External Firewire iSght camera

After upgrading to 10.6.2 I no longer am able to use my my external FW iSight camera for audio.
The video functionality works correctly but I have not been able to get the audio component to work at all.
Any suggestions?

Thanks for posting your clever idea, Malcolm!
Until OP rewards you with some points, have a virtual "Solved" from me:
Kudos,
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

Similar Messages

Facetime and external firewire iSight camera

Hi,
I bought Facetime yesterday. When I start it, it says that there is no camera. I turn on my iSight, nothing happens.
I close Facetime, turn on my iSight, then start Facetime: instant crash.
So, basically, Facetime doesn't work for me. Anybody experienced something similar? Any idea?
My external iSight camera is version 1.0.3.
I run OS X 10.6.6 on my Mac Pro 1.1.

Edouard Boily wrote:
Hi,
I bought Facetime yesterday. When I start it, it says that there is no camera. I turn on my iSight, nothing happens.
I close Facetime, turn on my iSight, then start Facetime: instant crash.
Because you "turn on" your iSight, you must be using your external.
Test your external iSight with other apps using the suggestions here:
http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/EZJim/EZJimpage4.html
*If external iSight doesn't work with any app*, try creating a new user account and test there.
*If external iSight doesn't work with anything in any user account*, it may be repairable. If you don't have local access to an Apple Service Technician, other options are shown here:
http://www.apple.com/support/isight/service/
*If your external iSight is not economically repairable*, you may want to consider a new camera. Several alternatives are included in the discussion here:
http://www.mac-compatible-web-cam.com/
*If your iSight works with apps* (QT, iMovie, iChat, Photo Booth, etc.) *other than FaceTime*, you may merely need to restart the Mac, repair permissions, and reinstall FaceTime.
So, basically, Facetime doesn't work for me. Anybody experienced something similar?
Not I.
Any idea? ...
Several. You do not say which display you use. As shown in this image using my Mac Pro and LED Cinema Display:
when your Mac recognizes more than one camera, you can select the one you want by clicking the appropriate item in the FaceTime > Video menu item.
(1) *If either camera works*, your FaceTime software is working.
(2) *If you have only one webcam that can connect to your Mac Pro*, try resetting the FaceTime preferences. If you need help, here is how:
• Restart Mac
• Navigate to the "com.apple.FaceTime.plist" file in your Home ( ) > Library > Preferences folder.
(Be sure you are in the "Home" Folder preferences folder, not your System's.)
• Move the "com.apple.FaceTime.plist" file to Trash
• Connect external iSight, launch FaceTime, and test again.
(3) *If the FaceTime problem persists,* apply the 10.6.6 Combo Update as follows:
• Backup your Mac and turn off Time Machine
• Disconnect peripherals and restart Mac
• Use Disk Utility to repair permissions
• Download and install http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1349
• Repair permissions again immediately following the restart that finishes the update.
• Test FaceTime again
(• Turn Time Machine on again when you are satisfied that the Combo update worked.)
(4) *If FaceTime still does not work on your Mac Pro*, test with your other Mac. Leave external iSight disconnected from your MacBook Pro and test FaceTime using its inbuilt iSight. If FaceTime works on your MBP with its inbuilt iSight, you know that the software you downloaded is good.
(5) *If you’re new FaceTime doesn't work with either of your Macs*, click "Support" in the App Store Quick Links (upper right quadrant) section and ask if you should download another copy to test whether the one you have is bad.
EZ Jim
Message was edited by: EZ Jim
Mac Pro Quad Core (Early 2009) 2.93Ghz Mac OS X (10.6.6); MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz (10.6.6)
LED Cinema Display; G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11); iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9); External iSight; iPod4touch4.2.1

