iChat camera and audio icons disappearing

[Ashley Aitken]

Hi Kevin (et al.),

I believe iChat AV does a "machine (and network?) check" when it  
starts-up (and possibly now regularly?) to determine if the machine  
has enough free processing speed, network bandwidth etc, to do  
reasonable quality audio and video chatting.  If the software finds  
there isn't enough resources it removes those capabilities.

If you start iChat AV at login then there is usually a lot happening  
on the machine and perhaps it is deciding not to allow those  
capabilities.  I thought it only did this check when it starts but  
perhaps now it also checks regularly (as a result of the problems  
with only checking at the start), perhaps this is what you are  
seeing.  Are you doing something processor or network intensive?

There is a cheap third-party app that just sets a bit somewhere (I  
think) telling iChat AV to always allow audio and video chatting no  
matter the resources available.  That may help.

Cheers,
Ashley.


On 30/12/2006, at 5:15 AM, Kevin Callahan wrote:

> can't figure out the pattern as it seems to happen randomly  
> (different buddies at different times):  camera and or audio icons  
> disappear - a simple relaunching of iChat brings them back
>
> it doesn't happen with everyone on the buddy list whose status is  
> online or "away" --  usually only a few (and it's never the same few)
>
> thoughts on how to troubleshoot this?
>
> just started happening a week or two ago, and only on my MBPro (not  
> on PB17, iMac G5)
> (i do have Skype launched) 
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