Windows Hello "Couldn't turn on camera"

[DenverRalphy]

I have an Asus Q524U laptop.

Yesterday I received the Anniversary Update, and ever since then the Facial Recognition fails at login. I get the "Couldn't Turn On Camera" error message, and them I'm redirected to use my PIN for login.

Searches across the interwebz don't seem to provide much help beyond the typical "Make sure your drivers are up to date" repsonses (however I haven't sifted through them all, because the search turns up a bazillion results).

I have confirmed drivers are up to date. Even reinstalled them just to be sure. I deleted my facial recognition and PIN login settings, rebooted, then re-added my PIN login. However the setup for facial recognition fails at Couldn't Turn On Camera. The camera works with all the other software/apps. Just not for Windows Hello.

Anybody else experience this and able to fix it? Any help would be appreciated.

Thx.

 

[melhiore]

re: Windows Hello "Couldn't turn on camera"

Did not know Asus Q524U had Windows Hello capable camera?? Did it work before AU??

Looks like there were some issues with webcams:

How To Fix Windows 10 Webcam Issue After Anniversary Update
Windows 10 Anniversary Update breaks most webcams | Ars Technica UK

Not sure if that was for the USB cameras or broke the internal cams as well...

 

[DenverRalphy]

re: Windows Hello "Couldn't turn on camera"

Yeah. It worked before the anniversary update. It may be related to the article you referenced, except that it's an internal camera, and the camera works just fine with other apps.

[edit] Looking more into it... The camera in the Device Manager is listed as a USB device (odd). And I've noticed that the IR Camera Lense is separate from the normal camera lense, and only see one camera device in the Device Manager. So either both cameras at the top of the display are one integrated device, or I'm missing a device in the device manager (doubtful though because a scan for missing devices turns up nothing).

 

[melhiore]

re: Windows Hello "Couldn't turn on camera"

Yeah. It worked before the anniversary update. It may be related to the article you referenced, except that it's an internal camera, and the camera works just fine with other apps.

[edit] Looking more into it... The camera in the Device Manager is listed as a USB device (odd). And I've noticed that the IR Camera Lense is separate from the normal camera lense, and only see one camera device in the Device Manager. So either both cameras at the top of the display are one integrated device, or I'm missing a device in the device manager (doubtful though because a scan for missing devices turns up nothing).

Internal cameras very often are connected to USB (internal HUB but still USB) Not sure what can be done now as I never had any issues with camera. Everything just works. What do you think about the advice in the article?? Worth trying?? Does it look legitimate??

 

[DenverRalphy]

re: Windows Hello "Couldn't turn on camera"

Internal cameras very often are connected to USB (internal HUB but still USB) Not sure what can be done now as I never had any issues with camera. Everything just works. What do you think about the advice in the article?? Worth trying?? Does it look legitimate??

I've seen a few articles that said the same thing. However I just bought this laptop, and it will be a primary work device when I go to a new job with a large MSSP, and I'm not yet willing to start jacking with my registry keys etc.. (because in my experience, once you start doing that to a machine, there's a propensity to get out of control).

So for now, I've resigned myself to wait for either Microsoft or Asus (likely MSFT) to provide a fix. If the MSFT fix doesn't correct it, then I'll dig deeper. The issue isn't that big of a deal. I'm more just annoyed that my machine should be able to do it, and isn't. At this time it's more of an obsessive compulsion than a dealbreaker. To be honest, when I bought this laptop, I didn't even know or notice that it had an IR camera. Now that I do though, my geek side just wants it to work.

 

[keired]

re: Windows Hello "Couldn't turn on camera"

I have the same exact laptop, and I loved using Windows Hello since I bought it, but it also stopped working for me since the update! I've been looking for a fix myself and I found yours. Hopefully they give a fix for this. or I'll just bring it GeekSquad to see if they can do something about it.

 

[DenverRalphy]

re: Windows Hello "Couldn't turn on camera"

I have the same exact laptop, and I loved using Windows Hello since I bought it, but it also stopped working for me since the update! I've been looking for a fix myself and I found yours. Hopefully they give a fix for this. or I'll just bring it GeekSquad to see if they can do something about it.

