Camera Error: Can’t connect to the camera

Help Fairphone 2
,
9

Same problem with my FP2, half a year old. I opened the phone, contacts have been clean, no dirt. I’ll contact the support, let’s see if they can help…

10

Same here, first it just happened occasionally but now I get purple lines and the message that the camera cannot connect every time I try to use the rear camera (while the front is OK). Since I’m un unpractical person I have not dared to dissassembly the module and after having read this thread I understand that it might not solve the problem anyway. Thankful for suggestions on what to do.

11

Hi all,
Same problem for me! It sometimes work if I press it really hard (I assume it is a contact problem). I cleaned it as much as I could (I yet have to get the tiny screwdriver to do this properly).
My phone is only a few months old. Everything else is fine.

12

Same problem here. Disassembling/cleaning/reassembling got it working again. Is somewhat tedious to do every 3 or 4 months, though.

3 Likes
13

Same error message only a few weeks after purchase. Front camera working but not back camera.

14

I have the same problem. If I take out and replace the camera (with or without blowing on it :0)) it works again for a couple of days. Then it gets colorful lines and can’t cannot.

15

I have the same problem. Many thin coloured vertical lines and the message “Camera error”.

16

Same error here. It’s a connection problem between camera and core module. Disassembling/cleaning/reassembling got it working again.

1 Like
17

I also have same problem, phone is a few months old. Problem is intermittent.

18

I now use Open Camera from the F-Droid store. Works better then the standard camera app with the new camera module.

19

My FP2 is only a week old (was a Christmas present). I’ve had the same issue: back camera not working, built-in Android Camera app shuts down after trying and failing to connect to the camera. Front camera is fine, but I had to install the Open Camera app (thanks datenteiler) to be able to use it, because the built-in app won’t let you switch between cameras unless both of them are working.
First time it happened (after about 5 days of use), I restarted the phone and that helped. A few more days, and the back camera was dead. Took module out, cleaned contacts, back in - nothing. It was only when I was contacting Support, I had to take the module out again to take a photo (which is what they’re asking you to do). Swapped two of the screws over (didn’t like how the top one sat in the casing), put it back together again. Voila - works now. Let’s see how long that lasts.

4 Likes
20

Hi, I’ve had my Fairphone 2 for years and installed the new rear camera module in December 2017. It worked fine with the default camera app and with OpenCamera until very recently. I installed the latest system upgrade as the Fairphone Updater app suggested (now on Fairphone OS 18.09.2). The phone then stopped ‘seeing’ the rear camera, and the camera apps just show the selfie camera. The flash/torch also stopped working at the same time. I’ve tried taking the camera module out and cleaning the contacts, but it didnt make any difference, I didn’t think it would because it seems to have been caused by the OS upgrade. Can anyone advise what to do? Is it possible to roll back the OS upgrade?

1 Like
21

i solved the issue by returning the phone

22

Same problem here, colleague if mine as well, we both got our new FP2’s just recently.

23

I had this problem in september 2018 about. Suddenly I couldn’t use the rear camera, because the phone said that it didn’t exist even thought it was still there. Well, my dad called the support and got advices, like restart, reboot system, return factory settings, take off the rear camera and put back. Unfortunately I can not say if they worked, because then my FP2 stopped charging so we had to sent it to FP and when it came back it was okay.

About month after that rear camera problem my front camera stopped working, but I restarted phone and it was fine again.

Now I’m having a problem with the microphone.

Seriously, when one problem is fixed another comes out…why…?

24

You can try return the factory settings, that’s what I got for advice when I asked from support in last september. Can’t say if it worked I couldn’t try (phone didn’t start) but I guess it’s worth of trying, I mean it doesn’t do anything bad either.

25

Hi everyone. I have an issue with my fairphone and wanted to know if more people are in my case. I bought my fairphone in May and received it in June 18. Just one month after the camera module started not working. It was saying it can’t connect and the screen is covered by coloured and black lines… Fairphone sent me a new camera module. It had the same problem. Then they replaced my phone and the new one had the same problem… So all the modules or fairphone I had had the same problem with their back camera. Did anyone faced the same problem? How did it end for you?
I am asking some help on the forum as well because I don’t feel so helped by the fairphone support. They are very slow to reply and I cannot use my phone properly during that time. I am really disappointed.
I ask the support if I could return my phone and be refunded but they told me the value of my phone is now 399 euros whereas I bought it 525euros. My phone phone started to have problems since the first month I got it. And they found out I was not responsible for it when I returned my phone. Did someone experienced something like this? I don’t find it normal as I was not responsible for the problem and it has been proved. Why should I pay for the mistake? My only mistake was to buy a fairphone 2…
Is there someone in the same situation. Thank you a lot for your help!
Best regards,

26

My Main camera has the same Problem. I am using open camera. Sometimes it is working and sometimes it is showing vertical colourful lines.
Is it poasible, that it is a driver issue?
I got the impression, if i am starting the camera in bright conditions (like a sunny day) it almost always works and if i am starting during dark conditions (like candle light) it almost never works.
Pics oft my camera in an old post

1 Like
27

I had the same problem as described above: My back camera (also called main camera) was sometimes working, but sometimes it was not. In the latter case I saw only fine vertical lines in blue, purple, grey and black. After a while a message appeared stating that the camera could not be connected.

Fortunately I could solve this problem in the meantime:

  1. I cleaned the three contacts on the back side of the main camera and also the three contact areas on the board vis-à-vis. I used a cotton swab and pure alcohol for cleaning.

  2. I bent the three contact tongues a little bit more so the pressure between contact and contact area on the board is a little bit higher now. I used tweezers with a long needle-like tip for bending. Please be cautious!

Good luck!

Here is a picture with two of the three contacts marked red:

Here is my detailed original post in German some days ago:

10 Likes
28

Ich hatte das selbe Problem, bin aber auf diesen Post hier erst gestossen, nachdem ich das Camera Modul ausgebaut und die Kontakte zum Modul an sich gereinigt hatte. Es geht jetzt wieder. Falls der Fehler wieder auftritt, werde ich die 3 Kontakte im Modul (wie von dir beschrieben) untersuchen und hier das Ergebnis mitteilen.

Danke an alle Tippgeber. Da dieser Fehler häufiger aufzutreten scheint, sollte fairphone sich mal mit den Qualitätsverantwortlichen des Produzenten unterhalten (entweder des Camera moduls oder der Endmontage). Offensichtlich gibt es da ein Problem, könnte natürlich auch konstruktiver Natur sein.

2 Likes