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January 14th, 2022 11:00
Missing camera driver Dell 7390 2n1
I have a Dell 7390 2n1 laptop running Windows 10, build 19042.1466. I tried to use the integrated webcam yesterday for a Google Meet meeting and Meet could not find the camera. I tried to run Micosoft's camera app and got the message: "We can't find your camera", and "NoCameraAttached".
I've been all over the internet looking for solutions and no joy. There is no camera driver in Windows' Device Manager. If I scan for new hardware, the camera does not show up. I've been through lots of Windows 10 updates, and evidently Windows can't find it when it updates drivers, so no camera driver is installed with any updates.
I'm beginning to think that the camera itself is non-functional. My laptop is out of warranty, so if the camera is non-functional, then it will likely cost more than the computer is worth to replace it.
Some background: I had to send my laptop in to Dell for warranty service involving poor image quality of the webcam. It was fixed under warranty and worked fine for awhile. Until yesterday, I had not used the camera for at least a year, maybe longer.
I'd appreciate any help or advice. Have others experienced problems with the integrated webcam on this laptop?
Thanks in advance.
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MarlinGolden39A
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January 14th, 2022 12:00
@nyc10036Thanks for the quick reply.
I did "show hidden devices" and it didn't show up. To your point, I'm guessing the camera itself has failed. If so, it's a shame. The laptop is only a couple years old.
The more digging I do, the more it seems like bad webcams are pretty common on Dell laptops. I've tried squeezing and tapping around the camera with the Device manager open, and nothing happens.
nyc10036
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January 14th, 2022 12:00
Show Hidden Devices in Device Manager.
If the webcam shows up there, then it is most likely a driver issue. If it doesn't, it maybe that the device has failed or the cable/connection went bad.
nyc10036
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January 14th, 2022 13:00
Back in 2020 when people started working from home, there were a lot of posts about non-functioning webcams. Now not so much.
One person posted that the cable to his webcam came loose, but I have never opened up a laptop to see how webcams are connected and how often this could happen.
MarlinGolden39A
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January 14th, 2022 14:00
Yeah, I've seen some of those posts from back in 2020. What I'm beginning to understand is that you can't really replace the webcam. It's tightly integrated into the LCD. The solution to a bad webcam is to replace the LCD. A new LCD runs over $120 plus labor (I'm not going to crack mine open). I can buy a non-integrated webcam for less than $50.
As little as I've used the webcam, I don't even think that's worth it. I was just hoping someone here might have experienced something similar and had a easy fix .
Meanwhile, I've gone into the BIOS to ensure that the webcam is enabled there. It is. But it's not showing up in the Device Manager. Available evidence suggests that means the camera is bad, although I don't understand how the BIOS can see it and Windows can't. Oh, well.