HP Camera drivers not shown in Device Manager, Camera not found

[jonmbsmith]

I have an issue with the in-built Camera on my HP ENVY Laptop 17-ae0xx that seems intermittent. The installed operating system is Windows 10 Home OS build 19041.508. In the past, a cold boot has temporarily fixed the problem. In Device Manager, when working, there is a group for Camera. The first Driver is for "HP IR Camera" with Provider Realtek. The last time I could see this in Device Manager, it showed Driver Version 10.0.17134.20048. The second Driver is for "HP Wide Vision FHD Camera" with Provider Realtek. The last time I could see this, it also showed Driver Version 10.0.17134.20048.

When not working, there is no Camera group shown in Device Manager. The WIndows store Camera application reports 'We can't find your camera' with an error code "0x0A00F4244<NoCamerasAreAttached>". Microsoft Teams in Settings Devices shows Camera with None in the list that can be selected.

In the Windows Event viewer, I can see some entries where the Description is "The Windows Camera Frame Server service terminated unexpectedly" and EventID is 7034. However, I do not see a similar entry for that each time I start the computer.

Please help me to troubleshoot and resolve the issue.

[jonmbsmith]

I have an update to share (2020-09-15), so reply to my post. I have tried multiple things to resolve this, but I am having intermittent problems, so I am no closer to finding a root cause. I now re-installed drivers for HP IR Camera and HP Wide Vision FHD Camera so both are now version 10.0.18362.2010. Realtek is the driver provider and ‘Microsoft Hardware Compatibility Publisher’ shows in the Driver tab for these.

The device ‘HP Wide Vision FHD Camera’ status can show as ‘This device is working properly.’ in the General tab for the Device properties. For example, the last time that I ran the Microsoft store Camera app, I saw ‘Close other apps’ as the title and error code ‘0xA00F4288<AllCamerasAreReserved>’. The ‘Get Help’ tool showed, ‘It looks like there is an issue with your camera services.’ After the ‘Get Help’ tool reset the services, the Camera application showed ‘0x0A00F4244<NoCamerasAreAttached>’. The device status then changed to ‘Currently, this hardware device is not connected to the computer. (Code 45)’.

It seems unlikely to me that there is a hardware problem, and I speculate that it is rather software compatibility issue. I have no reason to suspect that my anti-virus software is blocking the camera, and I have already experimented with the Windows camera settings, but I have not resolved the problem. I can temporarily see the images captured by the camera sometimes before a problem occurs which seems to be at the device driver level. Note, I have downloaded a tool from Nirsoft called DevManView v1.71 that seems to me useful to display information about device drivers and their properties as an alternative to Device Manager.

[jonmbsmith]

I have a further update to share (2020-09-15). I now have installed multiple newer device drivers on my PC including 'HP Wide Vision FHD Camera' and 'HP IR Camera' version 10.0.19041.20148, 22/06/2020. These drivers are currently behaving with the settings that I presently have for the camera. Microsoft Teams and Zoom previews are showing the image from the camera, so I am hopeful of an improvement at least.

[jonmbsmith]

I have a further update to share (2020-09-26). I now have installed 'HP Wide Vision FHD Camera' and 'HP IR Camera' version 10.0.19041.20149, 30/06/2020.  This is a newer build than the one that I had installed previously, but I am not clear what is different.  I still have issues when running the Camera application, for example.

Please note that Microsoft Update Catalog has multiple drivers available to be downloaded in cabinet files.  The site https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/ is searchable.  Presently, if I search the site for ‘Realtek - Camera - 10.0.19041.20149’, there are 10 results for different Windows products.

[The_Fossette]

@jonmbsmith

I reviewed your post and I understand that the webcam is not working on your computer.

Don’t worry, I assure you I will try my best to get this sorted.

I recommend you follow the steps in the below article and check if it helps.

https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c03430151

Let me know how it goes and you have a great day!

P.S: Welcome to the HP Support Community 😊

If you wish to show appreciation for my efforts, mark my post as Accept as Solution. Your feedback counts!

Cheers!

