Tahoe 26: Thunderbolt Display camera won't work anymore

start by checking Option-Apple menu, top item, system information.

Look on the USB section and thunderbolt,section for any trace of the camera.

if not found, give your display a timeout:

disconnect it from all power and all data and leave it alone for a quarter hour or more.

Pointing into the corner, or sitting on the naughty stair are optional.

Once found, you may need to re-check security & privacy settings to be creating it is allowed to be accessed by the apps you use. Typically, Photo Booth does not need any special access, so it is used as the test case.

There are two reasons for asking about how/whether the hardware is seen:

The first is if the FaceTime camera is not seen, then it could be a Hardware error, such as the camera has failed.

The second is to check on having enough POWER present to power all devices. It appears that your USB storage connected at the same time might be taking too much power to run the camera and the drive at the same time.

I can not tell what is indented (meaning subservient to a particular bus controller) but it appears you have two devices EACH demanding 500 milliAmps each, and that may be more than that USB bus can supply.

I suggest you try it without the drive connected, and see if there is any difference.

I'm always reluctant to use Terminal commands, but this worked for me:

sudo killall VDCAssistant

Don't know if it's a permanent fix - it may not survive a reboot.

I have the same question as Gregor07 -- "why"?

The Apple Thunderbolt Display and everything connect work fine when I power up -- EXCEPT camera. Disconnecting display and reconnecting (after just a few seconds) 'wakes' the camera up.

So not an elegant solution, but a working solution.

But thanks for the responses -- now I have a working solution!!!

Since updating to Tahoe on my 2022 M1 Studio Mac, my thunderbolt display is not working properly; it stopped working entirely, after a series of restarts and using the suggested terminal commands found in the comments here, i got it working temporarily, then today it stopped working again. I have it working now by swapping the thunderbolt ports I have it plugged into on the Mac. Seems to be Tahoe update related. Hoping there is a fix soon.

Now I have disconnected and reconnected the Thunderbolt Cable of the Thunderbolt Display.

This is, what system information tells me about Thunderbolt/USB4 (after disconnecting and reconnecting).

Thunderbolt Display:

  Herstellername: Apple Inc.

  Gerätename: Thunderbolt Display

  Modus: Thunderbolt

  Geräte-ID: 0x8002

  Hersteller-ID: 0x1

  Geräterevision: 0x1

  UID: 0x0001000100B****

  Routenzeichenfolge: 1

  Firmware-Version: 26.2

  Port (Upstream):

  Status: Gerät angeschlossen

  Verbindungsstatus: 0x2

  Geschwindigkeit: 10 Gb/s

  Port Micro-Firmwareversion: 2.0.7

  Firmware-Version des Kabels: 0.1.18 / 0.0.0

  Port:

  Status: Kein Gerät angeschlossen

  Verbindungsstatus: 0x7

  Geschwindigkeit: Up to 10 Gb/s

  Port Micro-Firmwareversion: 2.0.7

This is, what system information tells me about USB (after disconnecting and reconnecting):

USB 2.0 Bus:

  Standort-ID: 0x40000000

  Verbindungstyp: Built-in

  PCI Hersteller-ID: 0x12d8

  PCI Geräte-ID: 0x400f

  PCI-Geräterevision: 0x0003

  Driver: AppleUSBEHCIPI7C9X440SL

Unnamed Device:

  Standort-ID: 0x40100000

  Verbindungstyp: Non-removable

  Seriennummer: Not Provided

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 480 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x05ac

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x9127

  USB-Produktversion: 0x0100

Display Audio:

  Standort-ID: 0x40140000

  Verbindungstyp: Non-removable

  Hersteller: Apple Inc.

  Seriennummer: 19****4D9

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 12 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x05ac

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x1107

  USB-Produktversion: 0x0209

FaceTime HD Camera (Display):

  Standort-ID: 0x40150000

  Verbindungstyp: Non-removable

  Hersteller: Apple Inc.

  Seriennummer: CC********FLP

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 480 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x05ac

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x1112

  USB-Produktversion: 0x7160

  Strom verteilt: 2.5 W (500 mA)

USB2.0 Hub:

  Standort-ID: 0x40130000

  Verbindungstyp: Removable

  Seriennummer: Not Provided

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 480 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x05e3

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x0608

  USB-Produktversion: 0x0702

USB Storage:

  Standort-ID: 0x40131000

  Verbindungstyp: Removable

  Seriennummer: 00000000****

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 480 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x05e3

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x070e

  USB-Produktversion: 0x9602

  Strom verteilt: 2.5 W (500 mA)

Logitech H570e Stereo:

  Standort-ID: 0x40132000

  Verbindungstyp: Removable

  Hersteller: Logitech Inc

  Seriennummer: 00000000

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 12 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x046d

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x0a56

  USB-Produktversion: 0x0103

Apple Thunderbolt Display:

  Standort-ID: 0x40170000

  Verbindungstyp: Non-removable

  Hersteller: Apple Inc.

  Seriennummer: 19****D9

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 12 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x05ac

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x9227

  USB-Produktversion: 0x0139

Looks identical to me (apart from the order).

