XPS 14 DA14250, webcam issues

Question

Over the past 3 months I logged 3 support cases with Dell due to same Webcam issue. The numbers are:

<To protect your privacy, all private information was removed from this public post. DELL-Admin>

I spent hours with Dell Techs on the phone while they re-installed drivers remotely which did not fix the problem. They then said it was a hardware problem. They sent our a field tech that replaced the camera, mic and motherboard but the problem remained. Dell closed my cases despite the field tech not able to fix it.

I then proceeded to do a Win11 re-installation (in place install) for the second time. The sound and mic is now working and it detects external webcams but still cannot detect the internal webcam.

I then swapped the NVMe and inserted one having a clean Win11 installation and then the camera works. So this confirms it is a driver issue. I asked the field tech to do that but he told me this is not their procedure.

I have made a copy of the Win 11 driverstore of the installation that works and another one of the installation where the drivers fail. Is there anyone that can assist in determining which drivers are causing this?

anne_droid · Answer

Hi

Try...

Yes — in Windows 11 the quickest way to list installed drivers is with Command Prompt or PowerShell. driverquery shows a full list of drivers, and Device Manager lets you inspect drivers device by device.

Open Command Prompt as administrator and run:

text

driverquery

That lists the installed drivers in columns such as module name, display name, type, and link date.

To export the list, run:

text

driverquery > C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\drivers.txt

That creates a text file you can search later.

Even better is my old favourite............

Open Windows Terminal / PowerShell as Administrator and run:

powershell

driverquery /v /fo csv > "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\installed-drivers.csv"

This saves a CSV file on your Desktop with the verbose driver list.

Better CSV with more control

If you want more readable columns, use PowerShell:

powershell

Get-CimInstance Win32_PnPSignedDriver | Select-Object DeviceName, DriverVersion, DriverProviderName, DriverDate, InfName | Export-Csv "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\installed-drivers.csv" -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8

This exports a CSV containing common driver details such as device name, version, provider, date, and INF name.

Then, of course, open it with LibreOffice.

Don't be surprised if you see drivers for a parallel port (parport) and other obsolete stuff.

PeterMousetail · Answer

Tnx Ann but as stated, I already copied all the drivers from the driverstore. Using the RAPR tool is much easier than command line. Getting the drivers is not the problem.

I was hoping someone from Dell would be interested to have
1) a copy of the full driverstore that does work on the XPS 14 including the camera
2) a copy of the driverstore that Dell Support Assist fails to fix for the XPS14 with camera, sound and mic not working.

This will allow them to see which drivers are causing the problems and fix Dell Support Assist to get it to install the correct drivers.

DELL-Nat M · Answer

@PeterMousetail  Hi, I have a question from the engineering team. Could you please check whether facial recognition is working for you?

PeterMousetail · Answer

Hi  DELL-Nat MPlease explain to the team that facial recognition requires a working internal webcam to take a picture of your face.  1) In the case of 1 above the camera is working2) In the case of 2 above, the internal webcam is NOT BEING DETECTED, the webcam is NOT WORKING and it is therefore IMPOSSIBLE for facial recognition to work.

anne_droid · Answer

Hi

The intent was to compare the list of installed drivers.....

""I have made a copy of the Win 11 driverstore of the installation that works and another one of the installation where the drivers fail. Is there anyone that can assist in determining which drivers are causing this?""

I assumed that when you stated you had/have an install that works, and an install that don't, a comparison would be beneficial.

However I realise I don't know where/which "Win 11 driverstore" you are referring to.

However the clean install must have a list of drivers that make the camera work, and yet again it's an assumption, that an update, either a W11 or installing a piece of software to use the camera is where the problem lies.

SO a before and after driver listing with driverquery will show any W11 changes and hopefully pinpoint the problem, or at least remove W11 from the equation.

But what do I know about anything?

XPS

XPS 14 DA14250, webcam issues

Better CSV with more control

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