dead camera....twice - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Dear all,
A few days ago, my N5's camera stopped working and none of the usual solutions (reboot, clean data and cache of camera app, even complete wipe and change of ROM) did anything to fix the problem. So I went on ebay, and bought a replacement back camera, fitted it and all was well...for a day!!! It looks like after just one day (and nearly no use at all) the new camera has already stopped working. Is anyone aware of what may be causing it, and of a way to fix it? or is it time for a new phone?
Thanks for your help!!

Is it possible the camera connction on the motherboard is a bit flaky?

audit13 said:
Is it possible the camera connction on the motherboard is a bit flaky?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. I thought that too after the second camera went wrong. I re-opened the phone and checked the connection, and from what I can see it seems quite solid. I am not sure what could possibly be going wrong that causing 2 camera modules to go bad in quick succession though. While the rest of the phone works perfectly.

Maybe it's just coincidence. I guess you could try a third camera to see what happens.

Can't connect to camera
My camera quit working the day I updated to 6.0.1
At first it would work for a few hours after a fresh boot. Now it won't work at all. I replaced the camera module with a working one and it worked for a few hours then died. Now all I get is "can't connect to camera". I'm convinced its related to the marshmallow update.
Safe mode doesn't help. Factory reset doesn't help. Third party apps still let me use the front camera but the rear is dead. I think I've reached the end of the road buying nexus devices and beta testing OS releases.

Maybe it because of your sd card

dixie600mhz said:
My camera quit working the day I updated to 6.0.1
At first it would work for a few hours after a fresh boot. Now it won't work at all. I replaced the camera module with a working one and it worked for a few hours then died. Now all I get is "can't connect to camera". I'm convinced its related to the marshmallow update.
Safe mode doesn't help. Factory reset doesn't help. Third party apps still let me use the front camera but the rear is dead. I think I've reached the end of the road buying nexus devices and beta testing OS releases.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Initially I thought this may be a normal issue of age of the phone, but the fact that a few of us are bumping into this so shortly after the marshmallow upgrade makes me think maybe the 2 things are related.
I suppose I could try and install a lollipop rom and buy yet another camera module.

The only component that should face problems in a persons lifetime would be the battery. It is a shame that companies and people treat this stuff as disposable.
OP and others who cannot fix this through software, or a small hardware change, this must be a hardware issue. Something on the mainboard is messing with the camera. Others are running stock marshmallow fine, to rule out any software issues, wipe all and flash new (manually wiping and flashing each partition from fastboot would be best). Report back.

wangdaning said:
The only component that should face problems in a persons lifetime would be the battery. It is a shame that companies and people treat this stuff as disposable.
OP and others who cannot fix this through software, or a small hardware change, this must be a hardware issue. Something on the mainboard is messing with the camera. Others are running stock marshmallow fine, to rule out any software issues, wipe all and flash new (manually wiping and flashing each partition from fastboot would be best). Report back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply. Done, but to no avail. Infact when you flash from fastboot the camera app is not even installed and the torch does not show up in the notification bar.
It is definitely a hardware issue, which is not resolved by simply replacing the camera module, as that seems to break again in a short amount of time. Not sure if I feel investing in a new mainboard and a new camera module.

