iSight not working, indicator light continuously on

I actually just came upon this problem myself yesterday. I also saw a green screen in Photobooth. I restarted and it was still there. After that I turned my computer off and then started it up again. Isight green light was off and photobooth worked properly again. After putting my computer for sleep for some time, it came back on with isight on. I don't know how to fix this problem correctly but I do understand your frustration. Anyone else know a fix for this?

I called apple support and they tried everything but nothing worked. They told me I would have to take it in to the dealer for service. It seems as though a lot of people are havong this problem. It appears to be a hardware issue. That is what they said.

Hi All,

Does this help ?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302520



8:33 PM Saturday; August 5, 2006

i shut down my system for a half hour, rebooted and the light went off. The camera still didn't work in photobooth or imovie dvd. I created another user account and when i logged into that user, the light went off, but again i could not capture any images. i am going to shut it off for the night and unplug all usb cables etc, reboot tomorrow am and see if it works. i went into system pref to check my colors ralph, but everything was set properly. oh ya how the **** do you rate the responses?

Chris

Hi Riverboy,

Stock post on Helpful and Solved

New Discussions Reponses

The new system for discussions asks that after you mark your question as Solved. You should take the time to mark any posts that have aided you with the tag and the post that provided your answer with the tag. This not only gives points to the posters, but points anyone searching for answers to similar problems to the proper posts.

Alternatively, you can change the status to Answered.

If we use the forums properly they will work well...

I would go to System Profilier and check that the camera can be seen there. It will be in the USB section for an Internal camera.



8:31 PM Sunday; August 6, 2006

Where do you find these tags? Do I just label my question with a number?

My fault.

I should have checked if you were the Original Poster.

The Original Poster can see those Helpful and Sovled buttons level with the reply to xxxx line.



10:49 PM Sunday; August 6, 2006

Hi, I have had the isight right from the start. It's on my G4 12" Powerbook now. A couple of weeks ago the camera did NOT want to go out anymore. The green light comes on immediately on startup. So I took it to my Powermac Quad. Same story. Then to my wife's iMac G5..same there. Now it is very unlikely that all three machines might have the same extraneous software installed. But in any case I COMPLETELY wiped my powerbook, reinstalled OS 10.4.7, reset NVRAM and PRAM. The camera was available only on first startup. After an hour or so (the powerbook had gone to sleep) the green light was on again and has been on ever since. My conclusion is that either my iSight is a gonner (but it DID show normal image that first moment after complete reinstall) or there is a serious underlying problem with Quicktime, Isight, Firewire and OS 10.4.7. I will now wipe the entire laptop again and only try incremental updates to see if one of the system-updates does the foul play.
I am pretty much convinced of the latter. Apple ? Any response ? Is there some utility to RESET the iSight? In case somebody wonders : I have done the NVRAM reset cycle etc at least 10 times by now.I have also searched the net extensively but not found a remedy that seems to "stick".

Quad G5 / iMac G5 / Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4)

I have figured it out. I have the Imac, and it has worked for me everytime i have tried it. If you are in photobooth, and there is no image coming from your camera and the light is on, cover the isight with your thumb, and hold it there for a couple of seconds. The screen will go a little scratchy and then you can take you thumb away and the picture should be there. It has worked for me three times.

I have figured it out. I have the Imac, and it has
worked for me everytime i have tried it. If you are
in photobooth, and there is no image coming from your
camera and the light is on, cover the isight with
your thumb, and hold it there for a couple of
seconds. The screen will go a little scratchy and
then you can take you thumb away and the picture
should be there. It has worked for me three times.

Good to hear that it works for you riverboy...but...since the camera light is on and iChat states : "Your camera is in use by another application" , when I start up photobooth it says "Photobooth cannot open because no camera is attached or the camera is in use by another application." So whatever your problem was is most likely something completely different form the "camera in use" problem being discussed here. Needles to say that my iSight IS attached AND the green light is on. But NONE of the apple programs (QT player, iChat, Photobooth, Apple Quicktime Broadcaster, iMovie) recognize the fact that the camera is there. Thanks for your response.
Something set it internally to be "occupied" and NONE of the programmes or hints sofar have been able to RESET that. Again, I would hope that Apple responds to this discussion. I just had a call from a friend in the Netherlands who now has the same problem after having used his iSight for over a year without any glitches...

Ok, I have now wiped and reinstalled my Powerbook G4 again. This time the green light stayed on and the camera never even showed an image because it remained occupied from the start. I reinstalled quicktime 7.1.2 a couple of times, did the NVRAM thing again and again, searched for "reset iSight" or technical docs but to NO avail. The cam is working but somehow remains "occupied". I just checked it on the Quad G5 again, same story.
I will now try to find someone with an external iSight also (they are getting rare) to test here. Needles to say I'm pretty anxious to plug in another cam in case the problem is some kind of Parameter setting inside the cam...

did you try it anyway. you don't have to be in photobooth to try it.

Hi Frans,

Does this help http://www.ralphjohnsuk.dsl.pipex.com/EZJim/EZJimpage4.html

Or this http://www.ralphjohnsuk.dsl.pipex.com/EZJim/EZJimpage2.html

These were written by EZ Jim who I am grateful to for letting me host them.



9:42 PM Thursday; August 10, 2006

I am so frustrated with my isight. Last night the green light was off, but the camera was still warm and the message was: "no camera is connected...."

This morning, after my emac slept for the night, the green light is on continuously with the same message.

I have read and tried the two URLs you sent to no avail.

I have tried everything: unplugging, replugging, checking ichat, resetting PRAM, restarting the emac, etc., etc. HELP