Presenter 8 crashes after connecting external Firewire cam

Good day,
We often organize workshops and conferences which I sometimes record with an external camera for later reference by our own staff or to make them available to clients who couldn't attend the presentations.
For a long time I was looking for a tool to synchronise PowerPoint slides with spoken recorded comment (audio/video), since I don't believe in just making slides available to people who couldn't attend the presentation, without the spoken comments of the speaker.
I also believe in slides with as less text as possible, but more with images, schemes and animations to support the speaker's message. But in such a case, the spoken comment is an essential part of the presentation to get the message, since the slides as-such alone don't tell enough.
I installed the trial version of Adobe Presenter 8 to test its suitability for our company marketing and presentation needs.
Adobe Presenter 8 seems to work perfect to synchronise Powerpoint slides and screen actions, together with video recorded by an external webcam, connected via USB to my notebook or via the internal webcam in my notebook.
However, I also want to record presentations, presented in our auditorium and meeting rooms and I want to synchronise in realtime (= during the actual presentation) the Powerpoint slides together with the video/audio from the speaker. The realtime option avoids the work of recording the speaker on tape or in an MPG or FLV during the actual presentation, uploading the A/V file to my PC and doing the PowerPoint/audio/video synchronisation work afterwards by going through the whole presentation again.
To record the video I therefore use an external semi-pro videocamera (JVC DV-500), since this gives me better possibilities to frame the right image, zoom in/out, better lens, etc ... in comparison with an ordinary webcam. The JVC DV-500 can be connected to a computer via a Firewire I/F.
This always worked perfect when we recorded and streamed video/audio using Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder 3.2. Adobe Flash Encoder recognizes the via FireWire connected external cam without a problem.
But, when using Adobe Presenter 8 within PowerPoint 2010 to start recording a presentation, and when I switch on the power switch on the external JVC-cam, Adobe Presenter 8 crashes, showing an error "Application encountered an internal error ... report to product support forums, etc ..." and "Adobe-Pr-VC.exe doesn't work anymore", and creating some error log and dump-files on my notebook.
After switching off the external cam and keeping it switched off, and manually deleting in Task Manager still running instances of Presenter-software (Adobe_Pr_VC.exe), and restarting PowerPoint, everything works well again with the USB or internal webcam.
Already deleted Presenter from my notebook, cleaned up registry with CCleaner, reinstalled Presenter, but error keeps on coming back.
Someone any ideas what causes this error?
Software conflict, driver conflict, Adobe Presenter incompatible with external A/V devices, no support of FireWire I/F, ... ?
Configuration:
Fujitsu notebook LifeBook T5010
Windows 7 Pro SP1 32-bit (Dutch version)
Microsoft Office 2010 Pro Plus (Dutch version)
Creative webcam connected via USB
External JVC DV-500 videocamera connected via build-in Firewire I/F
Firewire driver was installed by Windows automatically when connecting the cam (msdv.sys 6.1.7600.16385)
The only other real-time encoding software installed is Adobe Flash Media Live encoder 3.2.
Some other usual Adobe stuff (flash player, shockwave player, AIR, reader X, )
The possibility of connecting an external cam to record the speaker and synchronise the PowerPoint and/or screen actions in realtime, would greatly enhance our work.
Thanks,
Patrick ROTEN
Marketing dept.
CIPAL DV (Belgium)

Hi,
started Presenter's Video Creator in troubleshoot mode with external Firewire connected cam switched off.
1. Video Creator started in troubleshoot mode (got the 'troubleshoot' message)
2. default active cam was the USB webcam (HD screen, SD cam)
3. started recording
4. everything worked normal
5. stopped recording
Result looked fine. Got the normal troubleshoot message, asking to send log files. Did not do this, since there was no error at this time.
Then repeated the process with exteral FireWire cam.
1. Video Creator started in troubleshoot mode
2. default active cam was the USB webcam (HD screen, SD cam)
3. powered on external JVC camera connected to the notebook via FireWire
4. Video Creator crashed after windows detected (beep sound) an active appliance on the FireWire port.
Could not even stop recording with Video Creator in a normal way to go to the "send error log to Adobe" procedure.
Instead got a box with the message: "Applications encountered an internal error. If the problem persists, please report on product support forums or contact the support team."
Had to shut down Adobe_Pr_VC.exe manually in Task Manager.
Tried the same procedure with another FireWire appliance, a DV video recorder with a tape of a previously recorded conference session.
Same error, as soon as I powered on the videorecorder, and Windows detected (beep sound) an active appliance on the FireWire port, Video Creator crashed with the same error message as above.
I can't go through the whole workflow to send the error logs to Adobe, since Video Creator crashes from the moment the power of a FireWire appliance is switched on.
No possibility to stop recording in a normal way (SHIFT-END or clicking the icon in system tray).
Had to manually shut down Adobe_Pr_VC.exe in Task Manager again.
Tried again with Adobe Flash Media Live Encorder 3.2 to see how this application reacts, to be sure there is nothing wrong with my notebook or the Windows O/S.
1. started Flash Media Encoder with external FireWire cam switched off
2. saw 2 active devices : build in Sirius webcam and external USB Creative webcam
3. saw image of my webcam in the encoder monitor windows
4. switched on power on external JVC camera, connected via FireWire
5. Flash Media Encoder immediatelly recognized "Microsoft DV Camera and VCR". Selected this and image of external cam was shown in the encoder monitor windows.
6. Could stream FireWire cam image to an external streaming service without a problem.
Conclusion: a FireWire connected cam does work with other Adobe software. Must be something wrong in the Video Creator software.
Sorry I can't send you the log files, since app in both normal and troubleshoot mode crashes prematurely.
Hope my explanation helps you a bit to find a solution.
Regards,
Patrick