Related

unable to start camera

so prior to being on venom 4.2, i was on venom 3.xx. i had no problems prior.
i flash 4.2, and had no problems related to the camera not working. i had other problems though, after reflashing 4.2 those problems went away, but now a new problem came up.
after a restart, i can use the camera maybe once, or take one photo. after that, the screen through the camera will be frozen on screen. i can still take pictures, but it will only be off what is on the screen. after closing the camera, or force closing it,upon trying to open the camera app again, it barely loads, then force closes automatically and i get an "unable to start camera" bubble on screen. i can see only the grid outline of the camera, off center and such very briefly ontop of my wallpaper.
i can do a reset on my phone, and resume taking pictures, sometimes i am fine to continue, other times its the same problem. this is a very common recurring problem for me.
looking at my apps, i see 2 cameras installed, one is the new 5.0, and the other is the old 4.xx camera. i have frozen the 4.xx camera before through titanium, and it doesnt fix it. should i uninstall the 4.xx camera altogether?
subsequent reflashing of this rom doesnt fix this issue. and i dont know what else to do rather than reflashing the rom from a blank slate. previous reflashings have been on top of the current rom.
i would rather not have to start new as this phone has crappy amoint of space, and i cannot back up all my apps and settings.
i dont know if it is kernel related. prior to 4.2 i was using elemental x, after 4.2 i switched to beastmode since i wasnt soff.
is there perhaps a way i can manually start the camera through root browser?
If you've got both versions of camera in your app drawer I'm guessing you dirty flashed the ROM, which has most likely caused your problems. Clean flash the ROM and see if it fixes your issue. This is why I'm totally against dirty flashing anything.
I don't understand how you don't have space to back up your apps, I have a backup of every app I've ever used and still have tons of space left over. The fact that you mention backing up settings troubles me, restoring system settings after flashing a new ROM will more than likely cause problems for you.
When you're flashing a ROM don't do it the lazy way, do it the right way, perform a full wipe (cache/dalvik cache/factory reset/system) and start clean. It only takes a few minutes to setup your ROM from scratch. Restore your apps but don't restore any system data.
Sent from my Evita
thanks for the reply.
as suggested, I did a complete reset. wiped the caches, factory reset, and system reset.
installed from scratch. But i am still having the camera issue?
now its just not loading at all. black screen, then close. no error message. and no unable to start message.
could it perhaps be a hardware issue at this point?
without restoring anything, under apps, I still see two instances of the camera app. one at 5.1, and one at 4.2.2. can anyone confirm this is normal?
the only thing out of the ordinary, within the past few months, my phone has been getting crazy hot at times. specifically right below the lens of the rear camera. I was getting this heat from charging, or even certain apps. Definitely attribute that to the age of the phone. as apps that ran smooth when the phone was new, no longer are so.
I dont know if the heat can cause hardware damage?
also, not sure how relevant this is in the context of my situation. but apps that use the camera do not work either when the camera is needed, such as snapchat and instagram.
Since the clean flash did you at least end up with only the more recent version of the camera in your app drawer? You could be looking at some kind of hardware malfunction, or even a problem with the ImageSense proprietary chip that is utilised to operate the camera. The fact that the camera works sometimes would suggest that all is not lost. Have you tried flashing an aosp ROM to see if anything changes? I'd suggest trying that, and if that doesn't work you should try running an RUU to see if a completely stock setup will help.
The phone heating up near the camera lens isn't abnormal for this device. The amount that it heats up can change significantly depending on the ROM/kernel that you're running. You should definitely try not to use CPU intensive apps while the device is charging.
Sent from my Evita
timmaaa said:
Since the clean flash did you at least end up with only the more recent version of the camera in your app drawer? You could be looking at some kind of hardware malfunction, or even a problem with the ImageSense proprietary chip that is utilised to operate the camera. The fact that the camera works sometimes would suggest that all is not lost. Have you tried flashing an aosp ROM to see if anything changes? I'd suggest trying that, and if that doesn't work you should try running an RUU to see if a completely stock setup will help.
The phone heating up near the camera lens isn't abnormal for this device. The amount that it heats up can change significantly depending on the ROM/kernel that you're running. You should definitely try not to use CPU intensive apps while the device is charging.
Sent from my Evita
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, the clean flash still left both cameras in my "manage apps", i have never seen two camera icons in my app drawer.
as of right now, i cannot get the camera to run in any way. even with a reboot. The only reason I really did the clean reflash, was because the camera wasnt working at all today. I did a bit more digging around, and it seems like this is a fairly common problem for the one x. there seems to be quite a few people, even on stock roms, that cannot seem to remedy this. and a few have chalked it up to a hardware problem, some have been confirmed, and others not so much.
I really dislike flashing this phone. ive encountered so many hiccups and scares(mainly a few soft bricks here and there). I really prefer the "if its not broken, it doesnt need fixing approach" here, granted my camera is shot.
one of the reflashes today was giving me wifi errors with wifi not even turning on. I really want to avoid potentially more problems, unless a fix is deemed more definite. Thank you for all your help timmaaa!
