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Video iChat down?

aross99

aross99

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Dec 17, 2006
1,541
1
East Lansing, MI
Anyone having trouble doing Video iChats today? I use it all the time, so I know I don't have any computer issues, but I have been unable to have a successful Video chat today. Worked find all day yesterday.

I'm on Comcast in Michigan and the person I am trying to chat with is on Time-Warner cable in Maine.

Skype works fine, but I like to use iChat when I can.

Anyone else having issues?
 
There is no 'iChat video server'. As with all other video conferencing systems (such as Skype and even MSN) all the video goes straight from one user to another - it doesn't go anywhere near any servers.
 
No issues here with comcast to yahoo sbc. As said before, iChat does not use servers. I'd check your iChat settings.
 
Killyp said:
There is no 'iChat video server'. As with all other video conferencing systems (such as Skype and even MSN) all the video goes straight from one user to another - it doesn't go anywhere near any servers.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought, but I'm not the only one having issues today. See this Apple support thread:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1489759&tstart=0

I'm pretty sure there is a server involved to help link up the initial connection, which is why you don't need to punch a hole in your firewall for iChat to work...

Than again, maybe it is Comcast or Time-Warner trying to "control the traffic on their networks"...

I will try again tomorrow...
 
Killyp said:
There is no 'iChat video server'. As with all other video conferencing systems (such as Skype and even MSN) all the video goes straight from one user to another - it doesn't go anywhere near any servers.
Click to expand...

Yep. Goes from one end to the other...
 
numbersyx said:
Yep. Goes from one end to the other...
Click to expand...

Isn't there a central server involved in the initial negotiation?

How does one end know the IP address of the other when they are connected only over iChat?

I always thought each end posted some info to a central server to pickup enough info to make the actual end-to-end connection. The server wouldn't be involved in the actual chat, but only in the initial connection negotiation...
 
I can't connect either.

All I've been able to get is a message saying that the other person failed to connect. I've tried this with two people now and the same thing happens each time.

Glad to know I'm not the only one.
 
I found a good write of of the iChat AV connection process here:

http://www.aptr36.dsl.pipex.com/page3.html

Scroll down to the part labeled "To explain some of iChats ports a little further".

Here is the key part:

Port 5678 is not clearly documented as to it's use in the Apple Doc. It is in fact where the invites are sent and received via a server called "snatmap". This server does one job during Audio and Video chat invites. When you send an invite, this server does the negotiating between the two computers and tells them which ports are available for use. As soon as you click on the invite window to make a choice of Accepting, Blocking or Text chatting it immediately hands over to Port 5060.

Port 5060 is used during introductions to potential chatters, via a server called "SNATMAP". This server does one job during Audio and Video chat invites. When you send an invite on port 5678, this server does the negotiating between the two computers and tells them which ports are available for use. The server drops out of the link once it has been established. (You can set yourself to off line whilst in the middle of a live chat). iChat uses the SIP protocol that is used by Voice over Internet (IP) phones and software applications that provide 'soft-phone' actions. These SIP ports are Internationally set and are in fact a range (5060-5063)
Click to expand...

It goes on to say that the connection is peer-to-peer after it is established. I don't know what this "SNATMAP" server is, but I suspect it is what is causing us problems. Either that, or we are having some other issues with these signaling ports.

When i "dig snatmap", I see Public IP address: 208.67.217.132. This IP does respond to pings, so it is up...

Since it seems to be effecting a bunch of us who have not had issues before, I suspect it is something outside of our machines...
 
aross99 said:
I found a good write of of the iChat AV connection process here:

http://www.aptr36.dsl.pipex.com/page3.html

Scroll down to the part labeled "To explain some of iChats ports a little further".

Here is the key part:



It goes on to say that the connection is peer-to-peer after it is established. I don't know what this "SNATMAP" server is, but I suspect it is what is causing us problems. Either that, or we are having some other issues with these signaling ports.

Since it seems to be effecting a bunch of us who have not had issues before, I suspect it is something outside of our machines...
Click to expand...

