Logitech C920 Webcam does not work with Windows 10.

[wyattzx]

Hey guys, I made a thread or three about this over the past few months, but it was always to no avail. At this point, I'm convinced that Linus may have another case of "Weird PC Issue With No Solution" on his hands...

 

Let's start from the beginning here.

 

Upon plugging in the webcam, the device will install properly, ask me to restart my PC, and all will be well. The webcam will turn on properly, function well and there will be no apparent issues. However, after a few restarts, issues start occurring. During boot, my PC will hang while initializing USB devices. Everything but the webcam will initialize correctly, but the webcam will cause my PC to hang. My motherboard (EVGA X99 FTW K) has a motherboard speaker, and I can hear the low beep that it emits when it is struggling to boot. 

 

If I let this go for about a minute, my PC will give up on the device, go into Windows and everything will be "normal." Except, my webcam won't be detected, Windows will tell me I have a corrupt USB device plugged in, and in the Device Manager it will be reported as an Unrecognized Device. This will persist if I unplug and re-plug the webcam, restart the computer or anything like that. 

 

However, if I unplug the webcam during boot, my computer will go right through onto the desktop without a hitch. If I plug the webcam in, it will still say it's a corrupt or unrecognized device. 

 

If I power cycle my PSU, I can boot with the webcam, but only once. Once I shut my PC down, we're back at square one. I've tried three different webcams, and they all do this. My C920, my backup C920, and my brother's C922. 

 

This is what I've tried to do so far:

 

• I've uninstalled the device and drivers from Device Manager and reinstalled the webcam.
• I've tried every single USB port on my computer, including front I/O and my keyboard passthrough.
• I've fully updated Windows and all of my USB drivers.
• I've manually "updated" the driver to use a default, Windows-provided "USB Composite Device" driver.
• I've reinstalled Windows 10.
• I've changed my motherboard from the ASUS X99-A/USB 3.1 to the EVGA X99 FTW K. I reinstalled Windows 10 before and after the motherboard swap.
• I've uninstalled and reinstalled all of my USB Host Controllers. 
• I've tried Googling my issue and posting elsewhere, but nobody has come across a solution.

If I remember more of what I've tried, I'll update this post.

 

If somebody can fix my issue, I will buy you a $30~ game of your choice on Steam. Please help.

[HalGameGuru]

Is this a fresh install of 10? Or was it an update from 7 or 8?

 

DO you have windows hello or other webcam accessing software set to run on boot?

[wyattzx]

1 minute ago, HalGameGuru said:

Is this a fresh install of 10? Or was it an update from 7 or 8?

 

DO you have windows hello or other webcam accessing software set to run on boot?

Please read the entire body of my post. Windows 10 has been reinstalled numerous times, and they have all been fresh installs. I do not use Windows Hello, and while I do have the Logitech Webcam Software, it does not start at boot, and that would be unrelated to the webcam hanging during POST.

[zMeul]

sounds like a PSU issue to me

especially since you say it boots properly if you power cycle

[wyattzx]

5 minutes ago, zMeul said:

sounds like a PSU issue to me

especially since you say it boots properly if you power cycle

Is that your only takeaway? The Logitech C615 works fine, and every other one of my USB devices also work just fine. (That's my keyboard, mouse, wireless adapter, eHDD, microphone and gamepad wireless receiver.) Furthermore, if I uninstall the device entirely, shut my computer down and turn it on, it will boot fine, as I said in my post. Even if I don't power cycle. 

[HalGameGuru]

Hanging during post for a USB device is not uncommon with ten. ESPECIALLY with logitech, I've primarily seen it with wireless adapters for keyboards and mice but there were multiple instances where windows 10 would just never boot with one plugged in. The fact it seems to be more a USB issue than windows issue makes me wonder about the cable/jack itself. Have you tested your cam on another PC? I see you tested your brother's cam on yours, I assume they all work fine on his?

 

Saying you reinstalled windows 10 doesnt tell us if you formatted the drive and installed clean or did a recovery install from the disk in windows. There has been suggestions of installing the drivers in compatibility mode for windows 8, or some registry edits if its windows 10 updates that disabled the specific compression that that camera uses and your copy of 10 doesn't have the later updates that fixed this. Possible with fresh installs or disabled auto updates. KB3194496 and KB3176938.

 

Can you boot up from a live CD of linux mint or something and see if it loads up the camera ok there?

[HalGameGuru]

Apparently for many people the windows update didn't fix the issue, some had success even after the update with the registry edit, some didn't. For most people it seems to stem from the compression changes in windows and how it tries to deal with the camera.

[HalGameGuru]

Here is the registry edits that have fixed this or similar issues for others, if you are willing to go that deep into windows' bowels. I can help with that if you need.

