My FaceTime camera is not working in El Capitan (Thunderbolt Display)

When I do this I got "No matching processes were found".

Didn't work. No camera.

Camera is controlled by the apps that use it. Launch the app. More info: OS X El Capitan: Use the built-in camera

As soon as you start the FaceTime application the camera should activate. Try the Photo Booth application as well. If neither one of these applications activate the camera something might be wrong. The easiest fix can often be the bright one, try restarting your mac and reconnecting the cables.

I have this exact same problem - the Thunderbolt and internal cameras are not being detected.

This has started to happen only since installation of El Capitan. I also use a pair of MM-1 USB speakers and they are also not detected.

I have found that this seems to occur only if after the MacBook has been disconnected from the Thunderbolt. If you reboot your MacBook everything will work normally, including all cameras and audio devices. Then disconnect from the Thunderbolt and when you reconnect - everything fails - until you reboot again.

Gotta be a bug in El Capital related to Thunderbolt and USB/audio/multimedia.

See also my own post here: El Capitan intermittent USB multi-media

I had this same problem - the fix was super easy:

Open FaceTime - go to the Menu -> Video -> Select "Facetime Camera HD (Display)". For some reason it was stuck on the internal camera, and didn't automatically select the display camera after the El Capitan 10.11 upgrade.

TThe problem is that this will keep occurring. Your suggestion to fix the problem does not cure the issue long term. As soon as I disconnect from the thunderbolt and then connect, the audio and video are screwed up again.

Thanks, bigdave1357 - You're right, I didn't test the disconnect / reconnect. I suggest everyone post feedback or open a support ticket to alert Apple of the issue. At least we know where to look & correct the issue. It's not major, but it's a PITA

Hi tbrumleve - you're right about the PITA. At the moment I'm rebooting my Macbook every time I reconnect it to a Thunderbolt display. I have one at my home office and one at work and I run a fair few virtual machines so rebooting is not as quick as you might expect. This is a big PITA for me - going from having a portable workhorse that I can disconnect and move around wherever I need, to having to perform a fairly major series of reboots every time I want to relocate.

And for me it isn't just the camera problem - audio and other USB peripherals are also being affected by the Thunderbolt disconnect issue.

You're right that a quick for at least for the video is to just reselect the camera, but for some of the problems I'm seeing there seems to be no quick fix - nothing I can do at the command line, no service I can restart. I just have to reboot the whole platform.

bigdave1357 wrote:... for me it isn't just the camera problem - audio and other USB peripherals are also being affected ...

To be certain that responsible Apple personnel see your issue, report here: http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Message was edited by: EZ Jim

Mac OSX 10.11

I had the exact same problem on my 2011 MBP 15'', as soon as I upgraded from Yosemite to El Capitan, the built-in FaceTime HD camera did not activate both in the FaceTime application and Photo Booth.

This worked for me:

Go to: Applications > Utilities > Terminal and type the following (without the " " ): "sudo killall VDCAssistant" hit enter, type your password and hit enter again.

Restart your mac.

This should fix your problem with the built-in FaceTime HD camera.

I confirm it solves the problem on iMacs as well. I didn't even need to restart for the repair to take place.

Thank you TiagoMC

I did this yesterday and the camera worked.

Now this morning Safari is not working.

This has been working well for me.

I've since applied the latest 10.11.1 patch to El Capitan and now the workaround is doing nothing.

I was hoping that the patch would fix the problem but it seems to have broken the workaround!

C'mon Apple - we need this to be fixed. I currently have to reboot my Macbook overtime I disconnect from the Thunderbolt display.

As a new user, please understand that you are NOT directly addressing Apple here. For more info about Apple discussions, start here: http://discussions.apple.com/static/apple/tutorial/etiquette.html

You can send feedback directly to Apple via http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

You will not get a response, but you can be certain that the responsible Apple people will see your input for consideration in future product development.

(If you bought your Mac locally, your retailer may be able to help you with your issues.)

Message was edited by: EZ Jim

Mac OSX 10.11.1

Thank you! This has been driving me nuts for the past couple of days and your fix took care of it.