Good investigation.
 
It seems to be working again... :)

Anyone else still having issues?

I did try launching iChat from the Terminal using the command line for extra logging:

/Applications/iChat.app/Contents/MacOS/iChat -errorLogLevel 7

That worked, so I quit, and launched it normally.

Can't tell if it was this or it just started working...
 
I'm getting the same error 7, also.....and #4

aross99, can you explain more simply what your last thread means?

This my error report.


Video Conference Error Report:
13.123313 @SIP/SIP.c:2719 type=4 (900A002D/0)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
[]
1454.134356 @SIP/SIP.c:2719 type=4 (900A0015/0)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
[]
1456.134985 @SIP/SIP.c:2719 type=4 (900A0015/0)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
[]
2632.449846 @SIP/SIP.c:2719 type=4 (900A002D/0)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
[]
 
I have been able to Video iChat all day long, so whatever was wrong, it seems to have been fixed. General consensus is that Apple had a problem with a "snatmap" server, that was effecting some people.

While I was having problems, I found a thread at the apple support forums, that talked about starting iChat from the command line, with a special logging switch, that would display a bunch of information about your connection.

I happened to try this at the same time that the issue was fixes, and since it started working for me, I wasn't sure if it was the timing, or the command line switch.

If you are having connections issues when trying to talk to another iChat user, then you probably have a firewall issue. iChat works by using uPnP (Universal Plug and Play) to tell your routers to open up certain ports on the fly, to enable the inbound connection from the remote host. If this doesn't work, then the connection will fail with something similar to "the other person dod not respond".

If you have used video iChat's before, than you know your computer and router are OK. If this is the first time you have tried a video iChat, then there are lot of variables that could be causing the problem.
 
It seems alot of people have been having problems just recently. My brother and I were iChatting for months since 03/07. Then this last Xmas, with the same equipment, same OS, nothing. We have been trying it about 6 times since then and still no go.

iChat poprt is set at 5190===slogin.oscar.aol.com

NO firewalls are ON. Open access to anyone.

We are both using Leopard, now. Before, whatever the OS was before that...Tiger?? Panther?? Got my machine 1 year ago.

Some of you are back online. Wow, Im at a loss as to what else to look for, set-up wise.

Fishin' for ideas. Thanks.

ANYBODY have this problem before the last day or so??
 
How about your routers? ANy chance one of you changed something with your Internet Router?

If you had it working for some time., then I would think your computer settings, etc are OK.

If either of you have a laptop., have you thought about trying to chat from another location? This eliminates your router from the equation, and can help diagnose the problem.

I have used both Apple and non-apple routers/base stations, with pretty good luck. Do you know what king of Router you have on each end?

The most important thing for the routers is that you have uPnP (Universal plug-and-play) enabled. If you have a non-Apple router, you might check for a uPnP setting, and see if it is enabled or not.
 
People. *cringe*

Yes. iChat is decentralized. That means that there is no Apple server involved in your transaction-- all of the data goes from one member to the other, with some tricks to try to get through firewalls. These tricks don't always work.

The "snatmap" server aross99 found is a server, yes, but it is a server running on your computer, to do the aforementioned trickiness. Try it yourself, if you want to watch for it: do a `ps aux | grep snatmap`.

Trying to `dig` "snatmap" did give you an IP address, but that IP address is the OpenDNS guide server. (By the way, aross99, you're using OpenDNS. :]) That's partially the fault of OpenDNS-- they've been criticized for always giving A records when a non-existent domain is requested. This is so they can send you to their guide page.

In general, remember that domains without TLDs (.com, .net, .org) simply don't exist. You can't get them, that's not how the Internet works. So trying to go to "snatmap" wouldn't work so good-like.

The problem you guys are hitting is generally a firewall issue, sometimes caused by the OS X firewall (even when it says it's off.) Good things to try include:
* making sure uPnP is enabled on your router
* turning the OS X firewall off and on
* power cycling your router
* putting yourself in the DMZ
 
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