Cameras Locking Up on Some Macs w/ El Capitan

[Stefan]

We are currently tracking down an issue with both the iCamSource and iCamSource Pro where, for some Mac users, the webcam video freezes within a couple of hours or so when running on Mac OS X El Capitan. We have been unable to replicate the issue up until this point, so we are asking for additional information from the affected users to try and find a common cause of the problem.

Apple provides a way for users to save and send a System Information Report as detailed near the bottom of this support page: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203001

If users who are experiencing this issue could send a generated System Information Report to support@skjm.com in addition to the information below, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!


In addition to the System Information Report (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203001) answers to the following questions will hopefully be helpful in tracking down the cause to this issue:

• Are you experiencing this issue with the iCamSource, iCamSource Pro, or both?
• How many cameras are you running with the iCamSource / iCamSource Pro?
• What are the brand(s) / model(s) of the cameras?
• Approximately how long does it take for the video stream to freeze (minutes, hours, etc)?
• Are you using the same webcam as the Audio input?
• Are you still receiving audio when the video stream freezes?
• When the video freezes, does the "webcam hardware status light" (the LED on the webcam itself or next to the built-in webcam) turn off, or does it remain on?
• Does clicking the Stop button in the iCamSource, waiting a few seconds, and then click Start again fix the issue? Or do you have to restart the iCamSource completely?
• Do you know if this issue started happening after installing a specific El Capitan update?
• Do you run any other apps that access either the microphone or the webcam, like FaceTime, Skype, etc.?
• If you are only seeing this freezing issue with one webcam but not another, or on one of your Macs but not another, that information would be greatly helpful as well.

If we are unable to replicate the issue ourselves, we may also be asking users to run a logging version of the iCamSource applications that will hopefully give us more insight into the problem.

We will continue to post updates to this discussion thread, and encourage users to post any additional information that they may have.

Thank you again!

[Stefan]

One other helpful test that users experiencing this issue can do is to run another webcam application (like Photo Booth) for a while to see if the video freezes after the same amount of time, or if it is only an issue that affects the iCamSource.

[Stefan]

We have received feedback from a user running the iCamSource Pro on two iMacs that both exhibit this problem with the built-in FaceTime camera. They are also connecting to a number of IP cameras on those two iMacs and those streams are unaffected.

The user also let us know that the audio also freezes when the video freezes, that the camera status LED remains lit, and that clicking the Stop button followed by Start again does get things going again. The issue appears to occur daily after a number of hours. The problem also appears to have started after upgrading to El Capitan.

If anyone else has any similar or differing information, we would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

If the video stream freezes after a period of time when running Photo Booth or any other webcam-connected application, then this would be an issue to report to Apple, and we can focus on trying to come up with a work-around until they fix it. If other applications (like Photo Booth) do not exhibit the issue, then we can then focus on attempting to track down the issue in the iCamSource Pro.

[Stefan]

Just a quick update: We are still attempting to determine the cause of the freezing issue on some iMac models, and are now looking to purchase a model similar to one of the iMacs that are affected that will hopefully allow us to replicate the problem.

[Stefan]

I believe we may have discovered the cause of the issue, and hopefully these two versions fix it!

iCamSource 2.8.4.2 - http://skjm.com/icam/iCamSource2.8.4.2.dmg
iCamSource Pro 1.1.0.1 - http://skjm.com/icampro/iCamSourcePro1.1.0.1.dmg

Please let us know if these versions fix your freezing issue. If so, then we will roll that fix into an official update. Thank you!