macOS 10.12 Sierra Unsupported Macs Thread

[dogslobber]

I own a Macmini3,1 aka Mac Mini Early 2009. I've tried to browse through this thread searching for answers if Sierra will run on this Mac. So far I've managed to find out that using dosdude's patch tool it can be made to run. However, apparently Wi-Fi might not be functional which is a definite deal-breaker for me. Two questions:

1. Will the Wi-Fi support come (or should I stop wasting time on thinking about getting Sierra to my Mac)?
2. Will I be able to do system updates like before (via App Store) or do I have to do them manually or with a tool?

I'd really appreciate feedback on this matter as I'm trying to decide whether to stick with El Capitan for now (and maybe buy a Mac in the future) or try to, yet again, extend the life of my Mac Mini. I really only need it for browsing the web, for streaming, for e-mails and for light word-processing. However, it is important that basic features (such as Wi-Fi) function without hiccups as I don't extend the life of this Mac at the cost of constantly having to fix issues.

Yeah 2009 Mini with no wifi support is a show stopper for me. *shrugs* I'm not really that fazed as Sierra just doesn't seem like that great an upgrade from El Cap. FWIW, I use my 2009 Mini mostly for Win10 which is amazing but I guess the real concern is the other feet-to-the-fire Apple hardware I have which won't support 10.13.

I think I now understand what Clarke Kent went through when he lost his superpowers in Superman 2.

 

[RumorzGuy]

MY iSIGHT CAMERA IS WORKING AGAIN! SEE POINT #11 BELOW FOR DETAILS

The following is a bit long, but I am providing as much info as possible, in the hope that it will help someone here to figure out how to fix the iSight problem.

Aside from losing one app due to an issue with macOS Sierra, up until now, I had
assumed that I remained immune to all of the issues which have been discussed here as of late.

However, this morning it dawned on me that since first installing the Sierra betas, GMs and then the final release, I had not used the FaceTime app on my early 2009 iMac with 16A323 installed.

Well, I did just now, and to my dismay, this is what I see on the right side of FaceTime's window:

"No Camera Available

To use FaceTime, connect a camera."

So I launched the "System Information" app in the /Applications/Utilities folder, and under Hardware/Camera it likewise says . . .

"No video capture devices were found."

In the System Information app under Hardware/USB, it states the following:

Built-in iSight:

Product ID: 0x8502
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
Version: 2.19
Serial Number: 8J97VP3242CX3E00
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Location ID: 0x24400000 / 2
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 500
Extra Operating Current (mA): 0
Built-In: Yes

Here is what I have tried so far:

1. I tried Czo's suggestion to delete . . .

/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel

. . . to recreate kernel cache. While the kernel cache was recreated, it did not resolve the issue.

2. Next, I tried Czo's suggestion to replace the "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" file with the El Capitan kernel extension that dosdude1 uploaded here.

To play it safe, I first copied the original kext file that is in . . .

/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/

. . . to the desktop, and then I moved the El Capitan version of the same into the above folder, overwriting the original kext file.

Doing this did not help either. Both FaceTime and the System Information app still report that no camera is available.

3. Next, I tried the two Terminal commands that pkouame suggested.

When I ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel", the Terminal spit out this . . .

kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext has incorrect permissions; omitting.
KernelCache ID: B095BE6F5826D16EF7A57745CEE0521D
symlink("/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel", "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache") failed 17 (File exists) <createPrelinkedKernel 2795>

I am assuming that the incorrect permissions is because I replaced the original kext file with the one that dosdude1 uploaded.

So I launched "BatChmod" and dropped the "IOUSBFamily.kext" file on it.

"Owner" was already set to "root", and "Group" was set to "wheel". Likewise, permissions were already set to 755.

So, I just clicked on the "Apply to enclosed" box and hit the "Apply" button.

After doing that, I ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel" again, and this time, the "incorrect permissions" error for "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" was gone, but I was still getting this:

kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
KernelCache ID: E219698F35EAFE132996D8B5BFF59EBB
symlink("/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel", "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache") failed 17 (File exists) <createPrelinkedKernel 2795>

So once again I deleted the "prelinkedkernel" file and ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel" yet again. This time I got this:

/ locked; waiting for lock.
Lock acquired; proceeding.
kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
KernelCache ID: E219698F35EAFE132996D8B5BFF59EBB
File at path '/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel' changed, cannot be used

So I am not sure what I can do about that.

BTW, each time that I ran "sudo kextcache -system-caches", nothing appeared in the Terminal window, but the result is still the same. There is supposedly no camera available.

4. Next, I compared the "com.apple.Boot.plist" file that foxlet uploaded with my own that is in "/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration".

Similar to "hadnet", mine also only said "-no_compat_check", so I made the file writable in BBEdit and changed it to "-no_compat_check kext-dev-mode=1 mbasd=1". I also used BatChmod to check ownership and permissions on the file after I edited it.

Once again, doing this did not fix my iSight camera.

5. Next, I tried foxlet's suggestion of resetting the NVRAM, or zapping the PRAM, as we used to call it. The results were scary.

I shut down my iMac completely, waited about fifteen seconds, and then did the option-command-p-r combo.

After the first bong, I waited for the second bong. Instead, I got the gray startup screen with the prohibited symbol on it. Then my iMac just shut down. Freaked me out a bit, man!

So I rebooted, hoping for the best, and everything was back to normal . . . PHEW! . . . Well, minus my iSight camera.

