Camera on Nitro AN515-42 not responding, windows says it cannot find the camera.

VictoriaClare

The camera on this machine has stopped responding: windows says it cannot find the camera.

I have restarted the machine. I've tried resetting the camera, and have checked that the application has permission to run. I have run the Windows camera troubleshooter. I have run scannow. I have checked my antivirus, Kaspersky, is up to date, and tried turning it off briefly to check it's not blocking access to the camera. I looked in Device Manager but there are no cameras listed there and it's not detected if I try to add a device.

The error I get is 0xA00F4244 NoCamerasAreAttached".

The laptop is only just two years old.

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/674949/camera-on-nitro-an515-42-not-responding

If you have run the troubleshooter and done all the things above, then the only thing that you can do is to look at the camera and its connections, as its a hardware issue. You need to remove the screen bezel assembly and chase the camera cables that connects to the camera and make sure that none of the connections and/or the cable is broken or shorted. This is a fiddly job as you might need to replace the CMOS and Dual Microphone Module for it to work. Btw, Acer does not list any part numbers for the CMOS and Dual Microphone Module so search on the web like on eBay or Amazon or a specialist Acer parts site or even Acer in your area, as eBay has this module, have a look here Acer Aspire Nitro AN515-53 AN515-42 Webcam Camera Microphone Module HD

William_mk2

@VictoriaClare

On the device manager - go to view menu - show hidden devices - It might show you the camera

right click on it - uninstall and restart the computer.

It should detect the camera.

I am really sorry for the inconvenience..  Let us do the basic steps first..

Doing the power drain and bios defaults will really help. Kindly follow the steps given below:

Turn off the laptop. Disconnect or unplug the charger cable, devices or any other cables connected to your laptop. Close your laptop. Turn it upside down. On the bottom of the laptop, you can find a pin hole. It is a tiny hole. You can a find a battery symbol indicator next to the hole. It is like a + and – sign symbol as though somebody is trying to shift the battery out. Insert the pin on to the hole for 30 seconds. Remove the pin. Flip the laptop. Connect the charger cable, turn on the computer. Only on laptops where the battery is inbuilt you can find the battery reset hole on the back of laptop.

If you don’t find a pin hole on the back of laptop then you might be using removable battery. There is no need to unscrew anything to remove the battery. Turn off the laptop. Disconnect or unplug the charger cable, devices and any other cables connected to your laptop. Close your laptop. Turn it upside down. On the bottom of the laptop, please look at the top or bottom depending on the way you look at it. You can find a long door. It is a battery removable door. Just below that you can find a latch. If you move the latch you can remove the battery door. Once the battery is removed, flip the laptop. Open the top cover, press and hold the power button for 1 minute. Connect the battery back on the back of computer. Connect the charger cable back and then turn on the computer. 

 

If you don’t see a reset pin hole on the back of laptop or if you are not able to remove the battery (if it is inbuilt) then please unplug all the cables and devices out of laptop.  Hold the power button for 1 minute. After releasing the button you should wait a while before plugging in power. Just because the button has been pressed doesn’t bleed off all the residual electricity on the motherboard. Wait 15-30 minutes before plugging in power. Then once power is connected wait for a full battery indication before turning the system on. That allows the battery to fully reset it’s internal statistics.

Connect all the cables back and restart the computer.  

While turning on the computer, tap f2. It will go to bios. Press f9 once. It will show load bios defaults with a yes or no popup. Press enter. Popup screen will disappear. Press f10 once. It will show save changes popup with yes or no. Press enter. Computer will restart and it will load into windows.  

 

It should work fine.. 

William_mk2

@VictoriaClare

Sometimes a simple system restore will fix the issue.. 

Try windows x

click on power shell admin or command prompt admin 

type rstrui

chose an earlier date on which your computer was working fine  

click on next, finish, yes

It will restore your computer to an earlier date 

if you get an message - system restore not completed - click on close 

It will show you all the icons..

Try and check whether it is working now ..

If it is still not working 

Uninstall the camera from device manager if you are a able to find it  

Don’t restart the computer. 

Go to support.acer.com 

chose your country 

type snid or chose your model 

go to drivers 

Install the camea driver. If you are not able to find it install the chipset driver and check.  

William_mk2

@VictoriaClare

If it is still not working then we have to do a refresh and reset

click on start - settings - update and security - recovery - reset this pc - get started 

or 

on start - type here to search - type reset this pc - click on reset this pc on the top - click on get started 

It will show you keep my files and remove everything

chose keep my files 

chose the account - type the password - click on local reinstall - click on reset 

It will be in progress.. 

login to computer and start using the computer. 

If it is still not working 

click on start - settings - update and security - recovery - reset this pc - get started 

chose remove everything 

click on local reinstall - just remove my files - click on reset

It will be in progress

Note:

If you do refresh ( keep my files ) - all your personal files like pictures, music , documents , videos will still be intact.  Only the applications will be lost

If you do reset ( remove everything ) - you are doing a factory default.  It will become like a day one computer.  It will wipe out everything and take your computer to day one like a new computer. 

You can also do the recovery in an alternative way..

There are two alt keys on the keyboard. If you look at the bottom row of keyboard you can see the one on the left side of space bar and the other on the right side of space bar. The alt key on the right side will be looking like alt, alt gr or alt car. Turn off the computer. Hold the alt key on the left and tap f10 continuously.  It will go to repair mode. It will show you chose an option, continue, troubleshoot.  If it is not going to repair mode, turn off the computer. Turn on the computer. Hold the right alt key ( alt gr or alt car or alt ) and then tap f10 continuously. It will go to chose an option continue and troubleshoot..

It will show you chose an option, continue, troubleshoot

Go to troubleshoot - click on reset this pc

click on keep my files ( only applications will be lost )  chose your account and type your password  - click on local reinstall - click on reset

It will be in progress 

If the keep my files option is not working 

Go to troubleshoot - click on reset this pc – click on remove everything – click on local reinstall – just remove my files – click on reset 

It will reinstall windows. 

If the just remove my files is not working.. 

Go to troubleshoot - click on reset this pc – click on remove everything – click on local reinstall – Fully clean the drive – click on reset 

It will reinstall windows. 

Note: You can also go to chose an option , continue , troubleshoot by holding the alt key + tapping f10 or alt gr + tapping f10 on the keyboard while turning on the computer.  Once you see the troubleshoot option, you can stop tapping the f10 and stop holding the alt key.  Then you can try the keep my files and remove everything ( just remove by files and fully clean the drive ) by following the steps which was mentioned above. 

Even after reinstalling windows if the camera is not working then you might have to purchase external usb web camera.