im just in need of a new phone now. so many problems, and so many things the phone can no longer do effectively. random reboots, overheating, battery life, even the charging rate. this phone has become crap. Ive always hated the lack of expandable memory. I really dont know why I didnt choose a different phone over this at the time.
i really like the htc one, but i feel like many of the nuisances in the one X will follow over.
chinaman_chong said:
no, the clean flash still left both cameras in my "manage apps", i have never seen two camera icons in my app drawer.
as of right now, i cannot get the camera to run in any way. even with a reboot. The only reason I really did the clean reflash, was because the camera wasnt working at all today. I did a bit more digging around, and it seems like this is a fairly common problem for the one x. there seems to be quite a few people, even on stock roms, that cannot seem to remedy this. and a few have chalked it up to a hardware problem, some have been confirmed, and others not so much.
I really dislike flashing this phone. ive encountered so many hiccups and scares(mainly a few soft bricks here and there). I really prefer the "if its not broken, it doesnt need fixing approach" here, granted my camera is shot.
one of the reflashes today was giving me wifi errors with wifi not even turning on. I really want to avoid potentially more problems, unless a fix is deemed more definite. Thank you for all your help timmaaa!
im just in need of a new phone now. so many problems, and so many things the phone can no longer do effectively. random reboots, overheating, battery life, even the charging rate. this phone has become crap. Ive always hated the lack of expandable memory. I really dont know why I didnt choose a different phone over this at the time.
i really like the htc one, but i feel like many of the nuisances in the one X will follow over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's nothing wrong with this phone. Given the right amount of knowledge and care the thing doesn't skip a beat. Even though there is no such thing as a soft brick (a phone is either bricked or it isn't), whatever it is that people experience in those so called "soft brick" instances is caused by user error 99% of the time. I've seen it time and time again.
Any phone available on the market can experience any amount of issues if it isn't handled correctly. You got unlucky and your camera is most likely shot, but any other problem you've encountered comes with the territory of flashing unofficial firmware and software, it isn't anything wrong with the device itself. These are possibilities you need to be comfortable with if you're going to modify your device.
Yea, I assumed there were gonna be risks when I rooted my phone. Dont know if any of the issues I had were related to rooting or not.
The soft brick scare I had was due to a flash that went wrong for no apparent reason.
another update on my phone. I noticed my front facing camera has no issues whatsoever. unluckily for me, I cannot even access my camera, to toggle to the front facing camera to even attempt to check it out. Instagram also does not allow me to switch either, it just gives me an error saying it cannot connect to a camera, then closes. snapchat's rear facing camera is just a black screen for me, but it doesnt force close, so I am able to toggle to the front camera, and it works just fine.
is there a setting or something I can modify, for now, so the front facing camera is the default?
my brother's one x recently went out this year too. I am gonna try to salvage his camera, and see if it will fix my problem.
I have not taken apart this phone yet, is the camera soldered or held in with connectors?
Have you tried an RUU yet like I previously suggested?
Sent from my Evita
chinaman_chong said:
I really dislike flashing this phone. ive encountered so many hiccups and scares(mainly a few soft bricks here and there). I really prefer the "if its not broken, it doesnt need fixing approach" here, granted my camera is shot.
one of the reflashes today was giving me wifi errors with wifi not even turning on. I really want to avoid potentially more problems, unless a fix is deemed more definite.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If a couple hiccups and scares are too much for your, then it might be that modding phones is not for you. These types of things happen time to time to even those experienced with flashing ROMs. Occasional setbacks and troubleshooting is just part of the game. If that is too much for you, than don't play.
As timmaaa already mentioned, failure to boot is not the phone's fault; and its almost always a matter of user error and not following the procedures properly.
chinaman_chong said:
im just in need of a new phone now. so many problems, and so many things the phone can no longer do effectively. random reboots, overheating, battery life, even the charging rate. this phone has become crap. Ive always hated the lack of expandable memory. I really dont know why I didnt choose a different phone over this at the time.
i really like the htc one, but i feel like many of the nuisances in the one X will follow over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Random software errors like random rebooting, overheating, etc. are often easily remedied with the proper steps. They are likely not issue with the phone itself, but rather a result of improper steps while flashing the ROMs. I've flashed many ROMs on this device, and have never suffered any such issues that I couldn't solve easily.
As for your other complaints about the phone (lack of expandable memory, why you didn't choose another phone), I don't know why you even posted them, as they are not constructive. Those still on this forum are mostly here because we love the phone and remain loyal to it. Your comments aren't going to help your issue, and will only annoy fans of the device. Better to keep such comments to yourself.
If you hate the phone so much, go buy another one and be done with it. But crying about it isn't going to solve anything.
I would suggest you follow timmaaa's advice, and flash the appropriate RUU to "start over". S-off is highly recommended before RUU, as running certain RUUs with S-on and SuperCID will brick the phone.
I have the same device and the same problem.
It doesn't depends of firmware or kernel or camera app..
I thought it's hardware problem but it is not. Because i was changing the camera module and it doesn't helps((
Don't know what to do with this issue(

