M17x R4 Webcam possible failure

Just recently received my new R4 and proceeded to put in an SSD I had from a previous computer into it, with a fresh install of windows. Normally I don't have any problems with drivers, etc, but this one has me stumped. When my webcam is enabled via function F9, the computer detects a new USB device.

However, that USB device pops up saying "USB Device not recognized," and upon looking at the actual device, the device hardware ID literally says "USB\UNKNOWN." HardwareInfo64 says that the device fails to enumerate. I actually opened up the laptop (which I dread doing with any new device) and unplugged the webcam from the motherboard. It actually still popped up with an unknown device while the webcam was enabled, which leads me to believe it's some sort of issue with whatever actually controls what the webcam is connected to.

Anyone have any ideas? I've installed the chipset identification utility and the USB 3.0 eXtensible host controller driver as well. The device shows up under the Universal Serial Bus Controllers section of the device manager.

Could this be a bad webcam issue?

Pictures for those who are stimulated by such things:








My working theory is something is wrong hardware-wise with whatever USB controller the webcam uses and is controlled by the function key.

 

Did you keep the Windows installation on the old drive? if so, pop that one back in and see if the problem still exists...

 

I wish I had, I really do. I checked graphical performance and didn't bother checking anything else, shoved my old SSD in and installed windows, then immediately copied over partitions from my old 500gb laptop hard drive that had all my data on it.

Im in the process of trying to reinstall windows on a different hard drive

 

just a thought.. have you tried installing the dell webcam software?

https://smartsource.dell.com/Web/Welcome.aspx?ReturnUrl=/web/main.aspx

 

Do a CMOS reset and see if whatever that is resets and comes up with a driver installation box in Windows. Its kinda hard to gauge what is going wrong when we're not even sure it is the webcam. You should be sure before you dissect your registry trying to fix the webcam's USB host.

 

I had tried with one of the dell webcam central applications, and then I just tried with the other (there's two listed, slightly different versions and different sizes) to no avail.

I've also done a complete reformat and the device shows up the same after a reformat. It's the hardware ID that really throws me for a loop, I've installed drivers on atleast 10 different dell laptops and I've never seen one without a real hardware ID.

I actually tried that too, I popped the motherboard battery out and let it sit for a little while unplugged and with neither the laptop or motherboard battery. Hooked it back up, powered it on, and it started beeping (5 beeps and then a break) so I powered it off again. Turning it back on and it came up normally but the device is still the same.

The reason I feel it's the webcam is because it doesn't exist in the device manager, and if I do function + F9 to turn off the webcam, the device disappears. Turning the webcam back on causes it to come back again.


Thanks for the replies guys, appreciated

 

At this point I'm almost 100% sure it's something that interface between the webcam and the motherboard (or just the motherboard itself). Unplugging the webcam from the motherboard again causes no visible change to anything on the computer, the unknown device is still detected, still with the same broken hardware ID. Pressing function + F9 to turn the webcam off and the unknown device disappears, only to reappear again when I try to re enable the webcam (all while it's unplugged from the motherboard).

Right now I see two options. One is to contact dell technical support and try to convince them to send someone out to replace the motherboard (which is in itself a big task, and I would hate to see my brand new laptop stripped down). The other would be to send this one back to newegg and have them send a new one (bought it on there since I had gift cards). I would be out a laptop for atleast a week and there's no telling what would actually come back to me.

Anyone have any better ideas or solutions?