Hello Team,
I've had my Essential Ph-1 for several years and loved it. Recently I replaced the battery with no issues. However, I notice that since replacing the battery, the stock camera app would not launch with an error initializing the camera, and it said to restart the phone. Rebooting the phone made no difference.
I opened the device back up and carefully checked all the wires and connections, and they're all tight and nothing looks cut, cracked, or disconnected. I tried a third party camera app (OpenCamera), and it worked fine on the front facing camera, but the rear camera was in black and white only. Since then I have tried factory resetting and re-flashing the firmware, and now the front camera works (in third party app) but the rear camera is not even recognized and I don't get an option to swap cameras.
Any suggestions? Is there anything I can check to troubleshoot this further?
TIA!
jbstanford said:
Hello Team,
I've had my Essential Ph-1 for several years and loved it. Recently I replaced the battery with no issues. However, I notice that since replacing the battery, the stock camera app would not launch with an error initializing the camera, and it said to restart the phone. Rebooting the phone made no difference.
I opened the device back up and carefully checked all the wires and connections, and they're all tight and nothing looks cut, cracked, or disconnected. I tried a third party camera app (OpenCamera), and it worked fine on the front facing camera, but the rear camera was in black and white only. Since then I have tried factory resetting and re-flashing the firmware, and now the front camera works (in third party app) but the rear camera is not even recognized and I don't get an option to swap cameras.
Any suggestions? Is there anything I can check to troubleshoot this further?
TIA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As it's happened at the same time as battery replacement you'd have to think the two are related. Possible try a "simulated battery pull" to ensure camera is powered down, that is a force restart, press power button & vol driven together for 15secs (I think). If this doesn't work try disconnect/reconnect any components related to camera. Only other thing I can think of is the camera or related component has received ESD damage form static electricity (most likely a diode or small IC), maybe you can find a cheap bricked or damaged phone for spares, if camera module expensive, assuming it's the camera.
Appreciate the response. I think you're right. I've forced restarted and flashed it back to stock, and while the stock camera doesn't work, I found that if I use a third party app (such as OpenCamera) the rear camera works in Greyscale only (not in Color).
IronRoo said:
As it's happened at the same time as battery replacement you'd have to think the two are related. Possible try a "simulated battery pull" to ensure camera is powered down, that is a force restart, press power button & vol driven together for 15secs (I think). If this doesn't work try disconnect/reconnect any components related to camera. Only other thing I can think of is the camera or related component has received ESD damage form static electricity (most likely a diode or small IC), maybe you can find a cheap bricked or damaged phone for spares, if camera module expensive, assuming it's the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jbstanford said:
Appreciate the response. I think you're right. I've forced restarted and flashed it back to stock, and while the stock camera doesn't work, I found that if I use a third party app (such as OpenCamera) the rear camera works in Greyscale only (not in Color).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hummmm ... Yes, hard to say for sure boat seems like some hardware issue on the color camera, hope you can find a simple fix.
Appreciate the followup. After looking farther. I see there is a hairline crack in the camera. I bought a parts EssentialPH1 off of eBay for ~$50 and will give swapping them a shot.
jbstanford said:
Appreciate the followup. After looking farther. I see there is a hairline crack in the camera. I bought a parts EssentialPH1 off of eBay for ~$50 and will give swapping them a shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that would likely explain it, hope you fix it easily (see the video on youtube from Fixeze & ifixit if you haven't already
Related
Ok, jsut got this thing off of ebay, power it all up I notice someone has been inside. eh no real biggie.. I unlock it and test the major functions.. all works. Bring up the camera and holy crap its like looking through the eyes of a lawn gnome tripping off shrooms and acid.. take a look (attached)
I rewiped.. installed Fx Camera to see if it was a setting, and also wiped the memory card (which came with the phone.. cool!) I then turn around and see that the camera lens is cracked on the battery cover, however the lens inside looks pretty good. So, I'm thinking this is a hardware problem, but Im not afraid to try to fix it if its just a few dollars. Am I screwed?
whoah, thats a trip!
If you deem it to be hardware, I have a spare camera from a parted G1. PM if you want details
I may take you up on that, however I am searching google right now to see if you can even replace the CCD
The camera module is on a ribbon cable that attaches to the motherboard, easily removed. So long as the component damaged is not on the mainboard itself you should be fine.