[Q] Warning: Camera Failed. Can anyone fix it?

I am having a huge problem with the main camera on my Sprint Samsung S5. Every time I try to use it, I get the notification "Warning: Camera failed." It was purchased on the release date (I think 4/11/2014). It was a known issue for Verizon and I think Sprint phones for this to happen but mine is having this problem 10 months later. I have cleared the cache, cleared data, wiped cache and dalvik, done a factory reset, installed MOAR 6.0, CM12, MOAR 2.2, removed SD card after having flashed a new rom (so no other apps could prevent the main camera from working), disabled the Samsung camera app and tried using Google Camera, and nothing has worked. Today I went to a cell phone repair store and the technician said he tried three main camera sensors and two front facing camera sensors (just to allegedly rule out a hardware issue) and could not get any of them to work. The front facing camera works in Google Hangouts but nothing seems to get the back camera to work. I don't even recall dropping my phone and there's not a scratch on it but one day the main camera decided not to work. It wasn't even after flashing a new rom. Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks,
Richard
Samsung warranty
We received a service bulletin a while back about this specific issue and its a hardware problem . So your best bet is sending in to Samsung or depending on your carrier you can call carrier and they will swap it out for you.
Thanks for your reply Dhulqarnain. I have rooted the phone and tripped Knox so I can't send it back to Samsung and Sprint is requiring me to sign up for their protection plan (I think through Assurion) to take care of this even though it seems like it's a known issue. Do you have any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Richard
Same problem...inexpensive solution
I've had my sprint s5 for nearly 2 years now, and I recently started having the same exact issue. After extensive research I'm afraid that I must confirm it is a hardware issue. I'm in the same boat as far as knox, my friend...and that leaves repair as our only option. The good news is that it supposedly isn't too difficult to replace, it actually connects like a laptop keyboard, or an ipod hard drive connects (a ribbon type connector). It probably will be a ***** to get it connected, but the even better news is that eBay has our s5 camera from a few dozen sellers ranging from $6 to $15. :good:
Thanks Gmoney1234. I took the phone to a cell repair shop and they tried six different main camera sensors and two different front facing camera sensors and could not get it to work. So that means there's something else going on with it.