6. Next, I tried pkouame's suggestion of trying to rebuild the kext cache from an external hard drive via the Terminal.

I got the same results as when I tried doing the same thing from my startup drive. In fact, when I used the Terminal from my external hard drive, the permissions error for the "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" file returned.

This mystified me, because I am certain that even after putting back the original kext file, I used BatChmod to check ownership and permissions on the file.

Well, after rebooting my iMac using the regular internal startup drive, I ran BatChmod again, and checked the file. Sure enough, "owner" is still set to root, and "Group" is set to wheel. Permissions are set to 755.

So after verifying that, I ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel" in the Terminal again -- that is, from my startup drive -- and once again it is reporting the same permissions error:

kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext has incorrect permissions; omitting.
KernelCache ID: DFD1113AF11177F010D4FA71820137FE
symlink("/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel", "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache") failed 17 (File exists) <createPrelinkedKernel 2795>

I even tried setting permissions to 644, and I still get that "incorrect permissions" error.

The only way I was able to get rid of the error for the "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" file was by chmodding the whole IOUSBFamily.kext file to root, wheel and 755.

7. Next, I rebooted my iMac using my USB 16A323 installer drive -- it is actually a partition on one of my WD external hard drives -- and I did the following:

• Ran "csrutil disable" in the Terminal, just to make sure that SIP was disabled. I was already pretty certain that it was, because I use two apps that require for SIP to be disabled.
• Ran "First Aid" in the Disk Utility app to make sure there was nothing wrong with my internal startup hard drive. No problems were detected.
• Ran dosdude1's post-install tool in order to use the "forced rebuild" option. I also enabled the "Recovery Partition Patch" as well. I am not exactly sure what that patch does, but when earlier I tried to boot in recovery mode using command-r, I wasn't able to.

8. After my machine rebooted from its internal hard drive, I checked FaceTime again. Still no iSight camera is detected.

9. I ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel" in Terminal yet again, being as the post-install tool said that I might have to. This time the Terminal spit out this:

/ locked; waiting for lock.
Lock acquired; proceeding.
kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
KernelCache ID: A3DF8E0C4EF96A3EA9F10DDE5091E4E0
File at path '/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel' changed, cannot be used

Exactly what does that last line mean, and how do I fix it?

10. I reset the SMC. But this step was likewise to no avail, and the iSight camera is still not recognized by the OS.

11. In a last-minute post, only minutes before I was going to perform a clean install of 16A323 Final on my early 2009 iMac's internal hard drive, using my USB external hard drive where I had installed Sierra Final using dosdude1's macOS Sierra Patch Tool, a MacRumors newbie named "brunsik" mentioned that he had VirtualBox installed, and that from reading an article on another website, he resolved his iSight camera issue by detaching his iSight camera from VirtualBox.

As it turns out, I also have VirtualBox installed.

While brunsik offered some instructions regarding how to do this, I couldn't quite make sense of them. I had already been contemplating uninstalling VirtualBox for some time, being as I no longer run SheepShaver in it anyway. So I ran the VirtualBox uninstaller script that is included in the VirtualBox DMG file.

While I was hopeful, given everything that I have tried thus far -- which has all failed -- my expectation was not too high.

After removing every shred of my VirtualBox installation from my hard drive -- please note that you do need to do a spotlight search and/or use something like CleanApp, because the VirtualBox uninstaller leaves a lot behind -- I ran the System Information app in the Applications/Utilities folder again, and looked under the Hardware/Camera section. Lo and behold! My camera was listed again!

So I launched FaceTime, followed by Photo Booth, and my camera is indeed working again in both of them!

How ironic that so many of us have been knocking our heads together, busting our butts, and trying everything possible, and then someone who joined MacRumors only two weeks ago, and who has posted only six messages, provided the exact information I needed to resolve this camera issue, just like that! Amazing! Now I am wondering if my broken safe mode and recovery mode will be fixed as well. I will find out shortly after I finish my daily full backup.

Now I am wondering how many of you are also running VirtualBox on your machines. I bet a lot of you.

While I didn't take the time to pinpoint the problem more precisely -- being as I had already been contemplating removing VirtualBox anyway -- given the nature of the error strings that I was seeing in the Terminal, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the culprit was one or more of VirtualBox's kext files.

At any rate, I am a happy camper once again! A big THANK YOU to "brunsik" for figuring this out! Excellent work, my friend!

 

[aquaticflow]

The following is a bit long, but I am providing as much info as possible, in the hope that it will help someone here to figure out how to fix the iSight problem.

Aside from losing one app due to an issue with macOS Sierra, up until now, I had
assumed that I remained immune to all of the issues which have been discussed here as of late.

However, this morning it dawned on me that since first installing the Sierra betas, GMs and then the final release, I had not used the FaceTime app on my early 2009 iMac with 16A323 installed.

Well, I did just now, and to my dismay, this is what I see on the right side of FaceTime's window:

"No Camera Available

To use FaceTime, connect a camera."

So I launched the "System Information" app in the /Applications/Utilities folder, and under Hardware/Camera it likewise says . . .

"No video capture devices were found."

