one 10 S1003 camera

MikeM3

I bought this notebook a year ago, but rarely use it, I recently discovered that

the camera doesn't work as a camera on its own!

I tested it on Skype and it works fine, but not from the Windows OS, I have split

this computer to a tablet, but it still won't work.

Trouble shooting says that I have two cameras, I have only the installed one, I am

told to go to the manufacturers web site for the latest driver and I am told that

the best software for the device is installed.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you.

Edited the thread to hide personal information
Acer-Samuel

MikeM3

OK JackE,

I have reinstalled Windows 10, that assistant allowed me to

get the latest version without losing any personal files, photos

and programmes, which is good.

The camera now works on its own without Skype, so the Windows

install has fixed that problem, it is a bit grainy though, especially

in full screen, it is only 0.3MP so I suppose I won't be taking many

pictures with it.

Thanks again for your interest and help with this problem, I would

suggest that you get a copy of that assistant before they decide to

remove it, it is a handy tool, but the install took several hours.

Mike.

Commodore_1995#

Have you tried setting up the camera and microphone here?

MikeM3

Yes, the Skype is the one that is in there, with a couple of others,

I would like to use the tablet to take a picture, like you would

with a smart phone, but the camera won't work like that.

Edited the thread to hide personal information
Acer-Samuel

Commodore_1995#

You said that "Trouble shooting says I have two cameras, I have only one installed". Have you checked if there are any drivers with device manager problems and which camera is not working?

MikeM3

Thank you for your replies.

I checked everything that I could think of, there is only one camera listed

in the system, 'though the front and back camera lenses are in different

locations, they are not opposite, so there may be two cameras, but I think

that there is only one.

There is only one driver as far as I can see, I have belarc adviser and that

could not find a problem, everything seems to be normal except that the

camera doesn't work on its own.

Edited the thread to hide personal information
Acer-Samuel

JackE

>>>I tested it on Skype and it works fine,>>>>>>There is only one driver as far as I can see,>>>

That likely means only the front or screen-side low-rez camera is working. There may indeed be only one driver for both cams. But there are two separate ribbon cable cam mainboard connectors J4 & J5. J4 is the backside connector which probably needs to be re-seated a few times to clean its contacts. I would however expect that DeviceManager would at least throw a yellow caution symbol. Jack E/NJ  

billsey

If the cable isn't making contact Device Manager will just assume the device doesn't exist, so no caution flag and no device entry.

MikeM3

JackE & Billsey, both of your answers are intersting and could be right.

The first place that I visited when I got the problem, was Device Manager,

there are yellow caution indicators anywhere.

When I call for the camera, a blue square opens with a white outline of a

camera in the centre, there is nothing else, no printed words, no tool bar,

no minus-, no full screen, no exit X at the top right of the square, I can't

get the mouse to pick up any edge of the blue squre, or a corner to try

and stretch it, it is a dead piece of art.

To me the software forgot the hotspots in that place.

I will try the Skype again and see if I can rotate the camera.

Thanks again.

Edited the thread to hide personal information
Acer-Samuel

JackE

I think we're heading for exploratory machine surgery to check on the cam's connections. Jack E/NJ

MikeM3

It has been a while since I was here, but I did as I said

I would and tried the camera again in Skype and it still

works, I even rotated the camera.

While the camera was working in Skype, I tried the camera

in the machine, but it still only showed the empty blue square,

shaped like a camera with a lens in the middle, the usual three

symbols at the top right of the screen.

So the camera works, but not for the machine that it is in.

Mike.

JackE

>>>there are yellow caution indicators anywhere.>>>

>>>While the camera was working in Skype, I tried the camera in the machine,>>>

Do you mean there are  "NO" yellow warnings anywhere. Also what precisely do you mean by "working in Skype [but] I tried the camera

in the machine, but it still only showed the empty blue square" ???

Do you mean the camera works with the Skype software installed on the machine  but not with the camera software installed on the same machine?

Jack E/NJ

MikeM3

Hi JackE,

Yes that is a "Typo", there are no cautions anywhere!

The camera works with the Skype software, but not with the

tablet/windows software!

Yet any checks say that the driver installed is working properly

and it is the latest/best driver.

 My conclusion is that there are 2 cameras and they both work,

but only in Skype, therefore the installed camera software is

corrupted or incomplete and not functioning.

Maybe I should remove the software and then reboot the computer

to see if it will load a working version, but that might stop the camera

working even in Skype.

Is there any way that I can force a download of the camera driver in

order to repair the installed one, I did hold the ctrl key as I opened

the camera, this sometimes reverts software to the factory state it

was in when installed, but nothing happened, maybe I should try to put

a different driver in, like open camera from Google.

Thanks for reading and answering.

Mike.

JackE

>>>My conclusion is that there are 2 cameras and they both work,but only in Skype>>>

Wait. Do you mean BOTH the screen frontside cam pinhole and the screen backside cam pinhole work in Skype? Jack E/NJ

billsey

Skype by default doesn't shut down when you close it. It's likely just staying connected to the camera all the time. You have to manually tell Skype to actual shut down...

MikeM3

Yes JackE, this is exactly what I see, I see my own face, then I click on

Unicam front to get a dropdown menu, I change the setting to Unicam

back and I see what is behind the screen, this I am doing in "Settings,

Audio & Video", in Skype.

billsey I logged out of skype and tried the camera, still getting the blue

square with an outline of a camera in the centre, but it doesn't stay on

the screen for very long at all.

I have tried lots of clicks around the blue screen, but get no response, I

also held in the ctrl key when opening, no change.

I still think I need to remove the software, unfortunately, I don't know if

it is Acer software with Bios, or Windows software with the O.S.

According to "Belarc Advisor" i have a "Intel(R) AVStream Camera".

There are three versions of Intel software:

Intel - Common User Interface version 6.15.10.4352

Intel - Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework version 8.1.10900.175

Intel - IntelCpHeciSvc Executable version 9.0.31.9015

Mike.

JackE

How about uninstalling Skype to see what happens? Jack E/NJ

MikeM3

Hi again JackE,

I can't find Skype!!!!!

I doesn't show in the control panel where you go to remove

a programme, I have searched all the C drive and it cannot

is nowhere, then I thought that it is an APP, here it is, in the

apps, so how do I uninstall an app is now something to find out.

I will let you know how I get on.

Thank you for helping me.

Mike.

MikeM3

Hi again JackE,

I removed Skype, but things were just the same, then skype came back!

It came back signed in with my wifes name, crazy.

Anyway I searched the machine and found 2 Windows 10 updates pending,

on searching further I found out that all updates since August have failed.

There is really something wrong with this machine, I now have downloaded

the Microsoft Update Assistant to see if I can solve the problems, it is at

present updating windows, so maybe that was the problem all along, I will

let you know.

Mike.

JackE

OK. We'll standby and hope it fixes it but also doesn't make things worse. Jack E/NJ

https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10634/how-do-i-uninstall-and-reinstall-skype-on-desktop

MikeM3

OK JackE,

I have reinstalled Windows 10, that assistant allowed me to

get the latest version without losing any personal files, photos

and programmes, which is good.

The camera now works on its own without Skype, so the Windows

install has fixed that problem, it is a bit grainy though, especially

in full screen, it is only 0.3MP so I suppose I won't be taking many

pictures with it.

Thanks again for your interest and help with this problem, I would

suggest that you get a copy of that assistant before they decide to

remove it, it is a handy tool, but the install took several hours.

Mike.

JackE

Congrats. And thanks for the suggestion. Update assistant has a somewhat checkered track record so I'm happy to hear it worked out for you. Jack E/NJ