Logitech 9000 WebCam Glitch Question

[MagnusVonMagnum]

I've got a Logitech 9000 WebCam and in both Tiger and Leopard while watching the camera's output in something like Yahoo Messenger or IChat, I see a 'glitch' (like a tearing of the picture or corruption of it) go across the bottom third and sometimes the entire picture once in awhile. Sometimes it's like once a minute and other times once every 10 seconds or so. It DOES show up on the receiving end of the broadcast as well. The camera does not produce any such glitches on my PC when I use it there, just on my PowerMac.

Basically, I'm wondering if this is a problem with MacOSX's UVC driver OR if it's a problem with my specific Mac (i.e. a 1.8GHz 7448 G4 upgraded PowerMac using an Ultra USB 2.0 PCI card). Does anyone else using this camera on a Mac see something similar?

If not, I would guess maybe the Ultra USB card isn't quite right. I had some trouble transferring images from my Canon A590 digital camera via the USB cable the first time I tried it. After trying it on the USB 1.x connection, it worked fine, but slow, but then when I tried it on the 2.0 one again, it worked fine and fast, so once again, I don't know if the card works 100% correctly or not. USB Memory sticks transfer files fine, etc. and a slide/negative scanner worked OK when I used it for a month. USB PCI cards are cheap so I could always try another brand if that turns out to be the suspect.

 

[UnknownVariable]

/post deleted

 

[DocMacPS]

Logetch Webcam Glitch

My gut somewhat agrees - could be a quirk of the USB 2.0 card chipset or Firmware/ROM version - or a PCI Interrupt timing glitch - especially since you've got a processor upgrade card. You basically have a FrankenMac there and those sorts of oddities are all too common. It could also be aggravated because a hi-res webcam like the 9000 is pushing ALOT of bits per second and quite demanding of the USB bus - and probably a fair amount of CPU overhead as well. Borrowing a second webcam to swap/test-out with might be revealing.

Doc
http://www.mac-compatible-web-cam.com/

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

I've ordered a Sonnet USB 2.0 card to try. The Ultra I have now didn't work under OS9 even as a 1.x card and Sonnet says it does work as one under OS9 (i.e. I couldn't plug my mouse/keyboard into the new card or 2.0 dock and had to dig my old one back up to use in OS9) so this might kill two birds with one stone. I've had zero trouble with the upgraded CPU, though. I leave the machine on 24/7. It runs cooler than the dual 553 it replaced from what I can tell (doesn't use a fan to blow the heat out the back, for example yet doesn't feel hot inside the case at all whereas the dual 553 seemed like a bit of a space heater.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

The glitch went away when I got the Sonnet USB 2.0 card an replaced the ULTRA one with it. It solved several other oddities related to a few USB peripherals I have as well plus it works with the Mac's boot menu and in OS9 as well (as a USB 1.1 device). The ULTRA card didn't work with either. Basically, stay away from ULTRA brand USB 2.0 PCI cards for PowerMacs.