Level 1

115 points

Macbook Pro camera doesn't work. "No Video".

For some months already, I have been facing a problem where I can't use the Mac built-in camera. It doesn't work with Facetime, Skype and either Photo Booth.

The message that I get after opening Facetime is "No video. FaceTime has not received any video from the connected camera. Restarting your computer may fix this issue". Only green light is blinking every couple of seconds.

I have been using this laptop for 2 months and it doesn't have any damages that could affect the hardware. Camera and other minor problems started in January 2020 after additional Catalina updates.

I have Googled solution for this problem and tried different solutions but none of them didn't work. Here is the list of solutions that I have tried:

Kill VDCAssistant in Terminal. It didn't work because I even can't find VDCAssistant from Activity Monitor which should control the camera.
Simply restarting my Mac.
Done all software updates.
Run First Aid option in Disk Utility

Could anybody suggest any other solutions that can be done at home buy general user?

Thanks in advance!

MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 15, 2020 9:06 AM

Top-ranking reply

D.I. Johnson

Level 8

44,669 points

Posted on Mar 15, 2020 9:42 AM

Hello, Laurii112.

Sorry to know you're having this problem with your MacBook Pro.

If you haven't rebooted into safe mode anytime recently you should try that to see if it helps. Let the Mac OS do drive directory repair, cache clearing and other misc housekeeping. Often just booting into safe mode and logging in, then immediately rebooting normally will resolve an issue. You should do this with all your external peripherals disconnected but the keyboard and mouse.

Booting into Safe Mode…

Use safe mode to isolate issues - Apple Support

What Safe mode does:

Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed
Loads only required kernel extensions
Prevents startup items and login items from opening automatically
Disables user-installed fonts
Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

Restarting in Safe mode can often eliminate a problem or help identify the cause.

You can verify that you have started in Safe mode by clicking the Apple () menu > About This Mac > System Report. Then find >Software< in the left column and look at >Boot Mode: Safe vs Normal< in the right pane.

Note– starting up in Safe mode could take 10 minutes or more. Be patient.

Does the problem persist while in Safe mode?

Restart your Macintosh and re-evaluate the issue.

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11549 25

399 replies

Apr 7, 2020 1:29 PM in response to lauri112

Having the same problem with a lot of our iMacs in the office. Both 21.5 and 27” iMacs from 2012-2015. It started with 10.15.3 but more broke with 10.15.4. We’ve tried reinstalling fresh on 2 machines, didn’t fix it. We even replaced 1 camera assembly from a known working machine and it doesn’t work! This is a software bug and it’s ridiculous. Is this some ploy to get me to buy a bunch of new iMacs? Fix this Apple!

Apr 8, 2020 5:46 AM in response to nrg162

Couldn't wait for a week later to repair/fix the FaceTime HD Camera on my MBA, went directly after work to nearby Apple Shop. Asked the supervisor what kind of problem/reason could result Green light on for 10 seconds and off where Photo Booth and FaceTime all black on screen? He told me likely the screen issue. Surprised! But he told me sometime replaced/fixed the screen and the camera back to normal. He said camera less likely in trouble. I had no clue whatsoever but seemed it could be hardware problem as well. Best!

Apr 8, 2020 8:20 AM in response to marcopace_br

I have an iMac but I'm also having issues with the camera not working. What's strange is that there is one user account where it does not work. But it works in other users accounts, including the guest user. So maybe there are different camera issues, but clearly my issue is not a hardware issue.

lauri112 Author

Level 1

115 points

Apr 9, 2020 5:26 AM in response to marcopace_br

Btw, I have to mention in that my case (where camera doesn't work at all but green light only blinks), Facetime in general is super-super slow for example if I want to navigate in preferences etc. I can't even open the left panel where I could see the latest calls. Same think with Photo Booth, super slow if I navigate through preferences. 100% sure that it's the software problem. My problem occured after 10.15.2 or .3 update.

modelck

Level 1

14 points

Apr 12, 2020 5:52 AM in response to BenJam1990

Contact them through the support portal. However, be prepared to go through every troubleshooting step everyone here has done with little success.

Out of the number of folks having issues, I believe I am the only person which had success getting the camera working continually. My issue had nothing to do with privacy or specifying App access privileges.

Something broke the firmware/hardware handshake on 10.15.4 (upgraded from 10.15.3 earlier that day) during a peripheral attachment into a USB-C port.

