Help Camera busy error

Rlucas · Dec 26, 2015

I have a 3rd gen Moto G running Lollipop 5.1.1. Recently when opening the camera app I have been getting the error message "Camera busy - camera unable to start. If this happens again, please power off your phone and restart". This problem persists after a restart and clearing the camera app's cache and force stopping the app. Other apps also cannot open the camera (e.g. Messenger).

Searches of various forums shows that this problem seems to be relatively common and not limited to the Moto G, leading me to suspect that it is a software bug within Lollipop rather than a hardware fault with my device.

Can anyone shed any light on what might be causing this, and any ways to fix?

Thanks.

Thom · Dec 26, 2015

Did you Wipe Cache Partition (deleting all temporary data and not touching permeate data, apps you added, or settings)? I suspect that you haven't. It can become contaminated over time and cause all sorts of odd problems.

I Wipe Cache Part ion on my Turbo 2 every Saturday as part of weekly maintenance.

... Thom

Rlucas · Dec 26, 2015

I've just wiped the cache partition and the camera seems to be working again (for now) - thanks. Hopefully it will stay this way.

What is the benefit of wiping the cache partition regularly?

Thom · Dec 26, 2015

You never have to think about it.
You avoid unexplained problems (like the one you had) and can do something else.

Wipe Cache Partition is one of the most overlooked needs in Android. Historically people would have a phone for 12-14 months and it would get "laggy" and they would say it was time to get a new phone. It was discovered that 99% of the time all they had to do was Wipe Cache Partition to correct the problem.

... Thom

Rlucas · Dec 27, 2015

Update - The camera is back to displaying the "camera busy" message and won't open. It seems to work the first few times i open it after a reboot, but then stops working again. This happens even in safe mode, so I don't think it can be due to a 3rd party app.
Frustrating as I don't want to have to restart the phone every time I want to use the camera.

Has anyone else experienced this problem or found a fix?

Thom · Dec 27, 2015

Did you Wipe Cache Partition again and did it clear the problem? If you did and it did then it appears there is an app that is contaminating the cache and causing the problem. Likely an app that you added.

... Thom

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