IChat 5 (snow leopard) Video

Everything seems to work fine on my end, however the person I am videoing with says my video is frozen. He can hear me, but the video of me does not work. This happened once I installed mac os x 10.6. and our videos/audio work fine through skype - ichat is the only problem. Also, whenever I invite him to a video chat through ichat, it tells me the user doesn't support multi-person ichat (even though that's not what we're doing). I am using aim through ichat and he is using aim on windows. This used to work fine before the snow leopard update.
Ichat also closes unexpectedly a lot more now.

Did they change their settings ?
8:44 PM Friday; September 18, 2009

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IChat w/Snow Leopard - Video Delivery Fails

Full iChat (w/AIM) between Leopard and Windows 7 AIM worked fine - video, audio & text worked both ways. Installed Snow Leopard (SL) Version 10.6.8, and while my MacBook Pro iChat gives & gets text, video & audio to/from the same Win7+AIM computer, this PC does not get the video (but does give & gets audio and text).
Moments later, PC to PC, both with AIM under Win7, does totally work, however.
Are there issues with SL's version of iChat? specifically, between SL's iChat/AIM and AIM's Windows 7 version concerning video?
Could SL be having an issue with my D-Link wireless modem?

Hi,
iChat 4 is limited to the speed you set in System Preferences > Quicktime > Streaming.
If the Automatic is used iChat reads this as 384kbps both up and down.
IF you use the 1.5Mbps T1/Intranet/LAN on then 1.5Mbps Up and down is the limit (See also below).
iChat itself also have a Bandwidth Limit set in iChat Menu > Preferences > Video section
For iChat 4 and earlier this tends to be used to smooth out the variances you may be getting from your ISP.
iChat 5 has No Quicktime Setting.
Technically it can "See" all the Connection speed you have both Up and Down.
Depending on your internet Speed and any other devices sharing the connection you may be many times faster than you were in iChat 4.
Uploads are normally lower than Downloads and this has always been the limiting factor.
However if your Upload exceeds 1.5Mbps by a significant amount you can be sending data to your Buddy faster than they can deal with it.
For iChat to iChat I would normally suggest setting the Bandwidth Limit to 500kbps (More than enough for 4 way Video chats)
As it is AIM I would also try the 200kbps setting (Only good enough for 1-1 chats)
Opening the Connection Doctor (Video Menu) during a Video chat may give you some clues as to how much data yu are sending.
The Bandwidth can be changed during a Live chat and you will see the buffering effect in iChat change the Bit rate slowly to smooth out the video.
8:36 PM Tuesday; August 30, 2011
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb( 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Snow leopard video too dark

i just installed snow leopard and my ichat video is really dark, people can barely see me now. anyone else have this problem? or know how to fix it?

Hi,
Were you using iGlasses in Leopard ?
10:13 PM Saturday; August 29, 2009
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Ichat, Snow Leopard, Parental Controls

Just got my son's new 21.5" iMac and updated to latest Snow Leopard patch. Migrated all user accounts from a MacBook Pro running OS X 10.5.8 with no problem.
My son's account has parental controls enabled.
Setting ichat on the new mac for his account was interesting. First, there was no Account Type option available for Jabber or Google Talk. Others were there (incl. AIM). Strange.
I changed his account to Standard type and finally was able to configure the Jabber account for him. Proceeded to test video chat and text chat and it all worked fine.
Now, I proceeded to restore parental controls and now ichat can't get online with the jabber servers. I haven't tested with Bonjour. If this is by design, then it's a poor design.
Anybody else with the same experience?

Opps,
My mistake.
Yes the Parental Controls work on the Basis that you Set iChat up and add any Buddies under supervision.
Then you set the Parental Controls so that unknown Buddies cannot be added to either the Jabber (which will include any GoogleTalk ID used) and also this will stop a further AIM/Apple or Jabber/GoogleTalk Account/Screen Name/Buddy List being set up.
The presumption is you want to know who your child is talking to.
If they could add Buddies or Create a Screen Name you did not know about they could circumvent that.
Most of the major IM services are supposed to have a 13 year age limit on the people who use it.
In practice this cannot be supervised by the Server end.
I think that Apple still has a way to go on iChat and Parental Controls.
The fact you cannot use Bonjour to call your kids for a meal seems at odds with the fact they can still call their Buddies.
9:43 PM Saturday; November 14, 2009
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Uninstallation of Mac OS X Lion and installation of OS X Snow Leopard

