Panther and ichat

[enterthelight]

i have today installed panther on my imac G4 800 and all is sort of well except that i also have connected up the camera for i chat.
I found that i was given a choice between aim or .mac account in order to use the camera ichat.
I chose .mac on a trail basis 60 days, now panther didnt come with a manual just a couple of brochures explaining what you can do.
And i chat came with the same.
I want to use the camera to see and chat to others and or just chat.
As some of them might use a pc and others servers.
I want to learn how to set up the camera in order for me to use it to chat and or see others and for them to either see me and chat or just chat if they dont have a camera and just a headphone set.

Any advice would be welcome here.

 

[7on]

Can't be a camera, has to be a camcorder. A digital one at that, with a firewire out. Plug it in and it should work.


PS, don't you loose a .mac after the 60 day trial, or are you entitled to use name for iChat for free?

 

[enterthelight]

The camera i bought off the apple site is an i sight with built in mic and connects through the firewire port.
I will lose the account unless i sign up and payup.
I wonderd if perhaps i cant use the i sight because as i am not a full account user, am i limited to what i can do.

 

[enterthelight]

I phoned Apple and get this.

Apple have never tested the isight camera for use with pc's only apple hardware.

Now why the hell dont they say that it wont work if you want to either speak or view a friend useing ichat and isight if the other person only has a pc.
I dont have any friends that have isightor ichat or even an apple computer.

They agreed to refund my money.

I bought panther because i wanted to use the isight and now i wasted over £200 and only have Panther to show for it.
I was happy with my 10.2
And now i have to buy a cheap web cam to use.

 

[Kenny Pollock]

Corrections to everything:

First of all, after the trial expires, you KEEP the iChat account. I've been using mine and my trial expired nearly a year ago.

Secondly, as it stands now with the latest iChat 2.0 Beta- the PC user must hit the video button on their AIM Beta and you must accept.

You have an iSight? I'm confused.
If you have an iSight, or a Mac compatible web camera, go in iChat> Preferences> Video and you should be seeing your camera.

Also, you said you spent $200 and only have Panther to show for it?! Panther is a wonderful upgrade- with or without iChat.

 

[enterthelight]

Okay Panther is quite funky and neat.
isight is a part of ichat in that its mic is in the camera.
If i connect up the camera i can see myself but others only see me as being offline and thats how i see them.
Though of course we are both online useing msn.

 

[mcstylis]

If what I understand is correct, you are trying to use your isight with MSN or are you just using MSN to expplain that you are both online?

In case of the first -->MSN doesn not allow Mac users to use any camera or mic.. ISight will work with ICHAT (4 sure) and maybe Yahoo (I haven't tested that)... but no audio in Yahoo.

If not for msn - check IChat's preferences and see who is allowed to see you... you may have people blocked by accident...iChat> Preferences> Privacy

You can use any DV camcorder.. The other person doesn't need an ISight to chat.. But you must both have some type of firewire camera with a microphone connected to be able to video chat with each other... It can't be a one sided affair. You are limited to the weakest link...

The .mac name stays with you.. that has nothing to do with ISight.. ISight is hardware sold by Apple to work with IChat. I have a free AIM account and that works perfectly well if you don't want to get the .mac account. But as far as I have experienced ISight and IChat are the best video chat hardware and free software out there... Best frame rate and picture size. And now with the beta version of ICHAT 2.1 Macs can finally connect with both video and audio with PC users (AOL only)...give this Beta a try and see if it helps you connect with your PC friends...
Sorry you had such a bad experience with it.

 

[enterthelight]

Found the problem

It appears that i downloaded Panther over 10.2 which may be affecting its running and the running of ichat.
As i have had no problems with the computer i have never backed up any files, all this will change as i have orderded an external hard drive and i will copy all files to that.
Then i shall put Panther disc 1 into drive and switch off the computer then hold down the C key and turn on the computer.
In effect wiping the hard drive of the computer and re install everything with only panther so i am sure that there wont be any files in the back ground.
I am not keen to wipe the hard drive for many reasons.
I was trying to get ichat to work and as i knew isight did but i had trouble getting people to connect with me i downloaded .mac and set up an account in my name then put the file in the shared folder then went to my wifes account and opened it there in effect i thought i would save money when the .mac 60 day offer ended however it did not work properly on my wifes site and maybe interfared with her.
I also joined AOL but whenever i opened ichat aol opened as well.
With me and my friends computers seeing each other as being offline and not being able to connect to them the best way forward is to wipe the slate clean and start again.

