Database Info

[Q] Front and Back Camera and LED stopped working after screen replacment

Hi, I'm having an issue with my Nexus 5 which is that the front and back cameras as well as the back LED no longer seem to function. This happens in the stock Camera app where as soon as it is opened, an 'Unfortunately, Camera has stopped.' message comes up and blackness is shown. This also happens in third party apps such as Snapchat where the message 'Snapchat was unable to open the camera. You may need to restart your device ' comes up. In addition, upon attempting to use Tesla LED, the back facing LED does not turn on.
The likely cause that I can see is the recent screen replacement that took place. I ordered this[1] online which came with a new set of cameras as well as a new screen. I took the motherboard, battery and rear case from the old phone and attached them to the new set of cameras and the new screen.
After performing the replacement, everything else worked except the cameras and the LED.
Upon seeing the issue, I tried swapping out the new rear facing camera (that came with the screen replacement) for the old rear facing camera that was in the old phone (the camera still worked before the replacement). After swapping the rear camera the issue was unchanged.
I have tried the following in terms of software fixes:
-Other camera applications - they crash or are black
-Clear cache and application data for the stock camera app - no effect
-Change to ART - no effect
I would greatly appreciate any help or advice that you can offer.

I'd reinstall stock rom and gapps, if they still don't work you know it's a hardware problem for sure. Then troubleshoot from there.

Lokke9191 said:
I'd reinstall stock rom and gapps, if they still don't work you know it's a hardware problem for sure. Then troubleshoot from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I factory reset the device and tried the default Google Apps, still having the same issues.
Any suggestions for hardware trouble shooting?

bhtp said:
I factory reset the device and tried the default Google Apps, still having the same issues.
Any suggestions for hardware trouble shooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As for hardware trouble shooting, being that you know the original cameras worked, all you can do is check the connections . I'd unplug them and plug them back in.
I'd also try flashing the 4.4 stock camera zip and see if that works.

Lokke9191 said:
As for hardware trouble shooting, being that you know the original cameras worked, all you can do is check the connections . I'd unplug them and plug them back in.
I'd also try flashing the 4.4 stock camera zip and see if that works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried reattaching all of the physical connections and that did not seem to make a difference.
In regards to flashing the 4.4 stock camera zip, would you be able to give me a little guidance as to how that process would occur?
Thanks so much for your help so far.

You'd need to root, install a custom recovery (twrp), use titanium backup to uninstall camera. Then boot into your custom recovery and install the camera zip.

Lokke9191 said:
You'd need to root, install a custom recovery (twrp), use titanium backup to uninstall camera. Then boot into your custom recovery and install the camera zip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for such a long response time.
I updated the phone to 4.4.3.
Interestingly the back facing camera appears to have started working. The default camera application still fails to open, but when I use another application (Snapchat) and have it set to try the backfacing camera first, everything seems to work ok. However, when I switch to front facing the application says that it can't find the camera.
In addition, the back facing LED has begun to work again as well.
Previously, I had switched out the new rear facing camera (that came with the casing) for the old rear facing camera hoping that it might changes things. I recognize retrospectively that my method of testing was flawed as it seems as though regardless of whether one of the cameras is/was working the application would not open.
Hoping that the replacement of the rear facing had caused it to start working, I swapped out the new front facing camera for the old one. Upon testing, the issues with the front facing camera seem to persist.
At this point I'm not sure how to proceed. The lack of functionality of both front facing cameras (the old and the new) would seem to suggest an issue with the connector on the motherboard if the problem were hardware based. I'm not sure, though, if the problem could somehow be in software.
One software phenomenon that I observed is that as soon as I try to use the front facing camera, the back facing camera stops working again requiring the application to be reset. This occurrence has led me to question the causation between the update and the new functionality. It is possible that in my testing of the device before the update, I had simply been opening the front facing camera and upon seeing it fail, and trying the back facing camera and seeing it fail (because I had tried the front facing camera), that I assumed it was not working.
If you have any recommendations on how to proceed I would greatly appreciate hearing them. If not then thanks for all your help.