Spoiler

• First and foremost click on the Start Menu and do a search for ‘regedit’ and launch the program.
• Now in the left hand sidebar, navigate to the following location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows Media Foundation > Platform.
• Once here, right-click on the ‘Platform’ folder in the left hand sidebar and then hover your mouse over ‘New’ and then select ‘DWORD (32-bit) Value.’
• Name the value ‘EnableFrameServerMode’ and then set the value to ‘0.’
• Now navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > WOW6432Node > Microsoft > Windows Media Foundation > Platform.
• Right-click on ‘Platform,’ then hover above ‘New’ then add a DWORD value. Name it ‘EnableFrameServerMode’ and set the value to ‘0.’

Knowing that the 600 series worked but the 900 didn't I'm gonna check the specs on the 600 and see if the compression is the same

[wyattzx]

8 minutes ago, HalGameGuru said:

Hanging during post for a USB device is not uncommon with ten. ESPECIALLY with logitech, I've primarily seen it with wireless adapters for keyboards and mice but there were multiple instances where windows 10 would just never boot with one plugged in. The fact it seems to be more a USB issue than windows issue makes me wonder about the cable/jack itself. Have you tested your cam on another PC? I see you tested your brother's cam on yours, I assume they all work fine on his?

 

Saying you reinstalled windows 10 doesnt tell us if you formatted the drive and installed clean or did a recovery install from the disk in windows. There has been suggestions of installing the drivers in compatibility mode for windows 8, or some registry edits if its windows 10 updates that disabled the specific compression that that camera uses and your copy of 10 doesn't have the later updates that fixed this. Possible with fresh installs or disabled auto updates. KB3194496 and KB3176938.

 

Can you boot up from a live CD of linux mint or something and see if it loads up the camera ok there?

Yes, the cameras all work fine on his, and he's running Windows 7.

 

I have done a fresh install to a formatted SSD multiple times. I have never upgraded from a previous install. The cable and jack or USB ports cannot be the issue because I have tried three different cameras and two different motherboards, as well as every port on the boards and my case. My latest install used the .iso that contained the Creators update, so my copy should be 100% up to date, and Windows reports no updates right now.

[HalGameGuru]

it does appear the later update doesn't fix the issue for everyone. I'd personally try the registry edit, or if possible a webcam that doesn't use compression that windows 10 has known issues with to see if it effects all those devices and systems or just the ones using tech microsoft decided to monkey around with.

 

OK, after looking further into the registry hack it appears it disables the new windows service that took over communicating with the webcam. If the problem is compression related it should fix it since the incompatibility is within the service, not the camera or windows itself.

 

I'm gonna look a bit more into it. When you did your reinstalls of windows did you just immediately plug the webcam in to test or install other software first?

 

 

[zMeul]

57 minutes ago, NonaHexa said:

Is that your only takeaway? The Logitech C615 works fine, and every other one of my USB devices also work just fine. (That's my keyboard, mouse, wireless adapter, eHDD, microphone and gamepad wireless receiver.) Furthermore, if I uninstall the device entirely, shut my computer down and turn it on, it will boot fine, as I said in my post. Even if I don't power cycle. 

why would installing a driver have anything with the PC posting?

have you tried the camera on any other PC? 

[Guest]

I think this is just one of "those" issues that probably has no concrete solution, yet. 

 

I also have have issues with various USB devices and Windows 10. If I plug in my Corsair Voyager GO USB, my 3 monitors go black after an hour in Windows. This only happens on Windows 10 and has persisted through multiple reinstalls and messing around with drivers. I have also tried changing various components to no avail.

 

I think if it's getting in your way, the best option would be to "downgrade" to Win7 or 8 for nowS

[HalGameGuru]

2 minutes ago, zMeul said:

why would installing a driver have anything with the PC posting?

have you tried the camera on any other PC? 

Without seeing it in action I think its more likely after POST, with windows 10, especially UEFI, windows has started its boot while there is still a reproduced POST style splash screen. My ASUS does it, I have seen DELLs do it. The POST screen is only up for a half a second or so and windows is already booting it just puts up another POST style splash screen, and eventually throws up a set of spinning dots. I think its actually an issue during the windows boot after POST

[wyattzx]

57 minutes ago, HalGameGuru said:

Without seeing it in action I think its more likely after POST, with windows 10, especially UEFI, windows has started its boot while there is still a reproduced POST style splash screen. My ASUS does it, I have seen DELLs do it. The POST screen is only up for a half a second or so and windows is already booting it just puts up another POST style splash screen, and eventually throws up a set of spinning dots. I think its actually an issue during the windows boot after POST

This is correct.

 

I have applied the registry fix and will report back my findings. I still hear a low beep tone during boot (that isn't there when the camera is unplugged) but it is going through to Windows properly now. I will let you know soon if the issue persists. I actually applied the same registry hack in all of my previous installs, but I'm wondering if the Creators update reset it.

[HalGameGuru]

As its now a default windows service I would wager any big update will reset that registry key