Good evening,
my question is about uninstallation of Mac OS X Lion back to Mac OS X Snow Leopard. I used to backup Time Capsule and i want to install the Time Capsule software, which I used while I had Snow Leopard. Now I can´t install the software because the OS X software version is to high. So I decided to install back the OS X Snow Leopard. When I opened the installation aplication it couldn´t be installed because the version of the installation aplication is to high. So I want to ask if there is any way to uninstall the OS X Lion and install back the Mac OS X Snow Leoprad?
Thanks for the anwser

Downgrade OS X Lion To Snow Leopard [Video How-To]
http://www.cultofmac.com/110614/downgrade-os-x-lion-to-snow-leopard-video-how-to /

I Baught A iMac 2010 From Someone it came with lion but for the programs i use i need snow leopard but when trying to install it won't boot from usb or cd what can be the problem i've been at this for over 24 hours if anyone ca help it'd be greatly apprec

I Baught A iMac 2010 From Someone it came with lion but for the programs i use i need snow leopard but when trying to install it won't boot from usb or cd what can be the problem i've been at this for over 24 hours if anyone ca help it'd be greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

Downgrade OS X Lion To Snow Leopard [Video How-To]
http://www.cultofmac.com/110614/downgrade-os-x-lion-to-snow-leopard-video-how-to /
How To Downgrade OS X Lion To Snow Leopard: The Complete Tutorial
http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-downgrade-os-x-lion-to-snow-leopard-the-complet e-tutorial/
How To Downgrade from Apple OS X Lion to Snow Leopard
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2389334,00.asp

Ichat no audio on video chat with snow leopard

Hello,
I am having an issue where there is only one way audio when doing a video chat with those using snow leopard. If I start the video chat, the other person can hear me and I cant hear them. If they start the chat I can then hear them but they can not hear me. This was not a problem prior to upgrading to snow leopard (both of us). I can video chat fine with those who have not upgraded to snow leopard.
Audio chats alone work fine with these people.
I have tried changing bandwidth settings in ichat on both ends, enable 32 bit mode, checked the sound preferences, etc and nothing helps. We are not running any third party apps that have been mentioned to interfere with ichat.
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions..
Thanks.

Hi,
Also cap iChat in iChat > Preferences > Video Section > Bandwidth Drop down to 500kbps
There is some evidence that it is the iChat Buffering.
iChat tries to buffer the Video to match changes in the Internet Speed.
Now that iChat 5 "sees" the whole of your Internet Connection (or your Buddies if they are on Snow Leopard) there can be bigger differences with a 1% slow down.
There may also be a larger difference in what your Buddy can now stream to to you as iChat is Processor/Bandwidth dependant on how big and how many frames a sec are sent/Received. (your Buddy, or your to your Buddy, may well be able to overwhelm the other).
9:23 PM Tuesday; November 3, 2009
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

HT204382 mpeg video file won't open in quick time player on my macbook running snow leopard. Works fine in iMac running mountain lion. Any ideas

mpeg video file won't open in quick time player on my macbook running snow leopard.
works fine on iMac running mountain lion.
any ideas?

HI,
If iChat is Open and your think Accounts/Screen Names are logged in then go to the Window Menu
This should list the accounts that are logged in with various keystrokes ( Apple/CMD ( or ⌘) and a Number) shown next to them.
Using these should get the Buddy list "back".
It is possible to Hide the Buddy list and then Quit iChat.
iChat will then "remember" where the windows were eve if this was Hidden.
Can you confirm that after reinstalling or restoring from Time Machine with possibly an Earlier Version you have Downloaded the COMBO version of OS X 10.6.8 and "run the COMBO" (Installed it - again) to update iChat ?
It is possible the text chat Window is also Hidden on double clicking a Buddy.
The easiest way for this to happen is to use a second Display and drag some windows to the second Display.
iChat "remembers" where you last had Outgoing Chats so Audio and Video windows will be where you left them as will Text Chats.
Incoming Chat Invites are normally in set places unless there is a chat already open to that Buddy.
With Windowing issue like this is sometimes pays to delete com.apple.ichat.plist itself (on it's own) and restart iChat (this plist holds the window positions amongst other things)
8:49 PM Monday; February 27, 2012
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"
 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Lion 10.7.3)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

