back to article Samsung Galaxy S5 owners hit by fatal camera error problem

Samsung's latest phone the Galaxy S5 has a fatal flaw that has been appearing in the wild. The flaw has meant that some owners report that after a few days of using the phone they are confronted with a "Warning: Camera Failed" message that makes the earslab's high-quality camera stop working. Some of the owners have said that …

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  1. edge_e
    Trollface

    'Camera Failure' pop-up error message

    Have apple patented the pop-up error message yet?

    1. LarsG

      Re: 'Camera Failure' pop-up error message

      Ouch.

      Your probably correct when you talk about Apple patenting the pop up, not surprising really when you consider that Samsung likes to follow the leader.

      Fingerprint reader anyone...

      1. JaitcH
        Happy

        Re: 'Camera Failure' pop-up error message

        Apple would roll out a cardboard cut-out of a certain stiff then start a sales program to SELL THE MISBEHAVIN' CAMERA AS A FEATURE.

      2. Phil W

        Re: 'Camera Failure' pop-up error message

        "Fingerprint reader anyone..."

        Hardly. The Motorola Atrix had a fingerprint scanner back in 2011.

      3. Raphael

        Re: 'Camera Failure' pop-up error message

        "Fingerprint reader anyone..."

        The HP iPAQ H5450 had that back in 2002......

        1. Piro Silver badge

          Re: 'Camera Failure' pop-up error message

          Exactly. When people talk about fingerprint readers on mobile devices, iPaqs immediately spring to mind.

          Compaq branded, then HP, built by HTC!

          1. Alan Brown Silver badge

            Re: 'Camera Failure' pop-up error message

            Even the name wasn't origiinal.

            "iPhones" existed (as a horrible internet email toy) while Apple were still selling PowerPCs (long before iMacs hit the market). I remember evaluating and rejecting it in 1994 as a limited, expensive device with an even more limited and expensive mail server which was only available as a solaris binary.

            1. d3rrial

              Re: 'Camera Failure' pop-up error message

              Cisco has a device named IPhone in their line up, as well as their routers using the operating system: IOS. If that isn't trademark violation, I don't know what is.

              (IOS being an operating system for a device with networking capabilities and the IPhone being a phone, albeit not a mobile phone as far as I can remember)

              Oh well, there probably were some backroom deals for this, or Cisco was dumb enough to not trademark vaguely enough...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 'Camera Failure' pop-up error message

      Tit.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 'Camera Failure' pop-up error message

      WTF has this got to do with Apple you slavering fandroid?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    first 10 days is when most fail

    After that any device is 'proven'.

    But obviously dropped calls and a dubiously interesting GPS is thought of as a feature elsewhere.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: first 10 days is when most fail

      You think the problems with Maps and "you're holding it wrong" are worse than a camera that COMPLETELY fails? If Apple released a phone that had a hard failure in such basic smartphone functionality as a camera the fandroids would be screaming from the rooftops about it, but I see excuses are the order of the day when it is Samsung's flagship that fails.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: first 10 days is when most fail

        Look, this is The Register, no one likes Apple round here ok! Samsung and Android means that there are settings for us to play with and strange quirks to discover! This "just works" Apple mentality isn't welcome in these parts.The important thing is Samsung have held their hand up and are fixing it.

        I look at that slick iphone with easy to use intuitive menus and it makes me feel sick! :D

        1. ecofeco Silver badge

          Re: first 10 days is when most fail

          If you only knew how just i-devices I've had to fix, you'd know "just works" is "just myth."

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: first 10 days is when most fail

            I disagree, it's not a myth! After owning a couple of them (iPhone and MBP) my experience is that they *juuuuust* work ;p

            There are going to be issues with new phones, that's the fun of being an early adopter. The question is how is it handled. Telling people they are holding it wrong is not a good way of dealing with a phone that doesn't, where as 'call this number of visit your carrier and we'll sort it' sounds like a more reasonable response.

          2. ecofeco Silver badge

            Re: first 10 days is when most fail

            Dyslexic day.

            *If you only knew just how many i-devices I've had to fix,...*

      2. M Gale

        Re: first 10 days is when most fail

        You think the problems with Maps and "you're holding it wrong" are worse than a camera that COMPLETELY fails?

        A camera is a nonessential function on a phone, unlike the phone antenna.

        No excuses. It's a fuck up that needs fixing. However, even without a camera, you can still make calls. Something you couldn't do on the iFlaw if so much as a pinkie finger got in the way.

        1. JeffyPoooh
          Pint

          Re: first 10 days is when most fail

          @M Gale "...even without a camera, you can still make calls..."

          In this case, apparently not.

          "Some of the owners have said that they were not able to bring their phone back to life..."