Why does the Thunderbolt Display camera only work after disconnecting and reconnecting?

[Edited by Moderator]

When I boot my Macbook while Thunderbolt Display is connected the camera is not recognized and therefore does not work. When I disconnect and reconnect the Thunderbolt cable the camera is recognized and works as usual.

What can I do so that I don't have to disconnect und reconnect the Thunderbolt cable each time I boot the Macbook?

Yes, this dis not help.

When I boot my Macbook while Thunderbolt Display is connected the camera is not recognized. System report:

FaceTime HD-Kamera:

  Modell-ID: FaceTime HD-Kamera

  Eindeutige ID: 47B4B64B-7067-4B9C-AD2B-AE273A71F4B5

When I disconnect and reconnect the Thunderbolt it works. System report:

FaceTime HD-Kamera (Display):

  Modell-ID: UVC Camera VendorID_1452 ProductID_4370

  Eindeutige ID: 0x4015000005ac1112

FaceTime HD-Kamera:

  Modell-ID: FaceTime HD-Kamera

  Eindeutige ID: 47B4B64B-7067-4B9C-AD2B-AE273A71F4B5

Any suggestions about what I can do so that I don't have to disconnect and reconnect the Thunderbolt?

Regards,

Gregor

Hallo Grant Bennet-Alder,

yes, the Thunderbolt Display was unplugged from electricity overnight. I have just turned on the macbook with the Thunderbolt Display connected. Only Thunderbolt Display is on because the lid of the macbook is closed. Camera of Thunderbolt Display does not work (as long as I have not disconnected and reconnected the Thunderbolt cable).

This is, what system information tells me about Thunderbolt/USB4:

Thunderbolt Display:

Herstellername: Apple Inc.

Gerätename: Thunderbolt Display

Modus: Thunderbolt

Geräte-ID: 0x8002

Hersteller-ID: 0x1

Geräterevision: 0x1

UID: 0x0001000100B60CF0

Routenzeichenfolge: 1

Firmware-Version: 26.2

Port (Upstream):

Status: Gerät angeschlossen

Verbindungsstatus: 0x2

Geschwindigkeit: 10 Gb/s

Port Micro-Firmwareversion: 2.0.7

Firmware-Version des Kabels: 0.1.18 / 0.0.0

Port:

Status: Kein Gerät angeschlossen

Verbindungsstatus: 0x7

Geschwindigkeit: Up to 10 Gb/s

Port Micro-Firmwareversion: 2.0.7

This is, what system information tells me about USB:

USB 2.0 Bus:

  Standort-ID: 0x40000000

  Verbindungstyp: Built-in

  PCI Hersteller-ID: 0x12d8

  PCI Geräte-ID: 0x400f

  PCI-Geräterevision: 0x0003

  Driver: AppleUSBEHCIPI7C9X440SL

Unnamed Device:

  Standort-ID: 0x40100000

  Verbindungstyp: Non-removable

  Seriennummer: Not Provided

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 480 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x05ac

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x9127

  USB-Produktversion: 0x0100

Apple Thunderbolt Display:

  Standort-ID: 0x40170000

  Verbindungstyp: Non-removable

  Hersteller: Apple Inc.

  Seriennummer: 190704D9

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 12 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x05ac

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x9227

  USB-Produktversion: 0x0139

FaceTime HD Camera (Display):

  Standort-ID: 0x40150000

  Verbindungstyp: Non-removable

  Hersteller: Apple Inc.

  Seriennummer: CC2EBJ03LTDJ9FLP

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 480 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x05ac

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x1112

  USB-Produktversion: 0x7160

  Strom verteilt: 2.5 W (500 mA)

USB2.0 Hub:

  Standort-ID: 0x40130000

  Verbindungstyp: Removable

  Seriennummer: Not Provided

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 480 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x05e3

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x0608

  USB-Produktversion: 0x0702

USB Storage:

  Standort-ID: 0x40131000

  Verbindungstyp: Removable

  Seriennummer: 000000009602

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 480 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x05e3

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x070e

  USB-Produktversion: 0x9602

  Strom verteilt: 2.5 W (500 mA)

Logitech H570e Stereo:

  Standort-ID: 0x40132000

  Verbindungstyp: Removable

  Hersteller: Logitech Inc

  Seriennummer: 00000000

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 12 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x046d

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x0a56

  USB-Produktversion: 0x0103

Display Audio:

  Standort-ID: 0x40140000

  Verbindungstyp: Non-removable

  Hersteller: Apple Inc.

  Seriennummer: 190704D9

  Link-Geschwindigkeit: 12 Mb/s

  USB-Hersteller-ID: 0x05ac

  USB-Produkt-ID: 0x1107

  USB-Produktversion: 0x0209

Hi Grant Bennet-Alder,

I have disconnected everything that was connected to the Display (drives, Headphones ...). Camera still does not work after boot.

I don't think it is a hardware error because the camera works perfectly well as soon as I have disconnected and reconnected the Thunderbolt cable.

Regards,

Gregor

did you try the solution that seemed to work for the original author?

Sadly, this problem persists in the 26.0.1 update.