(Creation of Video Preview Failed) Can't use webcamera [HP Pavilion dv6137tx]

[maverick280857]

Hi everyone

I have an HP Pavilion dv6137tx (dv6000t series) running Windows XP Media Center Edition. It has an inbuilt 1.3 MP webcam. Last night suddenly the webcam stopped working. Earlier it was listed as "HP Pavilion Webcam" in My Computer and in Device Manager (Control Panel) but now its listed as "USB Video Device" in both places. When I tried to use it it gave the following error:

Video Preview Failure
Creation of the video preview failed.
Please check the device connection and make sure that the device is not being used by another application or user.

I tried the following troubleshooting methods to resolve the problem:

1. Uninstall the USB Video Device from Device Manager.
2. Reboot the computer.

Result: Windows detects a "USB Video Device" during the next bootup. But the webcam doesn't work and the error persists.

Next, I tried this:

1. Uninstall the USB Video Device from Device Manager.
2. Delete c:\windows\system32\drivers\usbvideo.sys.
3. Reboot the computer.

Result: Windows detects a "USB Video Device" during the next bootup. But the webcam doesn't work and the error persists.

Next, I downloaded the webcam drivers from HP's website and installed them. The webcam still didn't work. I googled the error and according to microsoft, the error is due to unplugging the device while my computer is open and/or due to increased resource usage. I don't know about the second reason, but the first is trivial since this webcam is an inbuilt device.

I contacted HP but they have not been able to resolve the problem. They made me do the things mentioned above several times, in vain.

Then, I used the HP Recovery DVDs to format the hard drive and reinstall Windows XP Media Center edition, restoring the system to factory settings. The webcamera is still not working and the same error message is returned each time I try to access it.

Oh and by the way, I have the latest BIOS update installed on my system and HP told me to reset BIOS to BIOS defaults...which I did, in vain.

If you have a solution for this problem, please do reply to this thread. I want to exhaust all possibilities before I hand in my system to HP.

Thanks.

PS: Specs of system: Core 2 Duo T5500 CPU, 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, nVidia GeForce 7400 GPU, 15.4" Widescreen with 1.3 MP webcam, Windows XP Media Center Edition.

[Zcott]

Have you tried it in any other applications?

[maverick280857]

Yes I have, with quickplay and windows live messenger. Doesn't work. In fact, in Quickplay its not even showing up in the list.

I forgot to mention one critical point. My notebook came preinstalled with Windows XP Media Center Edition. I received an HP Upgrade kit to upgrade the system to Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, which I used to install Vista. But Vista would only work as a clean installation, not an upgrade so most of my hardware devices didn't work when I installed it forcibly over Windows XP. So, I used the Vista media sent by HP to do a clean install and downloaded the drivers from the HP website to get things to work. For some reason, HP's Help and Support and HP Battery Check wouldn't work in Vista despite downloading and installing the recent versions from their website.

So I decided to go back to XP, using the Recovery DVDs created just after the notebook came to me. The webcam was working fine in the original XP installation and even in Vista, but its not working now in XP. I reinstalled XP using a brute force recovery from the recovery DVDs, but the webcam still doesn't work.

If I attempt to install the Vista drivers for the webcam, the camera works if I use the HP Pavilon Webcam application installed by the Vista drivers, but it still isn't recognized as a webcam in Device Manager or control panel, and it remains erratic. It is shown as a "USB Video Device" rather than "HP Pavilion Webcam". And when I checked the desktop, the HP Pavilion Webcam Demo application was also missing. I had to manually reinstall it. [Note that an HP Tech Support technician told me to install Vista drivers on XP.]

I am wondering whether the Vista driver installed the first time I upgraded to Vista modified the firmware in the camera in a way that only Vista could use it. Could this be true?

Now I would like to have my webcam recognized as "HP Pavilion Webcam" and make it work normally in Windows XP. I am willing to reinstall Windows or take any brute force software-related steps.

[maverick280857]

It turns out that the webcam works with the Vista driver, as I pointed out in my last post. And it is also possible to rename the device from USB Video Device to whatever else (say HP Pavilion Webcam) in Control Panel-->Scanners and Cameras.

But I'm not sure if that really solves my problem. I want to know what went wrong and whether there is a foolproof way to get it to work properly the next time I reinstall Windows XP. Shouldn't it work by default? Why do I have to install a Vista driver?

Note that in Device Manager, the webcam is still listed as "USB Video Device" rather than "HP Pavilion Webcam".

[ranabdc]

Dear maverick280857:

Thanks a tonne. I did all the things that you did. I actually installed the vista is a separate partition, after squeezing the main partition; I also updated the bios. The main prob for me was that even in Vista it was not working, I had the luxury of dual boot . Installing the vista driver worked in xp. I am happy with it.

Thanks again, I had to register and let you know my gratitude.

rana

[maverick280857]

Hi

Please read

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...dlc=en&lang=en

and also

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...n&lang=en#N536

although HP explicitly says that one mustn't install Vista drivers on XP, it was the HP Tech Support engineer who told me to do this (he said he'd read on the forums that this would work ).

Please do this at your own 'risk'.

[maverick280857]

I'm still facing this problem. Does anyone have a cure for it?

[maverick280857]

Okay I think it would be a good idea to review this problem, because a lot of people seem to be facing it.

Background

I have an HP Pavilion dv6137tx notebook computer (dv6000t series). It has an integrated webcam. The notebook is Vista-capable, but shipped with Windows XP Media Center Edition. I installed Windows Vista Home Premium Edition using the HP Express Upgrade Kit. I decided to come back to XP after using Vista for about 2.5 months. Now, in XP, my webcam does not work at all, despite having installed the HP Pavilion Webcam drivers downloads from the HP web site. The webcam shows up everywhere as "USB Video Device" rather than "HP Pavilion Webcam".

I have searched the forums for help, in vain. HP Tech Support keeps telling me to install drivers, uninstall them, do a full recovery and start over. These are things I have tried quite a few times.

(The webcam works in Vista, so there is no hardware fault.)

I suspect this is because of the firmware update that was necessary to get the camera to work in Vista. To quote the installation instruction sheet that shipped with the HP Express Upgrade Kit:

If your computer includes an integrated camera, update the camera firmware to run under Windows Vista:

a. Use Windows Explorer to browse to the optical drive that contains the upgrade utility disc.
b. Double-click the HP Pavilion Webcam Driver folder.
c. Right click the file with the .exe extension, and select Run as administrator
d. Click OK when the wizard indicates that the firmware update is complete (if applicable).
e. Click Yes if asked to turn off power to the computer.

Now, I think this firmware update (which is irreversible, unless someone can give me a firmware update which restores the webcam firmware to make it work in XP--as it was when the computer shipped) has rendered the camera unusable in Windows XP.

If you are facing a similar problem with your HP Pavilion notebook, please post back on this thread...maybe we can work something out.

[maverick280857]

Everyone who owns an HP Pavilion notebook pc with an integrated webcam and is planning to switch from XP to Vista or vice versa is advised to read this:

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/f...readId=1118102

When will HP take notice?

[calmeilles]

I've been through this a couple of times with a 3 month old dv9385ea Entertainment PC which I downgraded from Vista to XPProSP2.

It didn't appear to work until I went to Control Panels / Scanners and Cameras and changed the name (right click, rename) from "USB Video Device" to "HP Pavilion Webcam" and, with all the perversity that HP and MS between them could come up with it now works in both HP Webcam and MSN.