Why does my camera start running on its own and won't sync with computer?

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Windows Central Question

Camera starts running on its own / won't sync with computer

Hi everyone.

The camera on my Lumia 1020 started popping up of its own accord quite suddenly while I was browsing on my phone last night before bed, opening multiple times at random, and apparently has continued doing so while I was sleeping. I am seeing a storage full message, but when I try to sync with my comp to transfer my photo and video files, it will sync for a moment, and then cannot be read by the computer anymore. When I try to access my photo roll on the phone I don't see any photos (though I do see the screenshots album and saved photos).

Could this be a virus? I've had the phone since February or so and have never had an issue like this.
 

gpobernardo

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Re: Camera starts running on its own / won't sync with computer

Hi everyone.

The camera on my Lumia 1020 started popping up of its own accord quite suddenly while I was browsing on my phone last night before bed, opening multiple times at random, and apparently has continued doing so while I was sleeping. I am seeing a storage full message, but when I try to sync with my comp to transfer my photo and video files, it will sync for a moment, and then cannot be read by the computer anymore. When I try to access my photo roll on the phone I don't see any photos (though I do see the screenshots album and saved photos).

Could this be a virus? I've had the phone since February or so and have never had an issue like this.

I doubt it's a virus, since Windows Phone sand boxing works pretty well in isolating malicious apps... if they even get installed on your phone in the first place.

Try restarting your phone (simple turn off and then turn on), or a soft reset (press the volume down button and power button together until your phone restarts).

Our Lumia 1020s are around the same age, but I haven't encountered this problem (I hope I won't). Did you, by chance, drop it, or exposed it to some moisture?

And how much free space do you still have (Settings > Storage Sense)? Some fellow L1020 users are reporting that it is ideal to maintain at least 3GB of free space before the bugs set in.
 

OriginalPoster

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Re: Camera starts running on its own / won't sync with computer

I've restarted a few times (I'm sorry, I should have said!), but I will try a soft reset. I uninstalled a couple of apps (skype and metro) to attempt to free up some space and have 52.94MB free now, so maybe you are right and it is just buggy because of the space issue. The camera seems to have stopped popping up, which is great, but I still cannot see any files in my photo roll.
 

gpobernardo

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Re: Camera starts running on its own / won't sync with computer

I've restarted a few times (I'm sorry, I should have said!), but I will try a soft reset. I uninstalled a couple of apps (skype and metro) to attempt to free up some space and have 52.94MB free now, so maybe you are right and it is just buggy because of the space issue. The camera seems to have stopped popping up, which is great, but I still cannot see any files in my photo roll.

Whew, that's even lower than my lowest free space (after 45 minutes of HD video recording). Try to get it up to 3-5GB Free Space by trying to move your photos from your phone to your computer via USB cable.
 

OriginalPoster

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Re: Camera starts running on its own / won't sync with computer

This is what I've been attempting, but the phone will not sync (first time I've ever had this issue). I just made another attempt, now that the camera has stopped popping up, and lo and behold, the minute I attempted a sync with my computer, the camera popped up again.

I have a windows8 laptop so I went into my OneDrive account to see if all my photos are still accessible there, and I'm getting rows of black squares where my photos should be.
 

gerzhwin

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Re: Camera starts running on its own / won't sync with computer

My 930's camera does also start at own will.

Did quite a few restarts/resets
2.56 GB free storage space
No moisture and only one drop

I've already opened a warranty case (purple diplay tint, rear camara not assembled correctly, back cover creaks ...) and will send it in for repair.
 

gpobernardo

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Re: Camera starts running on its own / won't sync with computer

This is what I've been attempting, but the phone will not sync (first time I've ever had this issue). I just made another attempt, now that the camera has stopped popping up, and lo and behold, the minute I attempted a sync with my computer, the camera popped up again.

I have a windows8 laptop so I went into my OneDrive account to see if all my photos are still accessible there, and I'm getting rows of black squares where my photos should be.

Your camera and syncing issues might be hardware-related, but I'm hoping they're just memory-related. But what I don't understand is why your OneDrive account photos only have "black squares where" your "photos should be". It's either your photos are taking so much time to load, or that the L1020 uploaded defective photos (I'm doubting this second suspect reason).

The only difference we have is that I'm using a Windows 7 laptop - not sure if this has something to do with syncing issues (different drivers, etc...).
 

OriginalPoster

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Re: Camera starts running on its own / won't sync with computer

I've managed to get 2.61GB free deleting apps and image files I could access from my phone (screenshots, saved photos), but still cannot see anything in my camera roll (storage sense says it is taking up 14.90GB). I can access my video files via storage sense when I go into manage videos (8.07GB), but I can't delete them from there. So the vido app is reading videos from my camera roll at least?
 

gpobernardo

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Re: Camera starts running on its own / won't sync with computer

From Storage Sense > Photos, what happens when you tap on "manage"? In my phone, it brings me to my photo hub where I can delete some photos.
 

OriginalPoster

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Re: Camera starts running on its own / won't sync with computer

It takes me there as well, but all the photos appear black, as they do in my OneDrive account. I can "blind" deleted them, by selecting them, but I'd prefer it if I could somehow avoid this, as they are pictures and videos of my daughter. As I said, I can see the videos in the video app, I just don't have any options from there to do anything with them other than watch. But the fact that I can see them makes me hope my image and video files are still in there somewhere and retrievable?
 

gpobernardo

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Re: Camera starts running on its own / won't sync with computer

It takes me there as well, but all the photos appear black, as they do in my OneDrive account. I can "blind" deleted them, by selecting them, but I'd prefer it if I could somehow avoid this, as they are pictures and videos of my daughter. As I said, I can see the videos in the video app, I just don't have any options from there to do anything with them other than watch. But the fact that I can see them makes me hope my image and video files are still in there somewhere and retrievable?

Well, now that you can watch videos which you previously can't, it seems that all your media files should be intact or at least not corrupt. For now, I think you would have better chances by uninstalling as much apps as you can, especially those that occupy a lot of space. Chat apps (such as Line and Viber) occupy a lot of space, so you could take those down first. Most games also occupy a lot of space, so they may have to go, too. At least, you can re-install them later and re-accomplish you game records... unlike your videos and photos which most likely can no longer be recreated.
 

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