IChat freaks the heck out when external non-iSight camera is connected.

I suspect this is not entirely a problem with iChat as I have the same issues with photobooth. I'm running leopard on a mac pro and trying to set up an external firewire video camera to use with both of those programs, but every time I open them with the camera already connected or when I connect the camera with either app already running the color wheel of death ruins my day and whichever app it is that I'm attempting to use the camera with crashes. The camera is a Canon zr40 handicam that's about 4 and a half years old, but it works fine as a webcam with my g4 powerbook running tiger. Any insights into whether this is a leopard and/or most recent version of ichat vs. older one issue, or whether it's a hardware thing would be greatly appreciated.
danke

Odd,
The Firewire of the Camera should be using a different controller than the Firewire 800 and the speed differences that happen when items are daisychained or using the ganged ports (400) on some towers should not be effecting things.
Anyway Glad you found a solution.
I was under the impression these cameras did not work in iChat
9:50 PM Monday; December 17, 2007

Ejecting a Firewire DV camera daisy chained vis a External Firewire HD

I have my firewire DV camera daisy chained via my firewire external Hard drive.
When I unplug my firewire dv camera, after a little while I get a message on my mac that a device was removed incorrectly and the external firewire dirve dismounts.
This only happens after I have unplugged my DV cam, so am I supposed to eject the cmera somehow??
It doesn't show as an external drive so I wouldn't have a clue where to even start looking.
Any ideas?

This only happens after I have unplugged my DV cam, so am I supposed to eject the cmera somehow??
This would depend on the "capturing" application. In most cases you simply tell the application that capture is completed by pressing a "Done" button, disconnect button, ESC key, or similar action to let the application know that it can close the device protocol and allow the device to be removed.

Connecting DV camera via firewire disconnects external firewire drive

All of a sudden this has started happening.
When i connect my video camera via firewire to my external Lacie harddrive, and turn the camera on, the drive I have it connected to goes off line. A window come up saying 'Device Removal'. When I disconnect the camera, the drive comes back online.
I have 4 drives connected inline and it happens to any one of them, whichever I attach the firewire to.
I trashed FCP permissions, but that didn't help. I'm running FCPHD 4.5.
Any ideas?
PowerBook G4 15 Titanium Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Its the canon camera. Firewire and canon cameras apparently don't play in the same sandbox very well. All macs have only one firewire bus. For a macbook pro you can use an express card slot, but the imac's you are kinda stuck. The best course of action is to copy to hard drive and then move it within imovie. I read this in Tom Wolksy's book on FCE. It is weird. I have a Sony HDV and an older imac and i can use one firewire port for importing and go straight to an external firewire drive--no problem. However, in his book on page 56. It states the firewire issue. I know this is an imovie forum, but i can assume its also the same for imovie.

Cannot Boot from OSX on external firewire drive

I recently bought a seagate hardrive and installed it in an external firewire casing. I partitioned it into two partitions, and installed osx 10.4.10 on one of the partitions, the same as is running on my Ti Book.
I tried selecting the os on the firewire drive as the startup disk, but when i restart, after the grey screen i get the flashing question mark icon, until the mac recognises only the default osx on the internal drive and boots with that instead.
That not working, i created a clone of my startup disk using DejaVu in my system preferences and saved it on the other, empty partition on the external drive and tried booting from that.
On restarting, i get the grey screen once again as the backlight fires up, and nothing more. the screen remains grey without any further ado until i hold the power button and force it to turn off. then as i start it up again, up comes the flashing question mark icon followed by a boot from the internal drive.
Any Solutions on this?
Many Thanks, Neptune.

