Camera icon missin on smartphone a 4.2

[arthursparky]

CAMERA ICON MISSING
Hi Everyone; new to Forum but would value any help.
Purchased 6.3" smartphone from Aurabuy, HK,
Brand: W.W. fone, Model W9208. It has front & back cameras. Android v 4.2
Great phone, fast, very clear BUT there is no Camera Icon on Home page and the APP I downloaded as altrnative does not connect to camera and make it work.
Can anyone tell me if this is a software problem or just a disconnected wire (*!*). If software, is there any way to dig down, locate the executive file and create the icon?
(Haven't had a response back from supplier yet and getting worried. It's for wife and wife NEEDS camera!)
Any clues? Would much appreciate advice. Thank,s folks.

 

[mikedt]

This is a fake Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3, that sells locally for about equivalent of $50. I'm thinking there's a possibility that it may not actually have any cameras in the thing, and the lenses are just dummies. If you can try loading Antutu Tester on the phone and see what that reports about cameras, amongst other things as well. Yes there's a possibility that you could well have been conned here.

I don't know Aurabuy at all but I guess they're in China. How much did you pay for it?

 

[arthursparky]

Hi Mikedt, Thank you for replying. Firstly, Aurabuy seems to be a large Chinese Coy selling various goods (see Ausrabuy.com and more recently changed to DD4.com). You can google the phone (W.D. fone W9208 and it gives pics, specs., etc.). I don't believe it is a con, nor a pretend item, I think it's just missing something in the way of software or elec link internally in production. My wife is using it as a phone, SMS, games, etc., and loves it...just want camera to work. Maybe its a "lemon"; I just wish they would hurry up and get back to me. Their "Contact Us" area gave me an auto response and query No. but no tech response yet. I was hoping someone would know how to locate the appropriate exe. file and tell me how to create the icon (assuming it is not a hardware problem). Thanks again. Arthur

 

[arthursparky]

PS. The WD fone cost me $300 AUD...so I really, really do hope it is NOT a con, mikedt. Arthur

 

[jefboyardee]

Try long-pressing an empty space on your desktop, then tap shortcuts, then tap Applications, then tap Camera. Assuming there is such an app, that will put an icon there. If it doesn't show up in the list. you might be shmarooled.

 

[mikedt]

1) You bought a counterfeit Samsung Mega, and that can cover a multitude of sins.
See this thread I started a few days ago...
http://androidforums.com/android-lounge/877056-isnt-s5-youre-looking.html

This was equivalent of $50 USD locally(China). I didn't investigate it much, but knowing what they're like in the past, it could be quite grim. Note the iPhone 5S top left, that's a $50 fake as well, same with every other phone in that display cabinet.


2) Aurabuy are a Shenzhen wholesaler, which means caveat emptor. They're not responding to your enquiries about it. And if they don't, you could well be stuck with the thing. Good luck in taking legal action, and they know that as well. Aurabuy, Deal Xtreme, anything like that, are likely some student or private individual working from home or a cheap hotel/brothel bedroom in Shenzhen, and they don't care much, except to make a bit of extra money on the side. I know people who do this, for many different products, usually cheapo, fakes, etc. It's easy to put up a convincing website, and make it appear like a large reputable company, plenty of web designers that will do that, no questions asked.

Have you tried installing something like Antutu Tester or other diagnostic, that will tell you about any cameras. It could just be that the camera is somehow disconnected or is faulty, QC is often not a priority here.

FWIW your "W9208", is listed here on TaoBao.
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=9639324766
...after discount you might get it down to 500 yuan CNY, equivalent of about $70 USD.

There's no such company as "W.W.Fone" that was just something that was made up, and the actual manufacturer is completely anonymous. May have even been assembled in a shed or a shopping mall back room, and I've seen that.

 

[jefboyardee]

But wait! That looks like a genuine Saugsnmg Galxvy S5!

 

[mikedt]

But wait! That looks like a genuine Saugsnmg Galxvy S5!

The nice lady behind the counter told me it was genuine, and not a fake.

 

[jefboyardee]

For some reason, this reminds me of the first album I ever bought. It was 1963, I was eight, the Beatles were all the rage, but their records were too pricey. So I found one for half as much! The only hitch was the band name was The Liverpoolers... has to be the same thing, right? It was also the first album I ever threw away.

 

[mikedt]

Haha...fake Beatles...fake Samsung...both very disappointing.

Yeh budget records, Ronco and "Music for Pleasure" I think, usually sold by Woolworth's. They were always cover versions, done by people unknown. Original records were expensive, and our family wasn't particularly rich in the early 70s. Deep Purple were one of my favourites, and can remember opening a birthday present in 1973, "Oh a Deep Purple album!!"...played it...it was Deep Purple's songs, but it wasn't Deep Purple....the disappointment in a young boy.

BTW that's how Sir Elton John started his career, unknown in some studio, recording Beatles songs or Deep Purple songs or something for Woolworth's. How it worked was, there was a group of session musicians and singers, that would go into a studio somewhere and hurriedly record the hit songs of the day, one moment they were trying to be the Bee Gees and next the Sex Pistols, and they generally were terrible...LOL.

 

[arthursparky]

Hi Guys, I ran the ANTUTU Testor you told me about and it came up with lodts of specs. No camera! But wait...I have a BAUHN 4.5 inch and camera wworks fine on that, and the specs it came up with ALSO omitted ref to camera.
I guess we need something else to delve into the camera area. My wife is using this machine as a phone, messager, game player & goes great. It's only the camera that's the problem. By the way, the innards are made by ALPS which appears to be Japanese Elec coy. Arthur

 

[mikedt]

Alps Electric are a Japanese multinational semiconductor, component and module manufacturer, that do a lot of business in China. Many things will have Alps stuff in them, often touch-screen modules.

The other diagnostic you could try is Antutu Benchmark, that maybe more thorough about determining what actual hardware is in a phone.

This is for my phone, Oppo Find 7, and it has correctly identified the cameras.

Antutu Tester on my phone says there's cameras present, but doesn't give any particulars, other than having LED flash and 1080p video.

 

[jefboyardee]

I wonder how much that Liverpoolers album is worth now... probably still $1.67.

 

[arthursparky]

Thanks, Mikedt. I'll try that next. Still got fingers crossed! I know it's a knock-off but everything else is so good, it will be a real pity if jst the camera connectio is missing. Regards

 

[mikedt]

I wonder how much that Liverpoolers album is worth now... probably still $1.67.

Probably find it in a second-hand or thrift store. I know in the UK, most thrift type stores there's usually a pile of old records in the corner, and most of them are budget ones that almost nobody wants.

Mind you we do get some quite laughable fake CDs here in China, saw one last year called, "Take My Breath Away, the best of Rammstein"...huh! ...and half the songs listed on the back were Bon Jovi.

 

[jefboyardee]

Oh well, all my records disappeared when CDs took over, sold my ~200 CDs in a big lot when USBs took over and my SDs just have stuff that I used to have on CDs. Either music died or I stoppped listening...