I'm glad to hear this. Well not glad that your laptop is having problems, just glad that it's not just me, and it rules out my laptop being broken. :winktongue:

 

[Alexander Cordova]

I'm glad to hear this. Well not glad that your laptop is having problems, just glad that it's not just me, and it rules out my laptop being broken. :winktongue:

Yes I have the same laptop too and have not been able to find a fix either if you guys have or do please let me know would really love to getting back to signing in with my face lol. Thank you

 

[RonaldG87]

Hello. I have the same Laptop and the same problem. I was thinking on going to best buy and change the computer. I am still in the first fifteen days since i bought the laptop.

 

[DenverRalphy]

Nothing really new... just an update I finally received from Asus Support... which basically interprets as "Yeah... sorry... too bad, so sad..."

 

[hrogersinUS]

Not sure if this will help, as the setup is a little different. I'm using a Stargazer camera on a desktop computer. I was getting the same "Couldn't turn on camera", and after googling around, saw others suggestions of having to go into Device Manager, and set the USB Controllers Power Management to not allowing the computer to cut off power (paraphrasing somewhat, but, Device Manager, USB Controllers, select each, go to Properties, Power Management tab, deselect allow computer to cut off power). It wasn't obvious which USB controller the camera used, so I deselected all, but, with more testing you could narrow it down.

 

[kbmapper]

Hi Folks,
I don't know if this issue is still ongoing for the masses, but if you use the Windows 10 Insider Preview Edition available through Settings/Update & Security/Windows Insider Program, both Windows Hello and ASUS FlipLock work again. I joined three days ago and got the update within minutes. Be prepared for a long install if you decide to join the program...
KB

 

[DenverRalphy]

Hi Folks,
I don't know if this issue is still ongoing for the masses, but if you use the Windows 10 Insider Preview Edition available through Settings/Update & Security/Windows Insider Program, both Windows Hello and ASUS FlipLock work again. I joined three days ago and got the update within minutes. Be prepared for a long install if you decide to join the program... View attachment 130864
KB

I've been using an insider preview build, and I'm still sitting on Build 14931 (no joy on it being fixed), and I'm on the fast track option. And no updates to the 14936 build that you show. And it's been a couple/few weeks since your post.

 

[DenverRalphy]

The insider preview just finally updated today to the 14946 build... and still no joy.

 

[Carlos Garcia5]

The insider preview just finally updated today to the 14946 build... and still no joy.

The same problem with a new dell laptop after Microsoft update

 

[DenverRalphy]

Just a follow up... my issue has been fixed.

Apparently a subsequent OS update did address the issue. But failed to repair properly during the update. However, as luck would have it (depending on perspective), I had to completely wipe and return my laptop to a virgin state due to an antivirus software update completely borking up my system to the point it wouldn't even boot into safe mode (Avira was the culprit, so I switched to a different AV solution because it wasn't the first time Avira has been known to cause problems). As a result, with a fresh new install, the camera is now working again with Windows Hello.

I'm always the first to criticize the "Wipe and reinstall the OS" method of fixing issues. But in this case, it happened to be the correct (albeit forced) action for me. Which is sad, because for me a complete refresh is usually a maddeningly frustrating solution because I have a LOT of software to reinstall. If I wasn't forced to do it, I'd still have the issue. Not saying that it's the correct action for others, so I'm still hesitant to pass it on as a fix, however I've yet to find any reliable working manual fixes anywhere else on the interwebz.

 

[cga]

The same problem here with Inspiron 17 7779 2-in-1

After the update I get the "Couldn't turn on the camera"

How can I fix this?

 

[Sameer Sinha]

I am having the same issue with Dell inspiron 13, 2 in 1

 

[Sameer Sinha]

@cga : I got the problem fixed by searching for Dell IR Camera drivers. Here is the link. Let us know if it fixed your problem or not ?

Realtek IR Camera Driver Driver Details | Dell US

 

[Emma North]

Update: I fixed this on my HP Envy x360 by taking the following steps:

• Computer Management
• Device Manager
• Imaging Devices
• Right-click on HP IR Camera (or whatever yours is called)
• Scan for hardware changes (obviously you can automatically update the driver here if you haven't tried that already)
• Then I heard a USB disconnecting sound and Imaging Devices disappeared completely so there was obviously an issue with the camera connection
• Reinstalled the driver by searching my model number on HP's drivers site

It's now all sorted for me, hope that helps someone!