Multiple identical cameras in 2.1.2 on Mac osx 10.6.4 not getting multiple feeds

[dayaae]

Hi,
This is my first post and I am very new to icam and icamsource so I apologise up front if I missed anything in the setup.  Sorry for the long post but I wanted to get as much as possible answered up front.

Current setup is:
Mac Mini running OSX 10.6.4, 1.66Ghz dual core, 2GB memory.  The MAC has a Lacie expansion and USB hub – without the disk.

Icamsource is now at 2.1.2

I purchased the app and was running icamsource (2.1.1 I think) on a Mac (mini) with a single logitech C200 camera with no problems.  Other apps can use this camera too without any issues. I could connect on Wi-fi and after following the port forwarding setup I could access over 3G ok too.

I purchased a second identical camera Logitech C200 webcam, and added this to the mac.  Other apps can access either camera without problems (skype, photo booth), but after I added the second camera to the icamsource I can only view one video feed consistently. 
If I switch between cameras in icamsource then the video shows the same source, although interestingly the CPU usage goes up and my mouse pointer flickers rapidly at this time when hovering over the camera which is not displaying the image.
I occasionally get two feeds, but it does not last.  Occasionally I also get multiple copies of a single feed and a single copy of the second feed on the iphone – but again this is a temporary glitch.

I checked the forums and updated to icamsource 2.1.2, but have the same issue.

Moving the USB ports to the base Mac did not make a difference.

I also added the portrange command in a terminal – which worked ok (in that it displayed the ports in icamsource) but after updating to 2.1.2  I do not have that now, and re-running the command does not add the feature back in – I am not sure if this is relevant or not.

I have autoconfigured the router checked and get the following text
Immediately after pressing start I get     
   UPnP Success 12000 > 12000
Then it changes to
   UPnP Dual Nat ext_ip 10.0.0.10
In addition the Num connected goes from 0 to 1.

The Mac sees both the cameras with different serial nos and device addresses ok in about this Mac.

Any advice would be appreciated.

This a great application.

[OUAnthony]

I could be wrong, so you might research it further on here...but I seem to remember some issues with multiple USB cameras on Mac Mini's getting enough power from the USB hub. Apparently the hub doesn't provide enough power for more than one USB camera at a time. While IP (network) cameras are more expensive, they are more flexible...and don't require power from the computer itself. If it does turn out to be a power issue, you could use one USB camera and maybe buy an IP camera. To see if it is a power issue, I believe they recommend you to try using different programs to access the 2 cameras at the same time. I'm sure the SKJM guys will respond if I'm incorrect.

[Jay]

OUAnthony is correct, you can test whether you have the USB bus issue by trying to use both cameras simultaneously in different programs.  For example, you can open one camera in iChat and the other camera in Skype.  If the second camera won't work, then it's probably that USB bus problem.
 
Are you having a problem with the port forwarding?  In other words, do you see the Source Connection Error when your iPhone is connected to a remote network, such as 3G?  If iCam works when your iPhone is on remote networks, then you don't need to use the port range option.

[dayaae]

Thanks for the comments.  I was concerned that the issue may have been with having identical USB webcams, and some issue with the mac or the app identifying which was which therefore I have swapped out one of the logitech cams for a creative live USB webcam.  I have also moved one of the webcams from the USB hub to the base MAC to confirm the USB whether power might be the cause - I dont believe it is.

To check the operation of two cams at the same time, I opened one cam in ichat - no problem.  I then opened the second cam in skype - no problem with either cam, so they appear to work correctly on separate software apps.  I have removed one of the cams from icamsource for the following test - so the second cam is not in icamsource, - only the first cam is configured.

I open either cam in another app, they try to open the remaining cam in icamsource then I just get a white screen and no video.  I am able to select the remaining cam in the drop down list, but not the cam which is assigned to the opther app - I cant select that cam.  This is the same whichever cam is assigned to the other app - the remaining cam does then not operate in icamsource.

I understand the comments about the web cams - and I will go down that route in the future - but I want to be certain the icam app will suit my needs prior to this as it will be a more expensive option.

With respect to the port query - I can access the cams from my iphone over the phone network without problem at this time.

Any additional comments welcomed.

[OUAnthony]

You tested the 2 webcams at the same time with different programs, right? Like ichat was using one webcam (displaying video) and skype was using the other webcam at the same time. And both displayed at the same time using different programs?

[dayaae]

Hi,
Yes - that is correct, concurrent use of both cams with two apps at the same time.

[Jay]

Please email screenshots of your iCamSource window (one screenshot for each camera) to support@skjm.com so I can verify the settings.  Please refer to this forum thread in your email.

[pdxa4]

Hi there, not wanting to start another thread here, but I have a similar issue.

