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Green light on camera staying on, camera won't connect

The green light on my built-in camera is constantly on, but the camera won't connect. I've restarted to no avail, and can't see any open applications that would be using the camera...


This happened after I used Quicktime to record a video. The application failed, so I restarted QuickTime with no luck - that's when I noticed the green light still on. I tried opening Photo Booth, but the camera wouldn't connect.


I've restarted to no avail.


I can't see any processes in the Activity Monitor that would be using the camera - so I don't quite know what to do next!


Appreciate any suggestions!

iMac (27-inch Mid 2010), OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Feb 15, 2014 7:49 PM

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Posted on Feb 15, 2014 8:37 PM

You have pretty much worked thru step 1 of > How to Troubleshoot iSight, so now try steps 2,3 & 4.


  1. See if the issue is application-specific.
    Try another application (iSight works with applications like iChat, PhotoBooth, and iMovie HD 6) to see if the iSight camera exhibits the same behavior in all applications. If it only happens in one application, try reinstalling that application.
  2. See if the issue is user-specific.
    Test your iSight camera in another user account. If the issue only occurs in one user, the issue would be isolated to user settings.
  3. Find out if the computer recognizes the iSight
    Check System Profiler (in the Utilities folder, inside the Applications folder). Under the USB header, check to see if the iSight camera is detected.
  4. Reset SMC or PMU
    Reset your computer's SMC or PMU, and then check System Profiler again. (SMC reset instructions for iMac G5 (iSight), Intel-based iMacs; PMU reset instructions for MacBook and MacBook Pro.)
5 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Feb 15, 2014 8:37 PM in response to ladydars

You have pretty much worked thru step 1 of > How to Troubleshoot iSight, so now try steps 2,3 & 4.


  1. See if the issue is application-specific.
    Try another application (iSight works with applications like iChat, PhotoBooth, and iMovie HD 6) to see if the iSight camera exhibits the same behavior in all applications. If it only happens in one application, try reinstalling that application.
  2. See if the issue is user-specific.
    Test your iSight camera in another user account. If the issue only occurs in one user, the issue would be isolated to user settings.
  3. Find out if the computer recognizes the iSight
    Check System Profiler (in the Utilities folder, inside the Applications folder). Under the USB header, check to see if the iSight camera is detected.
  4. Reset SMC or PMU
    Reset your computer's SMC or PMU, and then check System Profiler again. (SMC reset instructions for iMac G5 (iSight), Intel-based iMacs; PMU reset instructions for MacBook and MacBook Pro.)

Feb 15, 2014 9:23 PM in response to ladydars

This procedure may show which program is using the camera. It makes no changes, and therefore will not, in itself, solve your problem.

Please triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

sudo lsof -Fc +D /L*/Cor*/*/*/AppleCamera.plugin | sed '2!d' | cut -c2- | pbcopy


Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.

Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.


Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting. You'll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. Confirm. You don't need to post the warning.

If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator. Log in as one and start over.

Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear below what you entered.

The output of the command will be automatically copied to the Clipboard. If the command produced no output, the Clipboard will be empty. Paste into a reply to this message.

The Terminal window doesn't show the output. Please don't copy anything from there.

Green light on camera staying on, camera won't connect

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