That's what I like to see!
You have a PM
If you plan on taking it apart yourself you need to be extremely careful, i took mine apart to replace the case when i bought it and after putting it back together everything seemed fine but after a while the touchscreen kept dying the camera never worked and my signal dropped all the time, i tried taking it apart and putting it back together several times to no avail. The phone became unuseable and i shelved it for my D600... bad times. It was only until i was going to send my G1 to a phone recycle website that i opened it up one last time, after doing nothing different and putting it back together its for some reason worked ever since. Just a word of warning hope whatever you do works out ok - Adam
Thanks for the warning! Someone already has been in the camera before.. I am going to assume that it was to take a peak at the camera lens so I am not afraid of voiding the warranty. It's no new adventure for me, I have been inside multiple phones and other small electronics, but thank you again. It never hurts to be redundant when opening any electronic device.
PM returned
When disassembling, I like to modify the HTC manual a bit. I remove the back plastic, and the coaxial cables (be VERY CAREFUL when reassembling, they always get pinched!). Then, remove the connectors as instructed EXCEPT the camera. Now, lift the camera portion, as well as the IMEI sticker as a whole module. They are just taped down. When lifted up fully, now you can spin the mainboard out of it's hooks and remove the entire assembly. This was the difficult connection to the camera stays intact. Makes reassembling much easier too, as it will self align.
If you haven't read/downloaded the G1 service manual, you need to!
http://mikechannon.net/PDF Manuals/HTC Dream SM (A04).pdf
Whoa! My first phone that has a manual!
FTA:
"This document contains highly confidential information, so any or all of this document should not be revealed to any third party."
HAHAHAHA!
h1p1n3 said:
Ok, jsut got this thing off of ebay, power it all up I notice someone has been inside. eh no real biggie.. I unlock it and test the major functions.. all works. Bring up the camera and holy crap its like looking through the eyes of a lawn gnome tripping off shrooms and acid.. take a look (attached)
I rewiped.. installed Fx Camera to see if it was a setting, and also wiped the memory card (which came with the phone.. cool!) I then turn around and see that the camera lens is cracked on the battery cover, however the lens inside looks pretty good. So, I'm thinking this is a hardware problem, but Im not afraid to try to fix it if its just a few dollars. Am I screwed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone just started doing the same thing. I flashed the ADP image to see if it was a bug with the ROM I was using, only to find that it was still all crazy looking. Contemplating if I should try the repair or warranty exchange my phone again, ugghh
mine's doing the same suddenly, according to this: http://www.fixya.com/support/t2307654-htc_g1_camera_takes_pictures_messed_up
it's called solarization but how does one turn it off without a hard reset?
I downloaded the Snap Photo app which allows turning solarization on or off but it makes no difference
Any know how to fix this?
starting to look less and less like hardware
Anyone know how to switch this back to normal?
Hate to say it, but I do not see anything that would point this to software. First, if it was a setting or something software related, it would be resolved by the factory reset.. Heck, flashing the rom like JackSlim did would have reset any bad stacks or drivers.
I did find that post by fixya initially and quickly dismissed when I noticed that 1. Fixya blows... 2. there was no resolution 3. this is the same behavior that digital cameras get when the ccd or cmos goes bad..
PLEASE correct me if Im wrong, I would rather be
h1p1n3 said:
Hate to say it, but I do not see anything that would point this to software. First, if it was a setting or something software related, it would be resolved by the factory reset.. Heck, flashing the rom like JackSlim did would have reset any bad stacks or drivers.
I did find that post by fixya initially and quickly dismissed when I noticed that 1. Fixya blows... 2. there was no resolution 3. this is the same behavior that digital cameras get when the ccd or cmos goes bad..
PLEASE correct me if Im wrong, I would rather be
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After reading the post of Fixya I went into Camera Magic and played with some of the setting and couldn't change it back to normal
Unrooted my G1 today, back to stock Donut DRC83, still the same issues, so I'm pretty sure it's not software related. Since I've had the same issue on the latest Cyanogen build, the Android Dev Phone build & the stock Donut build.
Called T-Mobile to get a warranty replacement, so I'm $9.99 and a couple days away from having another phone.
