Inspiron One 2330, Windows 10, camera comes and goes

Welcome to the forum...

What browser are you using for Zoom? And were you using the same browser when you had issues with Youtube? Zoom recommends Chrome, and I guess Youtube does too.

If you have to abruptly end a Zoom session because of a tech problem, I've found it's helpful to clear the browser's cache, cookies and history before logging in again.

Search in Win 10  for: camera privacy settings and see what apps have permission to use the camera. Try disabling any that have permission and might be using it, when you're not looking.

And you might check your Power option settings. In Device Manager, expand the list under USB and go down the list, doubling clicking each entry and looking for a Power Management tab. For every entry with that tab, UNcheck the box "Allow PC to turn off...".

Then exit Device Manager and open the Windows Power & Sleep screen. Click Additional Power Settings. On next screen identify the active Power plan and click Change Plan Settings. On next screen, click Change Advanced Power Settings.

On that last screen, disable Hibernation, Hybrid Sleep, USB Selective Suspend, and PCI Express Link State Management. Be sure to save the changes to the power plan and reboot. See if these changes help.

Yup, hunkering down in CA...

EDIT: Zoom has an excellent tech support team so if the camera problem persists, send a query through their website to see if they have any suggestions. And while I think about it, if Youtube gives you camera problems, clear the browser's cache, cookies, history and log in again...

What is the hardware ID info for the camera in Device Manager?

Sergio

My Inspiron One 2330 is behaving the same way, I open zoom and on configurations see the image from the camera for about 5-10 seconds, after that the camera shutdown and doesn't work anymore.

If I restart the computer it behaves the same as described above.

Did you have any luck on solving the problem?

Would it be this?

Hello!

I've implemented all the suggestions sent by RoHe (I don't know if you can see them, if not let me know).  I am hoping they will do the trick, if not I'll get back here.

Sergio

Sergio

Sorry, I can't see the image that you sent.

I've turned off the fast boot option, in the energy control panel. Now, when it stops working, after 5-10 seconds, when I reboot it works, for another 5-10 seconds. I've already tried to uninstall drivers but it doesn't work.

It looks like it is over heating and is turned off to prevent physical damage.

No, here are Ron's suggestions:

Sergio

Thank you for sharing, I'll try later tonight and post here the result.

Sergio

The trick is to turn off the "fast boot"?

If yes it didn't work for me.

Unfortunately none of the suggested solutions have worked.

It is absolutely hit or miss, some days it works all morning, some others it works for an hour and then it shuts down.  No warning or anything, it just tells that the system cannot find a camera (even if a few minutes earlier it was working).  I've updated drivers, reverted to the original ones, ran Dell's SupportAssit (that tells me everything is fine) and Windows help, to no avail.

Something else that has happened a few times is that when I turn the computer on, I get a "No Video detected on Composite input" message, and it won't start.  After resetting it, usually, it works fine, until the camera or computer decides that it does not want to do it anymore.  It does it, to my understanding, randomly, sometimes it happens, most often it does not.  I don't even know if this is relevant but it seems like it is.

@SergioRC   - That error message could suggest the camera wasn't detected when the system booted.

What do you mean "After resetting it, usually, it works...". How are you resetting it?

Does the camera only stop working while using Zoom? Have you tried any of the other video conferencing apps or used the Win 10 Camera app to record a test video?

When the camera stops working, open the Win 10 Camera settings screen and turn the camera off there. Wait a few and then turn it back on and see if it works again. You might also try turning it off before you power off the system to see if that composite video error stops appearing when you boot up.

Next time it stops, open the Windows Event Viewer and see if an error message got logged around the time the camera stopped. That might point you in the right direction.

The camera module is replaceable according to the Service Manual but I don't know how much it costs, whether that would fix the problem and/or if you want/can DIY because it does require some serious PC surgery.

If all else fails, you might buy a USB webcam and connect that to the PC and stop using the onboard camera...

Thanks again Ron,

Here my answers to the best of my abilities: 

By resent I probably should have said reboot.  Since when it shows that screen (it does not happen very often) Windows won't start, I hold the power button on the computer until it starts again.  Usually, it works then.

Yes, it seems like there are times when the camera is not detected, the weird thing is that sometimes it happens in the middle of me using it!  It is working for one minute and then it does not.  Today, while using it directly from the Windows (meaning not using any app) it stopped working in the middle of what I was recording.  Here's the message I got, which came and went as the computer appeared to be trying to access it again. 

In case it is relevant, my antivirus software is Webroot SecureAnywere but I don't know how to check if it is blocking my camera (for what its worth, it is not reporting anything like it).

I have the same problem regardless of the app that I use, Windows, Skype, Youtube, Zoom...

I tried turning the camera off and on again, to no avail.

I went into the event log right after it happened, but I cannot see any event that relates to the camera (yet again, I don't know how to read these logs!)

Open a CMD prompt window, "run as administrator" and at the prompt type in:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth and press Enter.
Be sure to read/copy the message, if any, when that's done.

Then, in same CMD prompt window, type in:

sfc /scannow and press Enter.
Read/copy the message, if any...

NOTE: Be sure to include one space before each / in both those commands.

Not certain, but I suspect the camera might be a USB device. So...

Reboot PC and open Device Manager. Expand list under USB. Double-click each USB entry and click its Power Management tab, if it has one. Uncheck the box "Allow PC to turn off...". Repeat for all USB entries with Power Management tab.

Now expand list under Human Interface Devices in Device Manager and uncheck that same box for any HID entry that has a Power Management tab. Exit Device Manager when done.

Next, open the Win 10 Power & Sleep screen. Click Additional Power Settings. On next screen identify the active Power plan and click Change Plan Settings. On next screen, click Change Advanced Power Settings.

On that last screen, disable Hibernation, Hybrid Sleep, USB Selective Suspend, and PCI Express Link State Management. Save the changes to the power plan and reboot.

See if any of that helps...

@RoHe 

For those who reported webcam problems and responded to my requests for Hardware Id from the Device Manager, every single has reported USB\xxxx

So, these webcams are USB devices.

.