Database Users

Droid X Camera Not Working After Update?

Got the Droid X on 7/15, everything was great, got the system update, now the camera won't work. Black screen only, even though both the Camera and Camcorder apps behave like they're working (with a black screen). Cannot take pictures at all, can take video, although no image is shown and playback of videos is a completely black screen.
I look in the camera and it looks like the shutter is open, although I'm not 100% certain what a closed shutter would look like. I think I can see the lens.
I did a full System Restore, the problem did not go away.
I've tried the camera app from the marketplace, facebook, etc., all treat the camera in the same way: just a black screen.
Trying to take a picture, the focus noise doesn't even sound.
This was working prior to the update, albeit in a laggy manner. Should I return my Droid X, or is there some other software / use fix I have not tried?
Thank you in advance!

No one else is having this issue?

This is the first i personally have heard of this issue.
I would take it back and see if they can exchange it.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

After the update I would try to go into the camera but it would say that it couldn't open it. A couple hours later it worked no problem. I recommend a factory reset to se if that helps and then try to exchange.
Edit: sort I didn't se that you already tried to reset it. Yeah it is time to take it back.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

I've tried a soft and hard reset and no luck. But a quick search on the Motorola forums brings me to conclude that this could be a major problem that if it doesn't happen to you now, it might just happen later.
https://supportforums.motorola.com/m.../186355#186355
https://supportforums.motorola.com/m.../185092#185092

ANDROID 3G said:
I've tried a soft and hard reset and no luck. But a quick search on the Motorola forums brings me to conclude that this could be a major problem that if it doesn't happen to you now, it might just happen later.
https://supportforums.motorola.com/m.../186355#186355
https://supportforums.motorola.com/m.../185092#185092
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The links didn't work for be. Would u be kind enough to explain a bit further what the potential problem is regarding the camera? thanks

Links should work now:
https://supportforums.motorola.com/thread/32521?start=0&tstart=0
https://supportforums.motorola.com/thread/32618?tstart=0
https://supportforums.motorola.com/thread/32376?tstart=150

did you take the lens cap off?

Mine works.

Droid X camera problems after update
ANDROID 3G said:
Got the Droid X on 7/15, everything was great, got the system update, now the camera won't work. Black screen only, even though both the Camera and Camcorder apps behave like they're working (with a black screen). Cannot take pictures at all, can take video, although no image is shown and playback of videos is a completely black screen.
I look in the camera and it looks like the shutter is open, although I'm not 100% certain what a closed shutter would look like. I think I can see the lens.
I did a full System Restore, the problem did not go away.
I've tried the camera app from the marketplace, facebook, etc., all treat the camera in the same way: just a black screen.
Trying to take a picture, the focus noise doesn't even sound.
This was working prior to the update, albeit in a laggy manner. Should I return my Droid X, or is there some other software / use fix I have not tried?
Thank you in advance!
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Click to collapse
I have two droid X phones. My Camera quit the first time I tried to use it after the update. My daughters died 2 days after she updated. Verizon fix is to send me a refurbished phone. My fix is to get rid of motorola and verizon as soon as possible. Any help would be appreciated

chuck k said:
I have two droid X phones. My Camera quit the first time I tried to use it after the update. My daughters died 2 days after she updated. Verizon fix is to send me a refurbished phone. My fix is to get rid of motorola and verizon as soon as possible. Any help would be appreciated
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Click to collapse
Mine did same thing... i pulled the battery while phone was on per the tech on the phone and it has worked fine since.

I have noticed this on rooted droid x's. Factory wipe didn't really resolve any of the camera issues. Re-loading with SBF resolved the issue sometimes, while other times, a simple cache wipe resolves the issue.

I dont know if this will work, but its just a suggestion that fixed my camera. My camera/camcorder app wouldn't open, so then I went into the gallery and deleted a corrupted image (It was all strange looking, a black square with lines on it, and also wouldn't open in any programs). Once I removed this image from my SD card the camera worked. Worth a try I guess...
Also try using another app to open the camera, like Vignette, in order to see if it is a hardware issue or a blur camera app issue.

Snapchat camera issue?

