robmefford

Q: Macbook Pro - built in camera not working

My built in camera on my macbook has stopped working. I've tried everything I found and when I tried the sudo killall VDCAssistant into the terminal it cannot find the VDCAssistant file.  I've gone into the Activity Monitor and it cannot find it either. Whenever I use any iSight device on any account they all say "No Camera Connect". How do I fix it?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Oct 1, 2014 9:22 AM

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Q: Macbook Pro - built in camera not working

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  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Oct 1, 2014 10:47 AM in response to robmefford
    Level 9 (71,583 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 1, 2014 10:47 AM in response to robmefford

     menu/About this Mac/More Info/System Report - select the camera item and see if the camera is showing as recognized.

     

    iSight - Troubleshoot

  • by raajbrar,

    raajbrar raajbrar Oct 1, 2014 1:01 PM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 1, 2014 1:01 PM in response to Eric Root

    Tried your suggestion: System Report/Hardware/Camera - No video capture devices were found.

     

    I am using the new Mac Pro, OS X 1.9.5.

     

    Anyone have any thoughts or solutions on how to get the iSight camera to work again?

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Oct 2, 2014 6:59 AM in response to raajbrar
    Level 9 (71,583 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 2, 2014 6:59 AM in response to raajbrar

    The blue link is an Apple support troubleshooting article. Did anything there help?If not, you need to get your computer tested.

     

    Genius Bar Reservation US

     

    Authorized Service Provider

  • by jerhad,

    jerhad jerhad Oct 13, 2014 12:53 PM in response to robmefford
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 13, 2014 12:53 PM in response to robmefford

    This is a very annoying bug in the Mac OS.  The only way I've been able to fix it without rebooting the system is to open the Terminal app and type the following command: sudo killall VDCAssistant

     

    It works every time, but it's very inconvenient and surprising that Apple hasn't figured out a way to deal with this.

  • by phoebios,

    phoebios phoebios Jan 16, 2015 8:31 PM in response to jerhad
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 16, 2015 8:31 PM in response to jerhad

    hiyas I have same problem!,

    but when I run a hardware check the cam shows! "

    FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in):

     

      Model ID:    UVC Camera VendorID_1452 ProductID_34057

      Unique ID:    0xfa20000005ac8509"

     

    but since installing maverick a few months ago the cam wont work, please help!

    no i dont want yosemite and regret getting maverick :/

     

    thanks in advance

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Jan 17, 2015 8:51 AM in response to phoebios
    Level 9 (71,583 points)
    iTunes
    Jan 17, 2015 8:51 AM in response to phoebios

    Try using the camera in various applications to see if it is application related or is the camera itself.

     

    Try a restart.


     

    Do a backup, using either Time Machine or a cloning program, to ensure files/data can be recovered. Two backups are better than one.


    Try setting up another admin user account to see if the same problem continues. If Back-to-My Mac is selected in System Preferences, the Guest account will not work. The intent is to see if it is specific to one account or a system wide problem. This account can be deleted later.

    Isolating an issue by using another user account


    Try booting into the Safe Mode using your normal account.  Disconnect all peripherals except those needed for the test. Shut down the computer and then power it back up after waiting 10 seconds. Immediately after hearing the startup chime, hold down the shift key and continue to hold it until the gray Apple icon and a progress bar appear and again when you log in. The boot up is significantly slower than normal. This will reset some caches, forces a directory check, and disables all startup and login items, among other things. When you reboot normally, the initial reboot may be slower than normal. If the system operates normally, there may be 3rd party applications which are causing a problem. Try deleting/disabling the third party applications after a restart by using the application un-installer. For each disable/delete, you will need to restart if you don’t do them all at once.


    Safe Mode - Mavericks   also Yosemite

     

    Safe Mode - About