Ichat not recognizing available buddy

Question

for some reason one of my "buddies" is not being recognized. Their on my buddy list but remain shadowed. Even though I confirm on the phone that they are on the computer and available, ichat doesn't recognize their status as available. The same for my status on their computer. We have mutual buddies and we can both chat with the other friends but not with each other. Any help would be appreciated, is anyone else having this problem?

Answer 1

Hi,
Welcome to the    Discussions.
Buddies can "Appear" Off-line for several Reasons
1) They are Off line (which you have eliminated )
2) You have Spelt their Screen Name incorrectly (AIM has no way of knowing if a Buddy's name is valid)
3) You have Allow Specific Buddies set on iChat > Preferences > Accounts > Security and have not added them to the List.
3a) They have this (setting)
4) You have Been Blocked by them (this seems unlikely as you are Off Line to them)
5) One of you is set to Invisible (Again it does not explain both ends)
6) Really a variation on 2 plus 3 in that you have added them as a AIM name when they are MobileMe or @mac.com (Or they have) with the Allow Buddy list or Allow Specific people in use.
I would start with checking as much of this as possible.
Also get a mutual Buddy to start a Group Chat (File Menu > Go to Room and type in a Name for the room) and add bot of you.
You can then use "Show Participants" (View Menu) and drag him from the Participants Drawer to the Buddy List.
10:51 PM Monday; September 28, 2009
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