Ok...something strange is happening when I use snapchat. I take a picture and than the app closes by itself and the camera refuses to work until I reboot...any other camera app will just gove a can nit connect to camera message until I reboot. Ill reboot and any camera app works (stock/instagram) but as soon as I try snapchat again...it auto closes when I take a picture and suddenly the camera wont connect again.
The strangest part is it was working fine earlier...ive been using snapchat since I got the phone with no issues...so not sure whats up...ive uninstalled and reinstalled...so not really sure what else to do...anyone have any suggestions? Anyone else experience this? Do you think maybe its hardware??? I dont think its hardware cause it works fine until I use snapchat...but idk cant figure this one out
Also, I have done notging new to my phone...no nee apps, no new mods, no new updates...nothing so there really is no reason for this behavior. Ill try odin later but im away from my oc at the moment and just wanted to get other peoples input
Edit: snapchat appears to be working again...still strange that that happened...makes me worried as I dont know if it was the hardware or app failing
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

mg2195 said:
Ok...something strange is happening when I use snapchat. I take a picture and than the app closes by itself and the camera refuses to work until I reboot...any other camera app will just gove a can nit connect to camera message until I reboot. Ill reboot and any camera app works (stock/instagram) but as soon as I try snapchat again...it auto closes when I take a picture and suddenly the camera wont connect again.
The strangest part is it was working fine earlier...ive been using snapchat since I got the phone with no issues...so not sure whats up...ive uninstalled and reinstalled...so not really sure what else to do...anyone have any suggestions? Anyone else experience this? Do you think maybe its hardware??? I dont think its hardware cause it works fine until I use snapchat...but idk cant figure this one out
Also, I have done notging new to my phone...no nee apps, no new mods, no new updates...nothing so there really is no reason for this behavior. Ill try odin later but im away from my oc at the moment and just wanted to get other peoples input
Edit: snapchat appears to be working again...still strange that that happened...makes me worried as I dont know if it was the hardware or app failing
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
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Fine for me. No issues no lag

I've had the same issue a couple times. It's really weird. It only happens on the rear camera (the 13MP good camera) and only in certain scenarios. I tried to take a picture of my hammock, it locked up and I had to shut down. I took a picture of the ground, no problems. Hammock again, locked up. Flash on/off, doesn't matter. Weirdest thing.
I think it might be the camera software switching between white balances automatically (no proof to back this up, but since it matters where I point the camera, it has to have something to do with what the camera is seeing and doing in response to the scenery) and SnapChat might not play well with one of the white balances.
I just now took a picture of my driveway from inside my house, no problem. Took a picture of the hammock in the yard, freeze up. There's a lot of green in the hammock shot, I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

Have you guys factory reset. First thing I did when I turned it on

My girlfriend's s4 is doing the same thing she only gets it on the front camera but can make it do it at will she says it when the camera first turns on and is focusing and adjusting the color of you take a pic before it settles down it does what the op said.

energyracing said:
I've had the same issue a couple times. It's really weird. It only happens on the rear camera (the 13MP good camera) and only in certain scenarios. I tried to take a picture of my hammock, it locked up and I had to shut down. I took a picture of the ground, no problems. Hammock again, locked up. Flash on/off, doesn't matter. Weirdest thing.
I think it might be the camera software switching between white balances automatically (no proof to back this up, but since it matters where I point the camera, it has to have something to do with what the camera is seeing and doing in response to the scenery) and SnapChat might not play well with one of the white balances.
I just now took a picture of my driveway from inside my house, no problem. Took a picture of the hammock in the yard, freeze up. There's a lot of green in the hammock shot, I don't know if that has anything to do with it.
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i think your hammock is cursed o.o and i have no issues. it works fine on both front and back cameras in snapchat/any other camera app.

sorry to bump an old post but did anyone ever find a solution to this problem, its been happening to me on my gs4 from verizon. It will work then all of a sudden it does the same thing with the camera and just exits the app?

Same deal on my Galaxy s4 that is barely a month old. Everything was working perfectly fine until a couple of days ago when I try to send snaps using the rear camera.
Goes something like this:
- Take photo with rear camera, app crashes
- Screen freezes at the Snapchat 'loading' screen OR nonfunctional camera within the app (whereas everything else works such as receiving incoming snaps)
- Rebooting works from time to time, but the problem is reoccurring
- Tried clearing cache/reinstalling the app, no luck
It's starting to really get on my nerves.

I had the same problem. Snapchat force closes and camera starts to fail. I contacted the snapchat team and reported the problem. I got a reply saying that they are working on it. Maybe you guys should send them an email too and explain the problem you guys are having.

I have the exact same issue. I've not been able to find a work-around.

snapchat freezes on videos that are longer then like 2-3 seconds it seems... then i have to restart again to get the camera back...

Nothing is wrong with your phones. Snapchat is an extremely ****tily programmed app. What do you expect from a terrible iOS port?
I might suggest Wink! as an alternative, but it doesn't support video, but meh.

Yeah I have the same problem. It's fricken ridiculous. When will they fix this?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Free mobile app

I think it may have to do with using the CM/non TW camera.. Whenever I used it I experienced this very problem. Since I've gone back to TW, I have not..