I contacted Apple. Went through all troubleshooting steps. (SMC and NVRAM/PRAM reset). Ultimately they were going to send me a return box but I continued to hammer away at the issue until something stuck and I got my built-in and all external cameras working again. If you send into Apple, who knows what they will do.

Do you have an external webcam?

Giu53pp3

Level 1

13 points

Apr 13, 2020 4:05 PM in response to modelck

Hi, I am getting the same error since yesterday. 2 days ago the camera worked fine, the day after it stopped working showing this error text (after 3/4 seconds of green light on, the one beside the camera):

"FaceTime has not received any video from the connected camera. Restarting your computer may fix this issue."

The Camera seems to be correctly setup:

I called the Apple support team and followed several ways to resolve it without success""

Run diagnostics -> the camera seems to be correctly setup
Cancel the PRAM -> Same issue
Trying in the safe mode boot -> Same issue
Create a new user profile -> Same issue
Terminal, “sudo killall VDCAssistant” -> Same issue
Reinstall Catalina -> Same issue

It is really disappointing and, in this period, really frustrating. I owned several Apple/MS based laptops and never experienced an issue like this. Basically it looks like the camera is correctly setup but is not working.

I have read read several posts and I am quite sure this is a software issue. How’s possible that Apple is not releasing an official communication?

Now I have 2 ways:

Contact an approved service provider and try to arrange with them a solution.
Ask Apple to collect the laptop and let them investigate the issue.

Unfortunately, after having spent 2K+ to have the best laptop I could buy now both the above solutions will cost me something. :(

Apr 14, 2020 7:05 PM in response to lauri112

Dear all, I finally confirmed by apple staff that the screen on my MBA with built in cam module was replaced in order to fix the subject issue. Apple timely repairs it within 3 and half hours, although I have been queuing for week in Genius Bar after booking on web. I would like to share here is very often I may presume no hardware faults in any of apple products, just wait for software update can heal everything or to learn some killing tips by google search or apple support Could help.....why not be more rational myself it s electronic product and manufactured by OEMs, save time and effort by having it fix directly instead spending hours and days to trial and error myself?! But to be honest, that’s where the fun part is for apple gadgets. I have to confess that following the thread here learn a lot and understand my laptop much better than before... thanks all and I hope all your apple computers to the subject issue resolved as well soon......

Old Toad

Level 10

218,328 points

Apr 15, 2020 12:04 PM in response to kman09

There's a free app, EpocCam Webcam for Mac and PC, which is supposed to let you use your iPhone or Android phone as a webcam. Don't know anything else about it. Might be worth trying before buying a camera. If you do use it let us know how it works.

Apr 24, 2020 10:32 AM in response to Giu53pp3

I too am frustrated and tried most of the solutions offered. The green light shows in all apps accessing the camera but there is no actual video. Apple is useless and my time is better spent elsewhere. So, I will isn’t but a cheap 3rd party camera . Problem solved. Adios amigos!

etopia

Level 1

9 points

May 27, 2020 2:35 AM in response to NealBader

Problem on MBP13 + 2 mac minis. Ran the update last night for MCP +1 mini, and as with all updates, had to restart numerous times to get the system back up and running to somewhat normal. MBP13 - Took 2 re-starts for the system report to show the camera. Minis: Took 3 re-starts for the system report to show the camera.

Subsequently opened facetime + skype twice - both occasions camera started without a problem. Haven't tried a video conference - Zoom/Skype yet to see if it drops off again afterwards. Have a day of conferencing - will update with progress.

Updating second mini - will see if this has the same issues.

May 27, 2020 8:08 AM in response to NealBader

HI!

THERE IS A LITTLE BIT OF IMPORTANT INFO

SO, first of all: Safe mode doesn't work, no suprise

I STARTED LOOKING AT THE CONSOLE APP, while I tried the killall command for VDCAssistant

Nothing happend in Photo Booth, BUT

The console shows the following error / problem for the process "VDCAssistant"

DeviceArrived Found a camera (*MY CAMERA'S UNIQUE ID CODE*) , but was not able to start it up (0xe00002c0 -- (iokit/common) no such device)

I DON'T KNOW WHAT Y'ALL THINK, BUT I THINK THIS IS AT LEAST SOMETHING

(FYI: I saved my camera's unique id code)

modelck

Level 1

14 points

May 30, 2020 9:08 AM in response to mceagon

Summarizing the issues in this thread is becoming quite difficult. There are some who are experiencing definitive hardware issues due to age and/or defect and others that have newer machines (not included in the Flexgate issue) who lost access to FaceTime & external cameras due to a software issue.

