wile1one
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: my macbook air camera does not work

I have a macbook air 11" mid 2011   running OSX Yosemite 10.10.1  

I need to use the facetime camera, but it says no camera is available. 

what I have done (6 hours or research and grief later):

 

After reading a plethora of forums,  I have tried:

Migrated from OSX Mountain Lion to Yosemite..  will definitely fix your problem.   no good... 

Installed the latest update...  yep... 

used the disk Utility repair again just in case...   yep...   still no good.

 

restarted the computer...  yep.       no good...

 

open a terminal and type         sudo killall VDCAssistant

yep that was a waste of time...  its not even on my laptop.  


the USB camera is not in the System Information USB Tree. and under camera it says no video capture devices were found.

 

Found a really helpful UTube video which suggested I Kill off a Parrot thingy...   wasnt even in the devices list...

 

I have read through the plethora of forums on this problem even further... there are literally thousands of them.

 

The most popular answer which Apple appears to provide is:    and by the way you keep running into this suggestion...

 

One of these will fix your problem:

 

(1) If restarting your Mac doesn't fix the problem,                          (NOPE  didnt fix it..)

(2) use Apple's http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2090                      (NOPE  no help...   as:

 

did the use Disk Utility to repair permissions thing..   yep...  still no camera...

 

the USB camera is still not in the System Information USB Tree.

 

(option 3 applies to me...   cant see the camera in the USB...  

no suggestion on how to resolve that ...  but there is a (4) so I tried that...  

I reset the SMC ...   guess what...   still no camera...  

 

The camera used to work...  

...............................................................................      My thought and question of Apple is below  ...................................................

I am thinking the port on which the camera communicates is disabled in the new software version, or it is reassigned to something that is in conflict with it.  The USB connection is set at the manufacture level to something which is not being detected now.

 

CAN APPLE PLEASE ADVISE ME WHICH DEFAULT PORT THE CAMERA IS CONNECTED TO AND CONFIRM THAT IT IS NOT DISABLED BY DEFAULT

................................................................................ ................................................................................ ....................................................................

 

Please dont tell me its a problem with the camera...   I could probably roll back to the old software, and my system would work just fine...   this has been a total pain in the neck...   and has cost me many hours...  

 

Yes I am going into the Apple store tomorrow... another two hours out of my life...  probably to be told its a hardware issue and they need to take it away and charge me money to fix it..     but I will take it there and decline to pay any money.   It is out of warranty and probably not essential to the laptop to use.   It s frustrating that there is no easy fix to this problem despite the plethora of forum articles and posts by thousands of people experiencing the same problem.

There is no way Apple can stick its head in the sand and claim its a hardware issue.  

 

I have tried to look for a built-in USB camera driver for Apple Macbook Air...   good luck with that...   If the old system driver was about,  perhaps someone could check the communications ports and work out where this problem actually sits.

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), Camera Not Working

Posted on Dec 5, 2014 7:11 PM

by wile1one,Solvedanswer
wile1one wile1one
Level 1 (0 points)
A:

There was a final outcome...       Apple determined that the IO card was faulty and they replaced it under warranty..      The camera is working correctly

 

i cant argue with the results...     The card replacement has reliably fixed the problem.   

 

SO my final recommendation for a solution is

 

check online to make sure you can get an appointment at your APPLE shop.   

Book the appointment so you don't waste 4 hours...   

Check that your machine is in warranty.      If not, the repair cost to me was $85 aus...    Still not too bad considering this issue cost me 14 hours of research and a further 8 hours travel time...   

BAck up your computer and open the password to protect your regular one.  Then...

take it to Apple at the appointed time.     MAKE SURE YOU BACKED UP YOUR MACHINE...

 

WAit 5 to 10 days based on how busy they are...          If they say your card is faulty, it's hardware and no amount of fiddling about with software is going to fix the problem.        I could have saved 18 + hours..    

 

Replace  the IO Card Fixed this issue...       It has not failed since getting the computer back.

Posted on Dec 21, 2014 4:51 PM

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Q: my macbook air camera does not work

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Adamsen,

    Adamsen Adamsen Dec 14, 2014 5:56 PM in response to wile1one
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 14, 2014 5:56 PM in response to wile1one

    .. same problem for me.. Happened right after updating to 10.10.1 .. The iSight light (the green one next to the camera) starts flickering like crazy.. then the camera just shuts off ...

     

    Oh.. and my MacBook Air also won't fall asleep on it's own anymore (yes i checked the Energy Saver settings)..

  • by wile1one,

    wile1one wile1one Dec 14, 2014 11:17 PM in response to Adamsen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 14, 2014 11:17 PM in response to Adamsen

    Adamsen.      After fluffing about on line for hours, I finally gave up and took the two hour drive to Apple Store the next day Sunday.    There were no appointments till last Thursday, requiring I take a second trip 4 days later..     So I recommend before going there that you check on line that you can book a spot...      So I went without my camera for a week, and took a second two hour trip...    My fault not apple's.     

     

    THe "genius" plugged a chord in, and yep...   No camera was detected by whatever utility he ran on the box...      Hiding my surprise..    (Not)    He then told me it was a hardware fault...  But my extended warranty had expired 3 days ago....    To his credit, he quoted me the 600 dollar repair bill would be taken by Apple, since there was a record of my visit on the Sunday.   I still have not got the box back...   I don't expect to hear from them for another few days as it is a busy time for them just before Christmas ...  The suggestion is that they will replace the entire screen assembly...   

     

    MY guess is that they will do that, and the camera still won't work...  Would love to be a fly on that wall....   But I will post the final resolution here when I get the box back...     Yet another 2 hour trip sometime in the next week or so...   I miss my MacBook air.  ...

  • by cflat,

    cflat cflat Dec 21, 2014 4:29 PM in response to wile1one
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 21, 2014 4:29 PM in response to wile1one

    Any final resolution @wile1one?

  • by wile1one,Solvedanswer

    wile1one wile1one Dec 21, 2014 4:51 PM in response to cflat
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 21, 2014 4:51 PM in response to cflat

    There was a final outcome...       Apple determined that the IO card was faulty and they replaced it under warranty..      The camera is working correctly

     

    i cant argue with the results...     The card replacement has reliably fixed the problem.   

     

    SO my final recommendation for a solution is

     

    check online to make sure you can get an appointment at your APPLE shop.   

    Book the appointment so you don't waste 4 hours...   

    Check that your machine is in warranty.      If not, the repair cost to me was $85 aus...    Still not too bad considering this issue cost me 14 hours of research and a further 8 hours travel time...   

    BAck up your computer and open the password to protect your regular one.  Then...

    take it to Apple at the appointed time.     MAKE SURE YOU BACKED UP YOUR MACHINE...

     

    WAit 5 to 10 days based on how busy they are...          If they say your card is faulty, it's hardware and no amount of fiddling about with software is going to fix the problem.        I could have saved 18 + hours..    

     

    Replace  the IO Card Fixed this issue...       It has not failed since getting the computer back.

  • by SAIF510,

    SAIF510 SAIF510 Feb 24, 2015 12:08 AM in response to Adamsen
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 24, 2015 12:08 AM in response to Adamsen

    all you have to do is shut down your computer. Then while turning it on, hold the power button for 10 seconds and then it will start up and hopefully your camera will start working.