Oddities in 10.5 UVC driver

Hi,
I have a question regarding USB Video Class drivers (UVC) for MacOS 10.4 vs 10.5.
Because my mac is a few years old now, I still use 10.4.11 on my primary internal boot drive. I have a firewire external drive I use for backup - and I have installed 10.5.4 on that drive. My computer can run 10.5.4 but it is a little too slow for my every day use. Both drives are partitioned HFS+ Journaled.
I have a Creative Live! Cam Video IM Pro web camera. It is UVC compatible and works *sort of* - thus my problem. This camera has a hardware auto adjust for lighting, brightness, contrast, etc - and it works great... when it works...
On 10.4 - I get jerky video, the audio sounds like I am gargling, and the auto adjustment of the brightness, contrast by the webcam's hardware works Great - awesome video output (but slow, blurry frame rates at about 3 frames/sec max).
On 10.5 - the UVC driver has been updated in the OS. Now I get full 30 frame/sec video which is great. The audio works great - no more gargling! (after adjusting the microphone input sensitiveness in the system preferences. But the auto lighting adjust doesn't work (in the webcam), and the picture looks very dark and blatently it just looks like crap. I can use iglasses software to help - but the camera did a much better job and it still looks quite mediocre. It looks like taking a still photo in a dark room, and using photoshop to adjust the brightness, color, contrast, etc. Sure it's better - but very pixelated, distorted, and ugly.
So in the ultimate scenario - I want 10.5's driver to do what 10.4 did - and allow the auto adjust in the webcam hardware to work properly.
I think the UVC driver may be doing adjusting. My theory is that the webcam adjust to the proper brightness, but then the mac UVC driver sees that it's too bright (which it really isn't) and adjusts it back down. Just a theory at the moment.
If anyone has any advice to remedy this, that would be great. I would use the external drive for videoconferencing purposes - now if I can only ge the video quality back I would be set.
Is there any terminal command or other way to adjust how the UVC driver operates? Any other ideas are more than welcome!
Thanks.

I did. Got the standard minimum wage tech support answer of "it's not designed for mac". Last time I checked, UVC was an OPEN standard - but apparently in the Creative Labs universe, that isn't the case. He was probably reading from a book and really didn't know squat. Has anyone else had that problem (with tech support people)? - it's sad when the user knows more about the hardware or how it works than the tech support people of the company that made it. Makes me scratch my head.
In any case, I think I have found a reason why it has this behavior. The webcam has auto tuning for brightness / contrast. I believe the difference in the 10.4.11 UVC driver and the 10.5.4 UVC driver is that the 10.4.11 driver uses a slower frame rate. Of course the exposure per frame increases substantially the less frames you have - and thus a much clearer (but jerkier) picture. 10.5.4 seems to use the maximum 30fps resolution and thus a darker picture (as the exposure time is much less). At least that makes sense to me.
I just wish we had the option to choose what resolution and frame rate the Mac UVC driver ran at. There wouldn't be any developer tool or terminal command for this, would there?

Similar Messages

Mac os x plus quick cams using UVC = slow frame rates...

well i took your advice and picked up a logitech 9000 pro quickcam. this camera is uvc compatible and works out of the box on my macbook running 10.5.2.
the issue i am now having is that the uvc driver is bare bones and doesn't give any way to change the high resolution and low frame rate. the result is that the camera while very sharp gives unacceptable performance approaching 5 fps in any application including quicktime recording.
any ideas on how to resolve this annoyance? the uvc on the mac is unusable for me at this time because i communicate in American Sign Language and need normal smooth video that one gets with the built in i-sight.
thanks in advance!

Unfortunately, I've not located any OSX drivers or software that allow higher framerates with standard UVC cams. There are a couple of options for you though - run bootcamp and run XP when you need to do signing, using the Windows software and drivers that came with your 9000. Or, buy an old Sony video camera, anything with firewire out will do, and are always available on eBay for about what you paid for the 9000.
John F

Quicktime Broadcaster: USB Webcams (UVC) working?

