iMac help
 

I bought my wife's iMac from a member here (eovnu87435ds) about a year or so ago and it has worked fine for the most part (developed bad PS and backlight inverter). Recently my wife decided she wants to Skype, but the built-in webcam isn't working. The little square at the top of the screen is there, and there is a camera lens inside, but don't have any idea how to "enable" it. It doesn't appear in any hardware list I can find.

I'm thinking it is either unplugged or non-functional, but want to make sure. I don't want to bring it to the Apple store because their fees are outrageous (it would be cheaper to get an external webcam). And taking it apart myself to check the physical connections is too much of a PITA.

It's an Intel CPU-based iMac - the kind where the LCD screen is integrated into the box, 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 duo CPU, 2GB DDR2 RAM, Mac OS X (10.5.8).

I just did this. You have to turn the video on. Problem is I forgot how. Your camera will work, just call someone you know with Skype and play with the settings for video. Took a few trys to figure it out, but it does work very nicely.

Ill have mike (eovnu87435ds) contact him. He knows that comp inside and out.

Do you have a 'photo booth' icon or 'i sight'?

@sandblaster: when/if you remember, let me know. It would be appreciated.

@BLboy16: Yeah, he contacted me on Facebook. I created this thread because I saw he hadn't logged in since August.

@panda: No icons that I can find. I'm not a Mac person, so maybe I'm just not looking in the right place. Actually, when my wife got it, I told her she was on her own, but I guess that didn't stop her from asking me for help). I looked in the applications menu for anything webcam or isight related. I also looked in the system info (hardware list) and didn't see anything about webcams anywhere. It's like it's not even there. Which makes me think it's either unplugged internally or just faulty.

Suggest make sure all the software updates are applied. Hit the APPLE in the upper left and then Software Updates. Then go to Applications and open Photo Booth. Should open a window and see yourself. You know then the camera is working.

As I remember in Skype I had to turn the camera on using a video icon or some such thing. Will try later today and run through it again when I can get my daughter on the other end of Skype.

Thanks for the tips. All updates are current (did that the other day) and I remember trying photo booth, but that didn't work either (can't remember what it did, but I know I did not see myself).

Try Photo Booth again and look under camera and see if the iSight camera is selected. Need to get Photo Booth to work first to confirm camera works. Play around with settings to see it you can get it to work. If not, then something must be wrong with the hardware, then a outside camera maybe the answer.

Ah Brian, I feel for you but couldn't resist quoting your post above

My wife's brand spanking new 27" has so far had the original wireless keyboard & mouse replaced...then the entire thing (screen/keyboard/mouse) has been replaced under warranty. iMac # 2 appears (touch wood) to be OK...& having said that, it will probably self combust & burn the windows machine it shares a desk with

lol, and I stand by that statement! I really hate working on her Mac; it's basically a laptop with an external keyboard/mouse and no battery. She likes the fact that her Mac is faster than my "hulking" desktop, but let's not forget that most of the components are ~7 years old, and even then they wouldn't cost nearly as much as an equivalent Mac.

Oh, and while on the subject, can anyone answer this: What is the difference between using the "-" button vs the "X" button? They both appear to minimize the app to the dock, but still are running in the background (confirmed by the little blue glowing dot under the app icon in the dock, and doing a "ps -ef" from a terminal window). I googled this question, and people seem to think the X button closes the app, but unless my wife's Mac is completely different, I don't agree. In Windows and even the distros of Linux I've tried, the "-" button minimizes, and the "X" fully closes.

Update: There is no isight application/utility. I opened photo booth, but all I get is a black screen with an icon of a video camera with a slash through it. There are no settings to play with. So, I guess this means either the camera unit is unpugged or it is faulty. I kinda figured this was the case since I didn't see the device in the hardware profile.

I ended up ordering a Logitech QuickCam Vision Pro (for Mac). Reviews seem to think highly of it and costed me $70 on Amazon. It'll be a Christmas gift for the missus.

