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User profile for user: Craig Seeman
Craig Seeman Author
User level: Level 4
2,137 points

FaceTime webcam shows black in Photo Booth only

FaceTime webcam shows black in Photo Booth only

iMac Pro,Big Sur 11.6.1

FaceTime webcam works in Quicktime, FaceTime and third party apps but show black in Photo Booth.

FaceTime light turns green but image is black.

Also tested with external Logitech C920 and it too lights but image is black in Photo Booth.

They work in all other Apple and third party apps so this issue is specific to Photo Booth.


In Terminal I tried

sudo killall VDCAssistant

and

sudo killall AppleCameraAssistant

which did not fix the issue.


Also deleted

com.apple.PhotoBooth.plist

and

com.apple.PhotoBooth.cache

which did not fix the issue


Not sure what else to check.

Just to be clear FaceTime webcam (and Logitech C920) works in other Apple apps including Quicktime and FaceTime and various third party apps, just NOT Photo Booth.


Any suggestions?

Posted on Nov 24, 2021 12:00 PM

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User profile for user: Craig Seeman
Craig Seeman Author
User level: Level 4
2,137 points

Posted on Nov 25, 2021 1:29 PM

Found an obscure and non intuitive fix on an unofficial Mac repair forum.

They stated to Option Drag Photo Booth making a second copy in the Applications folder.

I tried that and Photo Booth (and the copy) worked as expected. I deleted the copy.


I have no idea why creating a copy would fix the issue unless it rewrote a plist or other resource file. Previously though I'd deleted those forcing them to be recreated without any impact on the issue though.


I'd love to hear a technical explanation.

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User profile for user: Craig Seeman
Craig Seeman Author
User level: Level 4
2,137 points

Nov 25, 2021 1:29 PM in response to JovonaP.

Found an obscure and non intuitive fix on an unofficial Mac repair forum.

They stated to Option Drag Photo Booth making a second copy in the Applications folder.

I tried that and Photo Booth (and the copy) worked as expected. I deleted the copy.


I have no idea why creating a copy would fix the issue unless it rewrote a plist or other resource file. Previously though I'd deleted those forcing them to be recreated without any impact on the issue though.


I'd love to hear a technical explanation.

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User profile for user: JovonaP.
JovonaP.
User level: Community Specialist

Nov 25, 2021 11:06 AM in response to Craig Seeman

Hello Craig Seeman,


Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. It's our understanding that the built-in camera doesn't work when using Photo Booth on your iMac Pro. You've done a great job trying to get this resolved! We're happy to help.


If you haven't already, please follow the remaining steps in the resource below:

If your built-in camera isn't working on your Mac


If the issue persists, test while in safe mode. Starting in safe mode allows your Mac to run certain checks, remove caches, and prevent login items from automatically launching. This can isolate possible third party issues. Use the steps and information in the following link for assistance with safe mode: How to use safe mode on your Mac


Let us know the results. Be sure to include specific error messages and any other troubleshooting steps that you may have tried.


Have a wonderful day!

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FaceTime webcam shows black in Photo Booth only

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