Use your Mac’s iSight on Ubuntu

There are two possible scenario’s.
1. You are running Ubuntu natively (or via Boot Camp) on your Mac, and you can’t get the iSight to work with Ubuntu.
2. You are running Ubuntu in a virtual machine using VMWare, Parallells, or VirtualBox, and you can’t get the iSight to work with Ubuntu.

both scenario’s are a pain in the ass, AND both scenarios have a really simple solution.

STEP 0. foolproof: if you’re trying to use your iSight in a virtual machine, make sure your vm software links the camera to the virtual machine!

STEP 1. get the AppleUSBVideoSupport file. you can find that file on an existing Mac OSX 10.4 or 10.5 installation at this location:
/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext/Contents/MacOS/AppleUSBVideoSupport
or you can download it from here. (unzip this first)

STEP 2. Put the AppleUSBVideoSupport file on your Ubuntu Desktop.

STEP 3. Open a terminal window on Ubuntu, and update your repositories:
sudo apt-get update
then install the iSight Firmware Tools like this:
sudo apt-get install isight-firmware-tools

STEP 4. The installer will ask you for the AppleUSBVideoSupport file. give it the right path to that file:
/home/**yourusername**/Desktop/AppleUSBVideoSupport

STEP 5. Reboot or log out and log back in. You can now use your iSight with Ubuntu!

Toon 🙂

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