ISight in not working in Photo Booth, iChat, and VMWare with Snow Leopard

System Info
Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac8,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: IM81.00C1.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.30f1
OS Version 10.6.1
Symptoms
iSight is not working, a blank screen is shown in the following Apps / VM
1. Photo Booth
2. iChat
Visible to VM app, but unable to connect in Windows XP running on VMWare
It is however viewable in Skype preference Video tab
Visible in System Profiler under USB
Following actions taken for troubleshooting
SMC reset - by unplugging all cables over couples minutes, as well as CommandOption+PR key at boot time
Repairing Permission on the Macintosh HD drive, rebooted after and didn't work
Not user account specific, tried different account and the same problem persists

Welcome to Discussions, Stanley Chung
Sorry you are still having problems even after trying the good suggestions from Ralph and Boomer.
I did not see specifically from your posts that your iSight worked before upgrading to Snow Leopard, but I am inferring from your topic's title that it did. If your iMac came with Snow Leopard installed, please post and tell us whether you erased the disk and reinstalled all your iMac's software before you started using it. If you upgraded your iMac to Snow Leopard, consider the following.
(1) Until you get iSight working, do all your testing while no peripherals other than keyboard/mouse are attached to your iMac. To eliminate all possibility of any conflict external to your Mac, be sure you also disconnect any wireless devices (iPod, printer, etc) connected to your system.
(2) If you still have problems with all you have tried, it seems to me that you must have a software issue. You might try uninstalling Skype and VMWare and testing again to see if those installations are causing a conflict.
(3) Check the support sites for all of your third party software to be sure there are no known Snow Leopard issues and that you are using the latest compatible versions.
(4) If the problem still exists and you have not already tried this, reinstall Snow Leopard, repairing permissions immediately before and after the reinstall.
(5) If your problem remains and System Profiler still shows your inbuilt iSight as a USB device, I suggest you backup all important files, erase your disk, reinstall all Apple software, and test to see if iSight works properly. Once it does, you can install any necessary peripherals and third-party apps one-at-a-time, testing after each addition to see if one of them is causing problems.
EZ Jim
MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz w/Mac OS X (10.6.1) G5 DP 1.8GHz w/Mac OS X (10.5.8)
G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11) iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9) LED Cinema Display External iSight

IChat 5.0 - iChat connections got worse since upgrade to Snow Leopard.

Hi. Me and my significant other chat on a dayli basis, so "Improved" video and audio in Snow Leopard (iChat 5.0) seemed like a golden "Must buy". Since I installed it, she has reported issues with my audio and video. She says it lags to the point where she isn't hearing hear a single word (50% of the time). And the video jumps in quallity every 10 seconds, with bit mistakes. Only good thing was that for the first time... Screen Sharing worked!
Now I expected that changed codecs in Snow could mean that if she upgraded, aswell, it would work, but no. Now her video seems to have downgraded in quallity, but I still hear her (Apart from horrible volume jumps)
We've tried the following: Switching to google servers, to realize they didn't support Video. Trying SSL port 443. Turning off and on the feature that let's AOL relay chats, no luck anywhere.
I have an idea why this is... In Leopard, a router with NAT Type 3 on my end, meant that nothing worked. A connection with NAT Type 2 on my end (I use that the most) meant that video and audio worked, but not screen sharing.
I don't know what her NAT type is, but at home, (For her) these problems started, but anywhere else... No problems, at all, no matter where I am!
These clues don't add up for me, and I would love a solution, since Long-Distance relationships are a pain, when I only see her once a month...
Thanks for reading, hoping for support =) (And yes, I am willing to do anything to my router setting, and tell her what to do)

Hi Defcom,
Running /Applications/iChat.app/Contents/MacOS/iChat -errorLogLevel 7 in Terminal shows me that iChat "Sees" the whole of my internet Connection speed.
This will raise the issue of faster and slower Buddies and the iChat Buffering again.
Video Buffering means that Audio can not be matched and if the difference is significant then the Audio will get dropped.
It may be that both ends have to try different iChat Bandwidth settings to get to the point where the video and audio are in sync.
I would also say that I had to start at 500kbps between my G4 and MacBook Pro (Set at the MacBook Pro end on Snow Leopard) but that it does seem to have "Learned" what it can use.
9:01 PM Thursday; October 8, 2009

Facebook video chat on Macbook with Snow Leopard-Experience???