I'm running on a iMac with Snow Leopard 10.6.4, using iCamSource 2.1

I've used the Built-In iSight camera without issue on iCam and it works great.
Now I purchased an extra camera to have a different view inside our house, I got the Blue EyeBall 2.0 camera/microphone. This camera works ok for me.

I verified that the EyeBall and iSight both work at the very same time (I have the EyeBall plugged into a powered hub, which makes it work at the same time as the iSight). I verifed by having the EyeBall on Skype and the iSight running on iChat, they both show live video at the same time.

Issue on iCamSource is that I can setup two different profiles using USB/Firewire/Built-In option, one with the iSight and the 2nd with the Eyeball. Problem is that it will not show the EyeBall video feed, when I switch to the iSight it will display it ok, when I switch back to the EyeBall profile then it will show a freeze frame image which came from the iSight, but that it is.

I checked on my iPhone on icam app and it only shows the iSight feed.

Any hints on what to do next guys, any help would be appreciated, thanks...

[pdxa4]

Ok wow that was quick. I guess it resolved itself. After I stopped and started the cameras a few times within iCamSource it is now showing both of my feeds, fantastic !

After I stopped the camera within iCamSource I noticed that the USB/Firewire/Built-In config had gone back to iSight on my EyeBall profile, I changed it back to EyeBall and after starting again then it worked fine...

Sorry for the first posting, I guess i was a bit confused...

If nothing else it gives me a moment to praise this program and app...Great job...

[antidigerati]

Please email screenshots of your iCamSource window (one screenshot for each camera) to support@skjm.com so I can verify the settings.  Please refer to this forum thread in your email.

What was the resolution of this problem? I am also having trouble running two USB cameras on a 1.66GHz Mac Mini with 2GB RAM. I have also been able to use both cameras concurrently with separate camera-using apps but not with iCamSource.

I bought a powered USB hub for good measure and the problem hasn't changed.

iCamSource is version 2.1.3
OS X version is 10.6.5

I'm adding both cameras in a single app instance... is that the preferred approach for two cameras attached to the local machine?

Any help appreciated.

[dayaae]

To antidigerati.

Hi - I gave up on trying to get multiple web cams working reliably - I never really got to the bottom of the issues I was seeing which are all documented above.  My feeling was that in my case it was nothing to do with hardware, drivers or the USB bus power, it appeared to me it had something to do with the drivers or video transport mechanism that the mac uses (and maybe what icamsource relies on below the app ? 
I am investigating an I/P camera solution to work with iCam which is looking more positive / stable, although I now need to look at my network design in more detail, but thats another story. 

[Jay]

antidigerati - What happens when you try to run both cameras in iCamSource?  Do you see an error message?  If so, what does the error message say?

Also, what is the Brand/Model of the webcams?

[antidigerati]

antidigerati - What happens when you try to run both cameras in iCamSource?  Do you see an error message?  If so, what does the error message say?

Also, what is the Brand/Model of the webcams?

I don't see an error. Both cameras appear under Audio/Video pulldowns within iCamSource. The problem is that after configuring each camera within iCamSource and clicking 'Start' only one actually seems to deliver active video content -- both within the iCamSource UI and also when connecting via iCam on iPhone. Whichever camera is specified to be used in the first entry in the iCamSource left-hand-side Cameras list is the camera that gets its video rendered. Switching to the other camera just shows a non-updating capture from the previous camera at the moment I switched views.

One camera is a Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000, and the other is the Logitech Quickcam Vision Pro.

[OUAnthony]

This is just an idea...not sure if anyone has ever tried this when encountering these issues with 2 USB cameras:

Try downloading/installing ManyCam (free software). Add one of the cameras as a video source. Then, add the other camera as a 2nd source. Not sure if it supports it within one instance of ManyCam, so you might have to run 2 instances (if that's possible). If/when you get ManyCam to clone both video sources, then add the 2 ManyCam sources to icamsource. I can't test this, as I don't have a Mac...and therefore not experiencing the issues you're having. Maybe even running one of the video sources through ManyCam will be good enough to get both cameras to work consistently in icamsource.

Let me know if this works, and specify if you used ManyCam for one or for both USB cameras.

[Jay]

OUAnthony - I think somebody else tried using Manycam, and still experienced the problem.  It's still worth trying, since it might not have the same cause in every case.

antidigerati - I'd like you to try a test for me.  First, Stop or quit iCamSource.  Then open iChat and select one of the Logitech cameras as the video input.  Then, while you are viewing video from that Logitech camera in iChat, it should use the other Logitech camera automatically when you run Photobooth.  Are you able to view both cameras simultaneously in iChat and Photobooth using that method?