Camera Problems

I have run into a similar issue with my Microsoft Surface Book 2 camera that had stopped working. Attached below is a summary of my specific issue, the things I tried and the ultimate solution that was identified which got camera working again. This effort includes about three weeks of back-and-forth discussion with Microsoft Support. If you have similar problem, hope this helps.

Background on my specific issue:

The camera on my Microsoft Surface Book 2 Model 1832.i5 just suddenly stopped working about 2 years back (exact date cannot recall) for no apparent reason.   The camera or face login no longer worked, and camera didn’t operate when using computer camera app, or various apps for online meetings, whether Zoom, G-meets, or MS-Teams meetings.  I purchased and have been using a LogiTech USB camera, but it doesn’t nearly have the resolution of the camera on Surface Book 2 and is of no use when traveling with laptop alone. 

As for the reason why my camera suddenly stopped working, while I don’t know for sure, my suspicion is that a Windows update sometime in the past had corrupted the camera driver causing it to stop working.

Failed Attempts to Resolve:

1. Was suggested (web query) to ensure there are no pending updates in Windows Updates and reboot your machine if needed.  Did so.  My Windows was up to date and rebooting computer didn’t solve issue.
2. Was suggested (web query) to download and run the Microsoft Surface Diagnostic Toolkit.  I did so and the following results were obtained:
   • We have detected one or more drivers in an error state. See the following: - Intel(R) AVStream Camera 2500, error code = 22.  Possible Causes Missing drivers or firmware. Physical hardware malfunction.
   • Next Steps Please ensure there are no pending updates in Windows Updates, and reboot your machine if needed. If problem persist, please contact Microsoft support.
   • Windows was up to date and rebooting computer did not fix camera.
3. After all of my individual attempts above had failed, I contacted Microsoft support for help and a log of these communications and results over three weeks are below .

a. MS Technical Support ask me to download and run the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit.  I commented I had already done this and included results in ticket.  They wanted me to run specifically the Microsoft Surface Diagnostic Toolkit for Business (SDT4B), CLICK HERE to download, to locate and select "Surface_Diagnostic_Toolkit_for_Business_v2.160.139.0.msi”, to run this application and to save the results.  As I hadn’t done the ‘Business version’, I downloaded and ran this tool.  Outcome using Business version, was similar to what I had seen earlier.

b. Was suggested by Tech Support to reinstall Microsoft Surface Book 2 Drivers and Firmware.  I did so and the results of this are listed below.  Bottom line, it did not fix the issue.

Downloaded Drivers and Attempted to Install the Following, in the order from top to bottom:

>Ran SurfaceBook2_Win10_17763_20.061.128540.msi

Received the message “A newer version is already installed”, and it failed to complete installation.

>Ran SurfaceBook2_Win10_17134_20.012.21576.0.msi

Received the message “A newer version is already installed”, and it failed to complete installation.

>Ran SurfaceBook2_Win10_18362_21.101.14869.0.msi

Was successfully installed.  Afterwards it asked to restart computer which I did.  Camera is still not operating.

c. As Drivers and Firmware were up to date, tech support asked me to run again the Diagnostic Toolkit and send them results.  They also asked me to take a “screenshot of the Device Manager output as we may be able to re-enable the camera.”, and said  “Here is an example of what the output would look like: (If on your end the camera shows an "Enable Device" option towards the bottom, please select it to see if the camera turns back on)”.  Figure below is what tech support indicated my output should look like.

d. I took a Screen Capture of my computer’s Device Manager as requested by Microsoft Tech Support, the results of which are shown below.  I commented to tech person that I did not see the “Surface Camera Front or Surface IR Camera Front” in the example he showed (above), just something called Intel(R) AVStream Camera 2500.  When I tried to enable this device, it failed to do so.   Camera still not working.

e. The MS tech person asked the following: “Just to confirm, there are no other cameras connected or previously connected to the Surface Device? I see on the screenshot there was a camera called "Intel(R) AVStream Camera 2500" may I please ask to right-click on that component and select properties, if possible and send a screenshot of what details are shown?”.  I did take a screen shot of this which is below and in subsequent request from tech support attempt to Enable the device which failed.

**f. The Microsoft Surface Support Technician then asked the following:  “Thank you for that information and your patience. I would like for you to perform a Bare Metal Reset Surface Recovery.”**His email with instructions included the following warning.

***Warning*** A BMR (Bare Metal Reset) will clear and write over all existing data on your hard drive, and will result in a base operating system, with no customizations, user added programs, or personal data. Please backup all personal data (documents, pictures, etc..) to OneDrive, or your choice of cloud or physical backup method, as Microsoft is not liable to retain or recover personal data.

g. I responded: “Oh goodness, this is drastic solution and could put me out of business for weeks!!  The risk/benefit equation doesn't seem all that good to me as this is merely a camera issue.  The computer otherwise is working fine.  Any chance we could merely reinstall the camera driver, as it appears it is not loaded and has somehow disappeared?”.

h. The Microsoft Support Tech responded:  “Since the camera driver is disabled, I'm unsure an uninstall then reinstall would work to having the device re-enable. If there is any important data on the device, I would recommend backing up to a cloud like One Drive or an external drive like a USB flash or hard drive. If the Bare Metal Reset Surface Recovery is done, the computer would be out of commission for a few hours at best.”

i. I decided ball is back in my court to figure this out as I really didn’t want to wipe computer clean and start from scratch.  In the past I’ve found it can take weeks to reload third party applications, websites, etc to get back to full operation.

