Type the following on one line exactly as you see below:
defaults write ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/com.microsoft.Messenger
EnableConnectionLogging -bool true

Disabling Messenger Logs for Messenger 6.0.3: Quit Messenger
Go to /Applications/Utilities and launch the Terminal application
Type the following on one line exactly as you see below:
defaults write ~/Library/Preferences/Microsoft/com.microsoft.Messenger
EnableConnectionLogging -bool false

Enabling/Disabling Messenger Logs for Messenger 7:
Launch Messenger
Messenger | Preferences | General tab
Under the Logging section check the checkbox ³Save a log . . .² to enable
logging
Under the Logging section uncheck the checkbox ³Save a log . . .² to disable
logging

Locating Messenger Logs: Messenger logs are located in your ~/Documents
folder and the file name is Microsoft Messenger.log

Deleting Messenger Logs: Quit Messenger
Move the log named Microsoft Messenger.log to the trash and empty it

Notes about Messenger Logs: Enabling logs saves a file containing personal
information to ~/Documents. Anyone with access to this directory can open
this file.
They are not automatically deleted
They will continue to grow in size if you don't delete them from time to
time or disable logging
Deleting your log without disabling logging will create a new log on launch
of Messenger
Deleting your com.microsoft.messenger.plist file (preference file) will
clear out any settings for logging. You will have to re-enable the logging
again if you want to get a Messenger log file

Getting a TCPDump log:

1) Open System Preferences and choose the Network item.  In the Show
selector choose Network Status; you should see a list of network interfaces
- the current network adapter in use will have a green dot to the left of
its name.  If you see more than one adapter with a green dot then you will
have to figure out which one is the adapter connected to the internet. The
description text for the network adapter should show its IP address (looks
something like 182.168.0.14) - jot this IP address down as you will need it
later.  If the description text does not contain the IP address then you
should double click on the network interface to open it up.  Once you are
examining this network interface choose the TCP/IP tab and jot down the IP
address.

2) Using the Network Utility (found at /Applications/Utilities/Network
Utility.app) select the Info tab and cycle through the Network Interfaces
selector looking for one whose IP address matches the IP address that you
found in step 1.  When you have found the matching network adaptor you will
need to note the Unix network interface name shown in the selector;
typically something like fw0, en0 or en1.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Before proceeding any further make sure to close down any
applications that access the network.  These include Web browsers, Email
programs, Chat programs, etc.  This will help keep your private data private
as well as reduce the amount of noise (or non-applicable data) in the
network capture.

3) Open the terminal application found at
/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app

4) Type the following line into the Terminal application making sure to
substitute the XXX with your active network adapter's name (found in step
2).  Once the proper network name is substituted for the XXX placeholder hit
the enter/return key to start the network capture.  This will start the
network capture and dump the output to a file named NetworkCapture.txt on
your desktop.

   sudo tcpdump ­i XXX ­s 10000 ­U -w ~/Desktop/networkcapt.txt ip proto
TCP
   
IMPORTANT NOTE:  Once you have entered the above line and hit enter you will
be asked for your password; your Mac OS X login password is required to run
the tcpdump tool (via the sudo command).  Your account must also be able to
administer the computer in order for the sudo command to work for you.

5) Attempt to login with Messenger

6) Click on the Terminal window to activate it.  Press and hold the control
key and press the c key - this will stop the network capture.  You should
see a file named networkcapt.txt on your desktop; you should send this file
to rharriss@online.microsoft.com (removing the ³online² before sending).

Thanks,
Rebecca

Rebecca Harriss
rharriss@online.microsoft.com (remove online for any direct replies)
Microsoft Corporation
Macintosh Business Unit, SDET

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.

yeah....mine too .i suspect some people are hacking into others account...