Dell Latitude E6510 integrated laptop WebCam not working?

Hello, I have a Latitude E6510 laptop downgraded from Windows7 to Windows XP, when I try to open up the webcam from my computer "USB Video Device" it says:

--
Creation of the video preview failed.
please check the device connection and make sure that the device is not being used by another application or user.
--

I tired everything I could possibly think of to fix this.. Pointing that the webcam worked very well when I first installed Windows XP, but suddenly it stopped working.

First of all I uninstalled the driver from the device manager & installed it again, but got nowhere.

Then I got the Windows XP one from Dell website, & during the WebCam set up it says "An error occurred while setting up the driver" & the problem remains.

After that, I decided to use the "System restore" to restore my laptop to a point before this issue showed up, & still.. got nowhere.

Finally I'm sure I have no other applications using my webcam because I never installed any when it stopped working.

I'm really disappointed, & I want to get this webcam to work again so bad, please help!

 

Did you also receive the Dell Webcam Central software on a CD? This enhances the webcam functionality. However, the driver alone is sufficient to get the webcam properly identified in Device Manager.

John

 

Thank you for replying, & sorry for the late response.
The Webcam IS already identified in the device manager, & in "My computer" but it just won't work when I try to use it.

 

OK. And did you install the Dell Webcam Central software which you should have received on a CD?

John

 

Forum rules limit a post to 6 file attachments, so see my next post for the other two attachments.

There have been reports of webcam hardware failures. Finding a method to test the webcam hardware independent of the software/configuration might help diagnose.

Dell does provide an integrated webcam diagnostic on the OEM/utility partition, which is included as part of the factory build on all E6510's.

These Dell diagnostics might also be included in the media shipped with the laptop, or downloadable from Dell's support site. Usually, the media is included only if the customer requests it as part of the laptop order.

Accessing the Dell webcam diagnostic is not difficult, but not intuitive either. I'll try to describe the process:

• Shutdown the laptop. Turn it on again; repeatedly press F12 at two second intervals until the special Boot Options menu is displayed on the screen. If Windows launches, stop pressing F12 then shutdown normally and try again.

See attached image: 1-Boot_Options_Menu.jpg​

• Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to select Diagnostics and press the Enter key.

See attached image: 1-Boot_Options_Menu.jpg​

• The Dell Pre-boot System Assessment will execute some diagnostics. This will take about four minutes. When prompted a few minutes into the test, press the y key to confirm colors are rendered on the display screen.

Attached image: 2_Pre-boot_System_Assessment.jpg is a snapshot taken during one of many tests conducted as part of the PSA.
​

• When the Pre-boot System Assessment finishes, Dell's utility will ask if you want to run more memory tests. Press N for no.

See attached image: 3_Prompt_For_More_Memory_Diagnostics.jpg
​

• If Dell's OEM/utility partition exists on the hard drive (or SSD), there is another prompt to boot Dell's OEM/utility partition. Press any key...

If the OEM/utility partition does not exist (because the owner reinstalled the operating system and deleted the partition), the laptop will reboot automagically.​

See attached image: 4_Boot_Dell_Utility_Partition_Diagnostics.jpg​

• Use the Tab key to move the focus to Test System button, then press the Enter key.

See attached image: 5_Select_Dell_System_Diagnostics.jpg​

• It will take about a minute for the Dell diagnostic utility to load special device drivers.

Attached image: 6_Loading_Special_Device_Drivers.jpg. is one example of several screens displayed as device drivers are loaded.​

• After the Main Menu is displayed, use the touchpad to press the Custom Test button.

See attached image: 7_Select_Custom_Test.jpg​

• On the Customize screen, expand the USB node, then expand the Laptop_Integrated_Webcam_3M node. There are multiple methods to run the diagnostics. You can use the mouse to single click on and select the Laptop_Integrated_Webcam_3M node and then press the Run Tests button at the lower left corner of the screen. The test results are presented on the right portion of the screen; notice there are multiple tabs on the right side.

When the test is run as described above, the processor will communicate with and test the integrated webcam hardware. The webcam LED WILL turn on for a second or two while the diagnostic is run. The diagnostic DOES NOT not render an image from the webcam on-screen.​

As shown in the attached image, there is a second USB node for the webcam diagnostics. Use the same procedure to single click on that node to select it, and then press the Run Test button, and then inspect the test results.​

See attached image: 8_Custom_Diagnostics.jpg​

Sorry for the marginal images. Your screens may appear different because of different hardware options or software versions.

Good luck.

 

These 2 file attachments are referenced in my previous post.

 

Holy moly!

 

@John Ratsey, I don't have the CD mentioned above.

& thanks A LOT for the effort VeryOldGuy, I really appreciate it.
Unfortunately I ran the tests thing, & they were passed successfully but after I tried to use the WebCam again, I figured out it didn't solve the main problem

I'm not a hundred percent sure no programs are really using my WebCam like the message says, any way I could find out? it seems like no WebCam softwares are installed anyways.
Maybe there's a way to remove the WebCam drivers 100% without left overs?

Again I really appreciate the responses, thank you all

 

I have followed the instruction on how to run diagnostics and I found that the Laptop_Integarted_Webcam_3m passed all the tests.i.e SROM Write Protect,led on,Sensor Register,LED OFF.The question I have where do I get the software to run this webcam?

 

Dell does not host this software on their download site. If you do not have the cd/dvd, you have to contact Dell and ask for it.

The media comes with the laptop only if you requested it at the time the laptop was ordered.