himrich
asked on
Video chat (iChat to AIM)
I bought a new firewire webcam specifically to use with AIM 5.5 on a PC I have in the house so when I am on the road with my Powerbook I can video chat with my family. So far I have had very limited success in getting it to work. Following is what I have experienced.
The PC is running XP and according to the manufacturer of the camera uses the default (generic) driver in XP to see the camera. It does see the camera for all of it's proprietary programs. It also sees the webcam when I set the Video/Audio options under AIM prefs. However, when I go to use the camera in video chat (and this is where if you haven't used AIM I may lose some of you) it returns the message "Camera Not Found" under the tab "My Camera" yet I can see the video from the Mac under the "My Buddy" tab. The Mac end cannot see the video from the PC and there is no little green video camera in iChat next to the PC users name.
So, earlier I said I had limited success. I contacted another PC user running AIM 5.5 and opened a video chat. Once again I got the "Camera Not Found" msg but they could see me, unlike my experience on the Mac, and I could see them, just not myself (inset or under My Camera tab).
What would be ideal is if someone out there has the same setup, i.e. Pyro webcam and AIM 5.5, but I would settle for any leadership in this manner. I have run out of ideas. I have placed this story on 6 HELP sites (PC and Mac) and received nothing of substance.
Searching the web has returned nothing of substance either. So anyone out there that can help me?
The PC is running XP and according to the manufacturer of the camera uses the default (generic) driver in XP to see the camera. It does see the camera for all of it's proprietary programs. It also sees the webcam when I set the Video/Audio options under AIM prefs. However, when I go to use the camera in video chat (and this is where if you haven't used AIM I may lose some of you) it returns the message "Camera Not Found" under the tab "My Camera" yet I can see the video from the Mac under the "My Buddy" tab. The Mac end cannot see the video from the PC and there is no little green video camera in iChat next to the PC users name.
So, earlier I said I had limited success. I contacted another PC user running AIM 5.5 and opened a video chat. Once again I got the "Camera Not Found" msg but they could see me, unlike my experience on the Mac, and I could see them, just not myself (inset or under My Camera tab).
What would be ideal is if someone out there has the same setup, i.e. Pyro webcam and AIM 5.5, but I would settle for any leadership in this manner. I have run out of ideas. I have placed this story on 6 HELP sites (PC and Mac) and received nothing of substance.
Searching the web has returned nothing of substance either. So anyone out there that can help me?
weed
It sounds like they have firewall issues. They are behind a firewall that is blocking the ports used for the video stream. Gotta figure out what AIM 5.5 uses, and open those ports on the firewall. Should fix it.
ASKER
Thanks Weed, but how do I find out which ports are used by AIM?
Rick
Rick
Well, AOL isnt much help at all..heh. Their documentation says "1024 through 5000" which is KINDA wide. Give it a shot though.
ASKER
I saw that note also, but they don't me the HOW. I am a pretty experienced computer user but when it comes to something like this I am a total novice. I suspect I go into the Network control panel but am afraid to experiment and totally mess things up.
I'm using XP. Can you point me to some step by step instructions on how to do this? Thanks.
Rick
I'm using XP. Can you point me to some step by step instructions on how to do this? Thanks.
Rick
Im no PC user so couldnt walk you through that aspect. It may not even be a firewall on the PC. It may be on a router between the PC and it's net connection.
ASKER
Thanks weed. I guess I'm just going to have to give up on this adventure. I have not been able to get help on PC sites either. I hate PCs with a passion. The only reason we have this thing in the house is on account of my wife's company's refusal to support the Mac. But keeping it running takes up way too much of my time. If it weren't for my Powerbook I would go nuts.
Regards,
Rick
Regards,
Rick
If they wont support Mac, force them to support the PC, and get them to tell you how to open those ports.
ASKER
Found something finally. For everyone else facing this question go to: http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/ports.asp
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Howdy,
I just paid the 10 bucks for the anwser to this question and I found out more info before I paid the 10 bucks! Check this page out for more info, it should help.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93208
I am also haveing the video problem. Anyone have a solution?
Thanks,
Jackson
I just paid the 10 bucks for the anwser to this question and I found out more info before I paid the 10 bucks! Check this page out for more info, it should help.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93208
I am also haveing the video problem. Anyone have a solution?
Thanks,
Jackson
Except that page is concerning iChat, not AIM. The firewall he's talking about is on a PC, running AIM. Nothing to do with iChat. Gotta read the question before you complain.
Weed,
The Ichat and Aim use the same ports, that is why I sent the link. himrick, disable QoS Packet Scheduler, and turn off your firewall, or open the ports up that are in the link I sent. Make sure you are running SP2 and the latest versions of Aim and Ichat (for the mac person).
That is how i got mine to work, and I had the similar to yours.
Thanks,
Jackson
The Ichat and Aim use the same ports, that is why I sent the link. himrick, disable QoS Packet Scheduler, and turn off your firewall, or open the ports up that are in the link I sent. Make sure you are running SP2 and the latest versions of Aim and Ichat (for the mac person).
That is how i got mine to work, and I had the similar to yours.
Thanks,
Jackson
Also, run the correct driver from the manufacturer, and verify the camera does work with some sort of software other than Aim.
Thanks,
Jackson
Thanks,
Jackson
ASKER
Got it working, Hooray!!!!
Thanks guys.
Thanks guys.
ASKER
Well I have a partial solution but sure would like to figure out a better way. I now have the Pyro firewire camera and a Logitech USB camera connected to my XP machine. I have AOLIM setup to use the firewire camera and it WORKS! No problem, right? Not really. When I remove the USB camera the firewire camera no longer works in AOLIM. It wtill works with it's propritory programs and MSN though. I want to move the USB camera to my daughter's computer so would like to fix this problem of the PYRO not working on it's own.