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iMac iSight camera doesn't work in oSX

The built in iSight camera in my iMac has stopped working in OSX. It certainly used to work in the past but I'm not sure exactly when it stopped.

This is definitely an OSX software issue as the camera works when using Skype on Windows XP on Parallels on the same Mac.

iChat, Skype and Photo Booth on OSX all just show a black screen for video. The green camera light is on.

System Profiler shows USB / USB High-Speed Bus / Built-in iSight

This issue seems to come up a lot and I have tried the following without success:
- reset the SMC (power down computer and unplugging all connectors)
- reset the PRAM
- created a new account to see if the issue occurs in that account - it does

Any suggestions?

iMac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Aug 27, 2010 3:08 PM

Reply
20 replies

Aug 27, 2010 5:35 PM in response to redhanded

redhanded wrote:
The built in iSight camera in my iMac has stopped working in OSX. It certainly used to work in the past but I'm not sure exactly when it stopped.

This is definitely an OSX software issue as the camera works when using Skype on Windows XP on Parallels on the same Mac.

iChat, Skype and Photo Booth on OSX all just show a black screen for video. The green camera light is on.

System Profiler shows USB / USB High-Speed Bus / Built-in iSight

This issue seems to come up a lot and I have tried the following without success:
- reset the SMC (power down computer and unplugging all connectors)
- reset the PRAM
- created a new account to see if the issue occurs in that account - it does

Any suggestions?


(1) You have tried some good troubleshooting already.  Your iSight can only operate with one application at a time, so, when you test OS X apps:

 • quit all other apps,

 • have nothing active in fast user swithching, and

 • have no Windows® items using iSight.

If you have not tried any of the following, do so now. (It will do no harm to repeat anything):

(2) Restart the Mac and check iSight with no other apps or Login Items running. If the problems persist, try all relevant suggestions from:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2090

In your testing, you should add QuickTimeX to the list of OS X apps you test with iSight.

If your iSight problem still occurs in more than one app and more than one user account, the reset suggested there often restores proper function of inbuilt iSight.

(3) The instructions for proper SMC reset of your iNtel iMac are found here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Be certain to begin with the instructions in the section marked " Before Resetting the SMC". After that, the reset instructions specific to your iMac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo are are follows:

1. Shut down the computer.

2. Unplug the computer's power cord.

3. Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.

4. Release the power button.

5. Attach the computers power cable.

6. Press the power button to turn on the computer.


(4) If your problem persists and you need to post back for other suggestions, please let us know which OS X apps you tested in more than one user account and whether any of them worked properly. Also confirm that those tests were done when no other apps or OSs that can use iSight were running.

(5) If you need to post back for other suggestions, please also verify that your inbuilt iSight is recognized as a USB device in your Mac's System Profiler utility.

(6) If you need to post back for other suggestions, in addition to Skype, please also list any webcam-enabled third-party software you use, and tell us whether you have verified that it is the current version compatible with Mac OS X 10.6.4


Message was edited by: EZ Jim


Mac Pro Quad Core (Early 2009) 2.93Ghz w/Mac OS X (10.6.4)  MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz (10.6.4)
LED Cinema Display  G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11)  iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9)  External iSight

Aug 28, 2010 6:47 AM in response to EZ Jim

+(1) You have tried some good troubleshooting already.  Your iSight can only operate with one application at a time, so, when you test OS X apps:+
+ • quit all other apps,+
+ • have nothing active in fast user swithching, and+
+ • have no Windows® items using iSight.+

iSight does not work when only iChat, Photo Booth, Skype or iMovies is running. All just show a black screen.

+(2) Restart the Mac and check iSight with no other apps or Login Items running. If the problems persist, try all relevant suggestions from:+

+  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2090+

I have gone through this already several times - I came across these instructions googling for the problem of iSight not working .

+In your testing, you should add QuickTimeX to the list of OS X apps you test with iSight.+

With QuickTime I again get a black screen with the New Movie Recording command and the message "Recording failed because no data was received. Make sure the media input source is turned on an playing".

+If your iSight problem still occurs in more than one app and more than one user account, the reset suggested there often restores proper function of inbuilt iSight.+

+(3) The instructions for proper SMC reset of your iNtel iMac are found here:+

+  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964+

+Be certain to begin with the instructions in the section marked " Before Resetting the SMC". After that, the reset instructions specific to your iMac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo are are follows:+

I have done this 3 times. I went through these instructions before posting this message. Additionally I unplugged all connectors to the Mac.