Camera auto focus issue

Whenever i open my camera app, the displayed image will not auto focus- it remains blurry no matter how long i allow it to readjust. The only way i can get it to focus is by shaking the phone vigorously- then it instantly auto focuses. Anyone else experience this or other problems focusing?

Has this always happened? Did you just get the phone?
Sent from my SM-N910U

i got it about 2 weeks ago, and i'm not sure if its always been this way- i never messed with the camera until after i rooted & flashed a new rom. But i do notice the problem on 2 separate note 4's, so i'm wondering if this is a rom specific issue or something others have noticed as well

Try using a third party camera app and see if it makes a difference.
Sent from my SM-N910U

Same thing is happening with my wife's Note 4 camera. Tried DL'ing 3rd party apps, and that didn't work. Shaking it vigorously for about a minute did work, but who wants to do that every time you need to take a pic, especially since we have a 1 yr old. Anyone have any luck with settings? I don't want to have to go back and return the phone, if i can help it.

Glad I'm not alone with focusing problems...
Here is my topic : Note 4 camera won't lock focus + blurry edges on pictures with far focus
Best regards,
Chris.

Problem with initial autofocus
I have the same issue with autofocus. When I open my camera is out of focus. When I a shake the camera it goes into autofocus. This has happen every time so far. I just purchased my a note from an ATT store on Dec 19th. I read on another forum a user sent his back to be fixed. They said it was a software update issue. My question is will it be released to every one soon?

Same issue here. 1 week old note 4.

been using my phone for a month and this blurry back camera is happening lately !!! it was ok when I bought it !! really annoying

Wipe off your camera before opening the app. I'm serious. The rear camera has to be clean or it will try to focus on whatever is on the screen in "close up" mode. It even tries to focus in on fingerprints! I'm dead serious. This was bothering me for almost a whole month before I figured it out.
A lot of you may have already messed with settings, etc. So, reset your camera settings to default, close your camera app (completely by clearing it in recently used apps) and then clean your lens and launch the camera app.
Felt like an idiot after struggling with this so long. Now I just know I have to wipe the lens off before launching the app every time.

DJHile said:
Wipe off your camera before opening the app. I'm serious. The rear camera has to be clean or it will try to focus on whatever is on the screen in "close up" mode. It even tries to focus in on fingerprints! I'm dead serious. This was bothering me for almost a whole month before I figured it out.
A lot of you may have already messed with settings, etc. So, reset your camera settings to default, close your camera app (completely by clearing it in recently used apps) and then clean your lens and launch the camera app.
Felt like an idiot after struggling with this so long. Now I just know I have to wipe the lens off before launching the app every time.
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This does not fix the issue we are experiencing.

Unfortunately, it's a hardware issue and you need a replacement. You can tap the phone on your hand and it will focus correctly for awhile but it needs to be replaced.

Note 4 af issue
Besides shaking, i noticed it needs sufficient light for it to be calibrated properly. And of course this is only temporary. Not sure if there is a fix for this problem. Bummer

i had issue with kitkat but only for a object in movement. It does not focus object. i compared camera with a Xperia Z1 and it seems to be better than note 4.

I've got the same problem when shooting in macro , the problem is gone when i've updated on lollipop.

ptfdmedic said:
Unfortunately, it's a hardware issue and you need a replacement. You can tap the phone on your hand and it will focus correctly for awhile but it needs to be replaced.
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You have right. I am waiting for new note 4 from Samsung.

Yes ur right. But this problem started after upgrading to lollipop

Hi, I also have this issue. In the past I never got this issue. I am not sure if this happen after upgrade to Lollipop or not.
But I believe it is not hardware problem as it not happen all the time.
I open camera app and it cannot focus for a while, then I exit from camera, and re-open it again immediately, it can focus.
If I lock and left the phone for a while, let say 5 minutes, and open camera again, the issue come back again.
Is this because software issue like the camera app need to prepare something in background before ready to focus (causing lag before focus) and when we put it to sleep( lock the phone and left for a while) then we open it again and it need to prepare again.
My work around is, if I face camera focus lag, I immediately exit camera app (pressing home or back button ) and re-open camera again and it no lag on focus!
Hope this help you.

