2004 external iSight with G4 Ti not working

Question

I've read through many of the comments here, and all seem to point me toward a firewire port failure. See what you think.
Both my external firewire iSight and G4 Ti PB are 2004. I'm running 10.4.11. I was using the iSight only occasionally for much of this time with no problems, then reconnected it and nothing. The curious thing is that when I connect it to the single firewire 400 port on the G4, the green light comes on briefly, then goes off. Here are the particulars.
First, and perhaps foremost, Profiler recognizes the firewire port, but neither iSight or a fairly new firewire drive are recognized (when I initially installed the drive, it was recognized using the firewire connection, and it is still recognized using a 4-pin-to-usb cable).
I can't change the cable on the camera because it is fixed on this model. I did purchase another firewire cable to test with the hard drive, and it was still not recognized by the G4.
iChat, Skype and iMovie now do not see iSight.
At some point I did upgrade from 10.3 to 10.4.X, but don't remember if this was before the G4 iSight.
Haven't installed much new software at all.
I have a 2004 G5 desktop, but it went south in many ways, including inability to see any of its firewire ports, which I have not been able to reset. The fact that system profiler doesn't see either iSight or the hard drive does point to a firewire port failure, but it's hard for me to believe that it would fail with such light use. I've read through the Apple and EZ's trouble shooting tips, tried restarting, fsck, safe boot, etc. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Greg

Answer 1

macgreg wrote:
Thanks, EZ for taking the time to respond and share your expertise. You are truly a Mac Wiseman (not wiseguy, as we each have occasionally encountered).
I have been using Macs since 1984, and (at my place of work) DOS computers since shortly after that. From my experience, nothing happens by accident, i.e. there is a reason for each of us that we experience what we do. In-which-case, the “strange” failures of both my G5 and G4 must represent a problem for me to solve, a redirection, whatever. And in addition, my lightly-used Book terabyte hard drive failed, started to make a mechanical clicking sound and won’t boot (so this be sorta like the trials of Job)... (quote extracted for comment below)
I have done a clean install of 10.4 on the G5 and G4 separately. I have run diagnostics (TechTool Pro, etc.) that return no hardware problems.
Regarding longevity, when the G5 was about 3.5 or so years old, it began to get kernal panics, freeze, gray screen with reboot instructions, etc. I took it to the Apple store and they told me it was either the power supply or CPU. I asked them to fix it, said I’d pay. When I retrieved it, they said it was the power supply. I paid them several hundred dollars, took it home, and it began experiencing the same sorts of kernal panics, etc. just on the other side of the 90-day warranty.
Apparently, it wasn’t they who were at fault. It was, from all I have learned since on these and other discussion boards, a simple matter of longevity (I tried many of the recommendations, swapping ram, software stuff such as safe boot, fsck, all the usual and even odd remedies, etc.). Then the G4 PB began to fail, though not quite as seriously. Perhaps we have a waft of Radon coming up through the basement floor. I will have this checked.
In any case, I am not prone to trust the Apple store, especially if the situation is based on simple longevity, and finances are tight. We do have a Mac repair business in the neighborhood, and I believe in supporting local business.
As I mentioned, I now have no firewire on either computer, although the G4 at least recognizes its firewire port. I tried the firewire reset on both computers without success. I have used the camera to connect to two important people – my son and his family in D.C., and my longtime friend in Japan, Go figure! I still have Skype and Jajah voice, but ya just can’t beat video.
Ever see the film “The Ghost in the Machine”? . . .
Thanks again for your time,
Greg
You're welcome, Greg
Thanks for the additional info.
It is apparent from your latest post that you are an experienced user who can make whatever possible meaningful use of the info I shared in my previous post without further input from me. I will offer only a few responses regarding your latest post:
My iSight camera came directly from Apple and does have a cable “hard-wired” to its. It must be one of the first models. It has a dome base with a bendable goose neck about 2’ high and the actual camera piece plugs in to a firewire connection at the top of the goose neck. It hasn’t been stored, just sitting on the table by the computer with a lens cap on to protect it, with all plugged into an industrial-strength surge protector.
(1) Between the above quote and your exchange with Defcom regarding Sightflex versus iSight, I am confused.
I cannot understand how a "base that can't be disconnected" can have "the actual camera piece plugs in to a firewire connection at the top of the goose neck". Connections that plug in would seem to be directly contrary to anything that cannot be disconnected.
Moreover, although you may have bought them at the same time, the Sightflex base is NOT an Apple product, nor is it part of iSight.
Perhaps your meaning for "iSight" either interchanges or combines the Apple iSight camera with the Sightflex mounting stand from Flex Cable. 
Notwithstanding the above, it should be easy to use the testing suggestions I offered in my previous post to verify whether your external iSight will work on another Mac that has known working Firewire connections. That test will tell you whether you must consider repairing your iSight itself, and possibly the SightFlex cables or connections, in addition to your Macs' Firewire problems.
(2) Regarding longevity, my previous Tower Mac (Power Mac G5 Dual-Processor) served me daily for more than 5 years without any problem. Of course, like yours, it never ran except "plugged into an industrial-strength surge protector."
Although I sold my G5 when I got my new iNtel Macs, my external iSights still work with all my Firewire equipped Macs.
My old G3 iBook SE is so old that it did not ever have Firewire. It traveled with me for several years, including many cross-country trips in the saddlebags of my motorcycles! Nowadays, my wife knows it so well she does not want to give it up, so I keep replacing the battery every couple of years, and she keeps using it every day. The iBook will NOT quit.
Based on the difference in our longevity experiences, you may be wise to check for radon.
(3) You have done a lot of research and troubleshooting, but, if you have not already seen these articles, you might want to consider whether they have anything you might find useful:
  http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/EZJim/EZJimpage22.html
  http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/EZJim/EZJimpage19.html
  (Other readers note that OS X 10.5 and later do NOT require manually running Chrons.)
  http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/EZJim/EZJimpage20.html
(4) If none of the ideas suggested here help you, an external UVC (USB) webcam might be the easiest way for you to get video chat capability back. Note: In order for UVC devices to work without additional drivers, you will need to update to at least Mac OS X 10.4.9:
  http://support.apple.com/kb/DL267
The latest version, OS X 10.4.11, would be better: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL170
EZ Jim
Mac Pro Quad Core (Early 2009) 2.93Ghz w/Mac OS X (10.6.2)  MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz (10.6.2)
LED Cinema Display  G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11)  iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9)  External iSight