Hi,
I use QT Broadcaster with a DSS to stream a video with my internal iSight or even an external Logitech Communicate STX (macam drivers) with no problems at all.
Now I wanted to get better image quality with the new Logitech Vision Pro (especially made for Mac) which is a UVC compliant webcam.
I canselect the cam as a source and preview the videosignal in the broadcaster but as soon as i want to start the stream, I get this error (testet it on three different macs):
"Senden -8961
[BroadcastDoc broadcastStateChanged:]"
Screenshot: http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bild1mj3.png
Which is really disappointing since the image quality of this cam would be really nice for a live stream. I noticed that Apple isn't saying QT Broadcaster supports any USB devices, could this be the main problem, or were the requirements just not updated?
I'm just wondering, because the STX model is working just fine with the macam drivers, and the Vision Pro is even selectable in the sources view of the broadcaster.
Hope you guys have some ideas!
Helmar

QuickTimeKirk wrote:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/broadcaster/specs.html
USB isn't on the list.
I know, that's why I wrote:
Helmar wrote:
I noticed that Apple isn't saying QT Broadcaster supports any USB devices, could this be the main problem, or were the requirements just not updated?
I'm just wondering, because the STX model is working just fine with the macam drivers, and the Vision Pro is even selectable in the sources view of the broadcaster.
The question is if anyone else got this camera working with the broadcaster or has any idea on how to get it working. I'm not sure if the specs are all up-to-date since USB cams are working with macam driver. So if it is a driver issue, one would think that the implemented UVC driver in MAC OS X could do the trick. Maybe it's already halfway through, because as i posted above, the Vision Pro is selectable and previewable in the broadcaster.
Helmar
Message was edited by: Helmar

Kisight:- If I Don't Have or Want to Use My iSight What Can I Use ?

kisight:- If I Don't Have or Want to Use My iSight What Can I Use ?
Or What Cameras are available for Macs ?
This question used to come up for Macs that did not have Internal Cameras and the User did not have an External iSight.
Since the advent of Intel Mac and the Internal iSight and OS 10.4.9 (late Tiger) the question has broadened from "What can I use with iChat ?" to "What cameras can I use with My Mac ?" and from there into the current Question this User Tip plans to answer.
On the whole it is a case of matching a camera for the type of application you are going to use it most with.
A web cam can be used in iMovie to create Email or Video Blogs although Camcorders do a better job. Camcorders can be used as web cams.
Camera Types
These fall into three main categories that themselves have subsets.
Your choice is going to be influenced by the Applications you want to use it with.
1) Firewire Cameras (Plug an Play)
a) The iSight (External) made by Apple and several other similar cameras have mostly disappeared off the market. (Although iSights seem to be still doing well on Ebay - See Version and Mounts).
b) Firewire Camcorders. These vary as to which apps that work with dues to the different Signal outputs they can do.
Apple Article TA26556 Highlights some that have issues due to their proprietary DV Format.
2) USB 1.1 able Cameras. (Not Plug and Play)
This includes most cameras pre Vista (more on that later)
Most of these will need a suitable Mac Driver either from the Manufacturer or from one of two Generic sources (macam and IOXeperts). Some manufacturers will include a Mac Driver on the CD that comes with the camera some will supply it as a download from their Site.
It is worth while saying at this point that iChat will also need this reasonably cheap iUSBCam Utility as well.
This Utility was originally designed for getting the External iSight to work on computers less than the G3/600Mghz spec for iChat. Then it included the ability to get USB cameras to work with iChat.
You will need one of these three options listed so far if you are OS 10.4.8 or below or have only USB 1.1 ports/sockets on your Mac.
3) USB 2.0 Cameras. (Plug and Play in most cases)
a) Those that are UVC (USB Video Class) Compliant (Also listed as Vista Certified)
Apple added a UVC driver to the OS at 10.4.9 but your Mac also has to have an USB 2.0 port that you can plug such a camera into (Some keyboard ports are not USB 2.0). This means that the camera is Plug and Play although it may not have all the features it has on a PC
b) Those that are USB 2.0 but are not Vista Certified/UVC compliant. (You are going to need Mac Drivers again)
This site about Apple Compatible cameras may be of some help.
A Note on quality of Pictures.
Firewire cameras of either sort are best with Camcorders being the best of all. (Generally more pixels delivered faster to your Computer)
The Newer USB 2.0 cameras are tending to exceed the 640 X 480 pixels that earlier USB1.1 cameras use with some currently giving 1.3Mp resolutions. It should be noted though that not all applications will use this format.
Look closely at the maximum Frame rate (fps) a camera can produce. You may not get it is every applications but something that starts with a max of 15fps is going to give you no leeway.
Applications
You may get some more insight into what to go for by asking in one of these forums:-
iSight Discussions,
iChat AV Discussions for iChat 3 and iChat 2 and Earlier,
iChat and iChat Sharing (in Leopard)
and iMovie Discussions
Please Note:- some of these are Category Links and you have to select a forum within the list at the top of the linked page.
<hr>
Versions and Mounts Which Version Am I Buying ?
First off I will not say so much on Buying a second hand External iSight other than making sure you use a reputable Selling site or an Individual Seller so that you have recourse if the device turns out to be faulty. Try and get to see the camera working if you can, preferably seeing it plugged in and working or by iChat and seeing the Pic it produces (Get the person to show you live Screen shots (or Screen Share in Leopard/iChat 4) of System Preferences > Sound > Input as the iSight will be listed)
What I will list here is info about the different versions.
There were three versions before the External iSight was discontinued. There is little outward differences as the main change is the mounts that are included with each version. They all function the same way.
The versions are distinguished by letters (Revision A, B or C) in addition to the base part number and an added slash (M8817LL/).The Last model included different mounts for Laptops, Desktop Stand, Magnetic mount and one for a Flat Panel iMac (the Lampshade one). See pictures in this PDF on page 6.
Apple no Longer sell the External iSight or the Apple M9314G/B iSight Accessory Kit either but you may find it at other places as well if the mount you want/need does not come with the camera. Pics of Box and Contents
It appears that individual iSight mounts and other items can be purchased though this iSight Service FAQ page
Remember the youngest External iSight is likely to be at least 4 years old. Current anecdotal information suggests the cost of an Apple Repair to a faulty External iSight exceeds the cost of a USB Replacement (Or the value in real terms, of the camera itself - although higher prices seem to be quoted on Ebay and Amazon)
First Draft
10:08 PM Sunday; May 17, 2009
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Thanks Nubz
I will review further an correct myself.
The last reads the way I meant as in physically getting to see it.
I am not sure you are reading it the same way.
As a consequence your suggestion seems a bit ambiguous to my mind.
Thanks for the input. I will read a digest context a bit more and see if I can rephrase.
8:12 PM Thursday; May 21, 2009
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Good photo scanner that is compatible with OS 10.9.1?

