one or the other, but never both at once

[jimmyg]

Ok, so I've been using icamsource now for a while with 1 usb cam (Microsoft Lifecam VX-5000) and it has always worked well. I'm running a Mac Mini with Snow Leopard.
I've recently added a second cam (Microsoft Lifecam HD-6000) via usb. And I have installed 2 instances of Icamsource as directed and labeled one i5000, and the other i6000. Both of the cams will show up as options under the cam list.

Here's my issue. I can open both instances and can connect to either the 5000 webcam on both instances, or the 6000 cam on both, but I can never connect to both the cams at the same time. Now this is while viewing on the computer, it doesn't seem to help to view on the iphone, as I get the same result as I see on the computer whether I'm using wifi or 3g.

Now if I have both instances running, and I see the same source on each window, then I try to switch to the other cam, the cam will freeze on a frame and will not switch. But it only freezes on the one window, as the other window will continue running as normal.

Say I switch both instances from the 5000 cam to the 6000 cam, both windows will freeze, but I can then quit each one and restart them, then the 6000 cams will be shown once restarted, or vice versa.

Im sorry if this is confusing, I tried to included as much info as possible without making it too confusing. I love your products. Thanks for your replies.

[jimmyg]

Did some reading and found it might possibly be a Mac issue so I'll run some tests and post the results here.
Thank you

[OUAnthony]

When you say you have 2 instances of icamsource installed, what do you mean? Any of the newer versions of icamsource will only run once (not twice)...meaning there's only one icamsource icon in the system tray. But when you open icamsource by double-clicking on the icamsource icon in the system tray, you should see 2 cameras listed (the 5000 and the 6000)...assuming you clicked the stop button in icamsource and added both cameras as sources. So if you do see both cameras listed as tabs on the left side of icamsource, then you have set it up correctly...which means it might be the Mac Mini issue that you read about (underpowered USB bus).

[jimmyg]

If you do some reading on here you'll see that it is possible to run and view more than 1 cam at a time on the same computer. Burnin order to do this you must install icamsource 2 times. You have to name each instance differently, but this achieves it. Only limited by some challenges of certain computer which I'm in the process of determining if mine is one that doesn't like to run 2 webcams at a time.

Here is a couple topics pertaining to what I'm dealing with.
http://skjm.com/forum/index.php?topic=8.0
http://skjm.com/forum/index.php?topic=4273.0

[OUAnthony]

If you're following the advice in that first post, that pertains to a really old version of icamsource (that was almost 4 years ago). Try uninstalling those old versions and install the most recent version of icamsource and adding both cameras to the one instance of icamsource that runs. If you still have the same problem, then it probably is the power issue that you linked in the 2nd link.

[jimmyg]

I have the new versions. I can get both cams to work. But not at the same time. So when I view on my iPhone it's not possible to view both. I'd have to log out of one cam to view another. The only way to stream 2 USB cams from the same computer simultaniously is to run 2 instances of icamsource. What I'm finding is that I'm only being limited by my computer for some reason.

[OUAnthony]

Hmm, I haven't seen icamsource running on a Mac, so I'm honestly not sure what it looks like. But in Windows, only one instance of icamsource will run, and you add multiple cameras in one instance/window of icamsource. For the most part, I'd think the interface would be pretty much the same as on Windows. Do you see a button that allows you to add multiple cameras in one instance/window of icamsource? If so, have you tried adding both cameras to one instance of icamsource? If so, can you see the preview for both cameras once you click the start button in icamsource? If you can see both camera previews, your issue is not related to the USB power...it's most likely a port forwarding issue. As a result, you'd want to try checking the "auto config router" box in icamsource and enabling uPNP on your router (if you have a Mac router, I think uPNP is called something else).

[jimmyg]

Well the problem is fixed. I see that the icam is capable of running both cams but it wasnt working for me. I have switched to using 2 identical cams and they are now both running at the same time and working fine. I appreciate your help, and not giving up! So for any future references for anyone having these issues, I am running an older version of Mac Mini, with 2 cams both are now Microsoft Lifecam VX-5000. Problem solved, everything fixed!

[Nelson0000]

HI Jimmyg

I believe I have the same problem as you you I opened a thread called "Logitech c170" at first thought it was issue with that cam not working but I'm in same boat 2 web cams both different but I can only get 1 running of my mac mini (8g and upto date) thought mac would be at least able to handle 2 cams.. Glad to see you got urs working by using the same time of web cam.. Gonna try see if my 2 different web cams work ok on pc