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Help! - Macbook Pro camera not working (light comes on then goes off)

C

covertsurfer

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 18, 2007
579
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Today my Macbook Pro's camera stopped working which is a bit of a problem due to current world events and I have tried everything I can think of to see if just magically starts working again.

Screenshot 2020-06-01 at 18.03.59.png

I have reset SMC, PRAM, installed all software updates and run the First Aid check in Disk Utility to see if that would repair permssions.

I have executed sudo killall VDCAssistant and reopened apps afterwards to see if that would work but nothing.

I have also ran Apple Diagnostic test (hold D when bootin up) and no issues were found with reference code: ADP000

What appears to happen when opening an app that needs the camera is the green light comes on but I get a black output, after 10 secs the green light goes off.

Has anyone seen this before and know how to fix it?

Here is a video of what happens -

Thanks
 

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Anyone?

I have wiped the machine and put Catalina onto it hoping a clean system would fix it but unfortunately not.
 
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@covertsurfer I am experiencing the EXACT same issue and I have also tried everything you mentioned. Camera is still not working/entirely black and green light is on at first then disappears -- have you been able to solve your issue?? Id be very happy if you can let me know pleaseee
 
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Apple said it was bust so the whole screen would need replacing as the camera is embedded in the housing etc and they don’t fix things. They replace the screen etc.
If you’re in warranty then fine otherwise buy an external camera otherwise they want lots of $$$ to replace the whole screen etc
 
covertsurfer said:
Today my Macbook Pro's camera stopped working which is a bit of a problem due to current world events and I have tried everything I can think of to see if just magically starts working again.

View attachment 920631
I have reset SMC, PRAM, installed all software updates and run the First Aid check in Disk Utility to see if that would repair permssions.

I have executed sudo killall VDCAssistant and reopened apps afterwards to see if that would work but nothing.

I have also ran Apple Diagnostic test (hold D when bootin up) and no issues were found with reference code: ADP000

What appears to happen when opening an app that needs the camera is the green light comes on but I get a black output, after 10 secs the green light goes off.

Has anyone seen this before and know how to fix it?

Here is a video of what happens -

Thanks
Click to expand...
When my computer's camera does not work, a restart fixes it.
 
Exact same problem here. Seems a bit suspicious that a few of us have the same issue in such a short time frame. Tried everything that you mentioned and nothing works. Replacing the whole screen sounds like a mess and expensive too! Were you able to fix it eventually?
 
@Gabexico I have really trying everything, all the restarts, etc. It has been a while but the problem is still there and very annoying! I am shocked with Macbook Pro also because I didn't hit it anywhere or anything so I can't understand how it's an hardwire problem, though I do think it is. I updated to Big Sur and didn't solve the problem. Since it has been three years for me I don't have a guarantee in case the problem is with mac. Changing the screen does sound extremely expensive and frustrating. I had to use a cheap external camera for online meetings, classes, etc. I didn't go to a Mac store or any technician to really understand & solve the issue because I'm having to write papers all the time and do readings for my degree so I can't afford interruptions from macbook. I will try to tackle this during summer where I can find time.
 
My camera will work, but then suddenly the green light will start flashing and the camera will crash, although the Zoom meeting keeps going on. Sometimes it will come back on but sometimes not. Very frustrating. Posted about this a few days ago but got no replies.

 
Exact same for me on macbook pro. Also tried steps from @covertsurfer. Suspiciously, my camera stopped working today on imac so must be software issue. Hopefully fix coming soon.
 
I share the same problem. I have also tried all the approaches you took, to no avail. Its tough because it seems like the hardware is fine.

I'm not a mac hardware expert, but i do work with software, so I've been trying to search on some of the logs I'm finding. When I run the console app and try to start photo booth, I get the following potential errors:

```
mediaremoted Failed to retrieve application-identifier from SecTask. This typically indicates that the process is missing the application-identifier entitlement. It must match the process' bundle identifier. This is a client-issue. Check the crash report for the Coalition process. PID: 0

....

Photo Booth AddInstanceForFactory: No factory registered for id <CFUUID 0x60000145c560> 30010C1C-93BF-11D8-8B5B-000A95AF9C6A
Photo Booth CMIOHardware.cpp:379:CMIOObjectGetPropertyData Error: 2003332927, failed

...

AppleUVCCamera [iBridge]: Streaming have not started in 1 sec, aborting
AppleUVCCamera [iBridge]: Aborting Streaming


```


In my case, I have replace the display fairly recently from an ebay part, so I suspected that the camera may have been disrupted in the replacement part. I may try to re-install the display and see if this makes a difference.
 
I am having the same issue on a MacBook Pro mid 2014. I have done the hinge fix (twice).

The camera worked on macOS 11.2 (did first hinge fix here), but then started not working on macOS 11.3 (did second hinge fix here) and macOS 11.3.1.

I have done the many ideas to fix this issue...the two terminal commands, SMC reset, PRAM reset, restarting.

Apple diagnostics said all was well. The camera is there in the system report. Does not work in admin account or secondary account on the Mac.

It is still not working. I just have the blinking green light in Photobooth, FaceTime, and Zoom.

I have not checked console errors yet.

Any other ideas for a fix?
 
Facing issue suddenly..no hardware thing i messed up..it was within my day i opened teams and it started behaving badly..anyone any workarounds?
 
I am also having this issue. It did seem to start a similar time to when you guys mentioned it (Mid 2021).
Seems to come and go. Feel it's suspicious to be hardware for them all to fail at the same time?

Any fixes yet?

I'm on a 2016 MBP
 
Same issue for me. Camera worked one night prepping for Zoom interview and the next day didn't work and hasn't worked since in Zoom, FT, Photo Booth. I've tried all of the above. Just finished chat with Apple Support who double checked I had DONE everything above. Diagnostics found no issues, so they said I needed to bring my Mac in. I plan to do so tomorrow if I can get in as Apple isn't scheduling appointments in most stores. I'll update what I'm told. Very frustrated.
 
I only registered on here to mention that I have the same issue. I feel like we're in a support group because the entire time I was trying to explain this issue to people, nobody understood, or gave me the usual breakdown. Please let me know if anyone has advanced on this at all or figured it out. I have bought an external USB camera but somehow it is doing something similar with the actual MacBook camera -- not always responding. I have a major job coming next month and I really want to figure out a solution before then that doesn't involve buying a new computer. Thanks all.
 
Exact same thing happening to me. Went to apple store and tried all the things many times, but no luck. Told me I need to replace for $500, so just ordered an external camera. Really not great in our new zoom based world,
 
Hello Everyone! I was wondering if anyone was able to get an answer to this problem? This just started happening to my MBP 2016 in the middle of my classes! I have tried EVERYTHING! Did anyone find a solution in the last few years?
 
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