I need a good scanner to scan archival images. Anyone know of one that works with OS 10.9.1?

Hi,
Anything that is USB 2.0 UVC compliant .
UVC means USB Video Class.
Like the mass storage USB devices there is an included driver.
Depending on you Firewire ports and those any Firewire enabled DV Camcorder has you could use a DV Camcorder.
NOTE: some HD versions will not work is some apps.
HD tends to be 16:9 format and iChat/Messages and Photo Booth are 4:3
Having said there is a UVC driver in the OS it will not always give you the same features that a windows os might do.
10:00 pm Tuesday; December 17, 2013
 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
 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

HD webcam for the Mac

Does anybody have suggestions for a HD webcam for the latest Mac Mini that will actually perform HD video calling (720p) in all applications that support HD video calling (like Skype, Facetime HD, Bria, VidyoDesktop). Please don't post a recommendation for a camera that doesn't support HD in more than the applications that come with the camera.
For instance, I have a Logitech C910 camera that supports HD, but ONLY in the installed Logitech Webcam Software (Logitech VID HD). HD does not work in any other application. I think that to fully support HD calling on the Mac, a camera needs to install it's own driver, and not use the UVC driver that is used by default by most Mac webcams.

Well according to Skype's website, only Skype for Windows supports 720p HD video calling. So no webcam on Mac, be it HD or not will support Skype HD video calling on Mac until Skype supports it on the Mac.
Culled from Skype.com: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/features/allfeatures/video-call/
*The latest version of Skype offers the clearest, crispest, sharpest quality video calling, and High Definition capability. If everyone on the call has an HD quality webcam, you can see the video in High Definition.*
*What you’ll need:*
** _The latest version of Skype for Windows_*
** An HD quality webcam*
*A dual core processor, and a fast internet connection of 512 kbit/s or more is required.*

LINUX Adobe Flash Player and MINI-DV CAM

Hello,
I Have Mini-DV camcoder Sony DCR-TRV130 connected with my PC
over FireWire cable.
I have installed Linux Ubuntu Feisty Fawn on my Desktop PC.
Also i use FireFox version 2.0.0.3.
I have installed adobe flash player (plugin for FireFox)
version 9,0,31,0
My Mini-DV Sony Cam works with some software like Kino and
others but Adobe flash player don't want to recognise my CAMERA.
Example here:
http://www.ubuntu-rs.org/forum/viewthread.php?action=attachment&tid=1557&pid=14409
If i connect some other webcam like Intel adobe flash player
works just fine
http://www.ubuntu-rs.org/forum/viewthread.php?action=attachment&tid=1557&pid=14424
On Windows XP my Mini-DV cam works just fine too!!
http://www.ubuntu-rs.org/forum/viewthread.php?action=attachment&tid=1557&pid=14406
On Windows i use same version of FireFox and adobe plugin
version 9,0,28,0
ANY COMMENT ARE WELCOMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEASE HELP OR ANY HINT!!
THANKS!!

