iChat not showing connected contacts

[djbombjack]

I've been helping my friend set up his iChat, now that he has broadband.
He's running v2.0 on OS X 10.3.3.
I'm running v2.1 on OS X 10.3.4

He has both a .Mac account and an AOL screenname, yet no matter which one of the two he logs in with, his iChat refuses to show me (as a contact) as online, even though I am. I can put his details into my iChat, and he remains offline. Actually, it won't show ANYONE online.

We've been through everything... checking for blocked buddies etc. But still nothing. And I doubt it's a firewall problem as he can use MSN Messenger fine with the ability to transfer files.

Any thoughts? It's driving me crazy...

 

[crazzyeddie]

First off, why is he running a different version of iChat and OS X? Update him.

Secondly, make sure his prefs in iChat don't prevent you (or anyone else) from seeing him online. (Privacy Prefs).

It could be a firewall issue. Does he have a router? There could be issues there or with Mac OS X's own firewall.