I have a Macbook with Snow Leopard 10.6.8, Safari for browser.
I'm looking for users of the same who have used or tried to use Facebook video chat and would love to know if it was a good experience or were there any problems and if so what were the nature of those problems?
Thanks,
Janie

No Sir, I am not having problems with FaceBook and this Granny isn't taking a survey or poll. I gave all the information I did so that I could get the proper "help". I am not planning to upgrade to Lion and thus cannot have iCloud. I have moved my mail from MobileMe to iCloud but I am not sure that I will be able to use my iChat once MobileMe ends on June 30 and I am looking at alternatives to staying in touch wit my children and grandchildren. I am limited in knowledge but I do know that some apps from FaceBook arent's so good. I want to be sure that I don't download anything that would be incompatible with my Mac and my version/browser, etc. Just trying to avoid problems and keep my Mac in good working order. I thought there might be somebody out there that would know the answer to my question.

Snow Leopard still cannot webcam using iChat and AIM?

Apple claimed that snow leopard will be able to use aim's server to control web chats when a peer-to-peer connection cannot be done. I purchased snow leopard on friday and I am trying to connect with my friend who has windows xp and aim 6.9 (we also experimented with aim 5.9). I dont get her screen and she does not get my screen (it just shows a black square) and yet it says "connected". With aim 5.9 we were able to hear each other but no video. Nothing with aim 6.9, just black.
Webcam works perfectly when we use oovoo or skype but I want to utilize the features of my mac and know that they are working instead of going through third-party applications.
Both of us have hardware firewalls on our ends (with windows and mac firewall disabled). All outbound ports are allowed, all inbound are blocked except for several ports which are defined in Port Forwarding.
Please help me out
Thanks

Hi,
All outbound ports on both networks are opened to the public. Inbound ports to my network are only ports 3389 for remote desktop (to one of the windows machines on my network) and port 80 for a web server we host.
The reason I dont have any iChat ports opened up is because Apple announced that snow leopard will be able to use AIM's server as the video chat host when peer-to-peer calling is unavailable, which applies to my case.
We already tried initiating the video chat from Windows, it gives the same exact results when initiating the chat through the Macbook.
Thank you

Snow Leopard iChat Fundamentally Broken

The situation. We have family in Minnesota (MacBook, hardwired 1.5Mbps), Missouri (iMac, hardwired 1.5Mbps), and Illinois (MacBook, wireless 10 Mbps). Since Christmas we have been ichatting with very few if any problems. All computers were Leopard.
The computers in Missouri and Illinois have been updated to Snow Leopard. Now all connections are essentially unusable. Audio just quits. Picture pixelates. Can't connect sometimes. The problems do not matter if the connection is one to one both Snow Leopard, three way with the one Leopard, or Snow Leopard to Leopard. Even when connection is established and working it degrades or just quits working.
We have tried all of the suggestions in the forums. Limited the ichat bandwidth to 500kbps (and we tried all the others settings also). Playing with Quicktime on the Leopard system. Etc.
It seems to us that iChat in Snow Leopard is fundamentally broken. At no time have we seen better video even with Snow Leopard to Snow Leopard.
Has anyone successfully and reliability used Snow Leopard's iChat to anything else?

Hi,
I also can Video Chat from Snow to Leopard and Screen Share between the two.
Only on Friday evening I was chatting via Video to someone in Lesotho (South Africa) despite their appalling Internet speed.
I have iChat set to not Limit the bandwidth.
My G4 computer still on iChat 4 can also connect to Snow Leopard/iChat users.
I use UPnP in my Sagem 2405 Modem.
iChat 5 reports in the Connection Doctor > Network Status that this device is Port Restricted in the way it does NAT (iChat prefers Full Cone NAT according to iChat Help and the ? mark in Network Status)
We have known for a long time (Since iChat 2) that some routing devices can cause NAT issues for iChat
http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/page15.html#CertainBuddy
This can be further complicated if you are using two Connection Devices.
I am not saying that the transition was entirely smooth.
I had a few issue at first.
iChat 4 to iChat 5 seemed to work better at first.
Changing the Bandwidth to 500kbps seemed to be a step forward.
I have turned the Mac Firewall On then Off then On and finally Off.
It did seem that I got more success each time.
Although impossible it did seem as if iChat was learning how to do things again.
Currently I am Logged in to AIM on Port 443 with no SSL login.
My GoogleTalk ID is using SSL but other Jabber IDs are not.
Bandwidth, as I have said, is at NONE.
Firewall is currently Off.
Things I also looked at:-
System Preferences > Sharing > Internet Sharing Mine is Off but some say having it On now helps.
System Preferences > Date and Time had to change to my Time Zone which seemed to help (iChat does time code messages/Chats)
Repaired Permissions. Always a good coverall action.
5:09 PM Sunday; September 20, 2009