Hi Dale,
Whoops- everythings not as smooth as i thought it was!
since i restored my internal drive, a lot of things have been really messed up, starting with, for example, iTunes reverting to version 4 instead of 7. that wasnt a problem, i still had the 7 installer, and soon had my whole music library back again. but the computer appears to have a problem with the handling of graphics. the finder wont create previews of even simple jpeg images, nor will it for video. quicktime wont open any video file, i get some random error message which i cant remember stating it could not open the file. and if i view my finder window in grid icon view, the usual blue mac os desktop image that i keep as a background in the finder window isnt there, instead its pitch black. same goes for the slideshow feature in the application graphic converter, i can start a slideshow and it will scroll through the images, but every image will instead be completely black. there are no scroll bars in itunes. i can scroll down randomly by clicking where the scroll bar should be, but there is nothing visual there at all, no scroll bar, no arrows. when i connect my ipod, the main ipod window of itunes wont display any graphics either, be it the picture of the ipod or the capacity bar indicating usage of the drive for music, videos, data, etc. instead, fine print says something similar to 'cannot display image, quicktime and lzw tiff decompression plugin (?) required' I cant remember word for word what it says, dont quote me on that.
the computer also came to a dead freeze twice in ten minutes, i had to hold the power button down to get it to shut off.
im sure there are other issues too which i havent yet noticed, but even these, i havent the faintest clue what could be causing them!
do you?

Can I install OS 9 on an external Firewire drive?

I am not sure if this belongs in the G5 thread or the Leopard thread. Anyway:
I have a Mac G5, running Leopard 10.5.4.
I understand that Leopard will not run Classic applications.
*However, can I install OS 9 on an external Firewire drive? And just boot directly from that drive?*
I have essential OS 9 apps that I really need to keep.
I am aware of Classic emulators that run under Leopard, but that is not an option.
Any advice, insights, suggestions, et cetera in this matter will be appreciated!

+PS I should have added for the sake of others reading this thread…+
You, Dunestrider, can run your Mac in Tiger (and hence in Classic) because, AFAIK, your G5 originally shipped with Tiger.
Others should be aware that you cannot boot a Mac with an OS earlier than the one with which it shipped, i.e. if your Mac shipped with Leopard you cannot do what I suggested in my previous post. See this Apple doc.
Also, Dunestrider, I just realised belatedly that you won't have to buy Tiger - you will still have the original Install disk(s) that came with the G5.
Andreas

Installing Mac OS X on an external firewire hard drive.

No matter what I try, I cannot get my Mac mini to boot from the SuperDrive, in order to install the Mac OS X operating system onto my external firewire hard drive...
The Mac mini always recognises the external firewire HD, each time the system boots-up which is good, however it also boots-up from the internal HD, automatically.
Any suggestions ?
I have also noticed that my external firewire HD does not appear as an option as a Startup Disk, under System Preferences...
Regards,
Howard Pew.

I have used Carbon Copy Cloner to copy the Mini's internal HD to the firewire external HD, and now it appers as a Startup Drive under System Preferences...
I have also noticed that I must first turn-on the ext. firewire HD and then after a few seconds turn-on the Mini.
And, yes, I was using the original DVD-ROM System Install Disk that came with the Mini, when I was trying to install Mac OS X onto the ext. firewire HD...
Now, I still cannot get my Mac Mini to boot from the ext. firewire HD, even with a clone copy of the internal HD. I keep selecting it as my Startup Disk under System Preferences and even lock-it, but this does not seem to work.
Now, I use the 'Alt' key (for Windows PC keyboards) which is the 'Option' key for Mac keyboards, when the Mini is booting up. This gives me a choice as to which HD I want to boot from... However, I cannot seem to change this from the default internal HD. It gives me a large arrow to use, in order to change the HD, but I cannot seem to use this large arrow from the keyboard. And the mouse just stays in the top left-hand corner of the screen. I know, if the mouse curser were free, I would be able to change the large arrow and boot from the ext. firewire HD...
Any suggestions ?
Regards,
Howard Pew.