Lg g flex 2 camera not working

So my lg flex 2 camera app won't open this happens when i switch to the back camera and that app will not open at all but when its with the front camera it opens and works normally What should i do?
clear data
it happens like that? for no reason?
maybe you should try to delete cache and clear data
Yh it happens for no reason i don't know if it's a camera issues or is it the software
Same problem... Rear camera went from cannot connect to not detected.. My unit is f510l converted to h959... I
bro i habe the same problem and tries a lot of things but as i see the camera is gone dead...i tried
1.remove sd card still not working
2.Another camerra ap Still not working
3.Clear cache + clear data still not working
4.Safe Mode still not working
the last thing i can do to tey is to reset my phone but i dont think that gna help but anyeay im gna try.... if u did the reset and still not working pls tell me i wanna know so i wont reset
g flex 2 camera
hekurand said:
bro i habe the same problem and tries a lot of things but as i see the camera is gone dead...i tried
1.remove sd card still not working
2.Another camerra ap Still not working
3.Clear cache + clear data still not working
4.Safe Mode still not working
the last thing i can do to tey is to reset my phone but i dont think that gna help but anyeay im gna try.... if u did the reset and still not working pls tell me i wanna know so i wont reset
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is ur camera working now ??
if yes , what did u do ?
my rear camera don't work after factory reset. Tried upgrade from Android 5 to 6 still didn't work. Can't find any solution.
Sent from my SM-G9350 using Tapatalk
I had the same problem.
Took it to LG service and they changed the motherboard in order to fix this.
So it's probably a hardware problem. I suggest you take it to LG service while it's still under warranty.
RickDangerous said:
I had the same problem.
Took it to LG service and they changed the motherboard in order to fix this.
So it's probably a hardware problem. I suggest you take it to LG service while it's still under warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am making appointment with LG now. Thanks.
Sent from my SM-G9350 using Tapatalk
i have the same problem . tried wiping the phone , tried changing the camera hardware , the camera app , aida64 cant detect it . any fix yet ?
Delete other apps that use thr camera. I deleted snapchat and then the camera worked fine
This issue hit me yesterday. So far, I've tried restarting the phone, deleting the data and cache for all apps that used the camera, and even made a factory reset last night. But the main camera still refused to open. I've had to conclude that this might be a hardware issue. it could just simply the ribbon cable has lost contact, or could be a deeper issue. I'll try to take the phone apart and look inside tonight. If it is not the loose contact issue, I'd order an OEM camera module and replace it myself. (I found a few on eBay and AliExpress with very cheap price).
Yap. I opened the inner back-cover, yank a few ribbon cables and see if it works. Nope, it won't work. I'll order a new camera module and replace it.
If you have tried different modules then its a big possibility of motherboard fault.
I am running into the same problem, the rear camera seems to be the issue. I have tried reconnecting the cable, and it works intermittently with some apps but not others. I am going to order a new camera this weekend but I am moving continents in two weeks so I am trying to find a fast shipping option here, or just go with a camera from china to get to where I am moving.
On that note, I noticed that the camera appears to have the same part number as the LG G3 (Y472B) though I can find nowhere that confirmed that they are identical parts. While the part number is the same, there is a 4 digit number below it, and I'm not sure if that is a batch number or perhaps a dash number. I haven't found any of those numbers that are the same both for the g3 and flex2, but then, the 4 digit number on the ribbon of my phone is different than the numbers I see on replacement parts.
Can anybody confirm or shed some light on whether the rear cameras of the flex2 and G3 are identical (can be used interchangeably)? If so that would give me a lot more options for ordering!
An update to my post. I ordered an lg g3 rear camera and put it in my flex 2. It appears they are identical as my rear camera now works.
I am having troubles with autofocus but manual works. That seems to be a software not a hardware issue though. But for $15 my flex 2 is now back to normal.
To update, after about a day the rear camera stopped working but would work occasionally.
After a few more weeks the phone started looping restarts up to the lock screen then died all together (it would still charge and display it was charging) I reflowed the main board which appears to have solved all problems but I hesitate to advocate it as it is fairly risky and by many accounts only solved issues temporarily
LG Camera Rear work occasionally or camera fail
When the Camera work occasionally, motherboard is the problem. I changed the camera module and the same situation, (LG G FLlex 2 original module), not work, reset, reinstall android with LG Up, all, but not work. As she does, some components it has a (cold soldering). The only option is to warm the 250-300 degree with hot air in that area or other motherboard. All LG's have the same problem, replace the assembly line LG!