A little late for the original questioner, but here's the
explanation.
In Linux Webcams and TV-capture cards use the Video 4 Linux
API (application programming interface) to detect, configure, and
use those devices. They appear as devices named /dev/video? - where
? is some number. USB webcams use the USB Video Class (UVC) driver,
or a device-specific driver that handles the USB device and makes
it available as a V4L device.
DV camcorders using IEEE-1394 aka Firewire aka i.Link use the
/dev/video1394 or /dev/raw1394 device interfaces which handle all
sorts of Firewire devices, not just cameras. So far no one has
created a generic IEEE1394 <> Video 4 Linux bridge like the
UVC driver and therefore DV cameras aren't available to
applications that only look for Video 4 Linux devices. There is a
hint of this support being at least planned.
For more information on Linux IEEE-1394 support see:
http://wiki.linux1394.org/Introduction

Does iChat support JPEG video streaming

Dear Sir,
I would like to capture image and then encode to JPEG format and then send the JPEG file to iChat 15 times per second. Does iChat can display the JPEG file properly?
Thanks!
Best Regards,
sunshine_uyl

Ok,
Some more backing up and standing back from this.
I am still trying to interpret what it is exactly you are wishing to do.
If this "board" is something you want to use as a Camera source and it supplies or rather can supply stills of one form or another at 15fps then I don't think this is going to possible.
As one source iChat can use DV format in it's plainest form. (NOT DV or any proprietary versions)
As another iChat can since OS X 10.4.9 use the UVC driver to access USB 2.0 UVC compliant cameras
iChat has some support folders in the /System/Library and the Frameworks and PrivateFrameworks.
These control which video feeds it allows in a sort of "Native" form if you like.
This is through the CVPixelBuffer and the CVOpenGLBuffer (CV = Constant Video)
At least for iChat 4 in Leopard - I am having difficulty in working out where they have moved things in iChat 5/Snow Leopard)
Certain USB 1.1 Cameras that have Mac Drivers Installed on the Mac still need a third Party utility (iUSBCam) to convert the video from that camera into something iChat can use.
Mostly these were VGA output (See Here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webcam#Technology)
Certain IM apps such as Yahoo for Mac use a web cam but provide a collection of rapid Stills much like you talk about to give the appearance of movement.
There are certain apps that can do the same and Stream those as a Live feed to a web site. See Evocam or Security Spy
On the other hand can iChat deal with jpegs or in fact any Still format the answer is yes.
In iChat 4 and higher there is iChat Theatre and iPhoto Share.
iPhoto Share can play a Slide Show of anything in a collection/Slide show that has been set up in iPhoto (best to turn Music Off in my book).
As this could be a folder within iPhoto I toyed with the idea of getting new pics into iPhoto fast enough to display in s Slide show but have not checked what the fastest display a Slide show can manage but doubt it is 15 a sec.
iChat Theatre can be used to display the docs from other apps
For Instance it can play Movies. If you have Quicktime Add-on plug-ins to display a movie on your Mac than it can play almost anything. (Perian can play Dvix for instance along with others and Flip4Mac can play .avi files and other Windows formats).
It can also display the slides for Powerpoint or Keynote (Pays to change the Side Ratio to 4:3 or better still Square to fit the Chat Video Chat window).
I must admit to not having tried that many other apps but the same should apply in a lot of cases.
In both case your Video feed is replaced with a "Stream" of the App or file in question.
Next.
iChat can also do Backdrops in Video Chats on Intel macs.
The Backdrop can be a single Still or a Movie (you are asked to step out of the Frame so it can register the background where you sit and then replaces that with the Movie or Pic). You don't have to step back into view and it could then "Stream" that pic.
These are created by Quartz files splitting the Cameras Feed off from the background and adding either Filters for the Effects or Adding Pics or Movies for Backdrops.
These files are created with Quartz Composer (Installed with Developers Tools on Your Install Disk > Optional Installs).
Whether Quartz Composer can be made to "See" the Input from the "board" I am not sure. (Image seems to be one Still Only and Video seems to be the Camera (I did not spend long looking at how the controls/source might be tweaked).
Thirdly.
I was discussing this with EZ Jim, a level 4 poster who hangs out mostly in the iSight Forum.