Snow Leopard on external firewire hard drive keeps crashing/freezing

I own a 2006 iMac that came with OS X 10.4 Tiger installed and it has always been stable and reliable. Lately I had the need to use some software that only ran on OS X Snow Leopard so I installed an external Firewire (Western Digital) 260GB hard drive and put OS X Snow Leopard on it. For the first few months, everything ran fine, but as the drive slowly filled up (or perhaps with time), my Leopard external drive started giving problems, most commonly, it would lose its Ethernet connection for no reason, or I would get a line of black/multicoloured pixels appearing across my Firefox browser (or something else weird would happen to the display), followed by the rainbow wheel spinning indefinitely... this happened more and more often, when I opened too many applications at the same time, or more than 3-4 tabs in Firefox. Occasionally the screen would "white out" or go completely black. I'd have to physically switch the computer off and on again.
However, I still have not even used 20% of the hard disk space so its not a matter of the hard drive becoming full...
The Tiger internal drive is still running 100% fine so it's not a problem with my RAM...
I've tried verifying/repairing the disk, but it doesn't show any problems. Any ideas about what I should try doing next?
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
Message was edited by: artemisworks

Just so I understand this correctly:
1. Your internal hard drive is on Tiger?
2. Your external (a WD) is on Snow Leopard?
3. Where is the "partition"? Do you have either drive partitioned?
4. You only have the problems when you are booted from/working on something using the external drive?
I've seen quite a few posts here regarding problems with external Western Digital drives; it appears that their internal drives are fine, but the externals do not play nice with Macs after a while (maybe the enclosure they use??).
In any case, if your problems are only when using the Western Digital, I'd say return it if possible, get it replaced, or buy a different brand and use the WD as a not-often-needed extra backup.

