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Built-in camera not working

A few weeks ago, the built in webcam on my MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012) would intermittently quit working. If I was video chatting with someone, everything would be fine, and then it would go black. After a bit of research, I began using the Terminal command `sudo killall AppleCameraAssistant;sudo killall VDCAssistant`. This worked great for a while: my camera would work well for short increments of time. However, that fix hasn't worked for the past few days. My MacBook does not recognize my camera and whenever I run that command, Terminal returns "No matching processes were found". Is there anything I can do to fix this issue?

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), null

Posted on Apr 11, 2016 5:59 PM

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Posted on Apr 12, 2016 10:25 AM

Here are the things users can do to fix webcam problems:


(1) If restarting your Mac doesn't fix the problem,


(2) use Apple's http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2090.


(BTW - The Troubleshooting article calls the camera an "iSight". However, after the article was published, Apple has changed the built-in camera's name on newer Macs from "iSight" to "FaceTime" and then to "FaceTime HD." Regardless of the name of your built-in camera, the same info and troubleshooting applies.)


Be sure to test more than one Apple app (Photo Booth, FaceTime, iMovie, QuickTime Player, etc.) in more than one user account. Do NOT use the "Guest" account for this test. If you do not have more than one user account for the testing, create a new one now. If you need help, how to do it is explained in http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201754.


A "Standard" user account is all you need for testing.


(3) If your cam won't work properly even with Apple apps, use OS X Recovery to completely reinstall your Mac OS from the Recovery System stored on your startup drive. Don't bother testing Skype or other third-party apps until you have your camera working with Apple apps.


(4) If none of the above suggestions resolve your trouble, contact Apple or an Apple-Authorized Service Provider to have your Mac professionally serviced. Be sure to backup your Mac and deauthorize iTunes before tendering it for service.


Intermittent hardware failures are difficult to diagnose and can be time-comsuming to correct, so ask how long the AASP may need to keep your Mac.



Message was edited by: EZ Jim


Mac OSX 10.11.4

1 reply
Question marked as Best reply

Apr 12, 2016 10:25 AM in response to MJ94

Here are the things users can do to fix webcam problems:


(1) If restarting your Mac doesn't fix the problem,


(2) use Apple's http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2090.


(BTW - The Troubleshooting article calls the camera an "iSight". However, after the article was published, Apple has changed the built-in camera's name on newer Macs from "iSight" to "FaceTime" and then to "FaceTime HD." Regardless of the name of your built-in camera, the same info and troubleshooting applies.)


Be sure to test more than one Apple app (Photo Booth, FaceTime, iMovie, QuickTime Player, etc.) in more than one user account. Do NOT use the "Guest" account for this test. If you do not have more than one user account for the testing, create a new one now. If you need help, how to do it is explained in http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201754.


A "Standard" user account is all you need for testing.


(3) If your cam won't work properly even with Apple apps, use OS X Recovery to completely reinstall your Mac OS from the Recovery System stored on your startup drive. Don't bother testing Skype or other third-party apps until you have your camera working with Apple apps.


(4) If none of the above suggestions resolve your trouble, contact Apple or an Apple-Authorized Service Provider to have your Mac professionally serviced. Be sure to backup your Mac and deauthorize iTunes before tendering it for service.


Intermittent hardware failures are difficult to diagnose and can be time-comsuming to correct, so ask how long the AASP may need to keep your Mac.



Message was edited by: EZ Jim


Mac OSX 10.11.4

Built-in camera not working

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