Lion to Snow Leopard missing audio during video chat

Hello,
After upgrading one of my MacBook Pros to Lion, I've been encountering a consistent problem when attempting to engage in a video chat with my parents who are using a MacBook that is still running Snow Leopard.
Prior to the Lion upgrade, video chats worked flawlessly, but after the Lion upgrade, the audio coming from the Snow Leopard machine is completely gone. Video alone works fine in both directions, and the Snow Leopard client is receiving audio from the Lion client, but the Lion client is not receiving any audio from the Snow Leopard client according to the iChat connection doctor.
Not a missing update/firmware issue-
Both machines have all the latest OS updates applied.
Not a hardware deficiency issue-
Both machines were able to engage in flawless video chats using iChat prior to one machine being upgraded to Lion.
Not a bandwidth issue-
MacBook Pro (Lion) is hard wired to an ethernet connection which ties into a fiber optic connection 100Mbit/100Mbit (down/up).
MacBook (Snow Leopard) is hard wired to an ethernet connection tied into a AT&T Uverse connection 24Mbit/3Mbit (down/up).
As a troublshooting step, each machine was tested with iChat bandwidth limitation set to 500k, 1Mbit, and 2Mbit.
Not a ports issue-
As a troublshooting step, both machines were placed into each respective LAN/WAN DMZ.
Not a firewall issue-
Both machines are not running with a firewall enabled.
Not a network configuration issue-
Video chat continues to work flawlessly between Snow Leopard only clients from the same networks over the Internet (tested with additional Snow Leopard clients on my end that have yet to be upgraded to Lion).
Not a microphone or sound configuration issue
First thing checked, double checked, and checked again.
After checking the connection doctor within iChat during one of the problematic video chats, it reveals that "audio quality" from the Snow Leopard client is always 0%.
Has anyone else encountered this problem? Moreover, is there a solution?
BTW, Facetime video calls between all clients work fine, but we all hate Facetime and prefer to continue using iChat.
Any help would be sincerely appreciated.
Thank you.

Hi,
SoundFLower is an Add-on to the System that then appears in the System Preferences > Sound pane as well as being an App.
It allows the Mic (or input device) to be used by two apps at once.
It can also take the output of one app and get in to another.
Sound.
IN certain versions of iChat and with certain Headsets you can have issues if the iChat is set "first" the the System Preferences are set Second.
In both iChat and System Preferences > Sound > Input chose any other device/input other that the propsed headset.
The chose the Headset's mic for the System Preferences
Now set the mic for iChat
Repeat for System Preferences > Sound > Output and the Headphone side.
What is Arriving
Whilst a chat is going on open the Connection Doctor (Video Menu)
On the Stats tab/button you will get a live read out of Bitrate and Framerate and a visual representation of the incoming Video and Audio feed.
Bit rate will vary based on what you pay for and what the Bandwidth Settings is. (you can change it "Live" during a chat and see the Buffering change the rate slowly).
The Framerate should be at least 15fps
Intels can be higher whit 30fps being the top rate.
The Visual bars should be green and 100%
They may vary if your service varies to much.
Buffering
Any Internet service will vary.
iChat has buffering mechanism to cope with this
Earlier versions of iChat were limited by the Quicktime Streaming setting that used to be in System Preferences (Up until Leopard).
Now iChat and Messages can make use of All your bandwidth.
The Buffering will drop frames in an effort to keep up if someone is sending more data than you can handle.
There comes a point when it judges it will lose sense of the Audio due the number of dropped frames and it will cut the Audio.
If the Audio bar is showing nothing then check the Bitrate.
Let me know what you see.
Comparisons with you other computer would be useful.
9:21 PM Monday; October 8, 2012
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"
 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.2)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Ichat can't work with snow leopard

my friend and I were going to video chat ichat I have snow leopard and he doesn't can this work? Is ther a compatibility thing for this?

Hi,
iChat 5 will connect to all other versions of iChat and do Video or Audio Only chats to those Buddies on iChat 2 or above.
9:35 PM Friday; January 15, 2010
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

IChat 5 (snow leopard) Video

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