topic black screen and unable to get camera working!! vgn-ar21m in PCs & Accessories

black screen and unable to get camera working!! vgn-ar21m

danieljames75 — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:23:11 GMT

Hi all,

I recently upgraded to Vista Ultimate on a recommendation and have encountered two problems which I can not seem to rectify.

1. I can see the installed built-in camera in device manager yet am unable to get it to work or even find it apart from in device manager???
2. When I close the lid and re-open it the screen remains black.

I have followed the Sony instructions for upgrading as well as various articles on the subjects yet nothing has worked so far.

I was hoping someone with similiar problems may be able to advise me further.

thanks all

Daniel

Re: black screen and unable to get camera working!! vgn-ar21m

Blencogo — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:50:07 GMT

Hi Daniel and welcome.

Getting any camera to work with Vista Ultimate has always been a bit hit and miss. Vista Ultimate tries to install its own drivers for everything but only the Sony drivers will work properly with your AR21.

For the Camera, have you installed the Vista versions of: -

1. Vaio Camera Utility
2. Vaio Camera Capture Utility
3. Microsoft Hotfix KB912821

If these are not available as a download for your model using Vista, then you will need to download the Original Utilities Package for the AR41M and take them from there.

Is the camera showing as 'Sony Visual Communication Camera' in Device Manager? If not it is installed using the Vista driver and you need to install the Sony driver VGP-VCC2.

For the black screen: -

1. Have you installed the BIOS Update R0162J6
2. What nVidia driver version are you using? I think nVidia Video Driver 7.15.10.9813a fixes this problem.

Good lUCK

Re: black screen and unable to get camera working!! vgn-ar21m

danieljames75 — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:39:55 GMT

mate your a star. both working great now!
thanks very much!!!