iCamSource activates light for built-in cam, then crashes

[allen456]

I click the icon and get the Preferences window.  The HP Pavillion Webcam is selected as is "No Audio" (I tried the sound card too but it made no diff).  When I click the start button I get the blue light indicating that my webcam is working then after a short wait I get the following message:

iCamSource.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close.  We are sorry for the inconvenience. 

When I look at the error signature it says:

AppName: icamsource.exe      AppVer: 0.0.0.0     AppStamp:4a8480d7
ModName: qedit.dll      ModVer: 6.5.2600.5512      ModStamp:4802a0ff
fDebug: 0       Offset: 00026891

The error report says it's an exception, code 0xc0000005

This happens every time.  I'm running XP, SP3.  Yes, I have rebooted.

[Stefan]

Is your webcam a built-in, and have you installed the latest drivers?

[allen456]

Yes and yes.

[Stefan]

I am assuming that the webcam works with other applications, correct?

You could also try installing these iCamSource prerequisites to see if that has any affect:

Visual C++ Redistributable Package: http://skjm.com/icam/vcredist_x86.exe
.NET Framework: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=333325FD-AE52-4E35-B531-508D977D32A6&displaylang=en

[allen456]

It works with Amcap. HandyAVI, SparkCast and DeepSkyImaging.  I have already run the C++ Resdistributable Package.  I have not run the .NET Framework update because I am already running .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 with two Hotfixes.  Re-updating would not be a trivial action as MS says you should do a complete removal of the old installation first and I have concerns about messing things up for my existing applications (I do a lot of video astronomy).

[Stefan]

Thank you for that additional information.

When you say that it stops working "after a short while" how long is that approximately? Do you ever see the video stream show up in the iCamSource preview window? How is your webcam described in the Video drop-down list, and are there any other items in that list? Are there any other applications that are attempting to use the webcam at the same time, possibly causing the iCamSource to "fight" over it?

[allen456]

The wait between clicking the Start button and getting error message is about 10 sec.  When I click the Don't Send button on the error message, the app closes immediately.  I never see a video stream (although the blue light for the webcam does come on) but the view screen does turn from gray to black.  The webcam is described in the drop=down list as "HP Pavilion Webcam", same as in other apps.  The only other thing in the box was "Hauppage WinTV PVR USB2 Encoder" but depowering it and taking it out had no effect.  Windows Task Manager only shows Mozilla Firefox and iCamSource Preferences 1.3.5 running and, unless I click Start, the blue light is not lit.  I do notice under Procesesses (in Task Manager) that there are three instances of iCamSource.exe running.

[allen456]

I closed the app, killed the three processes and tried the app again.  Same problem but when it closed the processes disappeared as it should have.

[Stefan]

That sounds odd ... Are there multiple iCamSource processes running when you have launched only one instance of the iCamSource?

[allen456]

Like I said, after the app closed I still had 3 processes.  I killed them and then tried again.  This time I only got one process and when the app crashed it closed like it was supposed to.  In other words I couldn't repeat the 3 process condition.

[Stefan]

If you have updated your drivers and installed all your Windows updates, your .Net and Visual C++ Redistributable are up to date, no other application is trying to use the camera at the same time, and it isn't an external USB camera that is plugged into a hub or extension, then that eliminates all of the common causes of problems with the iCamSource.

I wonder if you tried uninstalling that version and installing this older version if you experience the same crashing issue? - http://skjm.com/icam/iCamSetup.exe

[allen456]

I uninstalled using Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs, rebooted and ran the install from the link.  It went off without a hitch but when I opened it, my name & password were already entered and it did the same crash when I clicked Start.  Next I tried uninstalling using the uninstall.exe in the icamsource folder but when I tried to reinstall it says  it can't continue because I have an earlier version installed.  I tried again, this time deleting the folder that was created but got the same message.  Is something stuck in the registry?  Is there an ini file somewhere?

[allen456]

BTW, the setup file that I got from the link says iCamSetup.exe, not iCamSourceSetup.exe  I don't know if that's relevant.

[Stefan]

Thank you for trying that.

If you have installed an older version and then attempt to install the latest version again, it should be able to install / upgrade over it. (It sounds like the installer was getting confused for some reason.)

If the old version was also crashing for you, then you might as well revert back to the latest version, since that is what you are going to want to ultimately get working anyway.

The iCamSource also uses DirectShow ... Is your DirectX up-to-date as well?

[allen456]

OK, now you've got me.  How do I determine where and what version of DirectShow/DirectX is on my PC?