4. Further independent troubleshooting by myself and a reason to be skeptical if Microsoft Technician truly new about Surface Book 2 camera and drivers is outlined below.

a. In Section, 3(c) above the technician suggested the device manager for Surface Book 2 should list “Surface Camera Front” and “Surface IR Camera Front”.  As my device manager only showed “Intel(R) AVStream Camera 2500”, the technician wondered if I had some other cameras attached to the Surface Device, see response in Section 3(e) above. I.E. technician thought Intel® AVStream Camera 2500 was a foreign third-party camera.

b. Why did I have skepticism? It seemed the Microsoft Support tech thought the “Intel(R) AVStream Camera 2500” was some third-party camera.  By mere chance, however, in the process of reviewing the specs on the page Surface Book 2 Drivers and Firmware (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=56261), besides “Details”, “System Requirements”, “Install Instructions” there was something called “Related Resources”.  In this later section, there was a sub link to “Surface Book 2 update history” (here).  In reviewing these updates in detail, I noticed on several occasions there was a Windows Update for the “Intel® AVStream Camera 2500” to improve stability of the internal camera and the Windows Hello experience.  Thus, the Intel AVStream Camera 2500 is not foreign but is instead the internal Surface Book 2 camera.  This being the case, I attempted the following process below to resolve the camera issue which worked.

The Ultimate Solution/Process that I tried that Fixed the Camera Issue:

1. Make sure Surface Book 2 has no other devices connected to it other than power cord.  If plugged into docking station, make sure nothing else plugged into station such as external monitor or external camera.  It’s ok to have a direct ethernet cable to the internet plugged into the docking station.
2. Open Device Manager and locate the “Intel(R) AVStream Camera 2500”, right-click on it and select uninstall driver.  [If don’t know location of Device manager, just type it into Windows search field]
3. After driver is uninstalled.  Reboot computer.
4. Open Device Manager and should see no camera whatsoever listed.
5. Go to the following hyperlink to download Surface Book 2 Drivers & Firmware:  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=56261
6. In the Download Folder on your computer you should see three file names, shown below.  You only need to install the 18362_21.101.14869.0 file which is the most current version.
   1. SurfaceBook2_Win10_18362_21.101.14869.0
   2. SurfaceBook2_Win10_17763_20.061.12854.0
   3. SurfaceBook2_Win10_17134_20.012.21576.0
7. Once you begin installation, you’ll notice a new choice which is to remove the previous version of Surface Book 2 Drivers and Firmware.  Go ahead and do this, but importantly do not reboot the computer afterward.
8. After Step 7 has completed, click on the SurfaceBook2_Win10_18362_21.101.14869.0 installer again to install the most recent Surface Book 2 Drivers and Firmware.
9. Once this installation is complete, Restart your Surface Book 2 and you should find on startup that your laptop camera is working again perfectly fine and the Windows Hello screen recognizes your face upon login.  :)
10. As a final note, you’ll notice if you open Device Manager that the only camera listed (as shown below) is the Intel(R)AVStream Camera 2500, which is the most current internal Surface Book 2 camera. Camera fully functions now with this alone.

Conclusions:

• It seems highly likely to me that the initial cause of the failure in my Surface Book 2 camera, was either there was a corrupt Windows update to camera or an incomplete update that was defective.
• To fix this issue, one can’t simply download and install current Surface Book 2 Drivers and Firmware, as I tried this and it failed to fix the camera issue. I.E., it recognizes what you have as current, despite it being corrupt.
• One needs to manually uninstall Intel(R)AVStream Camera from device manager, but also remove the previous version of Drivers & Firmware using Surface Book 2 Drivers & Firmware using SurfaceBook2_Win10_18362_21.101.14869.0 to truly get rid of the old corrupted camera driver/firmware and then reinstall it. Performing the steps in the precise sequence above may be important.
• The device referred to as “Intel(R) AVStream Camera 2500” is not a foreign third party camera, but the internal Microsoft Surface Book 2 camera.  When I first purchased the Surface Book Model 1832.i5, it used to call the internal camera in Device Manager as “Surface Camera Front” and “Surface IR Camera Front”.  This has been replaced following several Windows update, with Intel AVStream Camera 2500 to improve Hello Screen and camera performance (see Surface Book 2 update history:  https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/surface-book-2-update-history-8903a391-7a88-e6c1-5f61-5863795a7816)

Hi DoubleG1, try to go to device manager > look for system devices > Can you please confirm if you have "Intel Control Logic"? If you do, right-click on it, click uninstall then check the box that says "Delete the driver software for the device" > Then restart the device. 

this solved my problem.

I have a Surface Laptop 2 and have been doing some driver updates using a third party driver updater. it seems that the newest Intel Control Logic driver (version 60.19041.1.3035 from 16 sept. 2020) that was pulled has some issues with the Microsoft Camera Front and Microsoft IR Camera Front devices.

I just removed the two instances of the Intel Control Logic, ticking the ”remove driver” box and restarted the computer. the camera and IR sensor now work and the Intel Control Logic driver reverted to version 30.15063.6.8611 from 3 dec. 2018. all good now; not gonna update again those drivers

Chris

Thanks for your input, trust me on this, I did everything to no avail! I just did a wipe and reinstalled my operating system...and honestly, for the amount of time I wasted trying to fix it, I wish I had done it from the beginning...I cleaned up my Surface and runs so much better!

Again thanks for your input!

Polo...

I have had the same issue with this on several surface devices.

What worked for me was uninstalling and deleting the drivers for the cameras (front/back/IR/AVStream Camera 2500) and the 3 intel control logic instances before restarting. Cameras then came back up after a reboot.

this worked for me too!!! Microsoft support could not solve it!

Now on device manager the cameras (front, back and IR) are showing as working. it does not work for signing in or with the camera app. So it seems driver was solved but not working yet.

any idea?