Since macos sierra my isight FireWire doesn´t work with Facetime

Loner T wrote:

On the Mini 2011, with FaceTime, since there is only one camera, it comes up properly. I will repeat my test again, when I get access to the Mini. Can you try a SMC Reset on the 2011 Mini and re-test?

I followed this procedure:

Reset the SMC on Mac desktop computers (from Support Document HT201295)

Follow these steps for iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro, and Xserve.

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Unplug the power cord.
3. Wait 15 seconds.
4. Plug the power cord back in.
5. Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on your Mac.

For Intel-based Xserve computers that aren’t responding, you can shut down locally or by using remote commands. You can also shut down by pressing and holding the power button for five seconds.

This worked. Thank you very much, Loner T!

FaceTime now automatically turns on the FireWire iSight, when it starts up. The video is more blocky, i.e., lower-resolution than before. I am wondering, whether that is only because of the low-light situation, in which we tested this.

my face works fine ...i had to get a cable to firewire 400 to 800 cabe from apple, i have a Mac mini 2012 I7 ,but now it has caused another problem since my firewire camera needs an app. to work i had to get another mic to run siri ,and this causes a major problem with the startup..i have to unplug the usb mic and reset the pram every time so the computer can start up without it taking 20 minutes...i am running 10.12.2...the mic is from best buy and it looks like it is drawing power because it has a inline green light...

My son on his Mac mini (Mid 2011) running macOS Sierra 10.12.3 appears to have the same problem.

When he plugs in the FireWire cable the green light comes on, but turns off after about 2 s, and the camera does not show up as a video source in FaceTime, which he used for troubleshooting. He actually needs it to participate in his online class via Adobe Connect, which is Adobe’s video conferencing solution, which uses Flash.

His observation is that FaceTime initially has no video, and the camera is off. When he selects it from FaceTime’s Video menu, the camera turns on and works. The point is, though, that it doesn’t turn on automatically, when FaceTime launches, like the internal camera in my MacBook Pro does.

We haven’t yet tested, whether Adobe Connect turns the camera on.

D. Hoffmann wrote:

His observation is that FaceTime initially has no video, and the camera is off. When he selects it from FaceTime’s Video menu, the camera turns on and works. The point is, though, that it doesn’t turn on automatically, when FaceTime launches, like the internal camera in my MacBook Pro does.

When there is a built-in and an external camera, the built-in camera is preferred, unless the external iSight is manually chosen. This also applies to Adobe Connect. Does Adobe Connect provide a choice to select the external camera on the MBP?

On the Mini 2011, with FaceTime, since there is only one camera, it comes up properly. I will repeat my test again, when I get access to the Mini. Can you try a SMC Reset on the 2011 Mini and re-test?

The original external iSight is not a very high-resolution webcam, it is a 640x480 VGA. The newer MBPs are 720p (or higher) built-in iSights. The Mini can support other FW webcams with higher resolutions.

Does the iSight camera show up in About This Mac -> System Report -> Firewire ? What is the year/model of your Mac?

Can you run the following two procedures and then check if FaceTime will recognize the iSIght?

Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

Can you use How to install OS X on an external drive connected to your Mac - Apple Support to install El Capitan on an external disk and check if the iSight works?

Same problem here but with an LG AN-VC300 webcam and mac mini who was ok on El Capitan.

Since Sierra update, no way... camera is available in system report (USB component) but Facetime, photobooth and Skype doesn't see it.

Seems to be like an old problem with "AppleCamera.plugin" no ?

I will try to get the El capitan version of this and put it in my fresh install of Sierra.

I will give you a report.

just tried it... doesn't work.

So I'm waiting to see something about that on forums...

I have a similar issues with a Logitech C910 USB Webcam also on a Mac Mini late 2012. All worked fine on El Capitan but after upgrade to Sierra Just shows up as "Unknown USB Audio Device" in FaceTime Video menu, Although video and Mic work I'm unable to calibrate or adjust settings for them.