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A fix for 'User failed to respond' iChat connection errors Apps
I know this has been bugging may iChat AV users. When attempting to start a video or audio call iChat AV reports that the User failed to respond. After much investigation, I figured out what was going on. It seems you'll typically experience this issue when two conditions are true:
  1. You have multiple Macs sharing one router on a network.
  2. You're using a DMZ service to direct internet traffic to a Mac that's not running iChat
To successfully connect, we found that both users must first disable the DMZ. I've written this up in more detail on my blog, and I also discuss changing iChat's default port, in case that's also causing issues.
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A fix for 'User failed to respond' iChat connection errors | 10 comments | Create New Account
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A fix for 'User failed to respond' iChat connection errors
Authored by: jump420 on May 08, '06 08:59:24AM

another chance of hope, yet to only be disappointed.
i haven't been able to video chat in over 8 months if not longer.

this hint didn't seem to work for me.
still get user did not respond



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A fix for 'User failed to respond' iChat connection errors
Authored by: hmelman on May 08, '06 10:28:00AM

That error usually means there's some port blocked between the two users. This could be at their routers or at the ISPs between them. If you're trying to chat with someone at work, their companies firewall might block the needed ports and you could get the same error.

The Apple iChat AV forums offer a lot of help with such problems.
http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=139

Ralph John answers many questions and his siteis quite helpful
http://www.ralphjohnsuk.dsl.pipex.com/page3.html

Apple describes what iChat needs
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93208

but translating this to your router can be difficult.
http://portforward.com/
offers info configuring specific routers for specific applications with step by step screen shots.



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A fix for 'User failed to respond' iChat connection errors
Authored by: jump420 on May 08, '06 11:31:22AM

well what actually did work for me right now:

i changed the port to 443 and didnt work.
then i said let's make my Mac a DMZ server.
when i activated DMZ on my Mac it worked.

at least i can do this for now, anytime i need to video chat. small price to pay i guess for not having anything.

i've tried all those solutions, back in the day. one day i'll double check the settings again, but i've been disappointed. It should be a little bit easier to configure.



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A fix for 'User failed to respond' iChat connection errors
Authored by: descoff on May 08, '06 02:25:17PM

Make sure that under System Preferences/Firewall/Advanced... the option "Block UDP Traffic" is *not* checked. This prevents answering to iChat Video invitations.



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A fix for 'User failed to respond' iChat connection errors
Authored by: pitch on May 23, '06 06:32:13AM

For other beginners who are confused, the actual path to that Firewall check is:

System Preferences—Sharing—Firewall—Advanced



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A fix for 'User failed to respond' iChat connection errors
Authored by: scottgrot on May 08, '06 06:24:58PM

I too have been trying for far too long to make iChat work with both audio and video connections. I got my folks onto a 512k connection so I could video chat with them. Nuttin. Zip. Zilch. "You failed to respond". "They failed to respond".

I have read and re-read and re-re-read (can you do that?) the iChat help sites again and again. And again.

I have agonised (Australian spelling) over NAT settings again and again. Even learning about subnet masks and stuff.

I thought I stumbled upon a fix. At least this worked with my parents. Skype. Alas no video.

I am running a dlink 302g plugged into an airport extreme base station. I changed the subnet mask on the airport network.

I got my parents bypass their airport express and plug directly into their dlink 604t. Et Voila! Lucky I was sitting down because otherwise I would have fallen over! Needless to say that my parents went quickly over their 200Mb download limit. Dang!

I have at least 2, sometimes 3 computers on my wireless network, and my folks have one on their airport express wireless network. I switched the 604t wireless mode off.

I just tried the previos hint to no avail. I couldn't chat to a friend of mine just on the other side of the city. No audio or video.

Can anybody help? Please? I beg... look, I am on my knees. See. Please...

Thankyou
s



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A fix for 'User failed to respond' iChat connection errors
Authored by: apikoros on May 09, '06 06:07:58AM

I can't help. But, God, do I feel for you...



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A fix for 'User failed to respond' iChat connection errors
Authored by: periche on May 09, '06 11:20:21PM

For me the solution was changing the router. I discovered that the ADSL router the phone co installed was a Speedstream which happens to have a flaw... it will not do consistent NAT translations. I replaced it with an old small Cisco (A200 I think) and all my connections problems went away.



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A fix for 'User failed to respond' iChat connection errors
Authored by: Onirix on May 17, '06 06:53:55PM

From what I saw with a quick glance at the d-link info pages, those modems seem like routers as well. One site says, "Two computers can simultaneously connect to the DSL-302G through its USB and Ethernet port to share its high-speed Internet connection". But I didn't have the patience to look further.

So... if I understand it correctly, the d-link is routing, then the airport express is routing again. Not a good situation for ichat for sure.

Is there anyway you can set the d-link not to act as a router and not to distribute ip addresses or something like that. Like an access point. Then the airport express can connect and it can route only, and it should be okay for ichat.

Another issue might be a firewall that cannot be turned off on the dlink. Might have to forward ports to the airport express ip address. (you can set the airport express wan ip address manually i think, so it is always the same.)

Just some thoughts. Not sure any of this will help. Good luck.



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A fix for 'User failed to respond' iChat connection errors - THAT WORKED FOR ME!
Authored by: amstim on May 27, '06 11:04:02AM

These fixes did not work for me or any of the others i had read. I am using an
old SPEEDTOUCH 570 router. The isp is XS4all.nl in Amsterdam via KPN here in
Amsterdam.

I tried opening ports but still did not work. open this port, that port, firewall on,
firewall off, dmz.... i'm sure you have read about all these fixes which seem to
work for some routers. :-)

I got it to work tonight finally. I unbound SIP on my router from port 5060.
the command is: nat unbind application=SIP, port =5060
then do a saveall and then a system reboot.

I think all the port forwarding still needs to be done for the tcp and udp ports
though. unbind SIP from the application seems like a good first step (before
manually defining the ports) if your router uses UPnP and you cant get a video
connection.

one note: I am not a network techie so i dont know what the effects of
unbinding SIP from that port may be to the router or other applications. I have
not experienced any problems though and i'm not so worried.

- A VERY HAPPY iChatter (amsink20[AIM]) in Amsterdam.



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