He was wondering if you meant getting the board to Chat with iChat like it was a Buddy (and then presumingly recording the Video chat, to get around the USB input constraint.
If the board was Internet able and could Interact with either a Jabber Server or the AIM Servers (run an AIM or Jabber client that was Video Capable) it would have to send data in the H264 Video format.
I don't think this is what you meant but I thought I would pose it for clarification.
Another possibility is a DV converter as a Standalone items between the board and the Mac.
I had one that had RCA, S-Video and Firewire inputs.
This would be an expensive option and depend on what outputs the board has physically
Summary.
Board as camera I don't think is likely unless it can produce DV Video
My 8 1/2 year old G4/1Ghz Dual Processor (Mirrored Door Tower) can handle an USB 2.0 UVC complaint camera.
It has handled DV input from a DV converter in the past.
It basically depends on the Pic size in this case (Aim for 640 X 480 pixels as a Max)
Boards as Means to Input a feed like other apps for iChat Theatre would depend somewhat on the working space or Doc that was created.
I would have to play around with a few more to find out what the limitation were.
(At this point I would imagine using a single file that was being updated 15 time a sec but have difficulty thinking that many processors would cope with that let alone access it at the same time as another app was updating it.)
I have a feeling iPhoto can not play a Slide Show with each pic being only 4 secs "long". It may also not cope with a folder that was having more pics added to it (Can't add Photos to Slide show on the fly as it were)
I do feel the Quartz Composer route may have merit.
Quartz Composer does allow Input from several sources an may be able to "see" the board directly over USB rather then importing a file.
In may well be able to Input a series of files which would mean the board having an App on the computer to save the files to then read.
This would require learning some new skills and take a while to set up.
Although getting Pic into iChat and sending them to 1 person in a video chat would inherently be more secure there may be other ways of getting a series of Pic as "video" feed on to a web page or other Broadcast method.
See EZ Jim's list http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/EZJim/EZJimpage7.html in the top left hand section and Nannycam at the bottom.
If the Board can Export in Streaming Flash then also see the items 9 through 12 in this section http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/page5.html#_othe
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.
Essentially I don't think there is an Easy Way to do this.
11:01 PM Thursday; August 19, 2010
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Want to change webcam from iSight to another (logitech)

How can I use a webcam other than the built-in iSight? I've attempted to connect a logitech webcam so I can get a different angle, but the apps wont give me any choice except for the iSight...

Hi,
The camera needs to be a USB 2.0 device that is UVC compliant.
Older USB 1.1 cameras or even USB 2.0 camera connected via a USB 1.1 port are not going to work.
UVC means USB Video Class
Early models came with "Vista Certified" on the boxes (not many said UVC)
At OS 10.4.9 iChat could use the included UVC driver (included in the OS)
USB 1.1 cameras before that time needed their own Drivers (in some cases some did work with a generic Third Party driver of which there were/are two).
For iChat this also needed an add-on Utility to covert the video for iChat.
Some Mac Keyboards only have USB 1.1 ports and you may do better using one on the computer itself.
The First Version of Photo Booth only sees any additional Camera if it is plugged in before the app is Launched.
Later version have a Camera Menu item to change the camera (It is not in Preferences)
Face Time also has a Menu item for this.
iChat is in the Preferences > Video section.
In iMovie 6 and earlier it is below the main display area but above the Clip of time line area and to the left of centre. (the chocie is a drop down when at the camera end of the slide)
The Newer iMovie apps with the Hollywood Star icon has it on the central lateral grey/silver bar (with the tool icons) at the Left hand end.
Opening this will display the Preview and there is a bar to chose the camera.
If you hold the ALT Key down and then go to the Apple icon top left you get the option to open the System Profiler.
Under Hardware > USB you should find the Logitech listed telling you which Port it is connected to and whether the camera is a USB 1.1 device (the speed listed will tell you)
7:55 PM Sunday; October 9, 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

Is there a webcam that is compatible with OS 10.9?

