Re: isight not working any more

Question

Well. I'm having the same issue (Leopard) on a brand new MacBook Pro 17" (core 2 duo, 1920x1200). I've had a few issues recording audio too. I followed apple's steps to reset the hardware (take out battery and AC adaptor, hold down power button for five seconds), tried safe mode. After resetting the SMC / PRAM, I get the same problem you're having: it works once, then never again until another reset. Turns out it works on a dual boot of windows so if somebody in tech support insists it's a hardware issue i'm going to probably just hang up and wait until they have a clue what is going on (you'll never, ever hear "we have no idea what the problem is" from most tech support). I don't have the time to bother with the type of idiocy you seem to be dealing with. Often when something goes wrong on a mac, it's a hardware issue, but not always (and obviously not in this case).
My feeling is this is a bug in Quicktime's capturing in Leopard. Have you had any issues recording audio too? Try recording a few clips... I get lots of dropped audio. Oddly, the problem occurs in Quicktime Player but not Soundtrack Pro (so far). It's like some driver/application never releases the device fully? Some type of cache filled up? My guess is that Apple is as stumped as I am and probably didn't catch this in their normal testing since the problem seems to take a while to show symptoms. It's not really their fault.
As far as tech support goes, I would either try to fix the problem yourself through troubleshooting some more before bringing it in. If you can prove it's not a hardware problem (by, for example, getting it to work by booting off another drive, or a firewire connected mac in target disk mode), then you can force the tech to keep actually helping you (if he/she can) rather than pushing the problem over to somebody else. I imagine the hardware repair department isn't exactly pleased being flooded with hardware not requiring repair. I would hope that somebody soon starts handing out directives to stop insisting this is a hardware problem. I think an honest "yes, it's a software problem, we're sorry for this and will be releasing an update as soon as possible" would go over a lot better with the public at large, rather than the implausible load of BS that all these iSights are all failing at the same time out of pure coincidence.
A while ago I walked into the Apple store to report a failed HDD on my PB 17" (it was clacking like they do when they fail.) The tech, of course, agrees. Everybody who has been around enough computers for long enough knows all-too well the death-knell of a hard drive. So they send it in, only to send it back to me claiming that the problem was third party ram (they removed it)... LOL. Yeah, right... Although I grant that strange things do happen, and Apple does sell high quality ram (albeit overpriced for the product and <2 min *very very easy* installation process), this was not a problem with the ram, and I'm pretty sure everybody knew that.
Sure enough, when I powered it up (in the store, for extra effect), the HDD was still clacking. Again, the tech agreed with me and sent it in. If I had known how easy it was (relatively, depending on experience) to just take it apart and replace the thing, I probably wouldn't have bothered bringing it in at all (as I later did when that drive failed 3 years later of old age and wear). If, hypothetically, this iSight was a loose connector (it's not) I would probably ... er... whistles ... (still have valid applecare here in case something serious does happen)...
Insisting something is a hardware problem when it clearly isn't is more than a bit absurd. I use my macbook pro as a primary workstation and parting with it is a huge inconvenience. I don't feel like going through that unless it's absolutely necessary. I'll just wait and see. Hope it turns out good or you too.
I feel dirty complaining about Apple tech support. Most of the time they're fantastic. On the other hand, there are idiots in every organization. It might seem "negative" of me to point this out; however in my experience, sometimes a fix does not occur until some PR/marketing droid detects a potential stink in the public sphere (+"oh sh** we can't keep blaming this one on hardware anymore... TECHS! FIX IT! NOW! "+).

Answer 1

Well. I'm having the same issue (Leopard) on a brand new MacBook Pro 17" (core 2 duo, 1920x1200). I've had a few issues recording audio too. I followed apple's steps to reset the hardware (take out battery and AC adaptor, hold down power button for five seconds), tried safe mode. After resetting the SMC / PRAM, I get the same problem you're having: it works once, then never again until another reset. Turns out it works on a dual boot of windows so if somebody in tech support insists it's a hardware issue i'm going to probably just hang up and wait until they have a clue what is going on (you'll never, ever hear "we have no idea what the problem is" from most tech support). I don't have the time to bother with the type of idiocy you seem to be dealing with. Often when something goes wrong on a mac, it's a hardware issue, but not always (and obviously not in this case).
My feeling is this is a bug in Quicktime's capturing in Leopard. Have you had any issues recording audio too? Try recording a few clips... I get lots of dropped audio. Oddly, the problem occurs in Quicktime Player but not Soundtrack Pro (so far). It's like some driver/application never releases the device fully? Some type of cache filled up? My guess is that Apple is as stumped as I am and probably didn't catch this in their normal testing since the problem seems to take a while to show symptoms. It's not really their fault.
As far as tech support goes, I would either try to fix the problem yourself through troubleshooting some more before bringing it in. If you can prove it's not a hardware problem (by, for example, getting it to work by booting off another drive, or a firewire connected mac in target disk mode), then you can force the tech to keep actually helping you (if he/she can) rather than pushing the problem over to somebody else. I imagine the hardware repair department isn't exactly pleased being flooded with hardware not requiring repair. I would hope that somebody soon starts handing out directives to stop insisting this is a hardware problem. I think an honest "yes, it's a software problem, we're sorry for this and will be releasing an update as soon as possible" would go over a lot better with the public at large, rather than the implausible load of BS that all these iSights are all failing at the same time out of pure coincidence.
A while ago I walked into the Apple store to report a failed HDD on my PB 17" (it was clacking like they do when they fail.) The tech, of course, agrees. Everybody who has been around enough computers for long enough knows all-too well the death-knell of a hard drive. So they send it in, only to send it back to me claiming that the problem was third party ram (they removed it)... LOL. Yeah, right... Although I grant that strange things do happen, and Apple does sell high quality ram (albeit overpriced for the product and <2 min *very very easy* installation process), this was not a problem with the ram, and I'm pretty sure everybody knew that.
Sure enough, when I powered it up (in the store, for extra effect), the HDD was still clacking. Again, the tech agreed with me and sent it in. If I had known how easy it was (relatively, depending on experience) to just take it apart and replace the thing, I probably wouldn't have bothered bringing it in at all (as I later did when that drive failed 3 years later of old age and wear). If, hypothetically, this iSight was a loose connector (it's not) I would probably ... er... whistles ... (still have valid applecare here in case something serious does happen)...
Insisting something is a hardware problem when it clearly isn't is more than a bit absurd. I use my macbook pro as a primary workstation and parting with it is a huge inconvenience. I don't feel like going through that unless it's absolutely necessary. I'll just wait and see. Hope it turns out good or you too.
I feel dirty complaining about Apple tech support. Most of the time they're fantastic. On the other hand, there are idiots in every organization. It might seem "negative" of me to point this out; however in my experience, sometimes a fix does not occur until some PR/marketing droid detects a potential stink in the public sphere (+"oh sh** we can't keep blaming this one on hardware anymore... TECHS! FIX IT! NOW! "+).