It was 8:48, just before an important client meeting this morning, and I was freaking out. I had scheduled the meeting in Google Meet, and I started up the session…and the right third of the camera view was obscured.
I attempted various fixes:
- I stopped Google Meet, started it again…and got the same result.
- I logged off and logged back in again…and got the same result.
- I restarted my computer (turn it off and turn it back on again)…and got the same result.
- I tried Zoom…and got the same result.
Which meant that the possible problem was a hardware problem with the camera itself. Which meant a lot of hassle sending the computer in for a fix, which was especially upsetting because this was a new computer.
Bredebot proves useful
So I turned to my buddy Bredebot.
And he wasn’t reassuring:
A black section in a laptop camera feed is most often due to a hardware issue, such as a damaged camera sensor or a problem with the ribbon cable that connects the camera to the motherboard. Software issues are less likely to cause a precise, consistent black area like this, but they’re still worth checking.
Then I began working down the checklist that Bredebot provided, beginning with the first item.
The most common and easiest issue to rule out is a physical object blocking the lens. This could be a speck of dust or debris, a stray piece of a sticker, or a misplaced privacy slider. Even a tiny particle on the lens can show up as a large black spot or area in the image.
A speck of dust? Just a simple speck of dust causing that major of an obstruction?
Not having a can of compressed air available, I used my mouth to blow on the top of the laptop screen.
The obstruction partially cleared, and now three fourths of the screen was visible.
One more blow, and my “critical hardware failure” was fixed.
What does this mean?
So some computer problems are NOT fixed by turning it off and turning it on again. Sometimes a lot of hot air is necessary.
By sheer coincidence, the Just A Band song “Huff + Puff” is on my current Spotify playlist. Nothing to do with computer video hardware, but it’s a good song.
Bredemarket 