Flakey Google Talk connection in iChat

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Google Talk in iChat

One of my News Years Resolutions is to keep in more regular contact with friends. One way I decided to do that was to stay logged into a chat client. It’s not for meaningful discussions, but just for the occasional, Hi there kind of thing.

I’m using Google Talk, via iChat. The big problem I’ve had so far is the connection continually gets dropped, and I can’t figure out why. I can’t seem to stay logged in more than about 1/2 hour.

Has anyone else had this problem with Google Talk / iChat?

27 thoughts on “Flakey Google Talk connection in iChat”

  2. I’m logged into GTalk from iChat and it works fine. No real issues. I used the instructions from Google’s help pages.

    Paul, do you still have that 2 GB memory from your Macbook Pro?

  3. Hi Arvin,

    I’ll check Google’s help pages to see if I have something set up incorrectly. Thanks.

    I actually put that RAM in a drawer and forgot all about it. I do still have it, but I’m afraid there may be a slight change of plans. My girlfriend, Anne Marie, will be buying a new computer after Macworld. If she ends up with a machine that the RAM will fit in, I should give it to her. I can let you know if she gets a computer that it won’t fit in if you want.

    Sorry for the change,

    paul

  4. @Daniel – Ya, I’ve tried Adium. There are some things I like about it, and some things I don’t. The good news is I don’t constantly get disconnected like I do with iChat.

    I may use Adium just so I can stay logged in, but it’s a bummer that it doesn’t have audio and video chat built in… at least not yet.

  5. But does GTalk has video and audio bult in?
    Here in Brazil we use MSN a lot (it sucks, I know) i use Adium and when I need to use audio and video I use the MeBeam plugin for Adium. It works ok.

  6. @Daniel – Yep, GTalk via iChat does text, audio, and video right out of the box without any plugins or 3rd party apps. It works really well.

  7. I’ve had the same problem. I don’t have any solution but thought you’d feel better in some way to know that you aren’t alone?

  8. Hey my google talk is working well on my ichat but i was wondering if the audio video works. coz ive tried everything and cant seem to get it. also my msn doesnt work with ichat nor does yahoo.. HELP!!!

  9. Kirt, Yes, I’ve used audio and video with Google Chat via iChat. Unfortunately, I can’t give you any specific advise, but it does work.

    iChat doesn’t support msn. I’m not sure, but I don’t think it supports Yahoo either. For those you should look at Adium.

  11. @kyle – I’m on Leopard, but I’m almost positive that I was able to do it under Tiger as well. Both parties were using iChat. I’ve never tried it with someone using the actual Google chat software… just their service. I wouldn’t think that would make a difference though.

  12. Have Leopard and can chat with buddy on google talk but I can’t do audio. When I hit the call button it says I have to download an exe file which my imac can’t use. Is there another way?

  13. @mike – Is your buddy using iChat too? I’ve ben able to voice-chat via Google Talk without problems with both sides using iChat. I’ve never tried with the other person using Google’s application.

  14. Hi–just came across your site looking for a solution to my problem. Wanted to add my name to the list of people saying You Are Not Alone. Drat.

  15. Hi, two people here too who has same problem when using Google’s Jabber. One uses Leopard iChat and another Tiger iChat. Only chat works, but not audio nor video. Bummer. Any help to overcome this problem would be nice.

  16. I also just came across this site. My jabber connection with google dies every hour or so…its really annoying, and I guess there are no fixes :(

  17. Just want to add my voice to the crowd of those who keep getting booted from gtalk via iChat. Very sporadic, and I haven’t found a solution yet…

  18. Hey there,

    I am going crazy setting up Ichat for gtalk. I only get the jabber account with which i can not do any audio or video chat. How is the set up???
    can someone help

    thanks a billion

    Susan

  20. I also am having the same problem. It seems like almost every 15 minutes I get booted from Google Jabber (Gtalk).

    Regarding the audio/video thing, the solution may be that you’re not setting up your gateway/router to forward certain port communication to your computer.

    Here is a link to a site that gives you instructions. Simply choose your router, then choose ‘iChat’. You will however have to assign a static IP to your Mac to do this.

    http://www.portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/routerindex.htm

    Example:

    http://www.portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/Netgear/CG814WGv3/iChat.htm

  21. hi redconfetti…
    did u do this port setup thing… if so.. is it working… please let us how u did it… cos i read somewhere in google forums that gtalk on ichat do not have voice/video chat….

    thnk u

  22. I am experiencing random disconnects under Leopard when using GTalk with a brand new macbook. I am going to try port forwarding and see if that helps at all.

    -Patrick

  24. i’ve tried unsetting hte machine name, as megabulk pointed out – and have simultaneously tried the option to autodetect the server and port. haven’t had a failure since, but the test has been short: i typically got 1 or 2 disconnects a day and this has worked for a couple days so far.

    -bit

  25. I experience this problem too — I will try the “unchecking the “use my machine name” option under location in the server settings tab – ichat account preferences” suggestion. Thanks!

  26. Update: Didn’t work. So far still experimenting with different solutions I’ve Googled, and still experiencing random disconnects. It’s extremely frustrating.

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