iSight turning on randomly w/Macbook

[Katharine]

Okay last week for the first time I was using Pages and I notice the green light for the camera has come on. I open Photobooth to see if I some how clicked on that and it would only show a green screen. I had to restart to get it to shut off. In the last couple of days since the update I've restarted probably 10 times for various issues and at least half of the time it starts up with the green light on and I have to restart to get it to shut off.

Anyone else having this issues? Is there a manual way I can try to get it to shut off without restarting? Thank you!

 

[whooleytoo]

Okay last week for the first time I was using Pages and I notice the green light for the camera has come on. I open Photobooth to see if I some how clicked on that and it would only show a green screen. I had to restart to get it to shut off. In the last couple of days since the update I've restarted probably 10 times for various issues and at least half of the time it starts up with the green light on and I have to restart to get it to shut off.

Anyone else having this issues? Is there a manual way I can try to get it to shut off without restarting? Thank you!

I don't think there's any way of turning it off other than quitting the application or process that may be using it, and mores the pity! I'd much prefer if it had a shutter, safer that way.

It could just be a bug in some app, or a hardware flaw in your MacBook; but just to err on the side of paranoia - if I were you, the next time the light comes on by itself, I'd open Activity Monitor (in /Applications/Utilities), select "My Processes" from the list at the top, then click Export. You now have a list of the running processes, one of which is likely to be using the iSight. You could post that list here, if you like, to see if anyone obviously stands out.

 

[Katharine]

I don't think there's any way of turning it off other than quitting the application or process that may be using it, and mores the pity! I'd much prefer if it had a shutter, safer that way.

It could just be a bug in some app, or a hardware flaw in your MacBook; but just to err on the side of paranoia - if I were you, the next time the light comes on by itself, I'd open Activity Monitor (in /Applications/Utilities), select "My Processes" from the list at the top, then click Export. You now have a list of the running processes, one of which is likely to be using the iSight. You could post that list here, if you like, to see if anyone obviously stands out.

What processes could be using it when I am restarting? The green light comes on right when I turn it on. Next time it does it I will look in the applications and post it here. Thank you!

 

[whooleytoo]

What processes could be using it when I am restarting? The green light comes on right when I turn it on. Next time it does it I will look in the applications and post it here. Thank you!

Does the light come on before or after your desktop/Dock/menu bar appear?

 

[4God]

Whoa...that's scary.

*makes note to self to remain fully clothed in front of computer*

 

[AIRrunner]

Okay last week for the first time I was using Pages and I notice the green light for the camera has come on. I open Photobooth to see if I some how clicked on that and it would only show a green screen. I had to restart to get it to shut off. In the last couple of days since the update I've restarted probably 10 times for various issues and at least half of the time it starts up with the green light on and I have to restart to get it to shut off.

Anyone else having this issues? Is there a manual way I can try to get it to shut off without restarting? Thank you!

Hi guys. New member here. I was browsing various forums to find a solution/explaination to the EXACT same problem you described. I have a Macbook Pro and 2 days ago I booted it only to notice that the green iSight light was on even during the Mac OS X startup page. I tried Photobooth and got the same green screen as you did. I did several reboots but had the same issue. I even turned off the Macbook Pro for a few seconds and turned it back on but same problem. I had to shut it down, remove the battery and then put the battery back and try it again. Only then did the iSight turn off. It now works perfectly fine though. I can use it in Photobooth and Yahoo! Messenger. It has not happened again since then. I was thinking that it might have something to do with the Mac OS X 10.4.7 update that I did earlier this week. Did you update too? I've never had the problem before the update.

 

[Katharine]

I did update but it did it last week before the update so I don't think it's specifically related. It has happened more often since then though but I am also restarting more because of issues from the update.

 

[AIRrunner]

Ok. It it might not be related to the update... could be just a coincidence. So far, the problem has not reoccurred. Let's hope it stays that way... if not, well guess I'll just have to make use of my warranty/AppleCare.