G73SW-A1 Webcam Not Working

After thorough research of this site and forums and numerous others, I'm at wits end.

I hadn't touched my computer for nearly 2 months to come back to it and the camera is not working. 'USB Video Device' shows up under Imaging Devices and Windows says its working with the up to date driver, (I'm assuming its a generic driver).

Virtual Camera, Lifeframe, SmartLogon and Skype all say another program is using the camera and the green light never comes on.

I'm uninstalled/reinstalled the device multiple times. There must not be a driver for this model as nothing is on their website or driver/utility disc.

Up until now, this has been a great machine. Any suggestions?

 

EricDA, HAve You tried either of the WebCam drivers from here? G73/74/53 Series Driver and Application Reference ?

 

Your driver won't show up on the G73 drivers list on asus.com. To find the camera drivers on Asus's website, type in "camera" in the search box.

Edit:

http://support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=Camera&p=3&s=111

 

The exact driver I need isn't listed there. Suggestions?

 

Try this one Version V7.31.719.002
The first D-MAX Driver

If it doesn't go through we can always edit the Inf file to force it through.

 

Just in case that doesn't work, here is the link to the drivers I have modified to include your device ID

Driver link

 

Uninstalled the USB Video Device, restarted, it showed up as an Unknown Device, then proceeded to install your driver. No Dice.

 

Did you use the installer in the package or the manual method of installing it from device manager?

The device manager method is better to force install drivers.

 

I have attached a further modified inf file that you can use to replace what you already have in the driver folder.

 

Okay, this time I tried installing through Device Manager. Browse my computer for Driver software > Searched for the Containing folder and got this

 

Its strange, sometimes when I boot it just comes up as an Unknown Device, other times it apparently loads some kind of generic driver and shows up as a USB Video Device.

 

When you search the computer for the driver choose the option that says "Let me pick from the list of device drivers on my computer"

Then click on "have disk" and browse for the modded inf file thats placed in the driver folder. Proceed with the installation. It might throw up a warning saying the driver is not digitally signed, choose the option to install anyway.

If it reports that the driver has been successfully installed, you could give your applications a shot to see if the webcam turns on.

 

Selected your modified .inf and hit OK. Didn't give an option to install anyway.

 

You might have to remove the "unknown device" and refresh the device manager using the "scan for hardware changes" option and then try to install it again.

But it is strange because I have tried to see if my 64bit home premium OS detects a 64bit driver in that folder. And it does.

 

Negative, same error.

This is all very strange. The camera worked fine for the 2 months I had it. But then I was gone and literally did not open the laptop for another 2 months, come back and have this issue.

 

Registry settings for it must have gotten fubar. May need to restore or clean install.

 

If you have teamviewer installed, I could remote assist you by checking the situation of things directly.

If all else fails a clean install will be your last resort

 

Thats what I feared. It appears if I do a hot restart the device consistently shows up as an Unknown Device. Yet if its a cold boot then it will show as a USB Video Device, and windows claims its working.

And I did already restored it to a point about 2 months ago. Nothing. Looks like a clean install it is.

Thanks for all the help, I appreciate it!

 

If you wish to give remote assistance a shot I am free to help, let me know. Or if you are ready to clean install, then go ahead and let us know later the results.

 

Definitely. I'll admit I've never done it before. Not sure where to start?

Edit:

Tried it one more time through Device Manager but this time when it showed up as USB Video Device vice Unknown Device, and it let me force the install. But about 30 secs through the computer crashed and got the BSOD. Could it have been that the driver was modded and not signed?

 

The mod is not the issue, though unsigned drivers can still work it should not cause a BSOD. I have had to force install my chicony webcam the same way on several occasions. This method worked for me.