iSight microphone not working

[beaster]

Hi folks-

I bought my dad an iSight so that he and I can videoconference via iChat. He's running on a Mac Mini (10.3.8), and the video portion of the conference works just fine. However, I can't hear him at all. I looked at the Video tab in iChat preferences on his Mini (I can control his computer via VNC), and where there would normally be the level inidcator for the mic, there's nothing at all - it goes straight from the video window to the bandwidth limit drop-down box. Very strange. When I look at his Sound settings under System Preferences, the input tab shows the iSight mic, but nothing registers on the level indicator when he talks, even after sliding the level all the way up to the max.

I upgraded his iSight firmware from 1.0.2. to 1.0.3, but no change. I suppose it's possible that he has a bum mic on the camera, but I'm not yet convinced this isn't a software-based issue. The fact that the Sound Preferences recognizes the mic exists, but iChat doesn't show anything in its preferences makes me skeptical. Any ideas? When I get more time I'll have him try it from a different account in case it's some corruption in his account preferences, and I can try to upgrade him to 10.3.9, but otherwise I haven't found anything on Google or this forum that looks promising.

The camera is less than 30 days old so he can exchange it, but I'd like to rule out a software problem first.

Thanks,
Sean

[Applebee_NZ]

I'm having the very same issues with my isight and mini mac build 10.3.9, although I did have sound and preferences for a few minutes of my first chat.

Anyone have any ideas

[beaster]

Originally Posted by Applebee_NZ

I'm having the very same issues with my isight and mini mac build 10.3.9, although I did have sound and preferences for a few minutes of my first chat.

Anyone have any ideas

I'm not sure how I fixed the problem on my dad's computer, but it is working now. It was some combination of upgrading from 10.3.8 -> 10.3.9, a reboot or two, plugging/unplugging the camera, and possibly making him an Administrator temporarily. I'm have no idea why, but it did just start working and hasn't given any problems since.

Good luck,
Sean