Camera Panorama and Photo Sphere feature quit working...

Toad Licker · Feb 27, 2017

I had posted this on another forum, but no nibbles. I am running Android 7.1.2 and Camera 4.3.016. About three weeks ago, I went to take a panorama image. The feature didn't work. Didn't think too much about it at the time, figured a reboot would solve it. Today, I tried again. Same thing. And photo sphere doesn't work either. If I go to either of those modes, say panorama, I get the rectangle with white does, empty circle in the middle. If I press the shutter button, the blue dot shows, but when it is centered in the circle, the circle kind of shows a half of a white inner circle rapidly flashing around the blue dot. Same for photo sphere. And nothing happens. Either phone orientation, horizontal or vertical.

I believe since this issue began, there have been OS version updates as well as camera version updates. I am a part of the beta program, so not sure if something got messed up, but figured the version updates would help. I also tried uninstalling camera app updates, and even reinstalled the camera (updated?) from Google Play. And, bootloader is unlocked but I am not rooted.

Any suggestions as to what might be the culprit here?

Thanks!

Chris

codesplice · Feb 27, 2017

Hi Chris,

Do you have any trouble taking traditional "flat" photos?

Have you tried clearing the cache and data for the Camera app? This won't impact your saved photos, but will clear out any corrupted settings that might be causing problems. You can do this at Settings > Apps > Camera > Storage.

Let me know if that helps and we can troubleshoot from there.

Toad Licker · Feb 27, 2017

Thanks for the quick reply. No trouble at all with stills or video, or lens blur. Tried clearing data and cache. Nothing. It's odd. In Photo Sphere, as soon as the blue dot enters the opaque white circle, a solid section of white shows in the otherwise opaque one (from noon to three o'clock) and flashes very quickly. I wonder if it could have had something to do with the sensors, but I installed an app to check those and it says they're fine. CG

codesplice · Feb 27, 2017

Interesting.

It might be worth trying Camera NX to see if it behaves the same way. (NX is a modified version of the stock Google Camera app to enable Zero-Shooting-Lag HDR, among other things.)

Do you use Google Photos to automatically back up your photos to the cloud? I would suggest that you do, and then use the "Free up space" option to automatically delete the local copy of photos stored online. For added punch, then use your favorite file manager to delete the /sdcard/DCIM/Camera/ directory. It will get recreated when you launch the Camera app again and maybe (just maybe!) things might work correctly after that.

Toad Licker · Feb 27, 2017

I tried the Camera NX with the same results. Might move on the other suggestion tonight.... Sigh. Strange. CG

codesplice · Feb 27, 2017

Strange indeed. Do let me know how it goes! I'm kind of wondering if there's something screwy with that folder preventing it from creating the multiple temporary files needed for creating a photosphere/panorama. It's just a hunch though.

Toad Licker · Mar 1, 2017

I think I may be onto something. The compass in my 6P does not work. Over several GPS/Compass apps, it registers nothing when moved. Also, several app, such as Google Sky, don't work. I bet this has affected the panorama and photo sphere functions of camera app. I have tried all manner of compass calibration. All GPS functions seem fine, as is pitch and roll. But the compass is definitely not working.... CG

codesplice · Mar 1, 2017

That would certainly do it. I would have suggested that, but you told me the sensors checked out fine.

I know you said you've tried all sorts of calibration steps; did that include this method recommended by Google? If not, it's worth a shot.

Toad Licker · Mar 1, 2017

Either I misread the sensor checker app I used, or I'm an idiot! Either way, it is definitely DOA. Yes, I tried that calibration routine. It still says accuracy is LOW. Four apps simply show no compass activity at all. Any suggestions? It's out of warranty and I have no idea what the SOP is for getting one fixed. I realize this may be beyond the scope of this forum. Chris

codesplice · Mar 1, 2017

I hang out over at Google's Nexus Help Forum a bit, and one of the TC's there actually put together a very thorough guide on testing/troubleshooting/calibrating sensors. It may not necessarily fix your problem, but it's a pretty good read to understand what components have to work together to provide directional compass information:

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/nexus/1a4i1xipYuU

If one of those sensors is busted, I'm afraid there's not really much to be done about that. Those sensors are all integrated onto the motherboard, so the whole thing would likely need to be replaced. You're looking at probably ~$180+ for the part alone, plus finding someone with the skillset and toolset to do the replacement - keeping in mind that ifixit gave the 6P a 2/10 repairability score (so it's not an easy job). You could easily wind up spending $300 or more on the repair. You could buy a decent used 6P for close to that.

So you'll need to decide how important panoramas and photospheres are to you.

Toad Licker · Mar 1, 2017

Ha! Yeah... I think I've already been to that linky. I booted into safe mode to see if perhaps an app was causing an issue. Maps still shows LOW accuracy after calibration, so I'm guessing it's busted. Decision is replace with another 6P or go Pixel. Maybe panoramas are not that big a deal! But I hate that some apps I do use won't work anymore because of this (Google Sky comes to mind).

At any rate, thanks for the support here! Chris

Camera Panorama and Photo Sphere feature quit working...

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