Good camera. Mac is so easy to use that I tend to try to make it harder then is should be. Not surprised about the camera not being in there. Something funny about it, not sure when Apple started to install it in all things. If there was one it would have been very easy to find and use. Good luck with the add on, memory says it is very simple to hook up and use. Use one on my older laptop.

Better off
 

You would have been better off just frying the Apple and getting her a new Intel laptop for Xmas. There are so many good laptop/notebooks out there right now for really low prices and with holiday sales you can get a pretty nice PC for a lot less than that Apple is going to cost you over the next year. You would eraise a lot of issues for the long term. That old Apple is going to keep biting you in the a$$ with problems and as you well know repairs and parts are not cheap. We picked up two notebooks in the last two months. One is my Toshiba L655 with an Intel I-3 2.1mhz duel core CPU, 6gigs of ddr3 ram, with a 500gig sata drive for $675. I got the wife an HP with similar specs for under $500, and both came with built in cameras and Windows 7 64 bit bundled in with a bunch of other software.

I still have my big old 15 year old desktop in the office with a 32" flat panel TV/monitor wich is pretty similar to the Apple setup. I have had to update some of hte hardware over the years, but it is still just as fast as our other PC's and working on it and getting things fixed are a lot easier than those money hungry apples. I like using the bigger screen because I am getting older and my eyesight is not what it used to be.

Just knew we could not have this discussion without the "hate apple' rising. Sooo, in return grin, you could offer me the greatest PC, won't say what pc stands for, and offer to pay me to use it and I would refuse the offer. Been there, done that with PC's. Hate PC's. Love my Mac, my iPod my laptop and soon (hope) iPad & iPhone. Isn't the open market place great. double grin. To each there own.

Now, back to rc trucking.

Grin yourself.
 

Grin away grasshopper. I never said that Mac was better or worse than an Intel based PC. Your the one trying to start something here. So back the truck up and check yourself. What I was trying to share with BG was that his OLD Apple/Mac is going to cause him more problems than it is worth. It is old, and has already cost him more than it is worth just trying to get it up and running properly. So no one bashed on Mac or tried to pick an arguement until you posted up.

In comparison buying a Mac over a PC is just like buying a $500K Lamborgini over a $80K Viper. One can argue all night long about which one is better, but the bottom line is what can you afford. Most are on a strict budget these days due to the state of our economy, and trying to justify the exorbinate cost of a Mac just is a difficult battle to win regardless of what you may think is the better computer. $500 for a PC laptop compared to $1500 for a Mac Air is a no brainer for the average consumer.

In stead of being so defensive about your choices maybe you should try providing a better argument about why you think a Mac is better than a PC, other than "I would not trade for anything". Nobody cares. They both have their pros & cons about them, but the cost for being trendy is not the norm, which is why Apple only has a small share of the computer market. BG was obviously looking for low budget answers to his issue, hence on a budget. PC would be the better way to go.

I'm, with Jerry on this one, but the wife really likes her Macs. She does graphics design and learned on a Mac, so that is what she's comfortable on. When we got it, I told her that she was on her own as far as configuration and such, but that still doesn't stop her from asking me whenever something comes up, so being the nice guy I am I do what I can (but I do grumble and moan the whole time :smile:). I am NOT a Mac person because of their high cost vs their "meh" hardware quality (they tout their hardware as being better, but nothing I've seen justifies that claim). Not to mention Steve Jobs' god complex; the guy acts like he and his stuff is the answer to the world's problems. The interface is a customized Linux so nothing special there, and the platform does have a smaller application base (mainly gaming). They do have a nice design, but I'm not willing to pay extra for it. For me, I'd rather have a PC with better yet cheaper parts, and replacing things is not as expensive and problematic.

I'm not saying Windows is better; I'm beginning to really dislike Windows and Microsoft's approach. They release a new OS before the previous one is fully fixed. To me, an OS is supposed to simply operate my system stably and with minimal resource hit. I shouldn't need a dual core CPU and 4GB of RAM just to run the OS decently. I think the processor and RAM requirements should be driven by what applications you run (gaming, video processing, etc), not by all the eye candy, fancy tricks, and making the OS so it protects the user from themselves.

