why is my yahoo messenger crashing every time i launch my webcam?

Question

why is my yahoo messenger crashing every time i launch my webcam?

I'm not really sure where to post this so here goes:

First off I'm running my powermac G4 on Panther 103.9.

I've had yahoo messenger for a while and for the past year I have been able to launch my webcam ( a panasonic dv cam that i use as a webcam actually) with no trouble. Now every time I launch it my messenger crashes.

Like all mac users I have become beyond frustrated with yahoo refusing to update messenger for macs. It seemd every time they update for a pc we lose functionality (i.e. no file transfers, unable to view other's webcams, etc).

My question is, do you think this is related to a recent yahoo update or is it due to the new quicktime update (7.1.1.) for us?

This seems to have happened after or aorund the time I did the update install for quicktime.

A friend who I have been able to view on cam for sometime's cam was unavailable for me to view as well.

So any ideas , hunches, or tips? Should I uninstall the quicktime (and how do I do that ?), or is that totally unrelated to the problem?

Thanks for listening,

Michael

powermac 64 Mac OS X (10.3.9) yahoo instant messenger, quicktime update 7.1.1

powermac 64, Mac OS X (10.3.8), yahoo instant messenger, quicktime update 7.1.1

Posted on Jun 2, 2006 12:07 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Reid Nixon

Level 2

229 points

Jun 3, 2006 1:51 PM in response to Michael Taylor8

This interruption happened before the QuickTime update. I installed it after I couldn't connect either way with video on Yahoo Messenger. Many other Mac users are reporting this. Started happening on May 31 'cause I used it on May 30 (maybe even morning of May 31).

I just sent reported this to Yahoo at:
http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/messenger/cgi_mac

I encourage every Mac user having problem to do this, too, please.

Reply

Answer 2

Jun 3, 2006 11:08 PM in response to Reid Nixon

This interruption happened before the QuickTime
update. I installed it after I couldn't connect
either way with video on Yahoo Messenger. Many other
Mac users are reporting this. Started happening on
May 31 'cause I used it on May 30 (maybe even morning
of May 31).

I just sent reported this to Yahoo at:
http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/messenger/cgi_mac

I encourage every Mac user having problem to do this,
too, please.

Thank you for replying Reid, this has been stressing me out. I have a long term girlfriend overseas and this is the only way she and I can "see" each other so this has been super annoying. But I'm glad it's not quicktime because uninstalling and reinstalling is such a major pain. I will fill out the complaint but with yahoo issuing pc updates a mile a minute and not for macs since 2003 (2003!!) it seems we once again get the shaft. Guess I have to buy a cheap pc strictly for webcam purposes which is insane (she doesn't have a mac so ichat is not an option).

Reply

Answer 3

Jun 4, 2006 12:18 PM in response to Michael Taylor8

I hope you return to read this. I am in the exact same situation as you, so I was motivated to find a solution quickly until Skype adds video for Mac (hurry, Skype, hurry!

).

Anyway, I have a free solution for you that turns out to be better than Yahoo anyway: SightSpeed. They've got video chat (w/video voicemail!) for PC and Mac, and they work together.

Check 'em out. http://www.sightspeed.com

If this company can do Mac/PC video already, then I don't know why Skype isn't ready yet. It's got a pretty good user interface; but the audio's a little funky for me (sounds like 50's sci-fi sound effects in the background no matter how I tweak it or using headset), so I'm sticking with Skype for audio and SightSpeed for video.

GOOD LUCK!

Reply

Answer 4

Jun 6, 2006 12:52 PM in response to Reid Nixon

Reid,

Have you had any luck with the SightSpeed? I downloaded it yesterday and find it really weird...it seems the cam takes forever to show up then has really long pauses before updating the image. I haven't messaged anyone yet just wanted to see how it looked, would it look any different (ie update faster) if I actually had someone on with me?

By the way I heard from yahoo (I'm sure you have too) and said to reinstall. Well now my cam launches fine but out of 4 people only 1 can see it! (Of course it's not my gf that would be too convenient, lol).

And if I do a invite to someone before I launch my cam , when my cam does come up it crashes. Are you having the same trouble?

Let me know,

Michael

P.S. Thanks for the info on SightSpeed.

Reply

Answer 5

NikkiG

Level 2

495 points

Jun 6, 2006 8:12 PM in response to Michael Taylor8

Hi Michael,

Another programme you could try using is iVisit. It is free and works very well with the Mac/PC web cam combination. You and your girlfriend would both need to download it, but it's dead easy both to set up and use.

Cheers
NikkiG

Reply

Answer 6

Jun 7, 2006 1:50 PM in response to NikkiG

Thanks Nikki. If yahoo doesn't work better in the next few days I'm going to try it.

Today several of my friends could view me on messenger, but I haven't heard from my girlfriend so hopefully she will be able to see me on messenger.

Thanks for everyones help.

-Michael

Reply

Answer 7

Ramana

Level 1

4 points

Jun 23, 2006 7:48 PM in response to Michael Taylor8

I'm using a macbook pro and am having problems with the webcam too on Yahoo Messenger too. Yahoo said to uninstall Messenger. Anybody know how to do that? got to know how before I can put it back in.

thanks

Reply

Answer 8

Thorzdad

Level 3

508 points

Jul 7, 2006 10:39 AM in response to Michael Taylor8

I had this same problem. I discovered that the fix was pretty strange. Basically, you need to adjust any DNS settings you have from "Get automatically from ISP" to the actual DNS server addresses your ISP uses.

I'm on Comcast. Awhile back, Comcast made some changes and insisted all their users switch to "automatic". As soon as we did that, their user message boards started lighting-up with customers whose webcams suddenly stopped connecting (and crashing the app). In the end, the fix I outlined turned out to be the trick. Apparently, Yahoo's webcam servers don't play nice with dynamic DNS settings. Pretty strange, but ever since I made that little change, my webcam worked with Yahoo again.

G5 dual 2G Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Reply

Answer 9

Aug 9, 2006 4:40 PM in response to Michael Taylor8

I'm marking this topic as fixed since yahoo resolved the issue awhil back. Apologies for not doing it sooner, but I have been sidetracked lately.

Reply

Answer 10

Aug 9, 2006 4:42 PM in response to Michael Taylor8

I guess I should have written this instead of posting, but thanks to everyone for their help and I hope everyone else has their messenger running correctly again.

Reply