That's my fix anyways
I hope anyone not covered under a warranty is able to find a solution, my guess is you would have to replace the camera itself as Speed mentioned in one of the earlier posts, so look for a parted out phone or a aftermarket parts store and good luck with opening up the phone
As soon as money goes into my paypal account and I replace it I will post my results. Heck, if anyone is interested I will do a step by step for future reference. With pictures taken from a working camera, of course.
The only reason I am thinking software is that it seems like it is occurring to a few people all of a sudden where a week ago none of us had heard of this. I had a accelerometer problem with a G1 and I took it back to the RC29 rom and everything trying to fix it, it never would work. Sent it to HTC and they reflashed it...worked fine. They said there were no hardware issues. That makes me think there must be a bit of software that isnt getting replaced (like bios on a pc?). Perhaps what is going on is hardware..just hard to say right now.
The camera itself may have some firmware that is corrupted. Also possible that there's a fried transistor somewhere along the line. Could even be something really simple, like a bad ribbon cable or connection.
Cheers for Manual link
will greatly help when I swap over from black case to white case
( sticky keys and a mate wanted white one sooo $30 AUD for an complete white kit and hoping for sucsessfull fixed KB glitch )
note that you will still have black buttons for volume and camera, as well as memory card cover. That is what kept me from changing colors on mine- I went with a black replacement case so I didnt have the wrong colored buttons
Hi,
Drop my a500 in the hardwood floor, about 2 to 3 feet i think, and my a500 is inside the acer official case,, so i thought it is nothing to bother about.. test it everything works as the i open my camera to check, then the problems struck..
the front is fine but the back one is not..
So my question is... I see green and a lot of distorting lines,, when i take a picture it is all green..(Back Camera)
so should i replace it?? i mean buy a new parts
(if so where could i find or bought one of the camera)
(i did try to google it but i didn't find any)
or the camera just need a reset i mean pry open the a500, dissemble the board, remove the camera from it's connector the reconnect it again?
Thank you...
Sorry to re-ignite an old thread, but....
I'm having the same issue with mine. I've read elsewhere it can happen if the tablet gets a knock from the wrong angle, it loosens the ribbon cable to the camera slightly.
Did you ever get this fixed? If not, watch this space as I am going to investigate the internals myself...
Problem Solved....so far anyway.....
After stripping and rebuilding my A500 I can tell you that, so far as I can tell, I have solved the problem.
The rear camera module seems to be very loosely attatched to the motherboard by a pushfit connection (like laptop dial-up modems are connected).
The process went as follows:
1) I removed the camera module
2) I checked the connections were not damaged
3) I checked that the plastic cradle that supports the module on the motherboard for fit and position
4) I replaced the camera module, making sure it was CORRECTLY ALIGNED BEFORE pushing it back down
5) As an extra precaution before reassembly, I taped the module down to the board from the socket side, just in case it ever decides to dislodge again.
6) Reassemble the tablet.
Whether it was the strip and rebuild that corrected the problem or the NECESSARY reset via the tiny reset button (it wouldn't reboot without resetting, probably due to the battery removal on strip down), I'm not sure but the problem seems to have rectified itself for now.
If it ever happens again, I'll repost here to confirm that it was the hard reset that helped.
For anyone that has problems with their A500/A501, here is a link to the service manual hosted online
stressfreesoul said:
After stripping and rebuilding my A500 I can tell you that, so far as I can tell, I have solved the problem.
The rear camera module seems to be very loosely attatched to the motherboard by a pushfit connection (like laptop dial-up modems are connected).
The process went as follows:
1) I removed the camera module
2) I checked the connections were not damaged
3) I checked that the plastic cradle that supports the module on the motherboard for fit and position
4) I replaced the camera module, making sure it was CORRECTLY ALIGNED BEFORE pushing it back down
5) As an extra precaution before reassembly, I taped the module down to the board from the socket side, just in case it ever decides to dislodge again.
6) Reassemble the tablet.
Whether it was the strip and rebuild that corrected the problem or the NECESSARY reset via the tiny reset button (it wouldn't reboot without resetting, probably due to the battery removal on strip down), I'm not sure but the problem seems to have rectified itself for now.
