macOS 27.0 – "Could not find the virtual camera system process" – camera extension is activated/enabled but never launched

[YukiPaPa1968]

Environment
- Mac: MacBook Pro (2021 Apple M1 Pro)
- macOS: 27.0
- OBS Studio: 32.2.2 (installed in /Applications)
- Security software: Norton 360 26.7.0

Problem
Clicking "Start Virtual Camera" always shows:
"Could not find the virtual camera system process. This may be resolved by logging out of and back into your macOS user account, or by restarting your computer."
Logging out and restarting do not help.

Another Mac ([MacBook Neo], macOS [version], same OBS 32.2.2) works fine with the virtual camera, so this seems specific to this machine.

What I checked
1. systemextensionsctl list shows only one OBS entry, and it looks healthy:
com.obsproject.obs-studio.mac-camera-extension (32.2.2/31845296735) OBS Virtual Camera [activated enabled]
2. The extension is turned on in System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Camera Extensions.
However, the OBS icon there is shown as a blank white icon.
3. The extension process never starts. After clicking Start Virtual Camera,
ps aux | grep -i camera-extension returns nothing.
4. No crash reports in ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports or /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports.
5. The launchd job is not present or disabled:
- launchctl print user/262/CMIOExtension.com.obsproject.obs-studio.mac-camera-extension -> "Could not find service"
- launchctl print-disabled user/262 -> no OBS entry
6. No AMFI / deny / reject messages in the unified log.

Relevant log lines (when OBS launches / starts the virtual camera)
launchd: [user/262:] Submit job failed: service = CMIOExtension.com.obsproject.obs-studio.mac-camera-extension, error = 37: Operation already in progress
sysextd: client activation request for com.obsproject.obs-studio.mac-camera-extension
sysextd: realizing target path: file:///Applications/OBS.app/Contents/Library/SystemExtensions/com.obsproject.obs-studio.mac-camera-extension.systemextension/

After this, nothing else happens: the extension is never spawned.

What I tried (none helped)
- Uninstalling OBS (moving it to the Trash) and reinstalling the latest version
- Turning the camera extension off and on again in System Settings
- Restarting and logging out/in multiple times
- Adding OBS.app to Norton's exclusions
- Temporarily uninstalling Norton: Do not help
- Testing with a new macOS user account: Do not help

Question
Is there a known issue with the camera extension on macOS 27.0, or a way to reset the CMIO extension registration so that the extension is launched again?

 

[YukiPaPa1968]

Environment
- Mac: [model]
- macOS: 27.0
- OBS Studio: 32.2.2

Problem
"Start Virtual Camera" always failed with:
"Could not find the virtual camera system process."

systemextensionsctl list showed the extension as [activated enabled], but the extension process never started. In System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Camera Extensions, the OBS icon was shown as a blank white icon. The unified log showed:
launchd: Submit job failed: service = CMIOExtension.com.obsproject.obs-studio.mac-camera-extension, error = 37: Operation already in progress

What did NOT help
- Reinstalling OBS (moving it to the Trash, emptying the Trash, restarting)
- Turning the camera extension off and on again
- Logging out / restarting many times
- Testing with a new macOS user account
- Completely uninstalling my antivirus software (Norton 360)

What fixed it
1. Open System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Camera Extensions.
2. Delete (remove) the OBS Virtual Camera extension from there.
3. Run systemextensionsctl list in Terminal and confirm the OBS extension is gone (it showed 0 extensions for me).
4. Restart the Mac.
5. Reinstall OBS in /Applications, launch it, and turn the camera extension on again when prompted.
The OBS icon in Camera Extensions was now displayed normally, not blank.
6. Start Virtual Camera – it worked.

It seems the extension registration had become corrupted. Deleting the app alone did not remove it, but removing the extension from System Settings did.

Hope this helps anyone with the same issue.