Canon EOS Webcam Utility Fix

[briandeitch]

Hi all-

Thought I'd share this fix since I didn't see it posted on here.

Running:

• MacOS Sonoma v14.1.1
• OBS v30.0.0
• Canon EOS M6 Mark II
• EOS Webcam Utility v1.1
• EOS Webcam Utility Pro v2.0.30 <---Tested this version too

I woke up Monday morning and fired up my setup, and the EOS Webcam Utility was no longer displayed in the device drop-down menu in OBS for my video capture device. After hours of messing with it, I finally figured out it was an update in MacOS v14.1.1 that broke things. Apple is all about privacy, and if the camera in question doesn't have a LED light that can be turned on when in use, they block it. You guessed it, my camera doesn't have the LED.

Fix below:

Optional: If you are a good security practitioner, turn off the File Vault before booting into recovery mode; otherwise the command in step 5 will not work.

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Start up in Recovery Mode.
   Apple Silicon Macs by holding down the power button
   Intel Macs by pressing Command-R while turning the Mac on.
3. Click the Options button, then Continue.
4. Select the Utilities menu, then Terminal
5. Enter the command: system-override legacy-camera-plugins-without-sw-camera-indication=on
6. Press Return and complete any additional steps if prompted.
7. Quite Terminal
8. Go to the Apple menu and select Restart.

Be sure to turn the File Vault back on upon reboot; if you are new to it, check out this article on Apple.

 

[Eener]

I tried this but it said "this is an encrypted and locked APFS volume; use "diskutil APFS unlock volume" system-override: failed to mount volume (disk3s5)
Any suggestions on what to do about it this point would be very appreciated. I can no longer run my DSLR webcam on my Mac mini for my business that relies on it.

 

[briandeitch]

I tried this but it said "this is an encrypted and locked APFS volume; use "diskutil APFS unlock volume" system-override: failed to mount volume (disk3s5)
Any suggestions on what to do about it this point would be very appreciated. I can no longer run my DSLR webcam on my Mac mini for my business that relies on it.

Before you boot into recover mode, go to System Settings >> Privacy & Security > and Turn FileVault off. Then reboot into recovery mode. Good luck!

 

[rsmacleod]

Hi all-

Thought I'd share this fix since I didn't see it posted on here.

Running:

• MacOS Sonoma v14.1.1
• OBS v30.0.0
• Canon EOS M6 Mark II
• EOS Webcam Utility v1.1
• EOS Webcam Utility Pro v2.0.30 <---Tested this version too

I woke up Monday morning and fired up my setup, and the EOS Webcam Utility was no longer displayed in the device drop-down menu in OBS for my video capture device. After hours of messing with it, I finally figured out it was an update in MacOS v14.1.1 that broke things. Apple is all about privacy, and if the camera in question doesn't have a LED light that can be turned on when in use, they block it. You guessed it, my camera doesn't have the LED.

Fix below:

Optional: If you are a good security practitioner, turn off the File Vault before booting into recovery mode; otherwise the command in step 5 will not work.

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Start up in Recovery Mode.
   Apple Silicon Macs by holding down the power button
   Intel Macs by pressing Command-R while turning the Mac on.
3. Click the Options button, then Continue.
4. Select the Utilities menu, then Terminal
5. Enter the command: system-override legacy-camera-plugins-without-sw-camera-indication=on
6. Press Return and complete any additional steps if prompted.
7. Quite Terminal
8. Go to the Apple menu and select Restart.

Be sure to turn the File Vault back on upon reboot; if you are new to it, check out this article on Apple.

Man, you are a genius! How did you ever figure that one out? It worked so I could put my Logitech webcam away again and get back to work with my Canon! Cheers!!

 

[gpinedo]

Hi all-

Thought I'd share this fix since I didn't see it posted on here.

Running:

• MacOS Sonoma v14.1.1
• OBS v30.0.0
• Canon EOS M6 Mark II
• EOS Webcam Utility v1.1
• EOS Webcam Utility Pro v2.0.30 <---Tested this version too

I woke up Monday morning and fired up my setup, and the EOS Webcam Utility was no longer displayed in the device drop-down menu in OBS for my video capture device. After hours of messing with it, I finally figured out it was an update in MacOS v14.1.1 that broke things. Apple is all about privacy, and if the camera in question doesn't have a LED light that can be turned on when in use, they block it. You guessed it, my camera doesn't have the LED.

Fix below:

Optional: If you are a good security practitioner, turn off the File Vault before booting into recovery mode; otherwise the command in step 5 will not work.

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Start up in Recovery Mode.
   Apple Silicon Macs by holding down the power button
   Intel Macs by pressing Command-R while turning the Mac on.
3. Click the Options button, then Continue.
4. Select the Utilities menu, then Terminal
5. Enter the command: system-override legacy-camera-plugins-without-sw-camera-indication=on
6. Press Return and complete any additional steps if prompted.
7. Quite Terminal
8. Go to the Apple menu and select Restart.