Jerry, as far as getting a new box, I'm with you there, but like I said, she wants a Mac. I suppose I could shoehorn the Mac OS on PC hardware, but that's more trouble than it's worth. Also, I can tell you I will be replacing my ~7 year old PC (which has had fewer problems) before we replace her ~3 year old Mac.

In my opinion based on what I can see coming, the whole OS market is going to get a big shakeup in the next 5 years. I think the way we compute is going to drastically change and I don't mean iPad's are the hero's either. I think the way we view OS's and the way they work will change as part of this. I just don't see a future for any system that locks itself down the way Apple does and even Windows will have to adjust to survive. In fact I wouldn't be surprised of Win7 is the last of it's type of OS for Microsoft.

I believe that future systems will have to mingle better with each other period to survive. People want ALL their systems to work together, and the OS that does that the best will be the winner.

I also think the in the phone market Apple is becoming complacent much like Blackberry has and being King they seem to think they can't be touched. The market is rapidly evolving and has no place for attitude, just solutions.

It's silly to me in the tech market to become beholden to one manufacturer anyway. I choose what is best for me at each juncture, screw the fanboy trip.

+1
:yes:

Texas, your statements are the same as way back when Windows was getting started, everyone wanted one OS. Well they had it for awhile and I got real tired of fixing broken Windows rather then using the computer. You have no ideal the hours and hours and hours I worked to keep the families PC's going. IBM had a good OS, much better then windows, which Microsoft killed. I was so angry at broken windows I decided to find something I did not have to fix all the time. Only other choice was Apple. Never looked back.

Understand Windows 7 is better, but how long did it take to get it? Believe me, we want open market competition. We all are so much better off with the competition. Some of the ideals floating now are not going to make it. Googles ideal of having everything on-line, including the OS simple will not work. Look at what is going on now with the attacks on the internet. We would be simple stupid to go that way.

Apple is extremely innovative. From the Apples fan's view point, Window has done nothing but copy Apple's ideal from day one with Windows right up to Windows 7. If one is not an Apple fan, one does not see what Apple comes out with ends up in Windows. The iPad, iPod, iPhone, MacBook Air is changing the face of how we interact with computing devices. I simple love the touch interface. So simple and very easy to use.

Jerry,

I misunderstood what you where saying. As for old Mac's, the wife is still using the second gen of the iMac with the dome base and movable screen. Still booting everyday. We have plans to update it, but seems other things keep breaking down, like, last night our 2 year old microwave died. I do understand the cheaper PC's but when one compares item to item for what they have in them, they are very close to the same price.

I love my Mac's. You enjoy your PC's. All is good.

Sandblaster, you obviously miss the point and are a fanboy yourself. Some things Apple does well with, some they don't, the arrogance of Jobs, just like Gates, can't be denied.

It's not about one OS but compatibility. I don't care who makes it and where it comes from. I care about the end product, not the source of it.

You also make rather broad assumptions based on what I do and do not know.

Sorry, but the silliness of you stating you could barely keep a windows machine running back whenever it is you purported to do this and how apple is some grand savior further proves your fanboyism. There a plenty of apple horror stories to go around as well and this attitude that they are some how perfection is very naive.

Also note I have both windows and mac machines thank you very much.

Besides, I don't see much innovation out of apple or microsoft at this juncture, just two little boys still fighting over who screwed who in the seventies. Meanwhile, there are others out there truly innovating and just waiting for the right moment to step in and pull the rug out from under both of them. It's rather entertaining to me that some of the biggest tech giants today weren't even in existence when the whole apple/microsoft pissing match originally started.

Brian if you are alluding to Windows Vista and Windows 7, Windows 7 is a "fixed" Vista. Yes, Microsoft screwed up with Vista and rushed it out, etc. People who were in charge of that aren't there any longer. Every company has made mistakes of this sort (iPhone 4 antenna issue? thats not as easily fixed as software) so its life. But the bottom line is Windows 7 is what Vista should have been; I think the biggest gripe I have about the situation is that my personal opinion is Vista users should have gotten free, or reduced, upgrades.

