Android camera locked after force close

Question

I have an application where I use devices camera.

Now I only release camera in normal flow.

@Override
public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder surfaceHolder) {
    if(camera != null) {
        camera.stopPreview();
        camera.release();
    } 
}

Thus, then application exits in camera mode in unexpected way - i.e. Force Close (due to OutOfMemoryError) - camera gets locked. And only way to release it is to restart device.

And after application is started I get: RuntimeException: Fail to connect to camera service

How could I make sure, that camera is released in any case?

Did you try uninstalling your application? If I remember correctly, this helped me in the past. — vRallev, Jun 26 '13 at 11:21
That is not what I asked. I need to make sure that `Camera` is released in any case. Without uninstalling application or restarting device. — Martynas Jurkus, Jun 26 '13 at 11:23
My guess is that you will need to use `Thread.setDefaultUncaughtExceptionHandler()` to arrange to get control on such crashes to be able to close the camera. — CommonsWare, Jun 26 '13 at 11:36
Yep, that will do it. Or if you're using Bugsense - let your activity implement `com.bugsense.trace.ExceptionCallback` and release camera in `lastBreath()` — Martynas Jurkus, Jun 26 '13 at 12:01

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 26 '13 at 12:46

As @CommonsWare suggested, if you want to make sure, that your application releases Camera before crashing you should use Thread.setDefaultUncaughtExceptionHandler().

Or if you're using Bugsense:

private class MyCameraActivity extends Activity implements SurfaceHolder.Callback, ExceptionCallback {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle sSavedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(sSavedInstanceState);

        BugSenseHandler.setExceptionCallback(this);
    }

    @Override
    public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder) {
        this.camera = open();

        try {
            camera.setPreviewDisplay(holder);
        } catch (IOException e) {
            Log.e(TAG, e.getMessage(), e);
        }

        // other camera stuff
    }

    @Override
    public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder surfaceHolder) {
        releaseCamera();
    }

    @Override
    public void lastBreath() {
        releaseCamera();
    }

    private void releaseCamera() {
        if (camera != null) {
            camera.stopPreview();
            camera.release();
        }
    }
}

18446744073709551615 · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-27T07:45:32.673

Since the best way to keep a portion of code so that you find it later is to publish it in the 'net,

private UnexpectedTerminationHelper mUnexpectedTerminationHelper = new UnexpectedTerminationHelper();
private class UnexpectedTerminationHelper {
    private Thread mThread;
    private Thread.UncaughtExceptionHandler mOldUncaughtExceptionHandler = null;
    private Thread.UncaughtExceptionHandler mUncaughtExceptionHandler = new Thread.UncaughtExceptionHandler() {
        @Override
        public void uncaughtException(Thread thread, Throwable ex) { // gets called on the same (main) thread
            XXXX.closeCamera(); // TODO: write appropriate code here
            if(mOldUncaughtExceptionHandler != null) {
                // it displays the "force close" dialog
                mOldUncaughtExceptionHandler.uncaughtException(thread, ex);
            }
        }
    };
    void init() {
        mThread = Thread.currentThread();
        mOldUncaughtExceptionHandler = mThread.getUncaughtExceptionHandler();
        mThread.setUncaughtExceptionHandler(mUncaughtExceptionHandler);
    }
    void fini() {
        mThread.setUncaughtExceptionHandler(mOldUncaughtExceptionHandler);
        mOldUncaughtExceptionHandler = null;
        mThread = null;
    }
}

and, in the appropriate places on the main thread:

    mUnexpectedTerminationHelper.init();

and

    mUnexpectedTerminationHelper.fini();

Is this all the code necessary? Where would I run the code to close the camera? Why isn't that in the uncaughtexception handler code itself? Do you have a link to more information on this? — msj121, Oct 22 '15 at 13:03
@msj121 OOP is about separation of responsibilities. This helper is responsible for reaction on uncaught exceptions. Another helper should be responsible for the camera stuff (you see that `XXXX.closeCamera();` line). In the simplest case of one Activity, you put `XXXX.openCamera()` and `mUnexpectedTerminationHelper.init();` in _onResume()_ and place the closing stuff in _onPause()_. Note that you call `XXXX.closeCamera();` both from the helper and from _onPause()_. Real world applications are usually more complex than just one Activity and include stuff that cannot be easily explained. — 18446744073709551615, Oct 22 '15 at 14:11

Amalan Dhananjayan · Answer 3 · 2013-06-26T12:14:25.240

0

Out of memory error comes because the image you tried to save exeeded the limit, normally comes when you try to process a bitmap.

You can try these methods to avoid camera getting not released.

Camera myCamera;

Use logs and fing where the error occurs and Add a try catch block and in the catch block add myCamera.stopPreview(); and myCamera.release(); Also override the ondestroy and onpause method and add myCamera.stopPreview(); and myCamera.release();

Hope this helps you or atleast gave you an idea.

edited Jun 26 '13 at 12:14

answered Jun 26 '13 at 12:08

Amalan Dhananjayan

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I'm using logging to determine where `OutOfMemoryError` occurs, but problem still remains - user should not suffer because of my errors. I will handle all errors in the long run, but I want to release camera even though application crashes. – Martynas Jurkus Jun 26 '13 at 12:20

Android camera locked after force close

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