Q: Is there a way to turn off and On the isight camera or app to do it ?????

Globalmark wrote:
Hi

Does anyone know either of a Simple way to Turn off the isight camera on a Macbook pro (3.1 model with Snow leopard) or a simple program or Widget to do this ??

I have already Googled this but cannot find much - except disable certain files, or a Applescript by Techslaves.org called isight disabler , which seems great except I have to run applescript each time run this script, put in password, then select !
SO is there a Basic app or even a Way of making the isight disabler work like a simple app - or a way to do with Mac's settings ??

Any help is Appriciated
Thanks Mark

Manually moving, renaming, or deleting files outside your Username/Documents folder

   is generally a BAD idea unless you KNOW how it will effect OS X.


EZ Jim


Mac Pro Quad Core (Early 2009) 2.93Ghz Mac OS X (10.6.6); MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz (10.6.6)
LED Cinema Display; G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11); iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9); External iSight; iPod4touch4.2.1

Does anyone know either of a Simple way to Turn off the isight camera on a Macbook pro...

Asatoran wrote:

Does anyone know either of a Simple way to Turn off the isight camera on a Macbook pro...

Tape? Specifically electrical tape or other opaque tape over the lens.

Some people find that "solution" a tad snarky, but IMHO, while it is a little sarcastic, I know of a few people who are paranoid about some malware turning on the camera without their knowledge, so find this "solution" completely acceptable. They can completely "disable" the camera with no software compatibility issues, and works with any model computer. Obviously this will not stop the malware (or whatever) from using the microphone, but you wanted "simple."

Globalmark wrote:
... SO is there a Basic app or even a Way of making the isight disabler work like a simple app - or a way to do with Mac's settings ??

Although I do not recommend it, you can manually disable your built-in iSight
by removing the "QuickTimeUSBVDCDIgitizer.component" file from your computer's
HardDriveName > System > Library > QuickTime folder and restarting your Mac.
Your built-in iSight should no longer work with any app.

Last Chance Rand wrote:

Although I do not recommend it, you can manually disable your built-in iSight
by removing the "QuickTimeUSBVDCDIgitizer.component" file from your computer's
HardDriveName > System > Library > QuickTime folder and restarting your Mac.
Your built-in iSight should no longer work with any app.

Does not work for me whether I rename or move this file. Any other software option to disable the camera?

Here's a way to turn on and off your camera if you know how to use the terminal program.

I've been all over the web to find junk that doesn't work.   I have 10.6.8 and this works just as it should:

To disable the camera - access the terminal as root

Enter the following 3 commands:

chmod 000 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreMediaIOServices.framework/Versions/A/Reso urces/VDC.plugin/Contents/MacOS/VDC

chmod 000 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreMediaIOServicesPrivate.framework/Versions /A/Resources/VDC.plugin/Contents/MacOS/VDC

chmod 000 /System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeUSBVDCDigitizer.component/Contents/MacOS/Qui ckTimeUSBVDCDigitizer

To enable the camera - access the terminal as root

Enter the following 3 commands:

chmod 755 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreMediaIOServices.framework/Versions/A/Reso urces/VDC.plugin/Contents/MacOS/VDC

chmod 755 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreMediaIOServicesPrivate.framework/Versions /A/Resources/VDC.plugin/Contents/MacOS/VDC

chmod 755 /System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeUSBVDCDigitizer.component/Contents/MacOS/Qui ckTimeUSBVDCDigitizer

Hi Globalmark,

I had the same problem.  I had installed KeyLemon software that does face rcognition for security purposes but I was less than thrilled, so I uninstalled it.  However, after re-booting, the green LED at the top of my screen remained lit indicating that my iSight camera was on.  I was able to get it turned off and now it only comes on as needed, for example when using FaceTime.  However, it was non-trivial.  Here's how I did it.  (Details follow the summarry.)

BTW, I am using a MacBook Pro with OS X 10.7.4

I moved the iSight component from the System Library, rebooted, moved the component back again, rebooted once more and now it is back to normal.

The details:

Open a terminal session

su to root

mkdir /System/Library/QuickTime/.iSightBackup

mv /System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeUSBVDCDIgitizer.component <A SPACE GOES HERE> /System/Library/QuickTime/.iSightBackup/

logout

reboot

when you are operational again,

once again

Open a terminal session

su to root

mv /System/Library/QuickTime/.iSightBackup/QuickTimeUSBVDCDIgitizer.component  <A SPACE GOES HERE>   /System/Library/QuickTime/

logout

reboot

Test it using photo booth or face time or something you can trust that uses the camera.  The LED should only come on when using the application.

This worked for me, but I suspect that the solution proposed by GetTheFacts321 would do equally well.

"Then perhaps you need to ask your question clearly."

The question is quite clear, and any confusion you had was due to an unwarranted assumption you made: that there's no problem if any application that is designed to can use the camera.

A fairly computer savvy person would always understand the assumption Globalmark has made, as i have and many others have in this post.  I understand that he might to disable the camera function for his own reasons.  I myself have a situation where i don't want anyone who uses my computer to be able to skype, photobooth, what have you app that uses the camera.

GettheFacts321 & tc124, thank you for answering the question.  All you others, get smarter and stop trolling!