BK_man
Level 1 (10 points)

Q: iSight not working for non-Apple apps under particular user account

I noticed that my iSight built into Macbook Pro 15" is not working anymore for non-Apple apps (Skype and Webex at least) and working for Facetime and Messages Beta under same account.

 

I tried to test it using different account on OS X with Skype and it is working great!

 

I'm using 10.7.3.

 

Any advice?

MacBook Pro 15, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Feb 18, 2012 9:44 AM

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BK_man

Q: iSight not working for non-Apple apps under particular user account

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  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Feb 18, 2012 1:08 PM in response to BK_man
    Level 9 (73,348 points)
    Applications
    Feb 18, 2012 1:08 PM in response to BK_man

    Hi,

     

    I take it that in System Information the camera is listed under USB items ?

     

    Your speps say OS x 10.7.2

    Have you updated to OS X 10.7.3 ?

    If you have I would start with that by doing a COMBO Version (Not using Software Update)

    This will be everything that has been updated since OS X 107 came out and may catch those hard to trace issues.

     

    Using the FInder > Go Menu > Hold the ALT key and Select the Library that appears > then navigate to Preferences.

    In here find the Skype .plist.

    Open it with Quick Look.

     

    Can you capture that (Apple/CMD ( or ⌘) + Shift + 4 together (Also tap space bar at the end to get the Window) ) ? and post it here.

    I don't use Skype and don't have the .plist to see if it lists the camera.

    If it does it might pay to delete the.plist and force Skype to re-***** the hardware.  (It also depends how much of your other settings are in there)

     

    In the meantime if you go to the Skype Preferences can you see a Preview of the camera ?

    Can you turn Off access to the camera and turn it On again in Skype ?


    Skype does use Flash Player to do the Video.

    Is Webex a browser led thing that uses Flash ?

     

    If it looks like it is a Flash Issue do you have the GoogleTalk Video Plugin installed (there is a standalone and it is part of Chrome) ?

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


    9:08 PM      Saturday; February 18, 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

  • by BK_man,

    BK_man BK_man Feb 18, 2012 4:57 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 18, 2012 4:57 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    I take it that in System Information the camera is listed under USB items ?

    Yes

    Your speps say OS x 10.7.2

    Have you updated to OS X 10.7.3 ?

    Forgot to update, thanks.

     

    However, this is a longstanding bug. It was even with 10.7.0 if I remember correctly.

     

    I remember that I tried to update my Skype with erasing it's plist file — it doesn't helped me.

     

    The reason why I'm asking here is that I noticed that week during a Webex call that Cisco Webex.app also can't access my camera.

     

    BTW, I tried to check Apple vs non-Apple apps and confirmed it with Photo Booth.

    So, to conclude:

     

    In my current user account, built-in camera:

    a) list itself in System Information/System Report.../Hardware USB

    b) working as expected in Facetime.app, Messages Beta.app and Photo Booth.app

    c) doesn't working in Skype.app and Webex (Meeting Center.app)

     

    In other user account:

    a) Webex and Skype working great with webcam as usual;

    b) Photo Booth, Facetime and Messages Beta working with camera as usual.

     

    Camera was working under my user account in Snow Leopard before in Skype and Webex.

  • by BK_man,

    BK_man BK_man Feb 18, 2012 5:00 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 18, 2012 5:00 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    I also reviewed my com.skype.skype.plist file in Quick Look as you suggested and found no camera or iSight mentions here.

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Feb 19, 2012 1:12 PM in response to BK_man
    Level 9 (73,348 points)
    Applications
    Feb 19, 2012 1:12 PM in response to BK_man

    Ok,

     

    I thought I had found a place the Preferences stored some info about Flash and that Skpe was involved.

    This got me thinking that Skype and WebEx both used Flash to send Video....

     

    ... Then I realised that I was looking at the info Flash Player stores about visiting web sites.

     

    Having said that have you installed either the Standalone Google Video Plug-in or the Chrome Browser (it includes the Plug-in) ?