[Q] Front Camera laggy/stuttering

Hello everyone!
Recently got a S4 after I had 3 S4 actives fail on me. All is good and well, but the front camera has really nasty lag issues. I fixed this for the stock camera app! All I had to do was disable the night detection mode. HOWEVER, the issue is still present in Instagram, Snapchat, and probably any other third party app that uses the camera. I did loads of research and only found stuff posted here and elsewhere from around 2 years ago, none of which have any sort of solution listed, it's just a bunch of people spouting out, "Same issue here!" or "My phone is fine!" etc.
Anybody have this issue and fix it, or encounter anything about it? It can be determined it isn't a hardware issue, as the default camera app works fine.
EDIT: Also want to note that the issue is only present in low-light situations. The specific issue is that it appears as though the image feeding to the screen is being smeared around when the objects in frame move, or if the camera pans or tilts.
Thanks for the time anybody takes to read this!

Camera constantly refocuses when taking video

Hey guys, so I've been loving the phone in almost every way until today when I finally used it to take video for the first time. I bought a tripod attachment for my MXPE and was trying to film a short video of me talking in front of a blank white wall. When I went back to look, the video was constantly refocusing with a terrible zoom in/out effect. Now that I've done some testing it happens whether on a tripod, or in my hand. Even on a static background, it will eventually refocus. If there's any movement, whether I'm panning from side to side or something is moving on the video it will refocus. Here's a short example. Don't be fooled by thinking I'm doing some crazy trick with my hand here, it will noticeably refocus for any reason, including me just moving my hands while talking in front of it. Also keep in mind the phone is on a stable tripod, so any movement is entirely the camera or software. I just didn't want to get on camera or show significant parts of where I live. I've searched to see if anyone else has this problem and unfortunately all I found was a reddit thread with almost no responses. I should say I'm on stock, no modifications to my phone. The camera is set to save to internal memory so micro sd shenanigans aren't a factor either. I've used the stock app, Google Camera and Open Camera and they all exhibit this refocusing behavior.
So what's up, are other people experiencing this also, or is my otherwise great phone working with a somehow busted camera? It takes photos just fine, though now that I think about it, it does the same zoom in/out refocusing when I move the camera photo mode too. I remember trying to take a picture of a spider and the camera wouldn't stop trying to focus long enough for me to get a clear shot. Is this a software deal, or do I need to talk to Motorola? If it's a software deal, why is no one else talking about this?
Edit: I used the "focus lock" shortcut in Open Camera and was able to make it stop. But that means I can't use the default app or Google Camera. What the heck guys?

Its an issue in low light (indoors) when the subject moves. I submitted a complaint with video sample on the official forums and moto responded it was expected for thr camera to re-search for focus when the subject moves.
However I later received an email from the moto camera team asking them for more information which I provided. Who knows maybe they are trying to improve it.
This issue exists on the nexus 6 also and is much worse btw.

I've made the same test and got similar results.
It seems that each time a new element appears the camera tends to change the focus, it looks like it trying to adapt to the new situation.
I'm also no happy with this issue.
Please keep posting if there's any news from Motorola.

Yes, definitely. I shoot a lot of videos of people playing piano, and it's constantly refocusing because the hands never stop moving. :/
Hopefully, this will be fixed in the future.

I have been having the exact same problem recently. For me, it's not even when the subject is moving. Take this video of my son for example ( drive.google.com/file/d/12BqfnL7OoEvV3CSWim-OCgxiHID4mrMeFQ/view ). Notice that it keeps refocusing even though he and the camera are barely moving. There seemed to be plenty of light coming in the window. Is there no way to fix this?

FYI, I finally contacted Motorola Support about this issue because it is so bad, in my case, and they instructed me to send in my phone for repair. Twelve days later, I receive my phone back, and the camera still has issues with focusing while using the camera. I wrote them back to find out what they are going to do now, so I will update here when I hear back. This is SO FRUSTRATING. I would not advise buying a Moto X Pure for the time-being, if you want a functioning video camera.

You can lock focus on the stock camera app by long pressing the focus bracket. I don't know if this was added recently but I found this thread among several others on google search and none of them mentioned it. Cheers!

I forgot to update here after my debacle finished.
Motorola Support had me send in my phone again soon after I got it back from them the first time. I asked them why nothing changed with the phone, and the tech said they mis-marked the problem in their system as a problem with the flash. /sigh So all they did was replace the flash and return the phone. What a waste.
The next time I sent in the phone, they just went ahead and replaced the phone entirely. I got back the new phone, and guess what? Exact. Same. Problem.
I finally posted the video on YouTube where the camera constantly refocuses, and a user suggested downloading a totally different camera app, like "Camera MX." I did so, and immediately noticed a huge difference! I couldn't believe the majority of the focusing problem was caused by Motorola's buggy Camera app, but that does seem to be the case. Unbelievable.
So if you have this problem, download another camera app like "Camera MX," and it should help the refocusing problem a ton.