Google Pixel 3 suddenly rear camera stopped working

Just like that, out of the blue no more rear camera. When you try to launch app, it just instantly crashes. This happens with 3rd party camera apps as well.
When I'm checking hardware with apps like aida64, droid info and devcheck there are no rear camera, it's not detectable.
Cache clear, app disable, safe boot, hard reset does not solve this issue.
I see two options: 1) Google in last system update included firmware upgrade for camera that totally screwed it up; 2) it's really faulty rear camera (I hope not)
Apparently I'm not alone, but I couldn't find anywhere on the web complaining about it. Is it really isolated case?
whitealien said:
Just like that, out of the blue no more rear camera. When you try to launch app, it just instantly crashes. This happens with 3rd party camera apps as well.
When I'm checking hardware with apps like aida64, droid info and devcheck there are no rear camera, it's not detectable.
Cache clear, app disable, safe boot, hard reset does not solve this issue.
I see two options: 1) Google in last system update included firmware upgrade for camera that totally screwed it up; 2) it's really faulty rear camera (I hope not)
Apparently I'm not alone, but I couldn't find anywhere on the web complaining about it. Is it really isolated case?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on the latest system update, and have had no camera problems. Sounds like you may have a faulty camera.
I'm on the latest as well with no issues. As mentioned, this screams failed camera. When repairing other phones and leaving a camera ribbon disconnected I experienced the exact same crashes with camera related apps.
Exokan said:
I'm on the latest as well with no issues. As mentioned, this screams failed camera. When repairing other phones and leaving a camera ribbon disconnected I experienced the exact same crashes with camera related apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can it be that small slide from bed to floor could break camera? I would be shocked if that is true. Pixel phones are even more fragile than iphones.
whitealien said:
Can it be that small slide from bed to floor could break camera? I would be shocked if that is true. Pixel phones are even more fragile than iphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently it can.
Brought today to repair shop. Guy said that camera socket had cold solder joints. This would explain why small drop would cause socket failure, but should I believe him? Lets see after repair. This will offset me for 70€ , ouch. Also, he said that flash was burned???? What? Phone is month old and I never used flash.
It seems that Google phones have issues with quality control.
whitealien said:
Apparently it can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a bummer. Sorry dude, good luck with the repairs!

Camera stopped working

I was on the last update of the device and everything was running fine if a bit slow and sluggish. Until two days ago when the camera stopped working. The camera app would just show a black screen and every other app that could use the camera like WhatsApp and signal would also not be able to use the camera. Weirdly enough the torch wouldn't work either and it would say that the camera is in use. I did the following things to troubleshoot:
1. Wiped camera app cache, disabled then enabled the app, and finally restarted the phone. This worked for a bit and the camera would work for a few minutes but then it would stop working again.
2. Full system wipe. Didn't help at all.
3. Installed Lineage OS 20. Didn't help either, well the phone works much faster and snappier now plus it went from android 11 to 13 but the camera still has the same issue.
What else can I try? Will installing a custom kernel help?
Does the second camera (front/rear) work?
If so, take a look here
OnePlus 6 Repair
The sixth iteration of OnePlus's flagship smartphone and successor to the OnePlus 5T. Released May 2018.
www.ifixit.com
and consider whether you can handle the replacement.
ze7zez said:
Does the second camera (front/rear) work?
If so, take a look here
OnePlus 6 Repair
The sixth iteration of OnePlus's flagship smartphone and successor to the OnePlus 5T. Released May 2018.
www.ifixit.com
and consider whether you can handle the replacement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None of the cameras are working. This feels like a bug where whenever an app tries to grab the camera it gets denied and told that the camera is already in use. As for repair, if a physical repair can solve this then I'd be definitely willing to try, I'm pretty confident with electronics tinkering.
It is rather unlikely that both cameras were damaged at the same time. So perhaps the damage (overheating of the chipset) is on the motherboard. In that case, it may not be cost-effective to repair.
ze7zez said:
It is rather unlikely that both cameras were damaged at the same time. So perhaps the damage (overheating of the chipset) is on the motherboard. In that case, it may not be cost-effective to repair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh wait a minute, a few days ago I did feel that my phone got a lot hotter than it usually does for around 10-15 minutes. And these problems started after that.
Have you tried using the camera app while plugged into a wall charger? If the battery is older, maybe it isn't able to supply enough on-demand load for the camera.

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