Stay Home – Stay Safe

[jonmbsmith]

Thank you @The_Fossette

There is detailed advice given in the article "HP PCs - Webcam Troubleshooting (Windows 10, 8)". I had previously found the page and reviewed.  HP support software identifies the computer model as "HP ENVY - 17-ae051na".  I cannot locate a webcam privacy switch on this model. The computer has an integrated camera.  I have not seen a setting in my anti-virus software that would disable the camera.  The problem appears intermittent to me.  Sometimes that camera will work for a short period before the Device Manager will not show the driver until using the option View->Show Hidden Devices.  The drivers for both the "HP IR Camera" and "HP Wide Vision FHD Camera" can report "Currently, this hardware device is not connected to the computer. (Code 45)", but I have not determined exactly when this happens.  To me it seems almost at random, as the drivers can show also as "This device is working properly."

I previously tried uninstalling the driver to have Windows seek the correct driver through the USB plug-and-play technology.  However, this is problematic as sometimes the Windows operating system does not detect the camera at all.  I do not think I have a hardware problem as the error can occur even though I have not moved the hinge or screen between the driver showing as working properly and not connected.  Sometimes the camera drivers can start working properly again after having previously shown as not connected, without restarting the computer.

The corresponding "HP TrueVision Full HD FHD RGBIR Webcam Driver Windows 10 v1803 - sp88131.exe" is locatable and there is documentation (https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/swdetails/hp-envy-17-ae0000-laptop-pc-series/155511... The sp88131 package includes a file RtChHP.inf that contains lines such as:

Realtek.RGB_DeviceDesc = "Realtek DMFT - RGB"
Realtek.IR_DeviceDesc = "Realtek DMFT - IR"
DriverVersion = "10.0.16299.20019"

The RtChHP.inf included in the cabinet file that I downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog contains.

Realtek.RGB_DeviceDesc = "Realtek DMFT - RGB"
Realtek.IR_DeviceDesc = "Realtek DMFT - IR"
DriverVersion = "10.0.19041.20149"

The version I have installed present for the two camera drivers is 10.0.19041.20149.

I speculate that there is some kind of conflict for the drivers.  I would be interested to know what changed in the driver versions, although as far as I can tell, both seem to have the same intermittent problem in my computer.

[The_Fossette]

@jonmbsmith

Thank you for the update.

I recommend you perform a system reset following the steps in the below article and check if it helps.

Refer to the below link for detailed steps.

https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c04742289

Let me know how it goes and you have a great day!

If you wish to show appreciation for my efforts, mark my post as Accept as Solution. Your feedback counts!

Cheers!

Stay Home – Stay Safe

[jonmbsmith]

@The_Fossette - thank you for the link regarding resetting a PC. I prefer not to consider that except as a last resort.

I found a Microsoft support webpage that describes ‘If some Windows functions aren’t working or Windows crashes, use the System File Checker to scan Windows and restore your files.’ (https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/929833/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-o...)

I ran the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

“Version: 10.0.19041.329

"Image Version: 10.0.19041.508

"The operation completed successfully.”

I ran the System File Checker tool:

sfc /scannow

“Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.”

Neither tool seems showed a problem, as far as could tell.

When I load Device Manager, at present, I see the Camera properties without needing to show hidden devices. Both HP IR Camera and HP Wide Vision FHD Camera show the Device status as ‘This device is working properly.’

I will monitor the situation for now.

[The_Fossette]

@jonmbsmith

Perfect! Please post your results, as I will be looking forward to hearing from you.

Good day!

[jonmbsmith]

@The_Fossette - thank you for the reminder to update.

The drivers for ‘HP IR Camera’ and ‘HP Wide Vision FHD Camera’ both show as ‘This device is working properly.’ at present in Device Manager. Both drivers are version 10.0.19041.20149. The Windows store Camera application worked the first time that I ran it today. It also worked just now, when I ran it. I then closed the Camera application. I ran the Camera application again and saw an error message appear briefly, then the application showed an image again. My impression is that there may be a ‘stability’ or ‘intermittent’ issue still, but it is not as noticeable.

I cannot yet say that anything I have done has resolved the problem. However, I do not have an obvious way to reproduce. I can try again checking the Device Manager and the Camera application over the next few days and unless something changes, it probably makes sense to close this ticket.