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iSight turning on by itself?

R

raymondu999

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 11, 2008
1,009
1
Hi. I'm not asking this personally, I'm asking on behalf of my friend. He has a stock white 2.2GHz MacBook, the 2.2GHz SR, with 1GB RAM. Now, recently, he noticed that the green indicator light next to his iSight camera, is always on, even if he just started up his 'Book. If he tries to open Photo Booth, all he gets is not a picture on the Photo Booth window, but in fact, just plain black inside the window, with no error message.

Does anyone know what is going on?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

PS. I've tried resetting the PRAM, by command-option-p-r, to no avail.
 
Common problem but I don't think anyone knows the answer....

Restart normally fixes it - I have has 3 Santa Rosa MacBook's and my current Penryn and it has never happened to me (or anyone I know)...

There used to be a thread on the MacBook discussion boards on Apple/Support
 
that's another weird thing... it never turns off, even if he restarts. even if he turns off then turns back on. Just never does. By the way, he's in college and it's his only machine, so sending to repair isn't really an option.

EDIT: well it is an option, but it should be a last resort.
 
Try reinstalling Leopard. Apple will have you do that before they service it. Otherwise, your camera may be bad and needs to be replaced.
 
Le Big Mac said:
Does it work? Usually when it's "on" it's not working. Restarting and zapping pram sometimes fix it. Check the apple support site.
Click to expand...

Like I said. All photo booth gets is a black screen, and zapping the PRAM didn't work. Also, it's his only machine, and he's in Uni... and reinstalling leopard would be a bit troublesome for him at this stage...
 
We actually tried shutting off, then leaving it off overnight... then turning it on the next morning, to see... the green light is still smiling at us...
 
raymondu999 said:
We actually tried shutting off, then leaving it off overnight... then turning it on the next morning, to see... the green light is still smiling at us...
Click to expand...

Is it connected using the power adaptor or using the battery ?

If using battery then connect to mains - shut-down count to 10 then restart....
 
So basically, his iSight, no matter what he does, is always on. I've tried PRAM zapping, turning off, letting it rest, then turn back on, checking running processes in Activity Monitor, but I really can't find anything wrong:confused:
 
raymondu999 said:
So basically, his iSight, no matter what he does, is always on. I've tried PRAM zapping, turning off, letting it rest, then turn back on, checking running processes in Activity Monitor, but I really can't find anything wrong:confused:
Click to expand...

Like suggested by me before on this thread, Apple will make you to do a clean install if you give it to them to try to fix the issue. Might as well do it now, and if that doesn't work, it's and issue with the camera, and it will need to be serviced.
 
isight spies on you!

Whenever you visit a porn site isight will automatically turn on and capture your 'activities'.
It will then stream it directly to apple so that steve jobs and the other apple boffins can get off on it.
They will then burn the footage to dvd using idvd and then they post it to your mum!
 
well i never saw anyone post this. or i might be blind

well heres this

-take the magsafe charger out
-power down your laptop
-take out the battery
-hold the power button for about 15 seconds
-put the battery back
-power back up

this will reset the PRAM. you did it through the keyboard sequence but not through this one. hope it helps
 
Tell you friend to reinstall Leopard, or if he's too lazy to do that, then to just put a piece of tape over the camera.
 
Happened to mine ONCE. Hasn't happened since (all I did was shutdown). Best bet if he's in college and must have the machine - ignore it until summer break, then send it in for service. Simple as that (unless his warranty runs out before then...).
 
I have had it happen twice on my MB since this summer. Luckily for me, when I power it down and then back on the light goes off. If you cannot see any processes that may relate to the camera, and when you open photo booth the camera is not on, why does it matter? If you are afraid your computer is spying on you, cover it up. Unless you need the camera, cover it up, he will be done with school in less than a month (assumption), and then get it fixed. This is not ideal, but if said yourself getting it fixed now is not an option, thus since it is not causing any problems, just leave it be.
 
I don't mean to be indelicate...

But I have to ask: Is this your "friend's" macbook, or did he steal it? If the MB has a theft recovery on it, the camera will turn on oftentimes to take pictures of the thief. If his lappie has this perhaps it has been reported stolen, either on purpose or inadvertantly?
Just thinking outside the box.
 
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