How to check if webcam is physically connected to laptop?

[AnneK96]

Long story short: the built-in webcam on my HP laptop has not worked in months, after working without issues for the first ~year of the laptop's life. How do I check if the webcam is physically connected to wherever it needs to go in the rest of the computer?

I used to skype/take webcam photos/etc. with no issue, but now the laptop behaves as if there's no webcam connected at all.

The webcam doesn't show up in the device manager unless I click view--> show hidden devices. 

 

I've tried updating the drivers, but it tells me the most up-to-date driver software is already installed. Uninstalling and re-installing webcam software also doesn't fix the problem. 

Back in January, I opened up the laptop's back panel and switched out the device's original hard drive for a solid state drive. In February, the plastic panel around my touch screen came loose, and I had to take it to a local repair service to get it fixed. Shortly after is when the webcam problem started. Could either of these things have knocked a cable or something loose? Is there a way I can check? Any other software fixes I can try? (I'm running the latest version of Windows 10).

Thanks.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

The only suggestion I can offer would be to check the service manual chapter 6, pages 39, and 40 to see if the cable is plugged into the webcam.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05493257

Then you will need to look further in chapter 6 to see where the other end of the cable goes that plugs into the motherboard.

[AnneK96]

Thanks. I pried off the plastic casing around the display panel, and that piece of the webcam appears to be connected to the cable. Looking through the rest of the manual, the rest of the process to make sure the cable is connected on the other end is something I'd rather leave to a professional (aka, not me). If there aren't any other software fixes for me to try, I might just have to get it looked at.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Unfortunately, I can't think of anything else to try, other than right clicking on the hidden device in the device manager, select uninstall, check the uninstall driver box, restart the PC, and see if the device gets reinstalled so it appears in the device manager normally.

If that doesn't work, it is most likely a hardware problem.