    This clashes with the Flash Plug-in for Browsers and can mean you cannot access sites that use Flash for Video  (MeBeam/Koowy -depending on the name they are using as one example)

     

     

     

     

     

     


    9:12 PM      Sunday; February 19, 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

  • by BK_man,

    BK_man BK_man Feb 19, 2012 9:21 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 19, 2012 9:21 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    Ralph,

     

    I don't have an Adobe Flash plugin installed at all on this machine:

    $ ls /Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins

    AdobePDFViewer.plugin                              QuickTime Plugin.plugin                              iPhotoPhotocast.plugin

    JavaAppletPlugin.plugin                              SharePointBrowserPlugin.plugin                    nsIQTScriptablePlugin.xpt

    NPDjVu.plugin                                        SharePointWebKitPlugin.webplugin

    Quartz Composer.webplugin                    Silverlight.plugin

     

    However, I have latest available version of Google Chrome installed.

     

    The tricky thing for me is that only my user account have such problems.

    Other user accounts doesn't have that problem on that machine.

     

    Andrey.

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Feb 20, 2012 2:05 PM in response to BK_man
    Level 9 (73,348 points)
    Applications
    Feb 20, 2012 2:05 PM in response to BK_man

    HI,

     

    I have navigated to Hard Drive/Library/Internet Plug-ins

    Hard Drive_Library_Internet Plugins
    Uploaded with Skitch!

     

    Are you saying you have removed the Flash Plug-in ?

     

    I am also not sure why the Google Plugin does not show in there.

     

    Have you got some in the Users/(your account)/Library/Internet Plug-ins folder ?

    In the Finder use the Go Menu > Go to Folder and type in ~/Library/Internet Plug-ins to get there in Lion.

     


    10:05 PM      Monday; February 20, 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

  • by BK_man,

    BK_man BK_man Feb 20, 2012 8:18 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 20, 2012 8:18 PM in response to Ralph Johns (UK)

    Ralph,

     

    I navigated to ~/Library/Internet Plugins:

     

    Andreys-MacBook-Pro:~ abr$ cd ~/Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/

    Andreys-MacBook-Pro:Internet Plug-Ins abr$ ls -la

    total 8

    drwx------   7 abr   abr     238 May  6  2011 .

    drwx------@ 66 abr   abr    2244 Feb 16 20:06 ..

    drwxrwxr-x   3 abr   admin   102 Mar 24  2010 ClickToFlash.webplugin

    drwxr-xr-x   3 abr   admin   102 Dec 15  2010 EvernoteSafariClipperPlugin.webplugin

    lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  abr      67 Jun  9  2009 FolxNetscapePlugIn.plugin -> /Applications/Folx.app/Contents/Resources/FolxNetscapePlugIn.plugin

    drwxr-xr-x@  3 abr   abr     102 Nov  5  2010 WebEx.plugin

    drwxr-xr-x@  3 abr   abr     102 May  6  2011 WebEx64.plugin

    Andreys-MacBook-Pro:Internet Plug-Ins abr$ ls FolxNetscapePlugIn.plugin/

    ls: FolxNetscapePlugIn.plugin/: No such file or directory

    Andreys-MacBook-Pro:Internet Plug-Ins abr$ rm -f FolxNetscapePlugIn.plugin

    Andreys-MacBook-Pro:Internet Plug-Ins abr$ rm -fr ClickToFlash.webplugin

    Andreys-MacBook-Pro:Internet Plug-Ins abr$ ls -l

    total 0

    drwxr-xr-x  3 abr  admin  102 Dec 15  2010 EvernoteSafariClipperPlugin.webplugin

    drwxr-xr-x@ 3 abr  abr    102 Nov  5  2010 WebEx.plugin

    drwxr-xr-x@ 3 abr  abr    102 May  6  2011 WebEx64.plugin

     

    Found an old plugin (noticed it in Skype couple of times) and a missed link. Removed both. Restarted Skype.

    That doesn't helped me.

    Preferences page in Skype still displays me a blank black area instead of camera image.

     

    I removed Flash plugin completely.

  • by Ralph Johns (UK),

    Ralph Johns (UK) Ralph Johns (UK) Feb 21, 2012 12:03 PM in response to BK_man
    Level 9 (73,348 points)
    Applications
    Feb 21, 2012 12:03 PM in response to BK_man

    HI,

     

    I looked on the Skype site to see if the requirements listed Flash but they do not.

     

    Did you install the WebEx plug-in for your User Account Only ?

     

    I am not sure what to suggest.

     

     


    8:03 PM      Tuesday; February 21, 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