You can run Windows 7 on less than a dual core and 4GB of RAM. Netbooks do it; but you can go look and see the benefits/drawbacks of that. Win7, even Vista (although it has a memory hit with graphics due to the way it is doing buffering), scales back based on the hardware. Don't have graphics card for Aero? You get no Aero. Or you can go back to the previous windowing infrastructure. Official Win7 requirements are here: http://windows.microsoft.com/systemrequirements.

Since computers are mainstream, any quality consumer level OS must protect the user from itself. Otherwise people are going to bitch and complain when they do stupid stuff and it breaks, loses files, corrupts their computer with viruses, etc, etc, etc. And they do anyways.

I highly doubt you are going to see drastic changes any time soon. There is always, and always had been (anyone remember nettops were going to take over the world?), predictions of this and that that will doom the status quo. Never comes to pass.

There is no doubt that portable devices are here to stay. And they are in their infancy as really useful, general, computation devices. Give me bluetooth keyboard, mouse and a wireless monitor (re Intel, et al), my Android smartphone and I could do my surfing, email, social communication, etc. in comfort on it without a desktop or even a laptop. Even more so with the next generation looking at better graphics chips, more memory and dual core processors. Anything more and you really start needing a laptop or desktop.

The new "tablets" are for tools who like to carry around multiple devices. I dislike it. At most I want my smartphone and a laptop (or tablet computer, depending on what I'm doing). I don't need to carry around a tablet too boot. They are a fad that, like the PDAs will morph into something else or disappear completely.

Win8 is already on its way. It is supposed to be supporting more of a virtualized environment, but there have been rumors as to how much or how little this will be. Still its not a hugely radical departure.

You might argue that ChromeOS is, but I think it will end up being a small bip on the radar before disappearing. One of the areas that it proports is online storage; this will probably stay although this really requires more/faster bandwidth (tiered pricing for wireless ain't going to help this) especially the upload to make it manageable. Personally I also require it be encrypted too boot. This online storage (not just of files but of your desktop/environment too) shows up to some extent on the Android; get a new android, just sync it to your google account and most of your apps and settings will get reset. But its also something, at least as far as the "desktop", has been talked about for Windows 8.

I have a google phone, use gmail (interface sucks), but don't use any of its other applications. Why? All substandard. Perhaps they get you buy for the basics, but for me they are slow, underperforming without enough features and options. And they all run in an interpreted language, Javascript. Now Google is working on a Javascript adaptive JIT compiler, but still, Javascript is not a high-end language; it just wasn't designed for it. And I'm not just trashing Google, but MS as well. Their "online" office suite just is no where near comparable to the normal version.

I suspect what will happen is that instead of either a) all thick client apps (Windows, Linux/Unix, MacOS/iOS, etc.) or thin client apps (web applications, Chrome OS) is that we will slowly transition to something in between. Your thick client apps will transition to a thinner client (next-gen Silverlight or such) that interacts with the services on the back-end to perform tasks, etc. You'll be able to buy these from an online store (i.e. amazon, etc) and they'll interact with your choice of online storage (i.e. the cloud). However, the front-end won't be a browser, it'll be a thinner client Virtual Machine (.NET/Silverlight, Java, Flash [although its really bad], etc.) that is built to give provide you with a rich experience. Essentially this is the next gen RIA. You'll still see thicker apps (i.e. games, multimedia) who require more resources, bandwidth, etc. and web-only apps like you do now. But it'll be a gradual transition more towards RIA-style apps for most things.

This is the approach MS took with Windows Phone 7; all the apps are done in Silverlight. So they are a small download that runs the UI locally but most of the application processing is done server side via WCF calls. I imagine we'll see more of that in Windows 8 too boot.