          Overall, it appears to me that Samsung are having plenty of Design and QA issues lately. Plenty of people I know can't even recharge their Note 7-inch tablets. Refunds all around. Not to imply Apple are perfect, they aren't. Their battle against non-genuine cables is way past funny.

          I have mulitiple devices within each ecosystem, because it's better that way. Being a one brand fanboi is daft; a failure deep within the reptilian brainstem. Fanbois should get that fixed.

          1. Christopher Rogers

            Re: first 10 days is when most fail

            "I have mulitiple devices within each ecosystem, because it's better that way. Being a one brand fanboi is daft; a failure deep within the reptilian brainstem. Fanbois should get that fixed."

            I only need 1 device. Should I now buy an IPhone just in case my Samsung S4 goes feet up? Even at that, the first thing I would do is install Google apps so I can check the 1 email address I need...

      3. Marcelo Rodrigues

        Re: first 10 days is when most fail

        The difference is: The S5 are beeing replaced, aren't they? No one told the customers they pressed the camera button in a wrong way...

        And it is, probably, a bad batch of cameras. A fuckup, no doubt, but hardly a fundamental flaw of the project.

        And I don't even like Samsung...

      4. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

        Re: first 10 days is when most fail

        "You think the problems with Maps and "you're holding it wrong" are worse than a camera that COMPLETELY fails?"

        Nope. But they did release phones (IPhone 5c) where, to save about 90 cents, they used substandard motion sensors so all those "tilt the phone to play" games may or may not actually work depending on how bad your particular phone's sensors end up being.

        "If Apple released a phone that had a hard failure in such basic smartphone functionality as a camera the fandroids would be screaming from the rooftops about it, but I see excuses are the order of the day when it is Samsung's flagship that fails."

        When the above happened, Android fans pretty much DID scream from the rooftops about it, and Apple fanbois dismissed it. *shrug*

        That's not to excuse these S5s failing.

      5. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: first 10 days is when most fail

        A hard fail is a warranty job - simples.

        Soft fails are a lot harder to get fixed.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh,

    so it IS different from the S4 after all.

  4. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge

    You need to pay your telco for "protection"

    Has Samsung ever fixed their defective phones? Not applied a firmware patch to make the phone slightly more likely to work, but actually fixed it? My Sprint S2 was always defective (self-overheat, no GPS, BT crashes, soft buttons crazy on 3G, radio driver crash after no signal, panics in weak 3G) no matter what I tried to get it fixed.

    Upvote: Your phone remains with major features (calls, sound, graphics, camera, GPS, WiFi, data, running time) broken.

    Downvote: Samsung repaired your phone and it remained working longer than 2 weeks.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    wtf

    ...is an earslab? I must have missed something.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: wtf

      It's like a fondleslab but with a built in phone.

      1. Michael Habel

        Re: wtf

        It's like a fondleslab but with a built in phone.

        I thought we called those Phablets?

        1. Nick Ryan Silver badge

          Re: wtf

          I think I like the term "earslab" better though.

          1. Ralph the Wonder Llama
            Meh

            Re: wtf

            "Speechtool"

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oblig

    The copied it wrong....

    Ok, time to go to the pub.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Had the same problem briefly occur on my S4 recently, a reboot sorted it out in my case thankfully.

  8. Financegozu
    Joke

    When do I hear "Cameragate"?

    just joking! It's not Apple so no **gates

  9. Michael Habel

    If its Hardware related, and presumably ALL SGS-Vs have this Bug. Then pray tell us how replacing it with yet another buggy Phone of the same type, is gonna solve anything when the Timer on that Bomb is now ticking down?

    1. M Gale

      You know these things are made in batches, right?

      Maybe it's a faulty batch? As opposed to, you know, a faulty design decision.

    2. John Bailey

      1) Newer batch = problem solved.

      2) Newer batch uses different camera module.

      3 Newer batch uses different revision of the board.

      If the camera was one of a faulty batch from the manufacturer, then the next batch may very well be fine. Even though it is the same model number, same spec, same everything.

      The parts used, the PCB, and sometimes, even the machinery used in manufacture are not necessarily the same from unit 1 to the last one to roll off the line. So a new unit of the exact same model can often be quite different inside.

      In the electronics world, even high end test gear that costs thousands is not immune to having a few little bodge wires put on at the factory or a different revision of the board used part way through the product's manufacturing life.

      1. Charles Manning

        "In the electronics world, even high end test gear that costs thousands is not immune to having a few little bodge wires put on at the factory or a different revision of the board used part way through the product's manufacturing life."

        If anything, it is more common for the high end test gear to have blue wires etc.

        On the cheap high volume stuff you cannot afford to do the extra hand work so you respin the boards.

        On the more expensive low margin stuff it is cheaper to have someone fix the issue.