I refuse to believe the issue I encountered was due to failed hardware. Since it seems I'm likely the only in this thread to successfully re-initialize my FaceTime & external USB cameras with a fresh install of 10.15.3, a successful data migration after many failed attempts; I think continuing to have a mixed conversation (hardware vs. software) is going to continue to cause convolution.

If you have a hardware issue with your FaceTime camera, try an external USB camera to see if you can initialize video in a FaceTime call or other conferencing application. If you don't have access to a camera, try downloading EpocCam on your phone and installing the Mac driver from their website. The iPhone/Android app is free. There is also a paid version. Failed hardware doesn't necessarily mean your MacBook Air/Pro, Mini, iMac can't still recognize an externally powered device. EpocCam also enables the ability to bring the camera feed into video applications. I use it for my purposes.

If you have a software issue, none of the above will work. What I encountered, regardless of what the system reports, is shouting very angrily at your computer screen in order to shame it into subjection. Restart your Mac, try all your applications again, then escalate your anger into using expletives. If you first resorted to expletives, then your anger must escalate into throwing items towards various surfaces in an effort to abate the frustration you are inevitably feeling. After that, realize it is Apple's fault. They won't admit it but they will push out a useless update to "address" the issue without "addressing" the issue. Evidenced by 10.15.5.

Sigh. Move on. Change your Zoom name to "Reconnecting...". Imbibe your choice of adult beverage. Kick back, relax.

a brody

Level 10

85,658 points

May 31, 2020 5:44 AM in response to lauri112

689 people marked "I have this same problem." Apple ships over half a million of these notebooks over the course of the year.

I would not say that's a majority, even though not everyone who has the problem is aware of this thread. Even so, the more who report it to AppleCare, the more that increases the chance of Apple finding a solution for it.

lauri112 Author

Level 1

115 points

Jun 10, 2020 9:46 AM in response to lauri112

Hi, guys!

So Apple finished investigation on my case. In total, I had 4 calls with them. The first call was very positive and gave some hope that this problem might be solved very soon but unfortunately, the last two ones were not that positive. Customer support sent my reports to the engineering team and they told that it's a hardware issue because everything works normally. I tried to explain how it's possible that after three months, my camera started working for a moment when I added camera apps under "Security & Privacy" --> Accessibility (one user suggested this solution earlier this year). Customer support asked engineers to dig into this question even more but today they called me back and told me that they think it's still a hardware issue (not giving any other specific details about why) and I should let my laptop to be checked at local Apple Care. However, I asked them whether they have had any experience with cases where next major update (I mean Sierra, Mojave, Catalina) may fix the problem and they told me that there have been several cases where next major update solved the issue.

I still doubt that it's a hardware issue because how lagging and not properly working Facetime (left panel doesn't open in normal mode) is related to camera issue. Even if I open Quicktime player and try to record a new movie, I can start recording but it freezes and it doesn't count seconds. Of course, I understand that every one of us has different things that are a bit different but it feels like the core issue is still the same. After certain updates (was it 15.2, 15.3 or 15.4) camera just stopped working.

So my next steps probably would be going to local Apple Care to check the issue and test the external camera. If they find that all cables are working properly then I won't allow changing my display/camera. If next major update still doesn't fix the issue, probably will change it then or buy a new device (not sure if it's going to Apple anymore). Before my Pro, I used Dell Vostro for 7 years. It dropped to the ground at least 5 times during this time and everything worked well until the end despite the major external damages. Now some guys in Apple say that my Pro may have hardware issue although in two years it never dropped down or got any other damages (dust, liquids etc.)

All in all, I still have hope that someday this problem is going to be solved. The last update showed that Apple has some problems with cameras. I will keep posting to this thread if I find anything useful or if indeed it was a hardware issue. Hope you are guys doing the same. If anybody finds anything, I appreciate a lot if you share your experience. We are on the same boat. Good luck!

dbaum

Level 1

10 points

Jul 2, 2020 10:11 AM in response to enguy

I'll add this...

In preparation for sending my 2015 MacBook Air to Apple for further troubleshooting with the camera issue, I completely formatted the hard drive and reloaded Mac OS X Yosemite, version 10.10.5, from scratch. The camera behaved the exact same way as before I formatted it with High Sierra, version 10.13.6. This method did NOT resolve the problem. I know that's hard to understand since we all think it's a software issue. I hope they come up with something soon.

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Macbook Pro camera doesn't work. "No Video".