10.4.7 update and external firewire problems with HD corrupion

Dear all,
Advised by Jpfresno I started this new topic about Tiger 10.4.7 update.
I will repeat my post and what was happening 2 weeks ago:
“In 5 years 10.4.7 update was a tragedy for my Powerbook Ti 667. When I update from 10.4.6 to 10.4.7 my 300 GB firewire drive gets corrupted, after repairing it with DiskWarrior and after connecting it to my PowerBook my computer freezes and I must shut it down via powerbutton. Safari also crashes after the update.
I just erase my Hard Drive and after that install 10.4 and update with combo to 10.4.7. But I had the same problems: finder freezes with connected firewire devices and also safari when browsing. I spend a week trying to solve the problem but no luck.
Yesterday and with no firewire devices, 10.4.7 freeze and I have big trouble in order to started my powerbook!!! Even when i insert the 10.4 install DVD it did not detected my HD. Finally I get it to work and install 10.4 and combo update to 10.4.6 and everything works. My external firewire drive and safari. I already diagnose my HD with disk utility, TechTool and directories with Diskwarrior and everything is ok.
I clone my 10.4.6 to firewire, boot from it and everything is working. I let my external drive connected and finder does not freeze.
My conclusion is that the problem is 10.4.7 update. It only give me problems and I was getting crazy with it. 10.4.6 is working good and I do not advice anyone to update to 10.4.7.”
Last week after reinstalling 10.4.6 I started to have HD problems with my Powerbook 667. I did a surface scan with TechTool I it reported bad sector. Then I done a zero disk format but after a second surface scan TechTool also reported bad sector. Then I take the decision to replace my internal HD. I bought a Samsung 40GB Hard Drive and installed it on my PowerBook. Then I have done a clean installation of 10.4.6 with all applications that I need and clone it to my hard drive with Intego Personal Backup software. Everything works on 10.4.6. and external firewire drive.
After that everything is ok. But I decided to test if my problem derivates from 10.4.7 update or from previous HD corruption. Then I install 10.4.7 update on my Internal Hard Drive. Everything is working good but after connecting my external Hard Drive the finder started to freeze!!!!!!!!!. After that I tried cloning HD to external firewire with Intego personal Backup. Everything was working good but when it was finishing the backup process started to give errors!! I started panic. I interrupted the backup process but after and after restart I found something strange with 10.4.7. The system started up, I login but I could not started any application!!!??? All my application died!
Then I have done one more clean installation of tiger and 10.4.6 update.
My conclusions are that the 10.4.7 update causes all the problems that I have on my PowerBook, because I used the same methods and same software/hardware on 10.4.6 and did no have any problem.
This last two weeks were very difficult to me. I tough that these problems do not happen with Apple computers but I was wrong!!! It is very hard to me to deal with it. I always said to my friends that I never had problems with Apple computers. I accept that a hard drive died because the use of it but I can not accept that a system update cause me 2 weeks of hard problems and make me loose precious work information! I always love apple computers and Apple OS but now I am disappointed
If anyone can explain what happen or have a solution for those problems?
Thanks for the comprehension and collaboration.
Best Regards
Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi, alsvieira.
There are some things you did not check in all of your troubleshooting:
1. Run the Apple Hardware Test (AHT) that came the affected computer. See my "Apple Hardware Test" FAQ for comprehensive advice on using the AHT in troubleshooting.
2. re: FireWire troubleshooting: Here is some general troubleshooting advice that may help if problems return with your FireWire drive:1. Review the AppleCare Knowledge Base document "What to do if your computer won't recognize a FireWire device".
2. If this problem occurred after installing a recent Mac OS X Update, and you are also unable to mount CDs, DVDs, or disk images perform the steps in this Mac OS X Hints article. This worked under Panther and may also work in certain situations under Tiger.
3. Power-on the FireWire drive before starting up (booting) your Mac.
4. Reset PRAM and NVRAM.
5. Resett the power-management chip in your Mac.
6. Try a different FireWire port. James Wiebe, CEO of WiebeTech, has published FireWire Port Failures in Host Computers and Peripheral Devices, a white paper providing backgroud information and technical analysis concerning the causes of failure for FireWire ports. This may provide additional diagnostic information.
7. Micromat TechTool Pro version 4 can test the FireWire bus in your computer: this tests the bus — not the ports — but if the problem is on the FireWire bus on the logic board, it should reveal it.
8. Check with the manufacturer of your FireWire drive or enclosure to see if any firware updates are available for such.
9. Hopefully, the partition map on the FireWire drive is not damaged. This can happen if the FireWire drive was not Ejected before being disconnected or powered off. If it still refuses to mount, you may need to employ data recovery tools or services: see my "Data Recovery" FAQ.Note that some of the information above is from the "FireWire Problems" chapter of my book, Troubleshooting Mac® OS X.
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

Purchasing external firewire drive to work with Canon HV-30/MacBook Pro

I want to purchase an external firewire drive to run FCE4. I have a Canon HV-30 (Vixia). I have read that external FireWire drives do not work well with Canon DV cameras? Is this true of the Canon HV cameras? and if so, has anyone had success with a particular firewire drive model with this camera?

Hi(Bonjour)!
I don't know for this model but it's the implementation of firewire protocol on Canon's models that could make a problem.
So, you could have problem but it's not absolute.
Michel Boissonneault

Finder hangs | external firewire hdd

hi list!
unfortunately my finder.app gets completely wasted very often, which is quite annoying. i think this has got sth to do with my external firewire enclosure (raidsonic icybox 351 usb2/fw combo, prolific chipset), which sometimes just stops working (eg. after hibernate). and only if i disconnect the drive or switch it off completely, finder (and all the other finder-like dialogs) reincarnates. i feel the problem came up more often after a firmware update (mac mini or smc), but i could be wrong. no probs with this drive with lin and win so far...
how can i unmount it more safely?
using umount /dev/my_ieee1394disc ?
any ideas, suggestions, similar experiences?
Mac mini Dual [email protected], 1GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.6)

If you recently moved to Snow Leopard you might look for new firmware for your external drive. I would also get DiskWarrior and run that on the external and consider programs like Drive Genius. You might also back it up and wipe it and restore the data. After that I'd consider looking at a new external.
Sleeping drives that take time to spin up after waking....I'd like to learn how to stop that myself. Be sure the Energy Saver in System Preferences is set to not put drives to sleep when possible. Even then my drives will go to sleep and I have up to 6 external added at times and they take quite a while to all spin up. I've never found a way to prevent that.
BTW...external USB drives on a MacPro? Really? Even for backup....

