AverMedia Webcam not recognized by MacBook Pro (MBP)

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Level 1

12 points

AverMedia Webcam not recognized by MacBook Pro (MBP)

I bought the Avermedia webcam because (supposedly) it is "plug n play". It is plugged into an Apple manufactured USB dongle on the MBP b/c the MBP has a USB-C port. The webcam does not appear in Finder or in the Settings>Security>Camera. The icon for the webcam is on the Dock. The only time I got the webcam to work was when the battery died and the MBP shut down. When it restarted the webcam worked. I took the MBP off the docking station last night and when I plugged it back in, the webcam was gone. I tried a restart but that did not work. I downloaded the software (again) and still no working webcam. The MBP camera works as the default but that is not what I want.

Does anyone have any ideas or do I have a defective webcam? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Posted on Jan 19, 2021 6:08 PM

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Answer 1

etresoft

Level 9

57,630 points

Jan 21, 2021 4:21 PM in response to Jancyskid

The webcam is not going to appear anywhere in the Finder or in Security. You also don't need any software for it. When you run an app that uses a webcam, you will need to go into that app's settings, usually somewhere in "video settings", and change the camera to your AverMedia camera. You will have to do that with each app. Otherwise, the built-in camera will be used.

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Answer 2

JCorHelps

Community Specialist

Jan 21, 2021 3:51 PM in response to Jancyskid

Hi Jancyskid,

It sounds like you're having issues with an external webcam. We're happy to see if we can help out.

Are other devices working as expected when connected to the same port? Also, have you tried another cable to rule out issues there?

Also, to verify, are you saying the camera seemed to work only when you removed it from a docking station and restarted? Knowing that would help in narrowing this down.

You may also want to set up a temporary administrator account and sign in there to see if the behavior occurs there, which will tell you if the issue is system-wide or user account-specific: Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac. Let us know how it goes.

Cheers.

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Answer 3

Jancyskid Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 22, 2021 11:30 AM in response to JCorHelps

I only have 1 Dongle and I use it connect USB drives and the hard drive I use to back up files. It works for all of those items.

Interesting suggestion to try a different port. While my USB drives and hard drive work on the front left port the Webcam does not. I changed to the back left port and the webcam works.

The camera is connected to the Dongle. I took the MBP off the docking station and pulled out the dongle. When I remounted the MBP on the docking station and plugged the dongle back in, no webcam. Restart still no webcam. Computer restarted after an auto software upgrade and webcam was back. This was all while the dongle was in the back left port.

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Answer 4

Eric--F

Community Specialist

Jan 22, 2021 4:34 PM in response to Jancyskid

Thanks Jancyskid,

Does this continue to happen if you boot to safe mode?

How to use safe mode on your Mac

If it continues to have issues, we'd recommend reaching out to Apple directly.

Cheers.

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AverMedia Webcam not recognized by MacBook Pro (MBP)

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