Last week at Microsoft’s Developer Build event, some Surface Pro X users reported that their camera wasn’t working properly. Affected users reported that their hybrid device displayed the error code “0xA00F4271 (0x80004005)” when making a video call on Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
However, at the same time, some Surface Pro X users have also discovered a temporary workaround for the camera problem. Users found that manually changing the system date and time to May 22 or earlier fixed the issue. This temporary fix suggests that the problem is caused by an expired Windows security certificate.
What does Microsoft say about this?
To confirm the camera issue, Microsoft support posted this statement: “Microsoft is rolling out a critical troubleshooter to mitigate this issue on most affected Windows devices. This workaround may disable some features of the camera.Camera or reduce image quality, but will allow the camera to function until the problem is resolved by the device manufacturer using the Camera controls updated.”
This means that Microsoft has released an official fix for the problem, but it may not be permanent. According to the statement, the company notes that a patch rolled out for the Surface Pro X camera may affect some features or image quality of the camera.
The Surface Pro X camera driver is manufactured by Qualcomm. So Microsoft suggests that the “device manufacturer” (in this case, Qualcomm) is the only one who can permanently fix outdated drivers.
What should users do about this?
So until Qualcomm releases patches for the affected components, users can update their devices using Microsoft’s troubleshooter and accept the “poor” camera system. Users can also change the date on their device manually, but this should be done as a last resort.
Changing the date couldn’t be a safer option as scheduled software and services can be confusing. In addition, systems that depend on encryption and authentication to communicate with each other must also operate on the same date and time. Therefore, users should update their devices with Microsoft’s temporary fix and wait for Qualcomm to issue a permanent fix for the problem.
0
20
