Problem with W530 and WebCam

[mongo]

I have a ThinkPad W530, which runs a 64-bit version of Windows 7.  The computer is about 3 months old.

I'm suddenly having problems with the webcam, showing an entirely black display.  No error messages of any sort, and I'm seeing the same results in any of my apps that use a webcam, including Skype, GoToMeeting and VSee.

How do I find this problem and fix it?

[hemanth_lenovo]

Hi Mongo,

Welcome to Lenovo Community!

As per the query we understood that you facing issue with Web-camera on you ThinkPad W530.

Please check with testmycam website, where you can verify if the issue is with hardware or with software.

http://www.testmycam.net/

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Hemanth Kumar

[mongo]

Not especially useful.

All that one does is confirm that my camera isn't getting images, but no diagnostic information, or troubleshooting issues.

After I posted, I contacted Lenovo tech support.  Tech made a remote connection, and ran the Lenovo Communications Utiility (shows in Windows Start menu as "Lenovo Web Conferencing").  While that was running, I was able to get video output on Skype, VSee and GoToMeeting, but since then, I'm back to black displays. 

I can restart the the Communications utility, but I'm not seeing any settings relating to video.  Only audio.  Online help for Communications Utility indicates that there should be a batch of settings for the camera, but I'm not finding anything.

Online help also indicates that there's a setting for "camera mute".  Given that all my webcam apps are showing black, I'm inclined to believe that I have enabled muting for the camera, at system level.  I'm guessing that the normal way of clearing this would be with the Communications Utility, but I'm baffled as to why that's not giving me any access to the camera.

[DSperber]

I have never seen Lenovo's Communications Utility named anything other than that.  Current version is 3.1.16.0.

What shows in your Device Manager, for "imaging devices"?

As you've mentioned, Communications Utility should have a "camera settings" tab.  There is a button to SHOW or HIDE, which activates or deactivates the integrated camera.

[mongo]

That's how it displays in Windows 7, and that's what the Lenovo tech had me look for.  If I look for "communications", the only thing returned by the search tool in the Win 7 Start menu is "Lenovo - Communications Utility". But that's not really relevant.
I do have the Communication Utility set so that it's visible in my System Tray, and I confirm that it's version 3.1.16.0.  However, there is no tab there for camera settings, only "audio settings" and "options".  In the displays that I have, there is zero capacity of interacting with the camera.
In the Device Manager, Imaging devices shows "Camera Plus VGA Resolution Maximum)", and a check of the properties indicates that it's a Lenovo driver, dated 6/19/2012, version 1.0.1.1.
I don't know if it's related or not (I'm inclined to doubt) that in the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section, there is a "Unknown Device" showing an error.  If I delete that one, I'm not seeing any difference in behavior, and it comes back when the machine gets rebooted.
If my suspicion is correct (that the camera is muted), how do I get the
Communication Utility to show me the tab to get to camera settings?

[ColonelONeill]

Does stopping the Lenovo Camera Mute service in Services help?

[hemanth_lenovo]

Hi Mongo,

It might be driver’s issue, can you check with update all the drivers through ThinkVantage system update utility, this application will search for all the latest drivers which is required for your system.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Hemanth Kumar

[mongo]

Responding to three replies simultaneously:

1) A check of the Imaging Devices section in the Device Manager shows that I have "Camera Plus (VGA Resolution Maximum)" , where it's using a Lenovo Driver (version 1.0.1.1) and dated 6/19/2012.  No entry for "Integrated Camera".

This one could be part of the problem, a missing driver, although Windows Plug-and-Play isn't detecting that anything is missing.

2) No change in behavior, if I halt the Camera Mute service.

3) Drivers are mostly current, unless there's one that's entirely missing.  There's several unrelated drivers that aren't current.  As a rule, I don't update drivers, unless there is a reason to do so -- I have experience with driver updates being disruptive.  It's one thing to update the driver for the webcam, if I'm having problems with the webcam, but I'm not going to update a Bluetooth driver, Just Because, especially if the offered update's severity is less than Critical.

If Windows isn't auto-detecting Integrated Camera, I don't know if that means that the auto-detect is simply missing that (and that I should try to find that driver and install), or that my hardware isn't using that particular driver.

[hemanth_lenovo]

Hi Mongo,

I am extremely sorry for the situation; I suspect the issue might be with camera hardware. I request you to get it checked by our authorized service center.

Hope this helps!

Best regards,

Hemanth Kumar

[mongo]

After another call with Lenovo, an on-site call was dispatched. We replaced the camera, and everything is working properly. If the camera was dead, the it looks like the Communications Utility (and for that matter, Windows itself) wasn't detecting it, and thus, no camera options offered.