Troubleshoot my integrated webcam

April 26, 2021 8:43 AM

I have a Dell laptop and was using my webcam without issues through Friday night. This morning it stopped working with (at least two) conferencing apps, but appears to still be functioning when accessed by websites.

Today I launched Gotomeeting and the webcam came on, functioned for a few seconds and then went to a 'freeze frame'. When I stopped sharing it went blank with my name as normal and then when I tried to share again it said it could not because the camera was already in use by another application.

If I try to launch zoom and use my camera it hangs up Zoom and I need to force quit out of it. I can Join without Video fine.

If I go to https://webcamtests.com/ or https://www.onlinemictest.com/ and test my cam it functions properly, including both Firefox and Bitdefender asking for access permission. So, the physical hardware of the camera is working fine.

Google Meet (through browser) works fine. Discord does not through the app, but does work when I access it through the browser.

I have tried the above with Bitdefender privacy protection both on and off, and I have tried uninstalling the webcam device in device drivers (it appears to automatically reinstall on reboot?) I have go into Settings/Privacy and confirmed that access is allowed. It shows the camera in use by Zoom/GotoMeeting/Discord at the times accessed.

Does anyone have other suggestions/recommendations on why websites through Firefox are working, but nothing else is?

Device: Integrated webcam in Dell G5 5587.

posted by meinvt to Technology (3 answers total)

I've had some issues with things like this before. Here's what I've had work. Sorry they aren't more specific to your situation.

1. Reboot.
2. Force close videoconferencing apps, make sure video setup is correct
3. If there is a second camera, unplug it. See how that effects things.
4. I run two cameras a lot, and a LOT of programs don't like having both integrated, and non-integrated cameras available. Make sure your camera is set to the "default" camera in windows settings.
5. If one application is using your camera, others often can not. Make sure you don't have two instances of the video conferencing software open at once.
6. Also try the "camera" app built into windows 10. That should work pretty well.

functioned for a few seconds and then went to a 'freeze frame'. Sounds like something crashed in gotomeeting or your camera. I'd recommend a reboot. Could be a bug in gotomeeting. I'd try to find error logs or do lots of searching for both your camera, your laptop, and gotomeeting.

Good luck!
posted by bbqturtle at 9:51 AM on April 26, 2021

I'd think something crashed in the driver. You'd probably restarted couple times.

I'd also go into the tray area to make sure Chrome is NOT running (which can hold onto the camera) before testing the apps themselves.
posted by kschang at 1:02 PM on April 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: As a follow-up, it turns out it was the Anti-Virus software after all. Systematic steps led to uninstalling it (since it lacks a way to be throughly turned off), and problem went away. Reinstall reproduced problem, specific to interaction with GoToMeeting after which all conference apps stop working.
posted by meinvt at 5:40 PM on April 26, 2021 [1 favorite]