Last week, we reported that that some users were experiencing “Camera Failed” issues with their Verizon Galaxy S 5 phones. Samsung and Verizon already acknowledged it publicly, but how widespread is it and what is causing it?
According to Samsung, it's “very limited,” and they have already taken measures to ensure that new shipments won't be affected by it. However, we are hearing that it's also affecting Sprint customers as well. The issue arises when the user opens the Camera app, but instead of being able to take a picture, a popup with a “Camera Failed” message appears.
Samsung said the issue is from complications with the ROM (Read Only Memory) component which stores the information for operating the camera. This ROM component is EEPROM and it stores the data for the auto focus (AF) and the CMOS image sensor (CIS) for reading in images. When the EEPROM isn't linked to the AF actuator or CIS, it simply will not work. But why is the EEPROM failing to link up?
It the EEPROM is exposed to ultraviolet rays or certain electric signals, the data will be deleted. It's possible that the design of the system board or the module has caused the wrong electronic signals to infect the EEPROM.
The bottomline is this is a hardware issue, not a software issue as previously thought. So that means if you own a Galaxy S 5, that has this issue, you must get a replacement. A firmware update isn't going to fix it since the data is already gone from the EEPROM.
