Droid camera fix - what we know now

[JohnDroid]

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One of the most common complaints about the Motorola Droid has been the ability of the camera to auto-focus properly and take crisp pictures. Yesterday a thread was posted that alerted us to the fact that if you simply cleaned your lens well the camera would start working much better.

I tried this myself and also noticed immediate improvement in the ability of the camera to auto-focus and the quality of the pictures... as did many others.

Many ideas were circulating about what the fix might be besides simply cleaning the lens... a stealth over-the-air software update? It turns out it was neither a software update, or a cleaning issue.

Dan Morrill gave us the real lowdown and let us know what was causing this baffling behavior of the camera suddenly fixing itself:

There’s a rounding-error bug in the camera driver’s autofocus routine (which uses a timestamp) that causes autofocus to behave poorly on a 24.5-day cycle. That is, it’ll work for 24.5 days, then have poor performance for 24.5 days, then work again.

The 17th is the start of a new “works correctly” cycle, so the devices will be fine for a while. A permanent fix is in the works.

So what have we learned? A simple software bug that fixed itself (and will soon break itself) is the culprit. Fortunately for us, before the software bug strikes again the upcoming OTA software update should fix it.

 

[R1Lover]

Interesting.... I found the cleaning the lens thread very funny.... lol

 

[Russell]

I have to admit I did laugh out loud when I read that cleaning thread. Odd bug to have.

 

[superglen99]

What about the way too long reload time after taking a picture will that be fkxed ota?!

 

[moneymatt]

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"That is, it’ll work for 24.5 days, then have poor performance for 24.5 days, then work again."

Great.. The Droid has periods like my girlfriend.. . .

phone technology has finally reached puberty.

$Matt

go droid!

 

[gtjokester]

well all I can say is hopefully it will be in the dec. 11th update cause dec 11th is 24 days from the 17th.. lol.. and hopefully the OTA update doesn't get delayed.. with my luck it will probably be delayed till the 18th or something giving me a week of hell just like a girlfriend.. lol.. ahh ****, I just realized it would be on the same week... damn.. Its alright though, Im pretty sure we will have root by then and can fix it ourselves.. I know on my G1 my roms usually already a better rom then what was being pushed out.. So as long as some genius finds root and I'm sure it will be fixed in less time then it will takes go get OTA updates..

 

[pwo]

Wow, just read this. Decided to pick up my phone and what do you know? It workd perfectly, flawlessly, auto focusing everytime... Wow!!! Keep in mind before today I was never able to get the good green corners on mine....

 

[LifeIsABeach]

What about the way too long reload time after taking a picture will that be fkxed ota?!

Others have mentioned it is the time it takes to write the file to the card that causes the delay. Changing the default from 5 MP down to 3 MP reduces the time needed between pictures. Someone even mentioned putting in a faster card heled as well.

 

[theaskingone]

sure as shi*it works.

 

[Big D]

For me, the autofocus locks in now. But it still isn't as in focus as it could be.

At least it takes a picture now, just not a very good one. I'm sure the OTA patch will address it.

 

[JhankG]

I knew there was no way that cleaning the lense was what fixed the problem. I had cleaned mine many times before yesterday and still got red bars 90% of the time. I was convinced that an update had been pushed out that just did away with the red bars and made green bars come up every time without actually addressing the focusing issue. Either way, I'm happy that this should last us until a real update comes out.

 

[theaskingone]

does anyone have any idea when the OTA patch will arrive

 

[Trip]

Ok, my camera must be dislexic, it acutally got green bars most of the time until yesterday...now it wont focus at all, lol... Have to wait for the 11th update to see if it fixes it.

 

[josh]

I was amazed that it worked. Green bars! Hallelujah! What an odd bug.

 

[JhankG]

does anyone have any idea when the OTA patch will arrive

Target date is December 11th. That doesn't mean it will definitely be read by then, but that's what they're shooting for.