In the System Information app under Hardware/USB, it states the following:

Built-in iSight:

Product ID: 0x8502
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
Version: 2.19
Serial Number: 8J97VP3242CX3E00
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Location ID: 0x24400000 / 2
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 500
Extra Operating Current (mA): 0
Built-In: Yes

Here is what I have tried so far:

1. I tried Czo's suggestion to delete . . .

/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel

. . . to recreate the kernel cache. While the kernel cache was recreated, it did not resolve the issue.

2. Next, I tried Czo's suggestion to replace the "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" file with the El Capitan kernel extension that dosdude1 uploaded here.

To play it safe, I first copied the original kext file that is in . . .

/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/

. . . to the desktop, and then I moved the El Capitan version of the same into the above folder, overwriting the original kext file.

Doing this did not help either. Both FaceTime and the System Information app still report that no camera is available.

3. Next, I tried the two Terminal commands that pkouame suggested.

When I ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel", the Terminal spit out this . . .

kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext has incorrect permissions; omitting.
KernelCache ID: B095BE6F5826D16EF7A57745CEE0521D
symlink("/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel", "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache") failed 17 (File exists) <createPrelinkedKernel 2795>

I am assuming that the incorrect permissions is because I replaced the original kext file with the one that dosdude1 uploaded.

So I launched "BatChmod" and dropped the "IOUSBFamily.kext" file on it.

"Owner" was already set to "root", and "Group" was set to "wheel". Likewise, permissions were already set to 755.

So, I just clicked on the "Apply to enclosed" box and hit the "Apply" button.

After doing that, I ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel" again, and this time, the "incorrect permissions" error for "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" was gone, but I was still getting this:

kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
KernelCache ID: E219698F35EAFE132996D8B5BFF59EBB
symlink("/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel", "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache") failed 17 (File exists) <createPrelinkedKernel 2795>

So once again I deleted the "prelinkedkernel" file and ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel" yet again. This time I got this:

/ locked; waiting for lock.
Lock acquired; proceeding.
kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
KernelCache ID: E219698F35EAFE132996D8B5BFF59EBB
File at path '/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel' changed, cannot be used

So I am not sure what I can do about that.

BTW, each time that I ran "sudo kextcache -system-caches", nothing appeared in the Terminal window, but the result is still the same. There is supposedly no camera available.

4. Next, I compared the "com.apple.Boot.plist" file that foxlet uploaded with my own that is in "/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration".

Similar to "hadnet", mine also only said "-no_compat_check", so I made the file writeable in BBEdit and changed it to "-no_compat_check kext-dev-mode=1 mbasd=1". I also used BatChmod to check ownership and permissions on the file after I edited it.

Once again, doing this did not fix my iSight camera.

5. Next, I tried foxlet's suggestion of resetting the NVRAM, or zapping the PRAM, as we used to call it. The results were scary.

I shut down my iMac completely, waited about fifteen seconds, and then did the option-command-p-r combo.

After the first bong, I waited for the second bong. Instead, I got the gray startup screen with the prohibited symbol on it. Then my iMac just shut down. Freaked me out a bit, man!

So I rebooted, hoping for the best, and everything was back to normal . . . PHEW! . . . Well, minus my iSight camera.

So after doing all of that, I am back to square one.

Being as doing all of the above made no difference, I am going to replace both my "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" and "com.apple.Boot.plist" files with the originals that I removed, and make sure that their permissions are set properly via BatChmod.

Until dosdude1 or some other "brainiac" here figures this out for us, I guess we are left without iSight-dependent apps.

Thanks for documenting all of this! I'm in the same boat!

 

[imrazor]

Hmm, I have a mid-2007 iMac. According to the first post, I can upgrade the WiFi and CPU to ensure compatibility. However, I thought the EFI in my Mac would choke on a Penryn processor. Could I upgrade it to a quad? Is it a mobile or desktop CPU? Does anyone have a list of known working CPUs?

 

[morooster]

Install finished, post install operations completed, and all appears well. Somehow it didn't see my bluetooth at all (system report said "no info available"), but a power cycle cured that, and now everything appears to be working great. Dual monitors are working, Magic Mouse is working, WiFi is working. macOS Sierra on an early 2008 Mac Pro 3,1 (graphics, wifi and bluetooth upgraded). Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread!

Ok for the benefit of anyone else who runs into this... I figured it out. It was indeed he video card. I don't recall installing any drivers for it, but maybe I did. I just copied everything that had "Radeon" in the name from /System/Library/Extensions on my working El Capitan to he corresponding folder on the USB stick that the patch utility created. It is currently installing. Yay!

By the way, I intend to use that donate button on dosdude1's page to show my appreciation for this utility, and encourage others to do the same.

 

[pkouame]

The following is a bit long, but I am providing as much info as possible, in the hope that it will help someone here to figure out how to fix the iSight problem.

Aside from losing one app due to an issue with macOS Sierra, up until now, I had
assumed that I remained immune to all of the issues which have been discussed here as of late.

However, this morning it dawned on me that since first installing the Sierra betas, GMs and then the final release, I had not used the FaceTime app on my early 2009 iMac with 16A323 installed.

Well, I did just now, and to my dismay, this is what I see on the right side of FaceTime's window:

"No Camera Available

To use FaceTime, connect a camera."

So I launched the "System Information" app in the /Applications/Utilities folder, and under Hardware/Camera it likewise says . . .

"No video capture devices were found."