        Some years ago, we bought a new emulator for HP (it made test kit back then). There were about 5 boards inside - all had extensive fixes to them.

      2. Dave 126 Silver badge

        >If its Hardware related, and presumably ALL SGS-Vs have this Bug.

        A presumption, as you say.

        Samsung often use different parts for phones with the same model number... witness the S4 which had an octocore SOC in some markets, and the S3 - some versions of which boasted a Wolfson DAC (so sought after by some audio-heads, apparently.)

      3. Alan Brown Silver badge

        For all we know (distinct lack of information), the problem is as simple as the ribbon coming adrift.

        You'd be surprised what kind of simple assembly screwups you find in first batches - which is a good reason not to buy them.

    3. Michael Habel

      If its Hardware related, and presumably ALL SGS-Vs have this Bug. Then pray tell us how replacing it with yet another buggy Phone of the same type, is gonna solve anything when the Timer on that Bomb is now ticking down?

      I'm sure therer are a lot of Samy-fanboys here.... I can't say that I'm not One of 'em. But what exactly is the "flaw" in my statement that has you lot down voting me? I mean if you can point out the my fallacies I'll go away.

      Till then this is NOT a known bug, that is effecting ALL Samsung Galaxy Fives?! 'Cause if so... Wouldn't you not just be trading One dead Phone, for One that's just ready to die? Either Samsung need to release a Firmware Fix... Which is likely gonna be the "fix". Or to recall all these Phones, and fix the Hardware issue in them.

      Simples....

      But lol I'm bad mouthing our beloved Shamy, so I must be some Apple, and or MicroShrill...

      ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      You know these things are made in batches, right? Maybe it's a faulty batch? As opposed to, you know, a faulty design decision.

      Yeah... and, most of the time your "Store" will have gotten Stock from that "One" Batch of Stuff... Thats usually the way it works don't it? Ya make a "Batch" Sell it to the Retail (End User) = FANTASY SALES OF MILLIONS OF DEVICES reportedly in the hands of users on Day One.. No less. Then you make some more...

      So your telling me that your local Best Buy can rotate an entire stock of Phones with-in a week? Possible, but not IMHO very likely.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Gotta love that new Samsung ad

    http://youtu.be/SUxYqO1yyxE

  11. ecofeco Silver badge

    Hmmm

    I wonder if Samsung and Hon Hai, er, Foxconn, don't get along?

  12. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

    How many were killed?

    1. James O'Shea

      "How many were killed?"

      Not nearly enough.

  13. bill 27

    Ads?

    Wonder if people are actually trying to wash their phone, or dunk it, or rinse it off under the faucet, like the current ads show them doing? Although if you listen you'll hear them say "water resistant".

    1. Monkeigh

      Re: Ads?

      If you look at the specs you will see that the S5 is rated as IP67. The IP rating is used to provide a more quantifiable measure of dust and water protection than terms like 'waterproof' or water resistant.

      The S5 is rated about the same as Sony's Xperia tablet and phone which I can personally attest work fine after being dunked in water.

      For reference IP67 means the following:

      Water

      Immersion up to 1 m Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and time (up to 1 m of submersion). Test duration: 30 minutes

      Immersion at depth of at most 1 m measured at bottom of device, and at least 15 cm measured at top of device

      Dust

      Dust tight No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact (dust tight)

  14. Grubby

    One mans rubbish is another mans treasure

    Every phone (in my experience I mean EVERY) has something on it that doesn't actually work, because 'smart' phones have so many features. But in most cases it's something that you don't use. Personally I don't use the camera a lot so probably wouldn't even notice for a few weeks if it wasn't working but if 'scratch resistant' screen (like that on my old xperia z) turned out to actually be a scratch magnet, I would notice because I tend to be a little rough with my phone and they get scraped etc. If the FM radio app didn't work (like on my Moto G) I wouldn't, and don't care, as I never use it. Or any of the bundled sony connect apps (none appear to actually do anything).

    Some people will think it's the worst thing in the world their camera doesn't work and others will be less annoyed, it's a pretty core feature so I would expect it to be fixed but the point I'm trying to make is that people on here saying that it's worse than that of Apple or Nokia etc, well it is... and it isn't, it depends if you use it or not. If you want it fixed they've said they'll fix it, in the same way that I'm sure if I really wanted the FM radio to work on my Moto phone I would pick up the phone and ring them to fix or replace it.

    One more point, as a previous root cause analyst I think it's funny how people are commenting on the cause of the problem based on the problems reported in the media without any root cause analysis having been carried out. If they're all identical, configured, delivered, stored and used in an identical way they will perform identically but they're not. There are hundreds of processes with millions of permutations possible, some resulting in a broken camera and some not... Give them some time to work out the dodgy path and they will know exactly how much traffic is on it (how many are impacted).

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