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Error! Camera not Available!

SOLVED
Ellisse
Visitor

Error! Camera not Available!

I've had my Z1 for approximately 2 weeks now and I've just gone to take a picture and it's sitting on a black screen for about 6 seconds and then popping up a box "Error! Camera not available!" After having this phone for such a short period of time, and the camera being the main selling point of the phone I'm somewhat dissapointed that I'm having issues already. Any suggestions on what might be causing this issue? Or anybody else having this issue/had this issue and knows of a fix? Last thing I want is to be stuck with a phone that has no camera for a 2 year contract when the entire reason for getting a new phone was to double as a camera for the start of Uni... Already had one night worth of pictures missed now because of this let down...

109 REPLIES 109
palbarede
Visitor

Hello,

I have again 'Error Camera not available' with my M4 Aqua dual.  Room temperature is 20 °C, low phone use, BUT the phone has layed in my pocket close to my body for hours so again it may be a thermal problem.  After letting the phone rest on the table for a few minutes, I could take a photograph (in spite of some vertical pink stripes on the video display, not on final shot).

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Uliwooly
Expert

@palbarede

perhaps the screen was on, thus heating the phone

settings > power management > battery > tap on the graph 

palbarede
Visitor

Thanks for the hint.  Screen used 13 % of energy since last full charge.  It turns black after a few seconds of rest.  No problem with the screen and in general with power.

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Uliwooly
Expert

@palbarede

check what else has been using the battery and how good/bad is your network coverage.

GeoffH
Enthusiast

There can be several reasons for this camera error and unless you have been uning the camera for a long period of time along with other combinations of functions it is very unlikely to be the cause of this issue, also note that from memory I believe if heat is the issue the error message actually states that.

The most likely cause of this issue is another (poorly written) app that also has access to the camera holding the process and therefore not allowing other apps to have access to the camera hardware, it may surprise just how many apps do have camera access permissions, the primary ones being social media and chat/messaging apps, other 3rd party camera apps can also cause issues.

I honestly would forget the heat line of thought and start looking at what apps you have installed and use often that are possibly still running in the background and blocking camera hardware access

On the very outside you could possibly have a hardware fault but I very much doubt it

palbarede
Visitor

Hello,

indeed I have uninstalled all applications accessing the camera, except Skype and preinstalled applications.

I am almost sure that the 'Error Camera not available' on my Sony Xperia M4 Aqua dual E2333 is a mainly a thermal problem. Many times in the last days, I noticed the high temperature (possibly 37 °C or 100 °F) and managed to put the camera back to operation by removing the phone cover and letting the phone cool freely for one minute.

The main causes of overheat are : recharging (although it is very slow), the phone cover (made of cardboard and cloth), and my own body and trousers, when the phone lies in my trousers pocket.

In battery usage, I have

Screen 24 %

Android OS 20 %

Find MyHeadset 12 %

Android System 11 %

Google services 4 %

...

I uninstall Find MyHeadset now.   It may help a little.

Thanks for help in the inquiry.

palbarede
Visitor

An image of the problem :

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Mohammad0098
Visitor

My devise is c4.I could not open camera.and the message: camera not available.it is true that the restart but after a day of work falls again.
Mohammad0098
Visitor

Why I can not see this problem in other companys?
Cyvermont
Visitor

I just buy Z5C for ONE DAY, and the next morning when i got vid call from my GF i found that my front camera isnt working..

i tried the solution in this thread and it's not working.. Slightly_frowning_Face (my bad  not to test it properly when i bought it)

i just do the factory reset and it's still the same im gonna returning the phone next week.. Slightly_frowning_Face