Is there a webcam that is compatible with OS 10.9?

Hi,
Anything that is USB 2.0 UVC compliant .
UVC means USB Video Class.
Like the mass storage USB devices there is an included driver.
Depending on you Firewire ports and those any Firewire enabled DV Camcorder has you could use a DV Camcorder.
NOTE: some HD versions will not work is some apps.
HD tends to be 16:9 format and iChat/Messages and Photo Booth are 4:3
Having said there is a UVC driver in the OS it will not always give you the same features that a windows os might do.
10:00 pm Tuesday; December 17, 2013
 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mavericks 10.9)
 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

External isight

Does apple even make an external isight and if so can it be used in ichat instead of the built in isight?

Hi,
Your choices are:-
1) A Firewire cam off some sort including DV Camcorders. (there are not many Firewire Webcam on the market now.)
The Camcorder has to have DV (Not HDV) output over firewire (nor Mpeg or other format)
2) Since OS 10.4.9 Apple have included a UVC (USB Video Class) Driver in the OS
With a USB 2.0 port (Mind some Keyboard outlets) you can use a camera that is UVC Compliant.
This includes anything that says it is Vista Certified, States it is UVC compliant and some brand names that mean the same thing such as "RightLight®" for Logitech.
3) With USB 1.1 ports or a MC that is running less than 10.4.9 you can use USB 1.1 able cameras
BUT you do need Mac Drivers And a Utility called iSUSBCam from Ecamm
Not all camera manufacturers include Mac Drivers but the Ecamm page has a Camera Guide Link which tells you some (Not exhaustive list) camera -whether they include Drivers or if they work with one of the two Generic drivers (IOXperts and macam)
I use an Advent 1.3Mp with interchangeable fronts (Advent 3.1Mp Int)
I bought it from PC world in the UK after I tested it in Store on a Mac. (It did take 30 mins to make the purchase but 25 mins of that was finding someone brave enough to sit at the Mac While I unpacked the box and just plugged it in).
I have also tried my son's X-Box 360 camera and that works as well. (UVC Compliant).
The mac UVC driver does not include all the functions like Pan and Tilt or Zoom that the Vista one does for some brands.
9:18 PM Monday; April 20, 2009

Built-in iSight and Logitech Fusion

I have an iMac-Intel with built-in iSight and a new Logitech Fusion web cam. Both work fine in iChat as it recognizes both and let's me easily choose one or the other in Preferences.
However, when using video chat at sites that use the Flash player, only the built-in iSight is selectable and the Logitech cam (also USB) is not.
Is there a way to deactivate the built-in iSight so that the Logitech cam can be my primary cam?
iMac - Intel Mac OS X (10.4.9)

This problem occurs because Flash is only listing drivers (instead of devices) and the two cameras are both using the Apple UVC driver. Here's a possible workaround, but I can't try this, as I don't have a Fusion here:
1) Download macam 0.9.1 from here:
http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.net/downloads.html
2) Install the macam driver by dragging macam.component to the "drag component to here" folder.
3) Make sure your Fusion is connecting, and open macam.app. If you don't see the settings drawer, choose "Camera Settings" from the "Control" menu.
4) In the settings drawer, you should see a "Disable" checkbox in the lower right-hand corner. If it's checked, make sure it is unchecked.
5) If you made changes, choose "Save Current setting" from the "Control" menu.
6) Quit macam.app, and any open web browsers or video chat programs.
7) Relaunch your web browser and bring up the Flash video settings. You should now see a new item in the list of cameras, as the Fusion should now be using the macam driver.
I hope this helps!
Thanks,
Glen

EOS 350D remote

Hi. Im looking for some software that lets me take pics, and videos through my mac. What shall I use? I downloaded the software from the Canon website but it just closed whenever i opened it, then i downloaded a the utility updater and that couldn't find it!

Hi,
No matter what the camera iChat and Photo Booth will only use 0.6Mp (640 X 480) pics.
In fact later Internal iSights are 1.6Mp cameras.
If the camera were Firewire then a Streaming type input could be used in Web Cam apps.
My Kodak DC4800 has a USB Connection that only works to iPhoto or Via Image Capture to any Other App I specify for Importing Stills.
It does have a RCA out put that can be plugged in to a TV like an oversized Monitor and this is also moving like the pic I normally see on the camera's Screen.
I have used a DV converter before to Get the Video (it is a PAL tv signal but can be NTSC) changed to DV and over firewire to the computer.
They can cost as much as the camera is question though.
Most USB 2.0 Cameras can take advantage of the USB UVC driver included in the OS
(UVC USB Video Class)
I don't know of any USB Enabled Stills/Combo camera that has the required software/hardware on the camera to use as a Web Cam.
An X Box 360 Camera will work in iChat/Photo Both as will the PlayStation 3 one.
See also http://www.mac-compatible-web-cam.com/
10:25 PM Sunday; December 26, 2010

Logitech Quick Cam Vision Pro for Mac not working in iChat.

