Webcam Stopped Working D150

I have searched and read through many of the "webcam stopped working" threads here, but my problem is sufficiently odd that I felt it best to open a new thread. The built-in webcam on my AA1 D150 (purchased June 2009) stopped working recently. I'm not sure when, but as recently as 2 weeks ago, it was working, and today it isn't.

I'm fairly certain that I disabled the built-in webcam on an Acer AA1 D150 using powertop, but I cannot figure out how to re-enable it. This seems to be a hardware setting, as I have the problem with 10.04, 9.04, Mint 9, and Windows XP.

BUT... XP still detects the webcam, so I don't think it's a hardware problem. Windows Movie Maker reports two separate error messages:

Any suggestions? I took out a 2-year extended warranty when I bought the AA1 (having had a motherboard problem with an 8.9" AA1), but I hate to take it in to the place where I bought it because I have a very low opinion of service techs in such settings.

 

Further information: Under XP, I followed the instructions at: http://netbooks-us.custhelp.com/app/ans ... ot-working

To test the webcam under Windows XP, please follow these steps:

1. Go to Start, All Programs, then Windows Movie Maker.
2. On the left side, click the link for Capture from video device.
3. Select Next throughout the set up, making any file name changes or setting changes if desired.
4. On the Capture Video screen, click on the Start Capture button
5. You will see the video on the right with a time count up
6. When you are done click the Finish button
7. Click the play button on the video clip, or drag the clip to the Storyboard below.

Last line on this web page: "If the problem persists, the netbook may need service."

Since this problem persists across two drives and 4 operating systems, I think it has a hardware cause. Would reflashing the BIOS help? I did this some time ago, so I still have the latest BIOS for the D150, and can do this fairly easily from Windows.

UPDATE: I reflashed to BIOS 1.11 (it was already on 1.11, and this just restored BIOS settings to default values). No change. I'm beginning to think that powertop had nothing to do with this problem, and that the webcam simply failed.

Like Windows, Linux also sees the webcam, but can't initialize it:

Code:

$ dmesg | grep uvcvideo
[   10.071244] uvcvideo: Found UVC 1.00 device WebCam (0c45:62c0)
[   10.072110] uvcvideo: UVC non compliance - GET_DEF(PROBE) not supported. Enabling workaround.
[   10.072680] uvcvideo: Failed to query (129) UVC probe control : -32 (exp. 26).
[   10.072692] uvcvideo: Failed to initialize the device (-5).
[   10.072796] usbcore: registered new interface driver uvcvideo

 

I pulled out my extended service contract this morning, and it was only for 12 months, which expired 2 months ago.

So, I'm back to square one. Inability to initialize the internal webcam seems to such a common problem across multiple brands of net/notebook computers and operating systems, that you would think there are some solutions out there (other than sending it in for repair). Since my problem exists under multiple different OS's, I am again leaning to a hardware problem that is unrelated to anything I did recently. I purchased a 1 year extended service contract when I bought the Acer, but of course, that expired about 60 days ago. I almost never use the webcam, so I am giving up on this problem until or if someone reports a workable solution.

 

Webcams (for the Aspire One series at least) can be found on eBay or other places online relatively cheap, and they're relatively simple to replace. All you have to do is turn the machine off, remove the bezel around the LCD, unplug and remove the faulty webcam, replace it with the new one and close the bezel again.

 

Thanks for the tip. The question remains: why does such a simple device, with no moving parts, apparently fail so frequently? And I'm still not convinced it has actually failed; rather it seems to be in a state from which I have found no way to wake it.

 

Best I can think of is that not uinlike every other component in a computer, they have a circuit board with firmware (essentially software to control the device). Firmware can have bugs in it which can cause major problems. Seagate for example, released a series of hard drives with dodgy firmware which caused irreparable damage and data loss. This is why BIOS updates are released, BIOS software is like the firmware for your motherboard, if there's a bug in it, it can cause problems. Eg. The BIOS updated for proper CPU reporting for D250's running Windows 7.