In the System Information app under Hardware/USB, it states the following:

Built-in iSight:

Product ID: 0x8502
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
Version: 2.19
Serial Number: 8J97VP3242CX3E00
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Location ID: 0x24400000 / 2
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 500
Extra Operating Current (mA): 0
Built-In: Yes

Here is what I have tried so far:

1. I tried Czo's suggestion to delete . . .

/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel

. . . to recreate the kernel cache. While the kernel cache was recreated, it did not resolve the issue.

2. Next, I tried Czo's suggestion to replace the "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" file with the El Capitan kernel extension that dosdude1 uploaded here.

To play it safe, I first copied the original kext file that is in . . .

/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/

. . . to the desktop, and then I moved the El Capitan version of the same into the above folder, overwriting the original kext file.

Doing this did not help either. Both FaceTime and the System Information app still report that no camera is available.

3. Next, I tried the two Terminal commands that pkouame suggested.

When I ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel", the Terminal spit out this . . .

kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext has incorrect permissions; omitting.
KernelCache ID: B095BE6F5826D16EF7A57745CEE0521D
symlink("/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel", "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache") failed 17 (File exists) <createPrelinkedKernel 2795>

I am assuming that the incorrect permissions is because I replaced the original kext file with the one that dosdude1 uploaded.

So I launched "BatChmod" and dropped the "IOUSBFamily.kext" file on it.

"Owner" was already set to "root", and "Group" was set to "wheel". Likewise, permissions were already set to 755.

So, I just clicked on the "Apply to enclosed" box and hit the "Apply" button.

After doing that, I ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel" again, and this time, the "incorrect permissions" error for "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" was gone, but I was still getting this:

kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
KernelCache ID: E219698F35EAFE132996D8B5BFF59EBB
symlink("/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel", "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache") failed 17 (File exists) <createPrelinkedKernel 2795>

So once again I deleted the "prelinkedkernel" file and ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel" yet again. This time I got this:

/ locked; waiting for lock.
Lock acquired; proceeding.
kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
KernelCache ID: E219698F35EAFE132996D8B5BFF59EBB
File at path '/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel' changed, cannot be used

So I am not sure what I can do about that.

BTW, each time that I ran "sudo kextcache -system-caches", nothing appeared in the Terminal window, but the result is still the same. There is supposedly no camera available.

4. Next, I compared the "com.apple.Boot.plist" file that foxlet uploaded with my own that is in "/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration".

Similar to "hadnet", mine also only said "-no_compat_check", so I made the file writeable in BBEdit and changed it to "-no_compat_check kext-dev-mode=1 mbasd=1". I also used BatChmod to check ownership and permissions on the file after I edited it.

Once again, doing this did not fix my iSight camera.

5. Next, I tried foxlet's suggestion of resetting the NVRAM, or zapping the PRAM, as we used to call it. The results were scary.

I shut down my iMac completely, waited about fifteen seconds, and then did the option-command-p-r combo.

After the first bong, I waited for the second bong. Instead, I got the gray startup screen with the prohibited symbol on it. Then my iMac just shut down. Freaked me out a bit, man!

So I rebooted, hoping for the best, and everything was back to normal . . . PHEW! . . . Well, minus my iSight camera.

So after doing all of that, I am back to square one.

Being as doing all of the above made no difference, I am going to replace both my "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" and "com.apple.Boot.plist" files with the originals that I removed, and make sure that their permissions are set properly via BatChmod.

Until dosdude1 or some other "brainiac" here figures this out for us, I guess we are left without iSight-dependent apps.

Thanks for providing useful detail. Remote debugging like this is frustrating at best...

Since I have a working iSight on my mbp [5,3 mid 2009] and all of the methods above have been exhausted, I think we have to go back to what differentiates my system from yours and @Czo and @hadnet's for that matter.

This was MY path to Sierra on my mbp 5,3 (I also have a pro 3,1 which has worked flawlessly):

1. El Capitan (latest) all year - video wifi bt kbd trackpad all ok
2. @foxlet Sierra GM Installer
- trackpad + keyboard issue. solved with kext massaging. Video,wifi,bt all ok
3. @dosdude1 Sierra (Final) Installer
- trackpad + keyboard issue. solved with forced rebuild (i think - even though I kext'ed also)

So in that scenario, I never experienced any iSight video issues. As you can see, I never really incrementally patched this machine, and stacked the OS versions on top of each other without wiping the disk.

Maybe a lead.

 

[RumorzGuy]

Thanks for documenting all of this! I'm in the same boat!

You are welcome, my friend. Let's hope that one of the Apple gurus here can eventually figure this out for us, because I am certainly at a loss regarding what to try next, and I do use FaceTime to communicate with my family, so I do need this fixed.

Seeing the various problems that people are reporting here -- and trying to fix -- I am beginning to wonder if maybe this is why Apple set the cut-off for macOS Sierra compatible machines where it did. While financial considerations may have been one of their motivations -- that is, forcing us to buy new Macs -- perhaps they also knew that some of these issues would be definite show stoppers for some folks. Thus, they just cut off these machines from the start. But, it's just a theory.

 

[hadnet]

The following is a bit long, but I am providing as much info as possible, in the hope that it will help someone here to figure out how to fix the iSight problem.

Aside from losing one app due to an issue with macOS Sierra, up until now, I had
assumed that I remained immune to all of the issues which have been discussed here as of late.

However, this morning it dawned on me that since first installing the Sierra betas, GMs and then the final release, I had not used the FaceTime app on my early 2009 iMac with 16A323 installed.

