Sony Vaio T11 (SVT1111C5E) WEBCAM FAILURE

[anagesh]

Hello All,

Just bought the brand new T11 series ultrabook with the core i7 processor and 8GB RAM. Had it for about 4 to 5 days so far and it ran without any trouble as it should.

I had tried the webcam a few days ago (when I got the laptop) with skype and gesture control and all the other goodies and it was running without trouble. Today, I tried to use it again but it was gone. The built in Exmor HD Webcam in my sony vaio t11 is not recognised as a hardware anywhere in windows and/or sony programs. It is simply gone from the Device Manager list in control panel. All the other softwares that can access the webcam claim "The webcam has either been disconnected or is being used by another aoftware" and it asks me to "reconnect" and try again.

I restarted the system a few times, did all kinds of recovery procedures, tried reformatting and installing everything fresh (windows system recovery, sony system recover, etc etc...) Finally after a couple of phone calls to the Customer support, it is getting more and more evident that it is indeed a Hardware failure. I have no choice but to ship it back so they can send me a new one. Now, I am all up for getting rid of this one in exchange for a new one, but over the next few weeks/days, I am in depserate need of a proper laptop.

So, if any one has any kind of hint/help/solution, it would be greatly appreciated. A few forums and discussions online show that people have had this problem with other Vaio laptops. None of them, however, had found any solid solution. A driver just for these Webcams are no where to be found. Please help.

-A.

[firionicable]

Don't rest that this type of problem should be fixed on your end. Since your Vaio is just brand new, be sure to have the whole laptop replaced. You don't deserve to get this type of problem for a brand new laptop.

[rich912]

Hi anagesh,

This, as you have concluded, is more than likely a hardware failure. If you want to continue troubleshooting then there are still a couple of things you could try.

1.    Open Device Manager and expand Universal Serial Bus Controllers > Uninstall all items in the tree. Shut down, remove the battery and power adaptor and then hold down the power button for 30 seconds. Reattach battery and power adaptor and reboot – Windows will re-install all necessary drivers.

2.    Try fixing any Windows updates that may have caused the problem - Start > Control Panel > System & Security > Find & fix Problems >System Security > Fix problems with Windows Update

I somehow doubt that either of the above will make any difference as it would seem that you have already tried returning the notebook to factory settings.

Rich

[anagesh]

Hi Rich,

Thanks for your input.

As I am still waiting for the return process to start (pick up service), I did try your Troubleshoot#1 as I had already done the #2 (more than once to be honest). Unfortunately, I am sad to say that #1 did not work either. It did re-install every single USB device driver except for the Webcam one.

After reading a few more forums/discussions, I downloaded this quasi-free program called DriveCheck to see if it recognizes the faults. It did show a "hidden device" on one of the USB ports but there was no option to recover it or find out exactly what it is. I played around for a few more hours after that and finally gave up.

As firioncable mentioned in his post, a brand new laptop should not fault within its first week. So I packed it back up in its box and is now ready to be picked up. Sony says I will reveive a fresh and new replacement between 7th and 11th of Aug.

I just hope this issue isn't a full on manufacturing issue that will affect the entire batch of these beautiful ultrabooks, because the machine itself is sublime.

-A

[canoepunkie]

Hi - it's just happened to my beautiful new Vaio t as well;   frivers tell me that I have 'USB Camera' but this doesn't work.  I contacted sony.  cp.