+(4) If your problem persists and you need to post back for other suggestions, please let us know which OS X apps you tested in more than one user account and whether any of them worked properly. Also confirm that those tests were done when no other apps or OSs that can use iSight were running.+

iChat, Skype, Photo Booth, Quicktime and iMovie do not work.

I only had one of these applications running at a time.

I set up another user account and none of these applications worked.

The iSight camera does work using Skype on Windows XP running on Parallels. Note: Parallels is not running when I tested the OSX applications.

+(5) If you need to post back for other suggestions, please also verify that your inbuilt iSight is recognized as a USB device in your Mac's System Profiler utility.+

Yes, the built-in iSight does appear in System Profiler under USB > USB High Speed Bus > Built-in iSight

Built-in iSight:

Product ID: 0x8502
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
Version: 1.45
Serial Number: 606F6A72C9AEA8D8 (03.01)
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Location ID: 0xfd400000
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 500

+(6) If you need to post back for other suggestions, in addition to Skype, please also list any webcam-enabled third-party software you use, and tell us whether you have verified that it is the current version compatible with Mac OS X 10.6.4+

I do not have any other 3rd party webcam applications other than Skype. Additionally, I only installed Skype after I discovered the iSight was not working in order to see if the same problem happens with Skype.

I took a quick look at the Console. Interestingly the following message appears from all of the applications where iSight does not work. I also have a MacBook Pro where iSight does work and the same messages do not appear with the same applications.

28/08/2010 14:34:59 iChat[632] __CFServiceControllerBeginPBSLoadForLocalizations timed out while talking to pbs
28/08/2010 14:35:05 iChat[632] ------ startPreview: previewing: 2
28/08/2010 14:35:18 iChat[632] [Warning] FZVideoConferenceController: _localVideoClientCount decremented below 0!

28/08/2010 14:36:51 QuickTime Player[642] __CFServiceControllerBeginPBSLoadForLocalizations timed out while talking to pbs

28/08/2010 14:38:49 Skype[649] __CFServiceControllerBeginPBSLoadForLocalizations timed out while talking to pbs

28/08/2010 14:39:47 Photo Booth[655] __CFServiceControllerBeginPBSLoadForLocalizations timed out while talking to pbs

Aug 28, 2010 10:12 AM in response to redhanded

Thanks for the thorough response, redhanded

(1) Restart Mac. Repair permissions. Then download and apply
the Combo Update as Defcom recommends: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1048

Repair permissions again immediately as soon as the update is completed.

(2) If iSight still does not work in OS X apps, use your Snow Leopard install DVD
to reinstall Mac OS. Then use the Combo Update before testing again.


Message was edited by: EZ Jim


Mac Pro Quad Core (Early 2009) 2.93Ghz w/Mac OS X (10.6.4)  MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz (10.6.4)
LED Cinema Display  G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11)  iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9)  External iSight

Aug 28, 2010 12:01 PM in response to redhanded

Hi

Launch Activity Monitor prior to launching an application that can access the iSight Camera. PhotoBooth will do. Do you see the VDCAssistant process running?

Something you could quickly try but only if you have another mac fully updated to 10.6.4 and a firewire cable. You can target disk mode the other mac to the one with the non-working camera. Once mounted on the desktop you should be able to boot from the OS installed on that mac. Does the onboard camera work now?

If it does reinstall the OS. Insert the Installer DVD, reboot and hold down the 'C; key. The Setup Assistant will preserve all your data and simply move the OS and Apple applications to a Previous Systems folder. As ever and just as a precaution it would be a good idea to have a full and complete backup first. Something you should be doing anyway.

Tony

Aug 28, 2010 2:26 PM in response to Antonio Rocco

+> Antonio Rocco wrote:+
+> Hi+
>
+> Launch Activity Monitor prior to launching an application that can access the iSight Camera. PhotoBooth will do. Do you see the VDCAssistant process running?+

Yes - this process is running.