Well, I did just now, and to my dismay, this is what I see on the right side of FaceTime's window:

"No Camera Available

To use FaceTime, connect a camera."

So I launched the "System Information" app in the /Applications/Utilities folder, and under Hardware/Camera it likewise says . . .

"No video capture devices were found."

In the System Information app under Hardware/USB, it states the following:

Built-in iSight:

Product ID: 0x8502
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
Version: 2.19
Serial Number: 8J97VP3242CX3E00
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Location ID: 0x24400000 / 2
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 500
Extra Operating Current (mA): 0
Built-In: Yes

Here is what I have tried so far:

1. I tried Czo's suggestion to delete . . .

/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel

. . . to recreate the kernel cache. While the kernel cache was recreated, it did not resolve the issue.

2. Next, I tried Czo's suggestion to replace the "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" file with the El Capitan kernel extension that dosdude1 uploaded here.

To play it safe, I first copied the original kext file that is in . . .

/System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/

. . . to the desktop, and then I moved the El Capitan version of the same into the above folder, overwriting the original kext file.

Doing this did not help either. Both FaceTime and the System Information app still report that no camera is available.

3. Next, I tried the two Terminal commands that pkouame suggested.

When I ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel", the Terminal spit out this . . .

kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext has incorrect permissions; omitting.
KernelCache ID: B095BE6F5826D16EF7A57745CEE0521D
symlink("/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel", "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache") failed 17 (File exists) <createPrelinkedKernel 2795>

I am assuming that the incorrect permissions is because I replaced the original kext file with the one that dosdude1 uploaded.

So I launched "BatChmod" and dropped the "IOUSBFamily.kext" file on it.

"Owner" was already set to "root", and "Group" was set to "wheel". Likewise, permissions were already set to 755.

So, I just clicked on the "Apply to enclosed" box and hit the "Apply" button.

After doing that, I ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel" again, and this time, the "incorrect permissions" error for "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" was gone, but I was still getting this:

kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
KernelCache ID: E219698F35EAFE132996D8B5BFF59EBB
symlink("/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel", "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache") failed 17 (File exists) <createPrelinkedKernel 2795>

So once again I deleted the "prelinkedkernel" file and ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel" yet again. This time I got this:

/ locked; waiting for lock.
Lock acquired; proceeding.
kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
KernelCache ID: E219698F35EAFE132996D8B5BFF59EBB
File at path '/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel' changed, cannot be used

So I am not sure what I can do about that.

BTW, each time that I ran "sudo kextcache -system-caches", nothing appeared in the Terminal window, but the result is still the same. There is supposedly no camera available.

4. Next, I compared the "com.apple.Boot.plist" file that foxlet uploaded with my own that is in "/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration".

Similar to "hadnet", mine also only said "-no_compat_check", so I made the file writeable in BBEdit and changed it to "-no_compat_check kext-dev-mode=1 mbasd=1". I also used BatChmod to check ownership and permissions on the file after I edited it.

Once again, doing this did not fix my iSight camera.

5. Next, I tried foxlet's suggestion of resetting the NVRAM, or zapping the PRAM, as we used to call it. The results were scary.

I shut down my iMac completely, waited about fifteen seconds, and then did the option-command-p-r combo.

After the first bong, I waited for the second bong. Instead, I got the gray startup screen with the prohibited symbol on it. Then my iMac just shut down. Freaked me out a bit, man!

So I rebooted, hoping for the best, and everything was back to normal . . . PHEW! . . . Well, minus my iSight camera.

So after doing all of that, I am back to square one.

Being as doing all of the above made no difference, I am going to replace both my "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" and "com.apple.Boot.plist" files with the originals that I removed, and make sure that their permissions are set properly via BatChmod.

Until dosdude1 or some other "brainiac" here figures this out for us, I guess we are left without iSight-dependent apps.

Thanks, man. At least I'm glad to be able to raise awareness about this annoying flaw on Sierra patcher and I'm not the only one with this problem. The iSight issue has to be fixed some way. It's so sad because all is working great and more faster than El Cap. It's just this iSight issue..

 

[vynu]

@dosdude1 camera is not working in mac os Sierra(final) for macbook 5,1 late 2008 aluminum

 

[aquaticflow]

Thanks for providing useful detail. Remote debugging like this is frustrating at best...

Since I have a working iSight on my mbp [5,3 mid 2009] and all of the methods above have been exhausted, I think we have to go back to what differentiates my system from yours and @Czo and @hadnet's for that matter.

This was MY path to Sierra on my mbp 5,3 (I also have a pro 3,1 which has worked flawlessly):

1. El Capitan (latest) all year
2. @foxlet Sierra GM Installer
- trackpad + keyboard issue. solved with kext massaging.
3. @dosdude1 Sierra (Final) Installer
- trackpad + keyboard issue. solved with forced rebuild (i think - even though I kext'ed also)

So in that scenario, I never experienced any iSight video issues. As you can see, I never really incrementally patched this machine, and stacked the OS versions on top of each other without wiping the disk.

Maybe a lead.

My history is pretty much identical to yours, except for I checked off every option in the post install, haha but I never did the force rebuild... maybe I should try that though..

I think it's safe to boot into the installer, and run the force cache rebuild again, right?

 

[pkouame]

Thanks for providing useful detail. Remote debugging like this is frustrating at best...