Whenever I try to use iChat with my Logitech camera i get either a message saying "there is no camera attached" or "another program is using the camera". Rebooting helps for a while and it will work, but if I open Preferences then the problem arises again. Unplugging the camera and replacing it is no help - even bypassing a hub and plugging directly into the computer. The audio works fine and the mic choice is the camera's - no problem. Skype video also works perfectly. This seems to be a problem ever since I upgraded to Snow Leopard - I never had this problem before.

Hi,
Prior USB 2.0 and UVC compliant Cameras there has always been problems with Logitech cameras and their Drivers.
There were two third party Drivers for Macs that could be used and the iUSBCam utility.
However Broadly speaking UVC compliant cameras working over USB 2.0 and Snow Leopard have seen iUSBCam fall in to the Unsupported on Leopard group.
It seems that some of the Pro variants of Logitech cameras are still having issues with the Mac OS in Snow Leopard.
The Windows Vista Driver for UVC is/was fairly feature rich in what you could adjust/access about the camera settings.
The Mac version implemented at OS 10.4.9 is less frilly.
Some cameras are 1.3mp but ichat only uses a max of 640 X 480 pixels pics (0.3Mp) and it is unlcear if some cameras will allow this to work smoothly.
I would also try a PRAM reset.
Shut down the computer.
Restart it holding down APPLE(or ⌘)ALT+PR Keys until you have heard three Start Up Bongs.
This may reset things further/deeper than a reboot does.
Based on historical evidence I would suspect the camera's side of the UVC implementation not allowing a proper step down to lower pixel sampling.
Of Course it could be the way Snow Leopard does this or the UVC driver in itself (although both seem to work with other makes of cameras)
9:38 PM Friday; January 8, 2010
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Firefox 4 on a Dell inspiron 1525 - Cursor Is Jumping...

I'm having a problem (see below as it occured while typing this) when trying to type in a message box on a message board or in the address bar, the cursor will just randomly jump like the mouse has been clicked. This has been occuring more frequently. [I have a problem when trying to type in a message box on any message board websie top of thte or in the address bar on th ]

I have an Inspiron 1525n... and in fact everything works... here're the problems I encountered:
1) On my system the Wi Fi card is a Broadcom Corporation BCM4310 USB Controller and as such it has no native linux driver and I only managed to get it to work with ndiswrapper (details in this thread)
2) The home multimedia key and the FN key are not detected so if you want to get them working you need to install third party programs that make a model keyboard and so on.... I think details are described in the hotkeys wiki... As for the play/pause stop and volume keys - they have asigned keycodes so all you need to do is bind xf86 functions to them - here's a sample of my Xmodmap:
keycode 174 = XF86AudioLowerVolume
keycode 160 = XF86AudioMute
keycode 176 = XF86AudioRaiseVolume
keycode 162 = XF86AudioPlay
keycode 164 = XF86AudioStop
keycode 144 = XF86AudioPrev
keycode 153 = XF86AudioNext
keycode 222 = XF86PowerDown
(but you keycodes may be different so check them using xev)
3)I've goten my webcamera to work... partially... It is recognized after installing the package linux-uvc-svn and loading the uvcvideo module, and I've been able to take some good pictures using motion, however I'm yet to find a suitable application (note that the linux-uvc driver should be included in the 2.6.26 kernel)
The IEEE port is recognized, bluetooth and obex server work fine (the card reader also according to the information on the Web, but I haven't tested it yet)
I haven't tested the hdmi port, but that's for when I get a HD TV
EDIT: Ah, and BTW sound works beatifully with the OSS4 driver - everything was recognized by default (I didn't bother trying ALSA, since I use OSS4 on my other PC and it gets me better sound than ALSA)
EDIT2: The home key is detected, you just need to asign keycode for it...
Last edited by Dheart (2008-08-03 20:39:24)

Oddities in 10.5 UVC driver

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