Disable Apple FaceTime Camera kernel module

One day my FaceTime Camera stopped working, so I decided to reboot my MacBook. After waiting hours, MacOS didn't complete the boot process.

In verbose mode ⌘+V, I can see initialization hangs with what I assume to be loading of a kernel module:

AppleCamIn::init
AppleCamIn::probe
AppleCamIn::start

I took my Mac to an Apple store where hardware testing didn't show any issues (although I don't think the diagnostic tests check the camera) and they reinstalled Mojave. The problem still persists. I can still boot into single user mode ⌘+S to mount volumes, perform fsck, etc. and I have been using my Mac in "Safe Boot" for over a week now.

Several questions:

• Has anyone seen this type of issue before?
• How do I unload this specific kernel module?
• If this doesn't fix my issue, how can I further diagnose the difference between being able to boot in "Safe Mode" versus a normal boot?

Solution 1:

I have not seen this specific issue before, nor do I think it is common in any way.

What you really want is not to unload the kernel module (which is the term used to describe removing the kernel extension from memory after it has already been loaded and initialized) - instead you want to "disable" or "remove" it.

You can do this by opening the /System/Library/Extensions/ folder and then move away the AppleCameraInterface.kext file. Move it for example to a folder you have created in your user folder. I suggest moving instead of deleting as it is then easier to rollback this change. You can do the move using either Terminal or Finder.

You might need to boot in Recovery Mode in order to move the file, if you're not allowed to do so in Safe Boot.