Since I have a working iSight on my mbp [5,3 mid 2009] and all of the methods above have been exhausted, I think we have to go back to what differentiates my system from yours and @Czo and @hadnet's for that matter.

This was MY path to Sierra on my mbp 5,3 (I also have a pro 3,1 which has worked flawlessly):

1. El Capitan (latest) all year - video wifi bt kbd trackpad all ok
2. @foxlet Sierra GM Installer
- trackpad + keyboard issue. solved with kext massaging. Video,wifi,bt all ok
3. @dosdude1 Sierra (Final) Installer
- trackpad + keyboard issue. solved with forced rebuild (i think - even though I kext'ed also)

So in that scenario, I never experienced any iSight video issues. As you can see, I never really incrementally patched this machine, and stacked the OS versions on top of each other without wiping the disk.

Maybe a lead.

Another thought for all having various video wifi or bt issues.

We are here coz our systems are no longer supported by Apple (in all their wisdom).
So by definition we are cobbling together workarounds.
Not everything may work.
Some solutions may be ugly.

You may want to consider alternatives like:
- external dongles for better video : imho iSight on these old books is low Quality anyway
- external dongles for wifi - like USB
- external dongles for bt - like USB

I had to replace the wifi card on my pro 3,1 to get a working high performance wifi+bt+continuity with Sierra.
All in all a small price to pay to keep my system alive.
Beats buying a new machine (for me)

If Sierra doesn't work for you and you can do whithout Siri, back to El Cap is not a bad option.

Just my 2cents.
[doublepost=1474597177][/doublepost]

My history is pretty much identical to yours, except for I checked off every option in the post install, haha but I never did the force rebuild... maybe I should try that though..

I think it's safe to boot into the installer, and run the force cache rebuild again, right?

Yes that worked for me!

 

[foxlet]

My history is pretty much identical to yours, except for I checked off every option in the post install, haha but I never did the force rebuild... maybe I should try that though..

I think it's safe to boot into the installer, and run the force cache rebuild again, right?

It would probably help to enumerate your existing AVFoundation devices (ffmpeg can show it with [ffmpeg -f avfoundation -list_devices true -i ""] in Terminal) as well as logs from USB Prober (included in the February 2012 Xcode Hardware Tools) in order to see the differences between systems.

 

[RumorzGuy]

Thanks for providing useful detail. Remote debugging like this is frustrating at best...

Since I have a working iSight on my mbp [5,3 mid 2009] and all of the methods above have been exhausted, I think we have to go back to what differentiates my system from yours and @Czo and @hadnet's for that matter.

This was MY path to Sierra on my mbp 5,3 (I also have a pro 3,1 which has worked flawlessly):

1. El Capitan (latest) all year
2. @foxlet Sierra GM Installer
- trackpad + keyboard issue. solved with kext massaging.
3. @dosdude1 Sierra (Final) Installer
- trackpad + keyboard issue. solved with forced rebuild (i think - even though I kext'ed also)

So in that scenario, I never experienced any iSight video issues. As you can see, I never really incrementally patched this machine, and stacked the OS versions on top of each other without wiping the disk.

Maybe a lead.

Since making the above lengthy post -- which I will update shortly -- I also tried your suggestion of trying to rebuild the kext cache from an external hard drive via the Terminal.

I got the same results as when I tried doing the same from my startup drive. In fact, when I used the Terminal from my external hard drive, the permissions error for the "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" file returned. This mystified me, because I am certain that even after putting back the original kext file, I used BatChmod to check ownership and permissions on the file.

Well, after rebooting my iMac using the regular internal startup drive, I ran BatChmod again, and checked the file. Sure enough, "owner" is still set to root, and "Group" is set to wheel. Permissions are set to 755.

So after verifying that, I ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel" in the Terminal again -- that is, from my startup drive -- and once again it is reporting the same permissions error:

kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext has incorrect permissions; omitting.
KernelCache ID: DFD1113AF11177F010D4FA71820137FE
symlink("/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel", "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache") failed 17 (File exists) <createPrelinkedKernel 2795>

I even tried setting permissions to 644, and I still get that "incorrect permissions" error. The only way to get rid of the error is by chmod the whole IOUSBFamily.kext file to root, wheel and 755.

Regarding my upgrade path, similar to you, prior to starting to use the Sierra betas, I was on 10.11.6 from the time that it came out.

I used dosdude1's tools to upgrade to Sierra PB 1, then PB 4, then PB 7, then 16A319, and finally 16A323.

Oh, from PB 7 to 16A319, I did a clean install, as per dosdude1's instructions at the time. With 16A323, I installed right on top of 16A319.

The entire transition from PB 7 to 16A319 to 16A323 went very smoothly. I didn't receive a single error during the entire process.

As I said earlier, until this morning, I only encountered one app that still remains incompatible with Sierra, and that is because Sierra apparently contains an undocumented new function, so the developer of the app can't even begin to try to fix it.

From what you've written, the main difference I see in your approach is that you used the forced rebuild option with dosdude1's patch tool, which I did not. I had already been thinking about trying it now to see if it makes any difference. I am not very hopeful though.

 

[pkouame]

Since making the above lengthy post -- which I will update shortly -- I also tried your suggestion of trying to rebuild the kext cache from an external hard drive via the Terminal.

I got the same results as when I tried doing the same from my startup drive. In fact, when I used the Terminal from my external hard drive, the permissions error for the "AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext" file returned. This mystified me, because I am certain that even after putting back the original kext file, I used BatChmod to check ownership and permissions on the file.