bhtp said:
Sorry for such a long response time.
I updated the phone to 4.4.3.
Interestingly the back facing camera appears to have started working. The default camera application still fails to open, but when I use another application (Snapchat) and have it set to try the backfacing camera first, everything seems to work ok. However, when I switch to front facing the application says that it can't find the camera.
In addition, the back facing LED has begun to work again as well.
Previously, I had switched out the new rear facing camera (that came with the casing) for the old rear facing camera hoping that it might changes things. I recognize retrospectively that my method of testing was flawed as it seems as though regardless of whether one of the cameras is/was working the application would not open.
Hoping that the replacement of the rear facing had caused it to start working, I swapped out the new front facing camera for the old one. Upon testing, the issues with the front facing camera seem to persist.
At this point I'm not sure how to proceed. The lack of functionality of both front facing cameras (the old and the new) would seem to suggest an issue with the connector on the motherboard if the problem were hardware based. I'm not sure, though, if the problem could somehow be in software.
One software phenomenon that I observed is that as soon as I try to use the front facing camera, the back facing camera stops working again requiring the application to be reset. This occurrence has led me to question the causation between the update and the new functionality. It is possible that in my testing of the device before the update, I had simply been opening the front facing camera and upon seeing it fail, and trying the back facing camera and seeing it fail (because I had tried the front facing camera), that I assumed it was not working.
If you have any recommendations on how to proceed I would greatly appreciate hearing them. If not then thanks for all your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any updates mate? Did you made it work ?
I opened my nexus to fix the gps. Everything worked fine, until suddenly gps stopped working. I opened again, remove the fix, still the same.
Then my camera stopped working as well. "Cannot connect to camera" or something like this it gave me.
I've updated from 4.4.4 kitkat to android L latest build, and gps works but the camera app crashes, as well as any other camera on market ( either black screen or crash ).
Any help for me ?
Any answer it will be appreciated.

Same exact issue with front facing camera after glass replacement. Anybody find a fix yet?

[Q] Front camera exposure bug

Hello guys,
I don't know if it happens to you, but I've got some ugly bug on my front camera. Wherether I'm trying to shoot photos, I've some good exposure in preview, but after I shoot a picture, the exposure goes under or over exposure, but never the one I get on a preview screen (before hitting the button). Is this a known bug and is there any way to fix it.
I didn't see anyone complain about it, so I think it's not common. By the way, I tried to use different roms and diferent camera apps, it all the same.
The only thing I found on the internet is this site:
https://community.republicwireless.com/thread/26076

Yea, it's a common bug, that haven't been fixed.
To me it only happens in very good daylight and the photos end up overexposed, HDR doesn't help.

Antique_Angel said:
Hello guys,
I don't know if it happens to you, but I've got some ugly bug on my front camera. Wherether I'm trying to shoot photos, I've some good exposure in preview, but after I shoot a picture, the exposure goes under or over exposure, but never the one I get on a preview screen (before hitting the button). Is this a known bug and is there any way to fix it.
I didn't see anyone complain about it, so I think it's not common. By the way, I tried to use different roms and diferent camera apps, it all the same.
The only thing I found on the internet is this site:
https://community.republicwireless.com/thread/26076
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the one plus one camera app this bug is not there! In all others that I have used its there!

liveroy said:
Yea, it's a common bug, that haven't been fixed.
To me it only happens in very good daylight and the photos end up overexposed, HDR doesn't help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I have this bug too, any pictures taken with the front facing camera outside during the day are almost entirely white, you can just about make out what the picture is of. But the preview and movies taken with the front facing camera are fine suggesting it's software. I have no screen protector, no case, unrooted, KitKat out of the box. Tried different camera apps with no difference.
I know this was posted a while ago but any updates on this? Can lollipop change anything? I have a moto g LTE in the US so no L for me yet. Can I adjust settings in the camera app (I downloaded the apk for the moto camera that has settings access)?
This issue, along with the multitasking problems that mean I can't even listen to music while surfing, have tempted me to give up on this phone entirely.

