What's wrong with my phone's cameras?

[AC Question]

I have a 9 month old HTC Desire 320 running Android 4.4.2. Lately, when I take pictures with either of the camera's it seems to take the picture okay but when I try to *look at* the picture in the Gallery that was on the phone, it complains "cannot generate thumbnail" and I don't see ANY picture there (there's just an empty square with no picture in it).

I can't figure out if the camera failed to take the picture or if the camera works but the Gallery isn't able to show it for some reason.

I downloaded a well--rated diagnostic program, Phone Doctor Plus, and used it to test the cameras. It said both cameras were fine.

I looked around and found a well-regarded Gallery program - I'm not sure if it is the *same* program as the one I already have or a different one with the same name - and thought I might try it: if the *new* Gallery program displays the pictures fine, then it would confirm the cameras are fine and that the old program was faulty. But I can't see any way to uninstall the old Gallery. My list of programs in Settings seems to omit a number of the programs that were on the phone when I first turned it on, including Gallery.

How would I remove the old "Gallery" so that I can install the new one? In other words, how do I uninstall a program that isn't on the list of apps in the main Settings dialog? Or am I stuck with it? Or will the new Gallery simply install over the old one without having to remove the old one first?

 

[H3aTeRzz]

Hi & Welcome to the Android Central Forums!

Try this first: Note, the path may very, but you're looking for Applications Manager.

Goto> Settings>Device>Applications>Application Manager>Scroll Over to "ALL">Scroll down to "Camera" then clear cache & clear data.

Reboot and see it that might help!

Chris

 

[RhinoCan]

Thanks very much for the suggestion Chris, but when I tried it, I didn't see Camera in the "ALL" category. In fact, I don't see it under any category, including Running, even when the camera had been started. I went all the way up and down the ALL list and didn't see anything that looked like Cam or Camera. (There was one app called CMAS but that seems an unlikely abbreviation for Camera.)

What else can I try? Also, do you have any idea how I could uninstall Gallery?

 

[H3aTeRzz]

This is indeed quite odd, as I don't think it's possible to uninstall the gallery, as it is a native app on all phones.

I would make a suggestion, it's not the best one in some people's minds, but a full factory reset seems to be in order.

This task is not as hard as it used to be, as there are wonderful programs, for example Smart Switch by Samsung, and helium, both are available in the Play Store.

Do some research on both of them, make sure they are right for you. Most importantly before you start either of those programs or the factory reset, be sure to transfer all of your photos from your phone to your computer via the sync cable.

Good luck, let us know if we can be of any further service!

Chris

 

[RhinoCan]

Before I go as far as the full factory reset, can you tell me what would happen if I simply reinstall *without* first removing the current program? Will the reinstall simply refresh the code of the original copy and make sure it is 100% intact? Or will the reinstall fail unless you first remove the original?

Also, what happens if I put a *diferent* program named Gallery on the phone? The reason I ask is that I went to the Play Store and it seems there are at least TWO programs named "Gallery". I assume that one is the same as the one I currently have; the other is presumably a program with the same name but (slightly?) different functionality. I'm curious what happens if I put either Gallery on the phone without first removing the old one. I suppose only an Android developer would really know the answer to that question and if that's not you, that's fine, just say so. I can track down a developers forum to ask.

Sorry for the long delay in checking back on this question; it's been a pretty hectic week!

 

[RhinoCan]

Before I go as far as the full factory reset, can you tell me what would happen if I simply reinstall *without* first removing the current program? Will the reinstall simply refresh the code of the original copy and make sure it is 100% intact? Or will the reinstall fail unless you first remove the original?

Also, what happens if I put a *diferent* program named Gallery on the phone? The reason I ask is that I went to the Play Store and it seems there are at least TWO programs named "Gallery". I assume that one is the same as the one I currently have; the other is presumably a program with the same name but (slightly?) different functionality. I'm curious what happens if I put either Gallery on the phone without first removing the old one. I suppose only an Android developer would really know the answer to that question and if that's not you, that's fine, just say so. I can track down a developers forum to ask.

Sorry for the long delay in checking back on this question; it's been a pretty hectic week!

 

[RhinoCan]

For what it's worth, this problem seems to have resolved itself. I did not remove the existing Gallery and I did not install a new Gallery but the other day the cameras started working again. I can see the pictures in the Gallery again. I didn't really *do* anything, aside from copying what photos I had to the hard drive on my laptop, so maybe that somehow caused the problem to go away, although I'm pretty doubtful about that.