Mac OS X 10.5.4: "Video conferencing does not work on this Mac"

Monday, July 21

Some users have noticed that after updating to OS X 10.5.4, iChat does not seem to recognize the iSight camera. In the main window, the application does not display an option to use the camera; in preferences, it states that video conferencing is not supported.

As described by Howard Johnson:

"After installing 10.5.4, when opening ichat, I am unable to use the video camera. I only see the telephone icon. The green light comes on for the camera, but under preference it states "This computer does not support video conferencing." The camera works in all other programs."

This problem seems to affect users of all Leopard versions. It is the result of an improperly set iChat variable in the iChat settings.

Fix: Set the iChat setting to the proper value

Quit iChat, open the Terminal (located in ~/Applications/Utilities and type the following command:

• defaults write com.apple.iChat newbwdup 300000

After entering the command, open iChat again and video conferencing should work.

Previous coverage:

• Mac OS X 10.5.4 printing problems: try HP driver updates
• Mac OS X 10.5.4 (#5): Adobe CS3 problems persist?; Random problem? Try re-applying the combo updater first; more
• Mac OS X 10.5.4 (#4): Spotlight problems; random shutdowns; poor performance; more
• "syslogd" process taking 100% CPU under Mac OS X 10.5.4
• Mac OS X 10.5.4 (#2): issues fixed by reinstalling with standalone updaters; iSync problems
• Mac OS X 10.5.4 released; fixes Adobe CS3 save issue; update recommendations

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