drrobo said:
So I have this bug too, any pictures taken with the front facing camera outside during the day are almost entirely white, you can just about make out what the picture is of. But the preview and movies taken with the front facing camera are fine suggesting it's software. I have no screen protector, no case, unrooted, KitKat out of the box. Tried different camera apps with no difference.
I know this was posted a while ago but any updates on this? Can lollipop change anything? I have a moto g LTE in the US so no L for me yet. Can I adjust settings in the camera app (I downloaded the apk for the moto camera that has settings access)?
This issue, along with the multitasking problems that mean I can't even listen to music while surfing, have tempted me to give up on this phone entirely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dunno if it's fixed in Lollipop, but I can test. I just don't use the front camera much.
I got no such problem with multitasking at all, even on Lollipop, let alone KitKat that was way better in the memory management.

liveroy said:
Dunno if it's fixed in Lollipop, but I can test. I just don't use the front camera much.
I got no such problem with multitasking at all, even on Lollipop, let alone KitKat that was way better in the memory management.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for offering to test it - I'd really love to know if L makes a difference. I don't often use my front facing camera either, but just knowing I don't have the option to use it is seriously off putting. Last week I ran into a friend of mine I hadn't seen in years, and after trying to take a picture together you couldn't see either of our faces. It was so disappointing.
As for the multitasking, it seems like some phones have an issue while others don't - all I know is that when I have Google Play open, launching Chrome causes Play to close after 30 seconds, no crash error or anything. Same with the home screen having to redraw after exiting almost every app I use, and Chrome tabs reloading every time I switch between them. I've gone as far as uninstalled the memory hogging facebook and other apps, but the problem persists. Painful is the only word for this phone at the moment.

drrobo said:
Thanks for offering to test it - I'd really love to know if L makes a difference. I don't often use my front facing camera either, but just knowing I don't have the option to use it is seriously off putting. Last week I ran into a friend of mine I hadn't seen in years, and after trying to take a picture together you couldn't see either of our faces. It was so disappointing.
As for the multitasking, it seems like some phones have an issue while others don't - all I know is that when I have Google Play open, launching Chrome causes Play to close after 30 seconds, no crash error or anything. Same with the home screen having to redraw after exiting almost every app I use, and Chrome tabs reloading every time I switch between them. I've gone as far as uninstalled the memory hogging facebook and other apps, but the problem persists. Painful is the only word for this phone at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tested and I couldn't reproduce the bug on 5.0.2. It takes pretty normal pictures now.
Can you tell me if on KK you can enable HDR? On lollipop this is not accessible at all.

liveroy said:
Tested and I couldn't reproduce the bug on 5.0.2. It takes pretty normal pictures now.
Can you tell me if on KK you can enable HDR? On lollipop this is not accessible at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have hope for the lollipop update then! Yes on Kk you have three options for HDR, on, off and auto.

[Q] trying to use camera from lock screen results in crashreboot

I flashed 5.0 onto my Nexus 5 a while back and have been loving it. But there is a MAJOR issue I have encountered.
If, from the lock screen, i swipe to open the camera (I use Google's camera app) then swipe on the charms and select video and press record... i can almost always reproduce an immediate forced reboot it makes me very sad.
I have tried wiping the system cache... i'm not sure what else to do...
any advice?

bumping... been playing around with my N5 more and more and still getting the issue.
I notice that it happens in other camera apps that can take videos as well. Not just google's official camera app.
Also, it does not have to be launched from the lock screen for it to occur. sigh.
there have been a few times where i can get it to successfully record a video... but i can't reproduce it all the time. MOST of the time it crashes my entire phone

Same here. Noticed they pushing 5.01 out... Maybe a fix. I've had every Nexus and early software is allways buggy, IMO

thanks so much for replying. just glad it's not only my phone, you know?
I think I found a workaround until google fixes it. and they better.
if you open the camera and switch it to video mode but BEFORE pressing record, if you toggle the thunderbolt (light) on and off at least once (doesn't matter if you leave it on or on afterwards), then start recording it SHOULD work without rebooting... at least it has so far.