Be sure to turn the File Vault back on upon reboot; if you are new to it, check out this article on Apple.

Nicely done briandeitch, works perfectly! Thanks!

 

[briandeitch]

Man, you are a genius! How did you ever figure that one out? It worked so I could put my Logitech webcam away again and get back to work with my Canon! Cheers!!

I thought it was a OBS and EOS problem. When I joined zoom and the EOS Webcam wasn't available, I realized it was an OS-level issue. Then I let google do its thing and decided to document it for everyone.

 

[Sim1]

Hello,

Thank you for the solution! However, I don't further than step 4. After I pressed 'options', I get Disk Utility and there is no option at the drop down menu to enter 'Terminal'. I have the latest Sonoma 14.1.2 update.

Hope you can help and thank you!

 

[Deleted member 465219]

Hello,

Thank you for the solution! However, I don't further than step 4. After I pressed 'options', I get Disk Utility and there is no option at the drop down menu to enter 'Terminal'. I have the latest Sonoma 14.1.2 update.

Hope you can help and thank you!

The terminal is at the top left corner when in recovery mode (after clicking option)

 

[Deleted member 465219]

This workaround works for 14.1 but 14.2 came out Monday 12/11 and this workaround no longer works. It was working completely fine on sonoma 14.0 and then 14.1 (after doing the terminal command) but 14.2 has completely messed everything up and now the EOS Webcam utility doesnt work at all.

Has anyone else updated to sonoma 14.2?

 

[Americas-DadBod]

I'm using a work Macbook Pro and had no say in the update to 14.2. I installed the EOS Webcam Utility Pro after upgrading MacOS and the camera works with the utility, but doesn't show up in OBS or Zoom. Also, I am locked out of disabling FileVault so that isn't an option. Am I just out of luck?

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Now that Canon sells a Pro license to that software, have you contacted Canon Support to see if they have a suggestion, planned patch, etc?

 

[briandeitch]

Now that Canon sells a Pro license to that software, have you contacted Canon Support to see if they have a suggestion, planned patch, etc?

This is a MacOS thing and has nothing to do with Canon. MacOS wants the device that is capturing video to display some type of notification to let people know that it’s on for privacy reasons.

 

[briandeitch]

I'm using a work Macbook Pro and had no say in the update to 14.2. I installed the EOS Webcam Utility Pro after upgrading MacOS and the camera works with the utility, but doesn't show up in OBS or Zoom. Also, I am locked out of disabling FileVault so that isn't an option. Am I just out of luck?

Is your device managed? Like corporate owned thing? If so, you can open up a ticket and have them turn off the file vault temporarily so you can do your thing

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

This is a MacOS thing and has nothing to do with Canon.

That Apple changed the MacOS, does NOT mean that Canon (and every other Mfg in same situation) won't have to come up with a work-around, IF Apple does not quickly create a setting to control the new behavior to allow Capture Devices and s/w to work as they did before.

I was not aware of that specific OS Security change... thanks for the update.
So, yea making Support call to Apple isn't a bad idea (the more pain Apple feels over this, the more likely they'll put the effort into a better thought through approach.
Or is this a case of something developers were warned about by Apple for a LONG time, and developers simply didn't put effort into addressing the new requirements?

 

[GLaker]

Thank you Brian. I just updated my MacBook Air to 14.2.1. I followed your original instructions and went into Zoom. There was my EOS Webcam Utility Pro and my Canon camera was capturing images perfectly again. One happy camper!

 

[JunCruz]

Woohooo! It worked! Mac OS M2, Sonoma 14.2.1 (January 2, 2024 - 5PM, Philippines)

Hi all-

Thought I'd share this fix since I didn't see it posted on here.

Running:

• MacOS Sonoma v14.1.1
• OBS v30.0.0
• Canon EOS M6 Mark II
• EOS Webcam Utility v1.1
• EOS Webcam Utility Pro v2.0.30 <---Tested this version too

I woke up Monday morning and fired up my setup, and the EOS Webcam Utility was no longer displayed in the device drop-down menu in OBS for my video capture device. After hours of messing with it, I finally figured out it was an update in MacOS v14.1.1 that broke things. Apple is all about privacy, and if the camera in question doesn't have a LED light that can be turned on when in use, they block it. You guessed it, my camera doesn't have the LED.

Fix below:

Optional: If you are a good security practitioner, turn off the File Vault before booting into recovery mode; otherwise the command in step 5 will not work.

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Start up in Recovery Mode.
   Apple Silicon Macs by holding down the power button
   Intel Macs by pressing Command-R while turning the Mac on.
3. Click the Options button, then Continue.
4. Select the Utilities menu, then Terminal
5. Enter the command: system-override legacy-camera-plugins-without-sw-camera-indication=on
6. Press Return and complete any additional steps if prompted.
7. Quite Terminal
8. Go to the Apple menu and select Restart.

Be sure to turn the File Vault back on upon reboot; if you are new to it, check out this article on Apple.