Camera not working in Big Sur

Hello all, I have resolved my Webcam issue with Big Sur. It was a simple shift of plugging my Webcam directly into my computer USB port rather than using a USB hub. I only had issues with my Webcam, nothing else. My webcam is a Logitech so I contacted Logitech and submitted a request for help. They got back to me in two days and problem is now resolved.

Hi Comrades,

I have the same problem with Camera, in desperation i re-installed Big Sur without losing my apps and data, basically a repair.

1.) Restart your Mac

2.) Hold Command-R

3.) Re-install Mac OS Big Sur

4.) Wait to finish (2+ hours)

5.) When its ready, test your camera by Facetime or Photo Booth.

Try resetting NVRAM and SMC:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

If the above doesn't resolve it, for testing please create another admin-level user account, log in on that account. Does the camera work?

The firewall settings in Norton 360 did in fact solve the problem with FaceTime, at least for me and at least for the time being. Again, with a virtually new iMac, the problem clearly occurred immediately after the Big Sur update. Norton 360 has been running ever since I got the iMac in Nov. ‘19. However, it does seem to be more of a Norton issue. I now have to either disable Vulnerability in Firewall settings, which gives me a warning OR I have to list all the IP addresses of those I want to communicate with. This is not a big problem for me BUT if anyone uses FaceTime with numerous people or devices, it will be very tedious to list every one in the Exclusions. Also, I have not yet restarted the iMac to see if the problem returns. But in a small way, this got me over the major issue.

Hmm. I suspected that might happen.

Might be a faulty camera but try:

Reboot holding down Command-Option-P-R; once the Mac reboots a second time, let go.

See https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204063

Good news!

There's a new update that fixed the camera issue now available to download. I can confirm the issue is gone and the camera is working again. Version Big Sur 11.2 or 11.1 (20C69)

Good news!

There's a new update that fixed the camera issue now available to download. I can confirm the issue is gone and the camera is working again. Version Big Sur 11.2 or 11.1 (20C69)

I tried this:

Open Terminal.

Type "sudo killall VDCAssistant" without quotes.

Then, open FaceTime, Zoom, PhotoBooth, etc.

It worked for me.

Good luck!

Thanks guys!

I tried Option + Command + P + R

Then went to About This Mac

Clicked on System Report

Clicked on camera and it magically reappeared.

It was Big Sur after all!

Thanks again.

Kat

OK. Try rebooting holding down the shift key to go into safe mode.

(See https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mh21245/mac)

You'll see some of flashes but that's fine.

Does that fix it?

If you then reboot normally, does the problem return?

As a matter of interest, and considering the Kaspersky solution (which only works for Kaspersky users), how are your Security & Privacy > Privacy > Camera settings looking?

Does it show that your video applications are not allowed?

Can all of you who have the type 2 problem (no camera listed in the system report) run a hardware diagnostic test?

The procedure is explained here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731

For me, it is indicated there as "No issues found", code ADP000.

If it was a hardware problem, I would expect one of the following codes to be displayed there to indicate a camera issue:

NDC001, NDC003, NDC004, NDC005, NDC006

But at least for me, this is not the case!

The list of codes can be found here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203747

K_Igor wrote:

Hello all! It seems 11.2 fixed this issue! My friend updated to 11.2 Release Candidate last night and his camera works again in zoom app.

I would be interested to hear whether this actually still works once the 11.2 Release Candidate goes public.

Everyone needs to report this, either through Feedback Assistant, or through the Apple Feedback webpage.

Posting here won't alert Apple to the problem.

There are three possibilities (and each person here may have a different cause): 1. A bug in the software; 2. an actual hardware failure; 3. Third-party software that is conflicting in some way. A Safe Boot should rule out the last one.

If it's all the same model being affected, then it could be a hardware problem, and Apple will only address that if enough people moan about it.

hejwazzup wrote:

...but if they don't recognize the problem it's going to cost me a lot of money I'm afraid.

If the camera is showing as not attached under Apple > About this Mac > System Report > Camera then Apple will be able to recognise the problem so you should be OK.