This was also one of the original goals of the iPhone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9XNf...ayer_embedded#!

zero, I am not saying chrome OS is the answer just that things will change quite a bit. I don't believe there is one answer, I believe there are many.

The iPad type interface while useful is to burdened for support software to be useful by itself. The medical groups making use of it have to blow some serious coin on citrix to be able to use it effectively and meet legal requirements and using logmein ignition is too slow and burdensome to be a true solution. I have tried both and they work but the device is being used to do more than it really can handle.

No one can get around the fact the cloud computing is a huge part of what we will be using. I think no matter what this will be at the core of whatever is used in the future. It's funny seeing the paranoia that surrounds cloud computing and peoples ownership of their data. I find it humorous that people think their data is so much safer in "their" possession.

Anyway, things will continually change, everyone will have to adapt and move on.

I just can't get past the belief the software/programs/etc will have to play nicely together to survive and locking things down so tight it prohibits this will only spell death for the company that does it that way.

spoiled.
 

We have obviously become a very spoiled species with all of this electronic technology. Not long ago we had to litterally dial a phone, and cell phones were merely a dream or a movie prop of futuristic proportions. A computer was something that the Gov was playing with in the deep depths of some bunker that nobody ever heard of. We have come a very long way in the last 50 years and the impatients of peole today are so amusing. Even when computers hit the open market I remember seeing the 286's, 386's, and so on thinking how cool that was to be able to communicate without a phone. I remember that the only real clue that came to mind back then was that buying encyclopedias was going to be a dead end job soon.

Now we have become demanding about speed and accessability to the point of acting like a bunch of spoiled children that years ago would have gotten smacked for just uttering words of disatisfaction like we do today. Things have become so integrated that if our electrical system takes a big hit from some genious wack-job the likes of somebody like this Assange idiot that our way of life will come to a screeching hault, and chaos will consume all of us. Try spending a couple of weeks without all of your electronics and just look at the world from within long enough to realize that what we have now is a crying shame from where we were ten years ago. I think what we have now is a pure miracle compared to what some of us grew up with. There were no video games. TV was NBC, CBS, and a few other chanels and that was it. Reception was poor as hell, but we were grateful just to have something to watch. Can't we just be satisfied with what we have and let technology take its own pace? I am just saying.

Did this a couple of years ago thanks to hurricane Ike. It was quite liberating and nice to have people actually socializing together again.

What was sad was all the people complaining about how the electric company planned the outage and it was all their fault. I got to see first hand why Katrina turned out the way it did and I blame the individuals for the most part.

Truth.
 

Isn't that the truth. People just get plain stupid when things get out of hand. Sometimes we all need a good lesson in humility to find out way back to reality. We live in such a fantasy world and we become complacent, lazy, and ignorant when things go off track.

Did you find out how to rectify this problem? I think i'm experiencing the same symptoms

I ended up just getting an external Logitech webcam for her. I couldn't bring myself to go back into that Apple store to talk to the "geniuses" there just for them to overcharge on the part and service.

:rofl:

Oh how I feel your pain! I swear if I wasn't bald I would pull my hair out every time I have to deal with those tools. It always seems to me like they go to the child molester section of the local penitentiary to find these guys that work the "genius" bar.

And some of their "help" sounds like it was suggested by a 2 year old. My favorite is "Was the computer plugged into the wall"? WTF? This after I told them I couldn't find any hint of a camera in the hardware list. If it wasn't plugged in, I would have more problems than the camera not working, eh?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha
 

HA HA HA HA HA HA that is some funny stuff BG. I steer clear from the Apple store myself as much as possible. Every once in a while(its been a few years) I wonder in there to see whats new and out of curiosity want to see if their prices have come down even just a little bit. It always amazes me how inflated things are there, and how all of their attendants seem to be kind of puffed up and full of themselves. I feel bad for some of the people trying to deal with them, because of the condesending nature of their attitude as if they are doing you a favor just by being there to show off their deluted education. They are no better than the old school car salesmen trying to steal your money with smoke and mirrors BS.