 

[janey]

Re: Found the problem

Originally posted by enterthelight
I am not keen to wipe the hard drive for many reasons.
I was trying to get ichat to work and as i knew isight did but i had trouble getting people to connect with me i downloaded .mac and set up an account in my name then put the file in the shared folder then went to my wifes account and opened it there in effect i thought i would save money when the .mac 60 day offer ended however it did not work properly on my wifes site and maybe interfared with her.
I also joined AOL but whenever i opened ichat aol opened as well.
With me and my friends computers seeing each other as being offline and not being able to connect to them the best way forward is to wipe the slate clean and start again.

waitaminute...i dont quite understand what you are trying to say...
you do NOT need .mac or a .mac address to use iChat. Use an AIM screenname...they work fine. How do you download .mac? Its an internet service, not a program...
Dont quite get your AOL thing too...

Anyway, I've been videochatting (with my iSight and iChat) with a lot of people by now...I havent had any problems yet...just plug and play, everything works fine...I have yet to videochat with PC users, mainly because none of them have broadband, a webcam or the latest version of AIM. The fact that the iSight does not work flawlessly with a PC has nothing to do with the Mac to PC videochat problem. That probably has to do with the fact that its still being tested and that its not quite perfect yet.

and okay guys I think some of you need a lesson on how products are named and how to capitalize them properly. It's iChat, iSight, Mac, etc. Spell them the way they were meant to be spelled. Please.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REINSTALL PANTHER yeesh. If you're having problems with iChat delete the prefs or something. Don't reinstall the OS. Thats complete overkill.

 

[enterthelight]

The answer is in the replies

You are right of course Aol and .Mac had nothing to do with it and now with a clear head i can see this.
Clearing ones hard drive and a re-install is not the answer either.
The aim address is what is needed.
But how to rid the computer of Aol is the question as we all know how hard it is ti get rid of Aol files.
iChat and iSight will work for your friends useing a pc so long as they install iChat (beta) version 2.1(V151) as i know someone who uses his iChat to talk to others with a pc.

The first time i used iSight i joined iChat finder to see how it worked and the picture is great though i am surprised at how many wierd people are out as the first guy to ask to chat, and i had to accept the connection when it came up he had his dick out and i laughed so much he disconected in shame i guess.
I will not wipe the hard disc.

 

[janey]

Re: The answer is in the replies

Originally posted by enterthelight
But how to rid the computer of Aol is the question as we all know how hard it is ti get rid of Aol files.
iChat and iSight will work for your friends useing a pc so long as they install iChat (beta) version 2.1(V151) as i know someone who uses his iChat to talk to others with a pc.

iChat cannot be used on a PC, they have to use the latest version of AIM. If you're on a Mac, you need the latest version of iChat
to remove AOL files, delete the app, and then do a search for all files containing "AOL". There should be one that has "AOL", that ends with ".plist". Delete that too.

The first time i used iSight i joined iChat finder to see how it worked and the picture is great though i am surprised at how many wierd people are out as the first guy to ask to chat, and i had to accept the connection when it came up he had his dick out and i laughed so much he disconected in shame i guess.
I will not wipe the hard disc.

Ahhhh thats funny. Oh well. I signed up at MyiSight.com, the IMs I get (due to the fact that I'm one of the "rare" girls) are sooooooo annoying

 

[qpsk]

i am surprised at how many wierd people are out as the first guy to ask to chat, and i had to accept the connection when it came up he had his dick out

Sorry about that...

 

[johnnyjibbs]

You seem to be confusing the iSight with iChat?

iChat: Mac-only - now comes in AV (2.0) flavour or 2.1 public beta (PC AIM-compatibile)

iSight: Apple-produced FireWire webcam for use in video chatting (in iChat, AOL instant messenger, MSN, Yahoo, etc.., apparently works on Mac and PC).