iMac help

[BrianG]

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).

[sandblaster]

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.

[brushlessboy16]

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

[pinkpanda3310]

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

[BrianG]

@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.

[sandblaster]

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.

[BrianG]

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).

[sandblaster]

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.

[PBO]

Originally Posted by BrianG

The lack of AV/malware is inherent in any linux box, whether that's a Mac or any other of a billion flavors of Linux. And really, that's only because malware writers want to get the most bang for the buck so are writing for Windows. If M$ stopped Windows tomorrow, there would be a new target OS.

My wife says Macs are for work and PCs are for play. I counter that with either platform can be used for both; it's just a matter of convenience (don't need emulators or the like on Windows). I too am tired of needing resource-hogging AV/malware software, but it's the way it is for now if you run Windows. So, the choice is 1) Use windows which can run anything on any system, but you have to deal with malware. Or 2) Use Linux/Mac and not worry about malware, but getting games to run takes some jumping through hoops. Pick your poison.

And yes, Macs are "pretty". No denying that. But like Linc, I prefer function over form for the most part. That and the lower hardware cost and ease of working on a PC is a big plus. To me anyway.

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

[BrianG]

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.

[BrianG]

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.

[sandblaster]

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.

[JERRY2KONE]

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.

[sandblaster]

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.

[JERRY2KONE]

Originally Posted by sandblaster

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 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.