Latest OS X security update disabled iCamSource

[jzmn27]

Last night I was doing some testing with some new hardware for iCam.  Everything was going well.  At the same time, I was downloading and installing the latest Security Update from Apple.  Once the install was complete and the system restarted two things happened.  iCamSource could not connect to my wireless camera or the iCamSource servers, all of which had been working flawlessly before.  When I go to the admin screen on the wireless camera, it works fine.  I spent some time trying some basics and I haven't started digging "under the hood" but it appears the latest security update for OS X appears to be interfering with iCamSource's ability to communicate via the network with IP cameras and the servers.

Any ideas?

[Jay]

I just installed that security update and everything is working normally for me.  Also, we haven't received any other reports of problems from the security update (not yet anyway). 

Have you rebooted your computer since this problem started?  If not, please try rebooting.

[jzmn27]

Very unstable.

If I reboot with no USB cameras connected, I can get the wireless camera working with iCamSource and iCam.  I can then plug one USB camera in and iCamSource and iCam will work.  I plug the second USB camera in and iCamSource recognizes it but will not communicate with iCam.

If I reboot with both USB cameras connected, I can get iCamSource to communicate with the USB cameras but they do not talk to iCam.  The wireless camera will not talk to either iCamSource or iCam but I can access it via its web page.

Auto-start does not work consistently.  Sometimes the camera will start upon launching iCamSource, sometimes it won't.  I can't determine any logic to it.  This is true for the wireless and the USB cameras.  If auto-start isn't reliable, this app will not meet my needs.

I haven't tried a reboot with just one camera connected yet.  That's next.  I wanted to get these findings posted first.

[jzmn27]

I keep running into the same problem with different manifestations -- the shared USB bus appears to be causing this problem too.

If I plug 1 USB camera into the USB port on the left-hand side my Macbook Pro (we'll call this the Good Port) and reboot, then everything works - the USB camera and the wireless camera auto-start and connect to iCamSource and iCam perfectly.

If I plug 1 USB camera into the USB port on the other side (the Bad Port), then nothing works - no auto-start, only the USB camera connects to iCamSource and nothing connects to iCam.

For a reason I do not understand, for a brief period the first night I worked with the 3rd camera, all 3 cameras worked. Then after the software update was completed, it stopped working.  I now believe that the software update was not the cause of this problem at all.  What I don't understand is why this worked for just a few minutes.  I also don't understand why having a camera connected to the Bad Port fouls up the communication for the wireless camera.  That has to be something in the way your software handles these streams (which I would expect to be coming in from different hardware sources.)  Any ideas?

The Macbook Pro is not my intended production iCamSource server.  I am planning to buy a Mac Mini for that purpose.  However, I need to get some idea of why the USB bus for the Bad Port is behaving this way.  The Bad Port is the one that shares the USB bus with the iSight camera.  Is that the only reason I'm having this problem?  Will the Mini not have this problem?  I'm not particularly interested in dropping $600 on the Mini only to have it behave the same way.

I know this is getting into the realm of "not your problem" but if you have any insight on this behavior, I would greatly appreciate it.

[Jay]

The USB bus issue shouldn't have anything to do with the Wi-Fi camera.  As you said, they use totally different sources.   When does the Wi-Fi camera not work?  Is it just if there is a camera plugged into the Bad port, or does the iCamSource need to be running for the camera on the Bad port as well?  Do you see an error message when you try to connect to the Wi-Fi camera?

I don't know for sure, but I'd guess that the Mini wouldn't have this problem because it doesn't have a built-in camera sharing the USB bus.