4 wired USB cam(identical) on Mac Mini, no more than 2 can work at the same time

[taoshi1980]

Hi all,
weird experience with these little cams, trying to figure out why they act this way.
All four of them are identical USB cams, no driver necessary, pretty much plug in USB and they work right away.
If i plug them all to a powered USB hub, the hub is powerful enough to power them all but dumb enough to not recognize them as four not one.
If i plug them all to the computer directly, they all get powered up fine,
plus the computer is able to recognize them as [U2 EE Cam #1] [U2 EE Cam #2] [U2 EE Cam #3] [U2 EE Cam #4]
Seems great from there but then, in the iCamSource I was able to select all four cameras and add them, however only two cams will run videos, the other two will be in no activity at all when i select them.
No matter how many ways i switch the USB plugs and re-add them, no more than two cams can work on icamsource.
Funny icamsource can identify all of them and add all of them, why only two out of the four can shoot videos?
Any fix on this?
Appreciate,

[taoshi1980]

Not sure if this helps:
If i use only two cameras, one plugged directly to the computer, and the other one through hub.
Icamsource can still recognize two cameras and add them individually, there are three type of results can happen after multiple tries:
1. both camera works.
2. only the one on the computer works, and the hub one no activity.
3. only the one on the hub works, and the computer one no activity.
Seems pretty random...=_=

[SKJM Support]

Hi all,
weird experience with these little cams, trying to figure out why they act this way.
All four of them are identical USB cams, no driver necessary, pretty much plug in USB and they work right away.
If i plug them all to a powered USB hub, the hub is powerful enough to power them all but dumb enough to not recognize them as four not one.
If i plug them all to the computer directly, they all get powered up fine,
plus the computer is able to recognize them as [U2 EE Cam #1] [U2 EE Cam #2] [U2 EE Cam #3] [U2 EE Cam #4]
Seems great from there but then, in the iCamSource I was able to select all four cameras and add them, however only two cams will run videos, the other two will be in no activity at all when i select them.
No matter how many ways i switch the USB plugs and re-add them, no more than two cams can work on icamsource.
Funny icamsource can identify all of them and add all of them, why only two out of the four can shoot videos?
Any fix on this?
Appreciate,

Thank you for your post.

We generally do not recommend connecting USB cameras via any sort of hub or extension because they have a tendency to degrade the signal. Also, it is likely you are reaching the computer's USB bus limitation with 4 USB cameras connected. Do you have any other peripherals connected to your computer?

Please try running the iCamSource with just one camera (delete the others from your cameras list.) If it works, we will continue adding cameras back on to your cameras list.

[Teresa]

Simply it's because your Mac mini has 4 usb ports but this Mac has only 2 usb channels, 2 ports are the same channel, thats why only two cams are working simultanously. I have the same setup too...

[orbit1785]

Hi,

Actually I am planning to buy a new desktop to run four usb cameras and view through icam (iphone). I have questions:
1. Running these four cameras needs 4 icamsource application, right?
2. Can somebody help me on how to set it up?
Thank you guys in advance.

Orbit

[Teresa]

No you need one icam source app, but you need 4 separate usb channels

[taoshi1980]

Simply it's because your Mac mini has 4 usb ports but this Mac has only 2 usb channels, 2 ports are the same channel, thats why only two cams are working simultanously. I have the same setup too...

I think you are right, but how do i resolve this issue? is there any external usb device i can buy that can support all four cameras at the same time?
The mac mini only have two built in buses to run two cameras, how do i add two more?

[taoshi1980]

Thank you for your post.

We generally do not recommend connecting USB cameras via any sort of hub or extension because they have a tendency to degrade the signal. Also, it is likely you are reaching the computer's USB bus limitation with 4 USB cameras connected. Do you have any other peripherals connected to your computer?

Please try running the iCamSource with just one camera (delete the others from your cameras list.) If it works, we will continue adding cameras back on to your cameras list.

USB extension cables works fine so far, though usb extension has a limitation of daisy link 5 extensions maximum.
I know it's the computer reached it's limit. through the 10 port hub it can handle all kinds of usb devices such as printer, mouse, keyboard, flash drives etc, but not cameras. I'm wondering what's the difference of cameras compare to other devices, and what options i have for camera devices to have them running like the others.

[SKJM Support]

Most computers can usually handle two or three USB webcams simultaneously. For more cameras, we would recommend using network IP cameras instead.We discuss the recommended cameras on our forum at: http://skjm.com/forum/index.php?topic=908.0

[taoshi1980]

Most computers can usually handle two or three USB webcams simultaneously. For more cameras, we would recommend using network IP cameras instead.We discuss the recommended cameras on our forum at: http://skjm.com/forum/index.php?topic=908.0

I see, then i'll leave it that way, have two usb running a time.
i shut down airport extreme entirely to prevent moochers and hackers through wireless network.
I noticed the maximum length i can achieve with usb is 100 feet-110 feet, if it's helpful to other usb users.