Nokia Lumia 1020, camera stop working after WP 8.1 update (Cyan)

I have the same problem; have tried all of your solutions without success!

Microsoft, are you listening to your customers??? Trying to increase market share when there are obvious unsolved problems for early adopters is not a winning formula. I have seen no official Microsoft acknowledgement of any problem whatsoever.

Hi Folks, 

I’m going write a few comments about my experiences with this issue, and hopefully they’ll be helpful to others.

I also tried installing the 8.1 update onto my Nokia Lumia 1020, and thought everything went well until I tried using the camera a few hours later. Needless to say it didn’t work, and it continued to not work in spite of ever trouble shooting effort I could think of... (which basically included... Running every app that’s associated with the camera, reinstalling the main camera apps, resetting the phone (multiple times... with both soft and hard resets), and also applying the proper levels of determination, and stubbornness just for extra measure.

And, Nothing worked... so I took matters directly to the technical support folks at Nokia, AT&T, and Microsoft (via the Microsoft Store where I originally bought my phone).

From the best that I can tell... it’s posible that the origins of this problem reside in an incomplete update being installed onto the phone. I did my update over a Wi-Fi connection, and in doing so, there might have been a drop-off during the download of the update files. And it might be possible that the files associated with the camera didn’t fully install. (but more on this later).

Unfortunately, and I don’t why things work this way,... but apparently it’s not possible to roll back to the previous version of the OS, having once already updated to a higher number... Additionally, it’s also not possible to re-format the phone’s drive and attempt a fresh install of the 8.1 OS. All of the reset efforts just revert back to the original flawed update attempt, and the same problem with the camera gets pushed onto every reset outcome. It’s as if the reset isn’t so much of a new install attempt, as it is going back to a restore point of the original problem (which I hope makes sense to people, with how I’m trying to describe this).

Anyhow, I basically had a phone which is still under warranty, and after working with tech support folks from each of the three companies involved with my phone – I had three different possibilities for a fix. 

AT&T would honor the original manufactures warrantee (but it might have been a with a reconditioned replacement) but in fairness to them I don’t know that for sure since I never went down to their service center to see what they really would in person (the reconditioned replacement was just a possibility that was discussed during my talks with tech support – they might have swapped it out for a new one).

Nokia, was going to replace it with a New model, but I’d have to mail in my phone to them.  And that would require having to wait for shipping in both directions, in addition to the trouble–shooting work done by their service center.

Microsoft, originally told me that I needed to send my phone into Nokia, since Nokia handles original warranty claims, but when I returned for a second visit into the Microsoft Store they kindly swapped it out for me (making an exception to the rule).

– – 

At this point I had a new phone which had the Windows Phone 8.0 OS on it, and I was nervous to attempt another install of the 8.1 OS (for all the obvious reasons). But I figured I’d go for it, and if things went wrong a second time I’d send the phone into Nokia, and let them update the OS on their end. . . they do have the ability to reformat the phone and do a fresh install of an OS (but this isn’t an option for either AT&T, or the Microsoft Store).

Luckily enough, the 2nd attempt went well, and I’m now using the 8.1 update on my Nokia 1020, without the broken Camera glitch. 

I think the reason why things work out better the 2nd time around is in how I attempted my update... I Didn’t use the Wi-Fi approach the 2nd time around. Instead I used the Desktop app put out by Nokia, which they call the ‘Nokia Software Recovery Tool’. It’s free, and downloadable from their website. . . and it has the ability to oversee the installation of an OS update. 

– –

This is a tricky problem, I think... On the one hand if the problem lies in an incompatible OS update (entirely within the software realm), then I would have expected to get the same results on both of the phones I tried this on, given that they were both the exact same models. 

However in achieving success the 2nd time around, I have to give credit to the premiss that maybe the original issue lies with trying to install an incomplete update via a Wi-Fi connection.

Not knowing very much about the details of how cellphones work, especially the collaborations between the various companies, and who’s responsible for what. . . I can only really guess on this stuff.

It is true that Microsoft creates the OS, but it’s also true that the other companies Nokia, and AT&T, can make modifications upon it. The lines are blurry here, and I’m just glad that things worked out for me.

_ _ _ 

fwiw, It goes without saying that folks should have a working phone and the great camera that comes along with the 1020...  In terms of possible advice I might be able to hand out here, it’s going to have to come down to persistence, and not accepting the outcome of a broken camera from a failed OS update. At the very least a failed update attempt should be able to resolve backwards to the previous version. . . and if not, then I guess matters should be turned over to Nokia, as they may very well be to only folks in the position of being able to flash and reinstall the new 8.1 update directly onto the phone. 

Otherwise Cell Phone Carriers may be able to swap out phones for replacements, and if so then hopefully nobody has to encounter a 2nd failed update attempt. 

Consider using the... ‘Nokia Software Recovery Tool’ for the 2nd update attempt. It worked well for me, and I’m pretty sure that from now on I’ll be looking for a hard wire desktop to cell phone connection whenever an OS update is involved.

There’s a little more to risk here, given the lack of options available for when things don’t work out... (not being able to roll back to previous versions,... or, reinstalling from fresh onto a reformatted cellphone...).

Take Care,

Jim

I have the same issue with a Nokia 920.  Camera worked fine until installing the Cyan update.  I think it must be a software bug not a hardware issue.

             Camera worked fine until installing the Cyan update.  I think it must be a software bug not a hardware issue. 

I agree with you. My phone was working fine with the 8.0 as well, camera, apps, calls, data, everything with it was perfect. I update to Cyan, then the camera start crashing.. Should be some kind of software bug that needs to be fixed with priority because the software update 8.1 is affecting some phone features, the camera in this case.

Hello  Esoj Utler,

Thank you for posting in the community regarding camera functionality issue after phone update.

Have you tried to use any other camera apps installed from Windows phone Store?

You might need to contact your local Nokia care point to fix or replace your device.

Regards,

Maria