+> Something you could quickly try but only if you have another mac fully updated to 10.6.4 and a firewire cable. You can target disk mode the other mac to the one with the non-working camera. Once mounted on the desktop you should be able to boot from the OS installed on that mac. Does the onboard camera work now?+

No

+> If it does reinstall the OS. Insert the Installer DVD, reboot and hold down the 'C; key. The Setup Assistant will preserve all your data and simply move the OS and Apple applications to a Previous Systems folder. As ever and just as a precaution it would be a good idea to have a full and complete backup first. Something you should be doing anyway.+
I really don't want to go through the hassle of doing a clean install just yet?

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to actually debug the problem rather than reinstalling/resetting/restarting etc. ?

The Console on the non-working iSight Mac has the following error messages for all applications that use iSight:

28/08/2010 14:39:47 Photo Booth[655] __CFServiceControllerBeginPBSLoadForLocalizations timed out while talking to pbs

This does not appear on a Mac with a working iSight.

Aug 28, 2010 2:35 PM in response to EZ Jim

EZ Jim wrote:
Thanks for the thorough response, redhanded

(1) Restart Mac. Repair permissions. Then download and apply
the Combo Update as Defcom recommends: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1048

Repair permissions again immediately as soon as the update is completed.

(2) If iSight still does not work in OS X apps, use your Snow Leopard install DVD
to reinstall Mac OS. Then use the Combo Update before testing again.


Repairing permissions and re-installing the combo update didn't work.

Re-installing Snow Leopard and re-installing software updates didn't work either.

The iSight camera still works using Skype/Windows XP/Parallels.

Aug 28, 2010 2:38 PM in response to redhanded

Hi,

Try the Shut down and No Power thing in this Article (Re-setting USB and Firewire ports)
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1317

Obviously you do not have access to re-seat the Internal iSight.
However on a Laptop the Power needs to be removed or the Firewire port stay live.
Part of the Process is supposed to sort the device numbering system of both Firewire and USB (And you log info suggests the camera has dropped to a number below 0)

User uploaded file

10:38 PM Saturday; August 28, 2010

Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Aug 28, 2010 5:34 PM in response to redhanded

redhanded wrote:
Repairing permissions and re-installing the combo update didn't work.

Re-installing Snow Leopard and re-installing software updates didn't work either.

The iSight camera still works using Skype/Windows XP/Parallels.


Your most recently posted system info now shows that you are using Mac OS X (10.6.2). Because you also posted that you updated, I expect 10.6.2 is a posting error. If it is not, apply the 10.6.4 Combo using the method suggested previously.

Based on the results of all you have tried, iSight problems remaining at this time seem likely to be related to a conflict with your third-party software. Check to be sure both Parallels and XP are updated to the latest versions compatible with your system. If your problem remains when you are certain you are using the latest compatible Mac OS X (10.6.4), Parallels, and XP, I have these two remaining suggestions:

(1) Backup all important files and take your Mac for service by an Apple-Authorized Service Provider. The Service Technicians have test equipment and technical data that will likely allow them to diagnose and repair your problem faster than my second suggestion.

(2) Alternatively, backup all important files and then zero your startup drive. Reinstall and update Mac OS X only. You iSight should almost certainly work with your OS X apps after a clean install and before you restore any other files including XP and Parallels.

If iSight works now, you can restore your data files, but *do not add any non-Apple apps, plugins, etc., until you are confident that your iSight is working properly*.

If you still need to use Windows® after you get iSight working in OS X, reinstall Parallels but not Windows®. To be sure that your Parallels installation is not the source of your problem, test OS X apps with iSight again after installing Parallels but before installing Windows®.

If iSight still works properly at this point, you can install XP. Test whether iSight still works with OS X apps after reinstalling XP. Next, test iSight with XP and finish with another test using OS X apps.

If iSight continues to work, you can add any necessary add-ons or plug-ins. However, make any additions one item at a time, testing thoroughly after each addition. This add-test-add tactic assures that you can identify which addition might prove to be the cause of your problem.

If iSight fails anywhere in this item (2) procedure, I can only recommend a visit to the AASP.


Message was edited by: EZ Jim


Mac Pro Quad Core (Early 2009) 2.93Ghz w/Mac OS X (10.6.4)  MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz (10.6.4)
LED Cinema Display  G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11)  iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9)  External iSight

iMac iSight camera doesn't work in oSX

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