can anyone help with iSight problem

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can anyone help with iSight problem

Hi, I have a problem with my iMac 24” (early 2008) iSight camera and I have tried all I can find and more. Any help very greatly appreciated. A few weeks ago my hdd failed so I replaced it with a WD 2TB Sata disk. All went well with that no problem. Then as I had no disks I bought some grey Snow Leopard install disks that would not install.

I called Apple and bought genuine Leopard install and they worked fine, however on boot up on them the green light came on. I erased, partitioned and formatted the drive as suggested and installed the software. On restart the green light remained on all the time the iMac was powered. I read lots of support forums and tried: 1) Reset the SMC 2) reset the PRAM 3) checking System Profiler – no USB iSight device, 4) tried Photo booth and iChat and loaded Skype – none recognized the camera.

Next I rung apple and bought the latest Snow Leopard disk. It arrived and before I installed it I reset the SMC again – this caused the green light to go off UNTIL the next boot up. I then installed the Snow Leopard and continued to test as before. No camera in System Profiler or any apps again. I decided to open the iMac again and look for any physical issues with the iSight module. Nothing wrong there at all and in fact with the iMac generally. I put it all back together and erased, partitioned and formatted the drive again for a clean install. The green light went out and I moved on to install the Snow Leopard retail disk. All went well and the light stayed off until my third set of upgrades from Apple when it came on whenever the iMac is powered. I ran the same tests again as before including AHT, another user, PRAM reset, SMC reset.

Considering trying Mountain Lion as I believe this is an OS issue. However, maybe I should just the 19.99 into an external webcam reluctantly? I would love to have it original again! 😟

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.3), All upgrades applied

Posted on Jul 23, 2013 12:31 PM

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Answer 1

EZ Jim

Level 7

22,590 points

Jul 25, 2013 8:57 AM in response to NicknoiSight

I doubt that yours is an OS issue. I have several iSights, both external and internal, and all of them have worked properly with all of the Mac OS systems you mention.

I would think it more likely that yours is an hardware issue. With all you have done successfully inside your Mac, I suggest that you backup your drive and have an Apple Authorized Service Provider have a look at it.

Unless you are a skilled electronics technician and have the time to troubleshoot and resolve the problem on your own, I suggest you consider seeking professional help at this point. Apple Technicians have all the necessary special tools, test equipment, technical data, and replacement parts required to quickly correct any problem.

Message was edited by: EZ Ji m

Mac OSX 10.8.4

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