VGN AR41M - Motion Eye Cam Issue!

[antistatic]

Will appreciated any kind of diagnosis on this issue

Basically i have the motion eye webcam on the VGN AR41M and ive tested it in

1) Vaio Camera Capture
2) Yahoo Messenger
3) Skype

In all 3 applications when i test the camera it display a black screen and even when i take a snapshot it gives me a black image for some reason..

Vista says that the webcam is running fine. and that there are no errors. The light comes on showing that the camera is active...so it seems like its running fine

Is there a driver issue here? or is the cam basically broken and its a wiring issue

Anyone who has had a problem like this before im sure its not restricted to my laptop plz help me out i would greatly appreciate this..

Things i have done is

1) installed microsoft Hotfix EP0000146918 & EP0000146911
2) gone to device manager disabled and enabled the webcam


Thanks

U

[Blencogo]

Hi antistatic.

Vaio Cameras and Vista were a continuing problem and some still remain a mystery. Check the following: -

1. The camera is correctly installed. It should appear in the 'Imaging Devices' section of Device Manager as 'Sony Visual Communication Camera VCC6'. If it appears anywhere else the wrong driver is installed and you need to reinstall the camera using the driver in C:\Drivers\Camera\VGP-VCC6
2. The updated version of Vaio Camera Capture Utility Version 2.2.03.11150 is installed from here: -
http://support.vaio.sony.eu/computing/vaio/downloads/updates/index.aspx?m=VGN-AR41M&l=en_GB
3. The Vaio Camera Utility Version 2.0.01.02070 is also installed and is running automatically.

Check the versions of Vaio Camera Capture Utility (VCCU) and Vaio Camera Utility (VCU) by going to C:\Program Files\Sony and look in the two directories for 'Version.txt'.

If all these are OK and you still don't get an image in VCCU you probably have a hardware problem - as you say loose wires were not unusual.

One more thing may be worth checking. It may be worth turning off Vista's User Account Control temporarily to see if it causing the problem.
http://www.lockergnome.com/windows/2006/12/18/disable-user-account-control-in-vista/

[antistatic]

Hi antistatic.

Vaio Cameras and Vista were a continuing problem and some still remain a mystery. Check the following: -

1. The camera is correctly installed.  It should appear in the 'Imaging Devices' section of Device Manager as 'Sony Visual Communication Camera VCC6'.  If it appears anywhere else the wrong driver is installed and you need to reinstall the camera using the driver in C:\Drivers\Camera\VGP-VCC6
2. The updated version of Vaio Camera Capture Utility Version  2.2.03.11150 is installed from here: -
http://support.vaio.sony.eu/computing/vaio/downloads/updates/index.aspx?m=VGN-AR41M&l=en_GB
3. The Vaio Camera Utility Version 2.0.01.02070 is also installed and is running automatically.

Check the versions of Vaio Camera Capture Utility (VCCU) and Vaio Camera Utility (VCU) by going to C:\Program Files\Sony and look in the two directories for 'Version.txt'.

If all these are OK and you still don't get an image in VCCU you probably have a hardware problem - as you say loose wires were not unusual.

One more thing may be worth checking. It may be worth turning off Vista's User Account Control temporarily to see if it causing the problem.
http://www.lockergnome.com/windows/2006/12/18/disable-user-account-control-in-vista/

 

Well i have tried everything and none of them have proven to work. I still get a black screen when testing the webcam, even tho vista is recognizing the cam to be working absolutely fine.

One thing i have noted is that when using The Vaio Camera Capture Utiliy and trying to capture a still image i get the following error 'Failed to save data.' I wonder if this could be a hint to further diagnose the problem.

Thanks for you reply thus far Blencogo...i greatly appreciate your time and response

[rich912]

Hi antistatic,

I am grasping at straws here but the only other suggestion that I can make, in addition to Blencogo’s comprehensive list, is to check your DirectX software, as all video applications, including webcams, use DirectX for video processing.


Try downloading and installing the latest DirectX version.

[antistatic]

Hi antistatic,

I am grasping at straws here but the only other suggestion that I can make, in addition to Blencogo’s comprehensive list, is to check your DirectX software, as all video applications, including webcams, use DirectX for video processing. 


Try downloading and installing the latest DirectX version.

Hi Rich912,

Thanks for your comments..i have checked my directx driver version that is currenly installed on my machine and it has the latest version installed...which is DirectX 10. So i guess its a mystery as to why my cam is not working

Maybe it IS a wiring situation. mmm

[Esdras_uk]

HI antistatic,

Have you found any solution for your problem? I have exactly the same problem you have or hopefuly had. If you have any sugestions ill be happy to try. Thanks a lot. esdras_uk@hotmail.com

[loki971]

Hi
Try this:
Start->Run...->Type 'msconfig' and hit enter
in the 'Services' tab, check for the ArcSoft software to be checked. If not, check them and reboot.
Hope this works

[Esdras_uk]

Thanks but didnt work.