FaceTime Camera: the green light next to the camera does a slow blink and there is no picture

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Level 1

9 points

FaceTime Camera: the green light next to the camera does a slow blink and there is no picture

MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015) now running El Capitan 10.11.5.

Whenever I try to access the FaceTime camera (FaceTime, Photo Booth Apps) the green light next to the camera does a slow blink and there is no picture.

From System Report > Camera > Model ID: Apple Camera VendorID_0x106B ProductID_0x1570

Are the vendor and product numbers correct?

The camera has worked for the past 6 month and I have used FaceTime multiple times with no problem. Multiple users are affected.

No recent changes to system.

Since the problem started I have:

1) Installed Skype to see if an app other than an Apple app had a camera problem; Skype has no camera either.

2) Upgraded from Yosemite 10.10.4 to El Capitan. Hoping that the upgrade would reload the Face Time app. No change to the symptoms

3) Reinstalled the El Capitan using the OS X Internet Recovery. I did not use the Time Machine.

(A side note to everyone, it was painless and simple and does not require reinstalling apps. I wish MS OS reinstall was as simple😟)

4) Several other threads suggested to reset the NVRAM and SMC even though they don't seem to be related to the prob. Tried that - No success here either

Any advice to determine if this is hardware or software issue? Still digging while waiting for an answer.

MacBook, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5), Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015

Posted on May 26, 2016 4:32 AM

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Answer 1

Daikusan Author

Level 1

9 points

May 26, 2016 4:46 AM in response to Daikusan

Note: This problem is not solved

Completed How to Troubleshoot iSight - Apple Support also. No help with the problem.

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Answer 2

EZ Jim

Level 7

22,590 points

May 27, 2016 10:37 AM in response to Daikusan

One of these will fix your camera problem:

(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.

Message was edited by: EZ Jim

Mac OSX 10.11.5

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