I'm currently taking an online ASL class using Skype. Randomly throughout the calls, my video disappears and says there is no connected camera. If this happens, I also get the same message from photo booth. Sometimes if I open photo booth, the video comes back, but sometimes not. Restarting the computer seems to help half the time, but not consistently. Any suggestions would be MUCH appreciated!
iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.2)
EricWeir wrote:
**** it! I've got "no camera" again. What the hmm is going? A "fix" that lasts only a few days?
It seems you have an ******* hmmm ****** *** fault.
Make a current backup, then contact Apple Authorized Service Provider for service.
EZ Jim wrote:
It seems you have an ******* hmmm ****** *** fault.
Make a current backup, then contact Apple Authorized Service Provider for service.
What kind of fault?
And I have Time Machine running. I take it that will do.
Reinstalling the update won't do the job?
Thanks.
You're welcome, Eirc.
EricWeir wrote: ...What kind of fault? ...
The kind you meant with your "****" and "hmm".
EricWeir wrote:... I have Time Machine running. I take it that will do....
It may do for you, but Time Machine alone is not enough for me. You asked, so here are some thoughts.
Time Machine is a start, but the more important or costly a file is, or the more difficult it would be to recreate, the more important it is to have more than one backup. As explained in OS X Mountain Lion: Back up your Mac, Time Machine's primary purpose is to make “snapshots” of files that have changed so you can revisit a file's former content. If your Time Machine backup is damaged or lost, too, you may be out of luck for such important files. Applications and other purchased items, irreplaceable photos or videos, and OS X Mountain Lion: Important app files to back up are some examples that might be important.
Moreover, physical security is a consideration. For instance, flood, fire, theft, or other destructive forces might destroy both your Mac AND your TM backup disk unless they are stored separately. Some other thoughts are mentioned in OS X Mountain Lion: Keep your information safe.
You can also consider OS X Mountain Lion: Alternatives for backing up your Mac.
For my Macs, in addition to Time Machine, I backup all my irreplaceable data files, purchased apps, movies and tunes to multiple separate disks and store them offsite. I also make regular monthly complete backups of the Home folders on each of my Macs on external hard disks and store them offsite. At the end of the month, I swap the current month's backup hard disk for last month's and bring the last month's home to use for the next backup I will make at the end of the current month.
Users who count on their Macs for business almost always make daily, bootable backups that are stored separate and securely. For more thoughts about this, consider the "Time Machine and SuperDuper!" in Shirt Pocket Watch - Time’s Arrow Redux. Only you can decide whether you need to use software like Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper!, or some similar backup software to add an extra level of security for your Mac's Time Machine backups.
EricWeir wrote: ... Reinstalling the update won't do the job?...
The only way to know the answer to that would be to do the reinstall before your AASP service visit. However, as I understand your writings here, you have already tried the reinstall and the problem remains. Therefore, it seems unlikely that another reinstall would correct anything permanently.
Apologies for taking so long to respond to this helpful response. First, the camera is now showing up for Skype since upgrading to Mavericks.
Second, about backing up. I have three external drives, two [1 Tb Firewire] in use with my MBA, one [500nGb USB] previously used by an older MB that I'm giving to my daugher [after putting in a new hard drive, upgrading ram to 4 Gb, and installing a new battery].
Previously with the MBA one drive was dedicated to Time Machine and on the other I used Carbon Copy Cloner to do daily backups of my user folder and a weekly clone of my hard drive. Now that I'm getting rid of the MB I'm rethinking my backup policy/system. Basic paramters I'm aiming for: One drive dedicated to Time Machine. Move my photos database off the MBA to an external drive. Do daily backups of the user folder and clone the hard drive on a weekly basis.
I don't have any off-site backups. I know I should. Not sure how to do it. Don't have another location where they could be kept. Possibly something in the cloud would be simplest and cheapest.
I appreciate the thoughtful comments on this subject and will be following up the links that were included.
Sincerely,
Skype says no connected camera
