I have two web-cams, a Microsoft Life HD 3000 and an early Hue, both work fine on Windows 7 (64) and until recently, the MS Life used to work on Windows 8.1 (64) on my mediaserver pc. However, it suddenly stopped. I've tried to re-configure it to get it to work, but had no luck. Again, I've tried to get the Hue to work on Windows 8.1, but it only detects it as a high definition audio device.

 

According to the Microsoft compatibility website, both cameras are compatible with Windows 8.1.

 

Windows 7 is running on an Asus Sabretooth board and Windows 8.1. on a slightly older Asus M4A88TD-Evo-USB3 (Which has an embedded Radeon 4200 graphics processor).

 

Any ideas ? Can either of these two cams be made to work on Windows 8.1 ?

 

Any body got experience of which cams do work ?

 

Cheers

 

 

Nick

 

 

If it worked once then it should work again.

 

try uninstalling and reinstalling.

 

It might be worth running a register cleaner like CCleaner in between.

If it worked once then it should work again.

 

try uninstalling and reinstalling.

 

It might be worth running a register cleaner like CCleaner in between.

Agreed.

 

It may be necessary to completely uninstall the drivers for the items as it sounds like they have been incorrectly identified

After some considerable effort, uninstalling software and drivers, flashing the BIOS on the W8 system with the latest update and updating the chipset and system files on same. using CCleaner on the remaining files and registry and installing a recent MS windows 8.1 fix for  web cams, as well as doing some tweeks to the registry (Via regedit) on the basis of advice on the web, I have managed to get the windows 8.1 system (Mediaserver) to correctly detect the MS Life cam HD -3000 and re-install the software. Device Manager manager tells me its all operating correctly (Error Code 43 does not make an appearance). However, in normal resolution there's no picture on the VDU screen. If I bump-up the camera resolution to HD then I get varied colour horizontal lines over the top 1/5 of the screen. That's it.

 

As for the Hue HD clique webcam, nothing. Device manager on either of my systems detects it as unknown device and further reports code 43, "Device turned-off" - reading on the web, code 43 can be due to corrupted or missing drivers (Can't be that 'cause I've fully deleted and re-installed the software on both systems), faulty interface between driver and kernel (possibility that could be a registry fault), or hardware fault.

 

Interesting that Microsoft has released this  specific update for USB web cams (referred to above) operating on Windows 8 systems - its only available through the Windows Update service -suggests that its a problem of their creation. As I said, this appears to have started happening to people back in 2013.

 

Unfortunately, nothing I have done has  the fixed  problem.

 

Postscript

 

Looking more closely at the detail of the Windows Update for USB Web cams, I see that it was issued in January 2015 specifically for the Microsoft Life Can HD-3000. And if I look in Device Manager at the MS HD-3000 entry, under drivers, it states driver issued by Microsoft, 29/1/2015. They've had to write a new driver for their own kit !!!!!!! And it still doesn't work !

 

At times like these, you just want to reach for the big hammer which has marked on the handle, "For use on Bill Gates/Steve Balmer only".

 

PS-2

 

I'm beginning to  suspect there is another issue still extant which the new driver hasn't addressed - I understand, in Windows 8, that the camera app on the start screen will always try to take exclusive control of any attached camera and that it will (Attempt to ?) override control exercised by the driver native to the web cam. Trouble is the software supplied with the web cam comes as one package, i.e. application and drivers. So maybe the best thing is to simply remove the software that comes with the web cam and allow Windows 8.1. to do its thing.

 

 

Nick

Edited 31 March, 201511 yr by Clunkclick

Have you tried unplugging the camera and plugging it in another USB port?

 

Sounds stupid but that's often how you get new mice to kick in on a PC or laptop.

Have you tried the actual camera manufacturers web sites to get the latest 8.1 drivers from them rather than Microsoft?

Sorted ! I tried the MS LifeCam HD-3000  on my 12 year old laptop which runs Windows 7  (32). No problems at all. Perfect picture.

 

And it just so happens that Microsoft produced a new revision of the LifeCam software to run on Windows 8, version 4.2,  -  the Windows 7 version was revision 3.6.

 

That gave me an idea.

 

So I cleared the mediaserver (W8) of all MS LifeCam software and then re-installed version 4.2. No good. Although device manager detected the webcam and reported that it was running OK, the application programme wouldn't start.

 

So I cleared the machine of LifeCam 4.2 and re-installed  and ran version 3.6.

 

Success, perfect picture, even though it gave me a "Wrong version" warning whilst loading.

 

Clearly, MS have ballsed the W8 version of the software.

 

Be interesting to see if the Hue webcam reacts the same way.

 

Nick

Edited 1 April, 201511 yr by Clunkclick

I think I know what happened there.

 

The Mediaserver was originally running Windows 7 when the MS  Life Cam software was originally installed. Naturally I installed the Windows 7 version of the Life Cam software.

 

Windows 7 on this machine was upgraded to Windows 8.1. The original MS Life Cam software still ran OK, and there wasn't an upgrade around at that time, so it was left as was.

 

Obviously, something corrupted that installation (I think it was a MS Windows update, some time in 2014) so it stopped working and when it came to repair, I foolishly thought that installing the Windows 8 version of the Life Cam software would work on a machine running Windows 8.1 - obviously not.

 

 

Nick

Edited 1 April, 201511 yr by Clunkclick

The other webcam (Hue sub-type ?) now sorted.

 

I think the on-system driver got corrupted making the camera hardware detectable but unusuable.

 

Turns out that the webcam was a sub-variant of Hue called cliquecams.com - although the supplied software disk is printed "Hue", the actual software is cliquecam which is available on a different web site to the Hue stuff and. obviously, the driver is slighltly diffrent. So, that's why  downloading from the Hue website didn't work.

 

All OK now.

 

 

Nick