Using external firewire iSight with iMovie 8

I'm trying to use my old external iSight camera that I purchased for my old powerbook with iMovie, but only the internal iSight camera is showing in the drop down menu.
When I plug in my external iSight camera it will make the lens adjusting noise and the light will come up briefly.
Is there any way I can get that external iSight camera to work with iMovie 8?

You're welcome, adamrod
... My computer is not recognizing the external iSight camera ... I know the iSight works because I tested it on my old G4.
If you mean that TODAY your iSight works with one of your Macs but not the other, the problem is in your newer Mac, its Firewire or Firewire port connection, or the cable you are using with it.
A properly working iSight will be recognized as a Firewire device as shown in this image:
If your test with your old G4 was long ago, your iSight may have failed since last you used it. In addition to the Apple iSight troubleshooting link I posted earlier, you can use the additional suggestions in this link to test the current functionality of your external iSight:
http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/EZJim/EZJimpage4.html
One of those suggestions will get a faulty external iSight working unless it is beyond repair.
The only app I know to try it with would be iChat and I don't even see anywhere in the preferences where you could change it from built-in iSight to external.
The camera choices bar will show ONLY if more than one working, iChat-compatible, camera is connected. If the choice does not show, iChat is not recognizing more than one working camera.
Different apps use different methods of camera selection. In iChat, you can choose which iSight you use in the "Camera:" choices bar in iChat > Preferences... > Audio/Video that appears when more than one (working) compatible camera is connected. Although your camera choices will be different, the choices bar will look something similar to the Preferences settings shown here:
Most other applications also have settings that allow you to choose which camera to use. You already know that iMovie 7's camera choice is NOT set via Preferences. When you have more than one (working) compatible camera connected, iMovie uses the drop-down menu choice in the camera "Preview" window that I mentioned in my previous post to you.
For apps other than those above, see their Help or other documentation if you need help with selecting which camera the app will use.
When I plug the iSight the light comes on briefly, goes off and then it makes an auto adjusting noise.
This is normal behavior for external iSight.
What does your external iSight do when you plug it in?
The same thing you describe for yours.
Does the light stay on constantly?
Only when the iSight is actually in use. Otherwise, the light goes out on an external iSight that is working correctly but in standby mode.
The light should NOT be illuminated when no apps that can use iSight are running. Likewise, the iSight green lamp should extinguish when iSight is not actually being used by an app. Specific examples:
iChat connected but not in chat: *iSight light OFF*
iChat connected and in video chat: *iSight light ON*
iChat > Video > Video Preview w/iSight shutter open: *iSight light ON*
iMovie open but no capture Preview window open: *iSight light OFF*
iMovie Preview window open (whether capturing or not): *iSight light ON*
Because the light is merely an indicator that iSight is in use rather than any kind of functional necessity, whether the iSight light is on or off has never been of any serious concern to me.
Is there any other app I should try it with?
You can use any you like. There are suggestions in the Apple Troubleshooting link listed earlier, and there are more in this list:
http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/EZJim/EZJimpage7.html
EZ Jim
G5 DP 1.8GHz w/Mac OS X (10.5.8) PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11) iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9) External iSight

Install Solaris on External Firewire Disk

Hello All,
I have a laptop running windows 2000 and I have a External Firewire Hard Disk of 60 GB. Now my question is, " Is it possible to install Solaris 8 on this external Firewire Hard Disk". When I tried installing, It did not find the external Firewire Disk, the only partition information, which solaris was displaying was from my internal Hard Disk.
Please give me clues/information, how should , I do it.
Thanks
Sanjay

First off, is any of your Macs an Intel Mac, that will complicate matters since they use a different hard drive formatting and need a different installation of Mac OS X.
Secondly, you can't directly install Mac OS X from an Intel Mac to an external hard drive, you have to do a clone with a software like Shirt-Pocket's Superduper for that.
If it isn't an Intel Mac, perhaps your Firewire hard drive isn't Mac OS X bootable? Not all are.
Here's a hint on making the Intel/PowerPC partition table:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=2006061610374449
Also note, different Macs which came out after Tiger will only boot off the install disk which came with them, and not the retail disk. So you are best off cloning that Mac to its own partition.

External Firewire iSght camera

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