Well, after rebooting my iMac using the regular internal startup drive, I ran BatChmod again, and checked the file. Sure enough, "owner" is still set to root, and "Group" is set to wheel. Permissions are set to 755.

So after verifying that, I ran "sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel" in the Terminal again -- that is, from my startup drive -- and once again it is reporting the same permissions error:

kext-dev-mode allowing invalid signature -67062 0xFFFFFFFFFFFEFA0A for kext LegacyUSBInjector.kext
AppleUSBVideoSupport.kext has incorrect permissions; omitting.
KernelCache ID: DFD1113AF11177F010D4FA71820137FE
symlink("/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/prelinkedkernel", "/System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache") failed 17 (File exists) <createPrelinkedKernel 2795>

I even tried setting permissions to 644, and I still get that "incorrect permissions" error. The only way to get rid of the error is by chmod the whole IOUSBFamily.kext file to root, wheel and 755.

Regarding my upgrade path, similar to you, prior to starting to use the Sierra betas, I was on 10.11.6 from the time that it came out.

I used dosdude1's tools to upgrade to Sierra PB 1, then PB 4, then PB 7, then 16A319, and finally 16A323.

The entire transition from PB 7 to 16A319 to 16A323 went very smoothly. I didn't receive a single error during the entire process.

As I said earlier, until this morning, I only encountered one app that still remains incompatible with Sierra, and that is because Sierra apparently contains an undocumented new function, so the developer of the app can't even begin to try to fix it.

From what you've written, the main difference I see in your approach is that you used the forced rebuild option with dosdude1's patch tool, which I did not. I had already been thinking about trying it now to see if it makes any difference. I am not very hopeful though.

The invalid kext signature messages are kinda normal since they are not signed by Apple I guess (you have to pay for that service)
The symlink permissions message was solved by changing permissions. Good. By the way do you still have SIP enabled. @dosdude1 's patch disables it, so most of your systems should be "open" to sudo already. Strange if you didn't re-enable SIP yourself.
Check back after you try the force rebuild.

EDIT: Also have any of you tried starting up in Safe Mode (as I mentioned in my check list) Apple maintains it may clear up similar issues since macOS will load up the bare minimum level of drivers and essential software. Sometimes helps to isolate the cause of some (pre-existing?) conflicts.

 

[RumorzGuy]

Another thought for all having various video wifi or bt issues.

We are here coz our systems are no longer supported by Apple (in all their wisdom).
So by definition we are cobbling together workarounds.
Not everything may work.
Some solutions may be ugly.

If Sierra doesn't work for you and you can do whithout Siri, back to El Cap is not a bad option.

Just my 2cents.

Yes, I said basically the same thing in my previous post:

Seeing the various problems that people are reporting here -- and trying to fix -- I am beginning to wonder if maybe this is why Apple set the cut-off for macOS Sierra compatible machines where it did. While financial considerations may have been one of their motivations -- that is, forcing us to buy new Macs -- perhaps they also knew that some of these issues would be definite show stoppers for some folks. Thus, they just cut off these machines from the start. But, it's just a theory.

Personally, as I said in another thread some time ago, considering how much Apple hyped up Siri on the desktop, and used it as a major selling point, I am not the least bit impressed by Siri's current performance. It is very overrated.

Likewise, the new tabs in a few other apps has not affected me, and I don't use them. I only use tabs in my main Finder window, where I always have about a dozen tabs.

But I do sometimes use FaceTime to communicate with my daughter and granddaughter, so I really would like to see this issue fixed. Whether or not having the camera not working will force me back to El Capitan, at this point, I am not sure yet. Maybe.

 

[pkouame]

Yes, I said basically the same thing in my previous post:



Personally, as I said in another thread some time ago, considering how much Apple hyped up Siri on the desktop, and used it as a major selling point, I am not the least bit impressed by Siri's current performance. It is very overrated.

Likewise, the new tabs in a few other apps has not affected me, and I don't use them. I only use tabs in my main Finder window, where I always have about a dozen tabs.

But I do sometimes use FaceTime to communicate with my daughter and granddaughter, so I really would like to see this issue fixed. Whether or not having the camera not working will force me back to El Capitan, at this point, I am not sure yet. Maybe.

LOL. Hardly use Siri on my desktop myself. Still not used to talking to my computer...Just fun for the kids to play with...
However, I have to admit Sierra feels more responsive and snappier than El Cap. All in all pretty happy with it. They've actually made quite a few under the cover changes...

 

[RumorzGuy]

Thanks, man. At least I'm glad to be able to raise awareness about this annoying flaw on Sierra patcher and I'm not the only one with this problem. The iSight issue has to be fixed some way. It's so sad because all is working great and more faster than El Cap. It's just this iSight issue..

You are welcome. I am going to boot from my 16A323 installer again, and try the "forced rebuild" option in the post-install. I am not very hopeful at this point, but I suppose it is worth a try.

 

[hadnet]

Notice that I did an upgrade (not a clean install). I wonder if all of us with this iSight problem did an upgrade and those with no iSight problem did a clean install... idk..

 

[pkouame]

Notice that I did an upgrade (not a clean install). I wonder if all of us with this iSight problem did an upgrade and those with no iSight problem did a clean install...

