Missing Webcam Driver on new Vaio VGN-NW11S/S

[Ozekiorion]

My new Vaio has Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit) and the Ricoh r5u876 webcam.
The webcam doesn't work. It doesn't appear in the Computer view or the Device Manager view. However, in the Device Manager view there is one Unknown Device called 5U876 device. These are the symptoms I would expect if the device driver had not been installed and, sure enough, I can't find the camera driver anywhere on the hard disk. Since this isn't cured by resetting the computer to factory configuration, Sony customer service want to take the laptop away to service it. This seems a bit excessive and unnecessary. Does anyone on this forum know where I could get a Vista 32-bit driver for the Ricoh r5u876 webcam on my Vaio?

[chriskeeble]

I've just bought (less than 2 weeks ago) a new Sony Vaio VGN-NW11S. After doing a full clean install to rid the machine of all the bloatware, I finally had everything working (except the mute hardware button).

Today, during a Skype video call, the webcam and Skype both crashed (webcam then immediately Skype).

USB device not recognised message came up.

Ended the call and rebooted having had a quick look in the device manager (computer management).

No joy.

Does anyone know what driver is needed for the webcam?

Thanks ,

Chris

[ash_c64]

why dont you just recover the drivers from the recovery disk? or press F10 during boot and just install the drivers again... Or jst click the unknown device and update the driver it should search for them automatically! If windows 7 can find the drivers why shouldnt vista!

[chriskeeble]

The problem was resolved by:

1. Rebooting Vista (may not be required as did not resolve)
2. Locating the Unknown USB device in Device Manager (which, interestingly, was showing as successfully installed?!)
3. Right click and uninstall.
4. Reboot Vista.

If succesful, the webcam shows up as: Imaging Devices -> Sony Visual Communication Camera.

Simple in the end, and hope that helps someone else.