If it ever happens again, I'll repost here to confirm that it was the hard reset that helped.
For anyone that has problems with their A500/A501, here is a link to the service manual hosted online
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude this is an awesome reference you have here... amazing manual at service site you have.. i did send it back since it's still under warranty and everything got fixed for me.. and thanks for the awesome tip you gave and thank you for being part of this community..
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium HD app
Dropped my phone a few months back, it was in a trident case. But ever since then the camera has been....off. I didn't notice it at first because I switched roms and when I tried the camera I figured it was just the rom. But every app is the same.
It looks like a combination of posterized + solar effect is always on, and its very low quality. Does not matter what setting you change. You can change MP, turn off effects, mess with color, hue, saturation, flash. All look the same.
So, big deal I figured my camera got damaged. I promptly ordered a new one off ebay, opened the phone up and replaced the camera.
Same thing. Checked the front camera, Same thing.
Was given a broken Mytouch4G by a coworker, took it apart and grabbed the entire top daughterboard with all the IO/camera/microphone connections. Same damn thing.
Wtf did I break?
Second Issue : prior to that I have been living with another issue. I can't access the very bottom of my touchscreen. Sure I can add and remove apps from the dock. But if an app has a thin button on the bottom I simply cannot push it.It will always select whatever is above where I clicked. Currently using latest PACMAN rom, but it has done this with many roms.
Any Idea's? I am going to be upgrading soon but have always wondered if I was the only one.
Hi,
I have a problem with both Cameras, both are not working and all camera apps show the Camera Busy note. I did the usual (restart, factory reset) nothing solved the problem. Any advice....,.
What does the it say when you open the camera app?
Camera busy please restart the phone.
When factory reset doesn't solve the problem, most probably hardware related issues
I'm having similar problems, including flash light not working as well, I've seen some disassemble videos and noticed that the flash is part of the back frame, so if you remove the back cover and push down, next to the word "camera", on top of the metallic antenna strip, the flashlight will start working and camera sometimes as well, so I've ordered a T4 and T3 screw driver and I'll see if any pins are not connected properly, maybe raise a bit of the pins of the motherboard, that touch the flash contacts on the back frame and see if it fixes it
Let me know if you are still having these issues, if not, how did you fix it.
So I got the phone open and it's very weird, without the back frame removed, the camera works always and when I put it on, it stops working, so I thought that something was shorting some circuit, tried to isolate all contacts from the back frame, antennas and everything just to see it would still happen and it does, so it does not seem to be shorting anything, just the pressure of the cover seems to disable the camera, so what I did for now was add some plastic (old SIM card cut into peaces ), put it between the SIM tray and back frame and all working fine now. It's a temp fix, but it's a fix =D
Hope this can help someone with the same issue.
One more update, what I did on the above post, was only temporary, after a day, it started happening again, no camera, so went back in again, turns out this issue was being cause by the front facing camera, when I removed it, the main camera started working straight away. Now all is good, just no front facing camera which I don't really care for =P but if anyone knows where I can get one, there is a guy on eBay selling one, but £16 seems a bit much, if anyone knows where I can get a front facing camera for the Moto X Play, please let me know.
you solved it?
I successfully revived my phone after a brick - had to take it apart at that. I disconnected the camera module when doing so. After finishing and reassembling it, I noticed that the photos from the back camera were no more than 3 or 4 megapixels. i thought it was badly connected or something (which seemed odd since it still shot somewhat nice pictures, i would expect artifacts) and went ahead and took the device apart, then unplugged and replugged both cameras. After booting, I opened the default camera app. The rear camera snapped into place with OIS but the app didn't show image. Tried switching to the front cam, nothing. After some time it simply crashed. OpenCamera says it can't start it and it might be in use by other app (after closing the stock camera).
Now I connected it again after that and it still doesn't want to work. I might've damaged something, which is kinda unlikely since it worked worse, but still worked after the first teardown.
Maybe it is a software issue? There's some camera firmware I've heard of, might be that too. Or I just trashed the cam, possible too. But what's weird is that the front camera also doesn't work...
Edit: it was the BeastMode kernel... Says it is made for A2017U's and my thing is a G
Lol it was BeastMode Kernel. Thanks for all the help