Yeah. Unlike my mbp 5,3 my other (clunker) macPro 3,1 has gone through all the various patches except for the last few GMs and Final release. iSight (firewire) works well there too. It's currently on build 16A320, so I skipped the last few GMs. Wondering what will happen when I do upgrade it to the 16A323. May be related or not. Interesting.

On another note, I wasn't joking about upgrading your video anyway. I video conference a lot on both machines and am tired of the low grade 640x480 quality , when everyone else has HD...

 

[evil-hao]

With that card you get all new features from Sierra (universal copy paste, unlock with watch, etc) and all previous continuity based features (handoff, airdrop).

Yea, i know it's a cool card but i only need wifi card that works with internet. This computer is 8 years old, already went trough alot, i think it's going to die soon so no need for a special card !
[doublepost=1474600560][/doublepost]

Then you won't like what I bought for my late 2009 macPro (tower) either

Description: Mac Pro 2009 (4,1) and Mac Pro 2010-2012 (5,1) -
Apple Broadcom Bcm94360cd - 802.11 A/B/G/N/AC + Bluetooth 4.0, Item #: BAEC_2FT
Quan 1 - Unit price: $119.98 USD
Shipping and handling: $6.99 USD
Total: $126.97 USD

but everything works FLAWLESSLY now ...

See osxwifi.com

About this Mac reports -
Software Versions:
CoreWLAN: 11.0 (1200.22)
CoreWLANKit: 12.0 (1200.22)
Menu Extra: 12.0 (1200.27)
System Information: 12.0 (1200.3)
IO80211 Family: 12.0 (1200.12.2)
Diagnostics: 7.0 (700.5)
AirPort Utility: 6.3.7 (637.5)
Interfaces:
en2:
Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x111)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.21.170.1.1a2)
MAC Address: ac:29:3a:9b:96:f9
Locale: RoW
Country Code: US
Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Supported Channels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 144, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165
Wake On Wireless: Supported
AirDrop: Supported
AirDrop Channel: 149
Auto Unlock: Supported
Status: Connected

The thing is, i don't know how long this computer will survive. Already been fixed twice. I can buy a new machine with 200 or 300$ so that's what i am afraid of ! Will buy a 20$ wifi card see how it goes !

 

[hadnet]

Yeah. Unlike my mbp 5,3 my other (clunker) macPro 3,1 has gone through all the various patches except for the last few GMs and Final release. iSight (firewire) works well there too. It's currently on build 16A320, so I skipped the last few GMs. Wondering what will happen when I do upgrade it to the 16A323. May be related or not. Interesting.

On another note, I wasn't joking about upgrading your video anyway. I video conference a lot on both machines and am tired of the low grade 640x480 quality , when everyone else has HD...

I don't need (and I don't care) about HD cam quality, my iSight is fine because it's for family and friends video calling (nothing very important that requires a crisp quality).

It's pretty annoying you have a webcam but doesnt work just because a lack of a config file, command or whatever. If trackpad and keyboard issues were solved, why not doing the same with iSight? Why not try to figure out what is going on just to do a complete job? Why give up at the very end? There must be a way..

PS: and @redheeler needs to review the table from his first post, cause obviously Macbook 5,3 has an issue with iSight cam (several people reporting this issue). I went through all this because I see his table saying "no issue" for Macbook Pro 5,x

 

[dosdude1]

I don't need (and I don't care) about HD cam quality, my iSight is fine because it's for family and friends video calling (nothing very important that requires a crisp quality).

It's pretty annoying you have a webcam but doesnt work just because a lack of a config file, command or whatever. If trackpad and keyboard issues were solved, why not doing the same with iSight? Why not try to figure out what is going on just to do a complete job? Why give up at the very end? There must be a way..

I'm trying to figure out what's causing this issue, but I'm unable to reproduce it. On all the machines I've tried it on, the webcam works just fine, including my MacBookPro5,3.

 

[macsba]

Well, some sad news. I can't get dosdude1's tool to work on the 10.12.1 beta. Will wait for instructions by dosdude1. The keyboard and trackpad doesn't work.

 

[dosdude1]

Well, some sad news. I can't get dosdude1's tool to work on the 10.12.1 beta. Will wait for instructions by dosdude1. The keyboard and trackpad doesn't work.

Try running the post-install tool after applying the update.

 

[pkouame]

I don't need (and I don't care) about HD cam quality, my iSight is fine because it's for family and friends video calling (nothing very important that requires a crisp quality).

It's pretty annoying you have a webcam but doesnt work just because a lack of a config file, command or whatever. If trackpad and keyboard issues were solved, why not doing the same with iSight? Why not try to figure out what is going on just to do a complete job? Why give up at the very end? There must be a way..

Do any of us look or sound like quitters to you? Some of us have been on this thread for quite a long time, gently and courteously helping in our own little way, providing solutions, workarounds, debugging approaches, and overall supporting folks like @dosdude1 and @foxlet and others who have built some tools. All with (sometimes) good humor and civility.
I respect your angst about the video, but none of us run a fully equipped regression testing shop that will guarantee that any of this will work for you. Apple themselves gave up on us. Just suggesting some put things in perspective, a little dose of "tough love" reality. It's all good. If 95% of what you came here for works, enjoy your good fortune and workaround the rest.

Now, did you follow any of the suggestions many of us sent your way? Did you google the hell out of it, so maybe you can propose some solutions or new paths to explore? Are you trying to get to bottom of this too, or just waiting for us to solve this for you?