Dont have the issue on mine, i have the ElemantalX kernel though but i dont think that makes a difference

Zulith said:
I flashed 5.0 onto my Nexus 5 a while back and have been loving it. But there is a MAJOR issue I have encountered.
If, from the lock screen, i swipe to open the camera (I use Google's camera app) then swipe on the charms and select video and press record... i can almost always reproduce an immediate forced reboot it makes me very sad.
I have tried wiping the system cache... i'm not sure what else to do...
any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm certainly not suggesting the issue doesn't exist, but I cannot reproduce this on my stock 5.0 installation.
That being said, there are seemingly lots of Lollipop bugs that some people get and others simply do not... in my experience that'll probably make them a little more time-consuming to fix.

Well, a little good news... I hope?
I did a flash to 5.0.1 stock and i can't reproduce it anymore. videos record perfectly fine.
now let's give it a week or so of me dicking around with various apps and settings and see how that goes

Zulith said:
Well, a little good news... I hope?
I did a flash to 5.0.1 stock and i can't reproduce it anymore. videos record perfectly fine.
now let's give it a week or so of me dicking around with various apps and settings and see how that goes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's interesting - they must have changed something about the camera then.
I wasn't having the issue you described but I did occasionally get "cannot connect to camera".. fingers crossed it's sorted :good:

Camera Focus lock issue.

Hi everyone, i want suggestions guys, my opo's main camera focus is acting weird since last update, it was working great on 44s and then i updated it and the camera stopped working, cell phone showed theres no main camera attached to board, like camera app opened with front camera on by default, and there was no camera switching button. So i decided to deassemble the device thinking that it was some hardware issue, but everything looked fine in there, so i just disconnected and reconnected the camera sensor ribbon/connector to board just to make sure, and restarted device, canera came back somehow, but since then camera focus lock became horrible, anything out of 2feet range is blurred and out of focus, when cell auto focuses, theres a perfect focus point but camera locks its focus after that on blurred image, yesterday i flashed back to 44s and camera focus became a bit better, not perfect but way better than before, so now i think it is not entirely a hardware issue, something in camera firmware or drivers, can somebody help me on this issue please?

Same as mine after updating to lollipop.

guys please help saw something in the youtube about nexus 5 having the same issue fixed by tasker app running shell script. killall mm-daemon-camera tred but not working maybe some dev can help us use this method to fix the issue.

Rear camera sluggish

I'm facing an issue with my camera which I couldn't find anything about via a web search. So I would like to know if anyone experienced something similar?
I'm running the stock rom and didn't tinker with the phone.
Since yesterday my rear camera is really slow an only slowing blurred images. The whole phone seems to be running really slow and unable to handle the data. Switching to the front camera takes ages but once it's active it's working normally.
If I try to use the camera several times I end up with a black preview image. A reboot returns the camera to the previous laggy state.
Changing to a different camera app yields the same behavior. Could be an issue with the latest patch for Android 12 I i installed around the same time or my hardware is fried...

stephael said:
I'm facing an issue with my camera which I couldn't find anything about via a web search. So I would like to know if anyone experienced something similar?
I'm running the stock rom and didn't tinker with the phone.
Since yesterday my rear camera is really slow an only slowing blurred images. The whole phone seems to be running really slow and unable to handle the data. Switching to the front camera takes ages but once it's active it's working normally.
If I try to use the camera several times I end up with a black preview image. A reboot returns the camera to the previous laggy state.
Changing to a different camera app yields the same behavior. Could be an issue with the latest patch for Android 12 I i installed around the same time or my hardware is fried...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would try a system reset if possible, I know its a pain but if it works problem solved, You could also try going back to a different build via android flash tool , just a couple of ideas although extreme ,would narrow it down even more to a hardware issue over corrupt software. Hth

hammered58 said:
I would try a system reset if possible, I know its a pain but if it works problem solved, You could also try going back to a different build via android flash tool , just a couple of ideas although extreme ,would narrow it down even more to a hardware issue over corrupt software. Hth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feared that I would have to do this. Factory reset and flashing an older version didn't help.
Now I can hear that something is moving inside when I shake the phone. Time to crack it open and have a look.
Thanks for the suggestions.