How to fix Samsung Galaxy S7 “Server Error Occurred. Please restart camera” & “Camera failed” errors

  • Learn how to fix Samsung Galaxy S7 (#GalaxyS7) “Server error occurred. Please restart camera.” error that occurred after a minor update.
  • What to do if your phone pops up the warning message “Camera failed” after updating its #firmware.
  • How to troubleshoot the camera failed error that started out of nowhere without apparent cause.
  • What to do if the Camera won’t open or closes immediately after the owner launched it.
  • How to fix the error message “Unfortunately, Camera has stopped” with Galaxy S7

Galaxy-S7-server-error-occurred-restart-camera

Aside from the common camera-related error messages like “Warning: Camera failed” and “Unfortunately, Camera has stopped,” there’s another error that may seem to be more serious than the two–“Server Error Occurred. Please restart camera.”

The error might be caused by the camera and gallery apps crashing, a minor issue with the firmware (especially if it started to manifest after an update) or a serious hardware problem. As always, it is recommended you start your troubleshooting by ruling out one possibility after another starting with the apps, then the firmware and lastly the hardware.

Continue reading to know more about these error messages, how to deal and work around them. Since the Galaxy S7 is still new, there are still a few owners that encountered them but we already received complaints from our readers.

For those who have other issues, visit our Galaxy S7 troubleshooting page and find issues that are similar to yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work or if you need further assistance, then feel free to contact us by completing our Android issues questionnaire. Make sure you provide us with more information about the issue.

Q: “Droid guy. I need your advice on this. My Galaxy S7 is pretty new, just about a couple of weeks old. However, just yesterday, I received a notification about an update. I didn’t download it but the device downloaded it anyway. Shortly after that, an error occurred when I open the camera. It says “Server Error Occurred. Please restart camera.” Not really tech savvy so I don’t have any clue why it’s happening when everything was just fine before the update. Can you guys help me out please?

A: Majority of app related problems that occur after an update has something to do with the compatibility between the apps and the new firmware. Before we actually do some firmware-related troubleshooting, let’s try to see if your third-party apps have something to do with it. You should first try to boot your Galaxy S7 in safe mode. Here’s how…

  1. Press and hold the Power key.
  2. As soon as you can see the ‘Samsung Galaxy S7’ on the screen, release the Power key and immediately hold the Volume Down key.
  3. Continue holding the Volume Down button until the device finishes rebooting.
  4. You may release it when you can see ‘Safe mode’ in the bottom left corner of the screen.

While the phone is in that state, try to launch the camera app and see if the error pops up. If so, then it might still be an app related concern but the problem has already been isolated to cover just the pre-installed ones. So, the next thing you should do is clear the cache and data of the Camera app:

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Find and tap on Settings.
  3. Touch Applications and then Application manager.
  4. Swipe to ALL tab.
  5. Find and touch Camera.
  6. Touch the Force Close button first.
  7. Then, tap Storage.
  8. Tap Clear cache and then Clear data, Delete.

After this procedure and the problem still persists, then there are only two possibilities left–either is a firmware issue or a hardware problem. It’s easier to rule out the former so you have to do that first and in this case, you need to do the master reset. However, before you do that, make sure you backup all your important data and files as they’ll be deleted. Also, remove your Google account and disengage any lockscreen so that the Anti-theft feature won’t be tripped and then follow these steps:

  1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.

NOTE: It doesn’t matter how long you press and hold the Home and Volume Up keys, it won’t affect the phone but by the time you press and hold the Power key, that’s when the phone starts to respond.

  1. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
  2. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.

NOTE: The “Installing system update” message may show on the screen for several seconds before displaying the Android system recovery menu. This is just the first phase of the entire process.

  1. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  2. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
  3. Now highlight the option ‘Yes — delete all user data’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
  4. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
  5. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

In case the reset can’t fix it, it’s time you consult a technician about it as it can be a hardware problem. If you’re still within the replacement period, then speak with your provider to have it replaced.

Q: “Shortly after my phone updated, there was an error message that popped up. ‘Warning: Camera failed,’ it said. I understand it’s a camera problem but what I don’t understand is why it occurred only after I updated my phone? Does it mean that it’s damaged or something? Is it only a problem with the camera or the entire phone? Do I have to buy a new phone because of this?

A: There are actually two possibilities here; either it’s a minor firmware issue or a serious hardware problem that may have been triggered by the update. Rule out the first possibility by wiping the cache partition since it occurred after a firmware update:

  1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S7.
  2. Press and then hold the Home and Volume UP keys, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the Samsung Galaxy S7 shows on the screen, release the Power key but continue holding the Home and Volume Up keys.
  4. When the Android logo shows, you may release both keys and leave the phone be for about 30 to 60 seconds.
  5. Using the Volume Down key, navigate through the options and highlight ‘wipe cache partition.’
  6. Once highlighted, you may press the Power key to select it.
  7. Now highlight the option ‘Yes’ using the Volume Down key and press the Power button to select it.
  8. Wait until your phone is finished doing the Master Reset. Once completed, highlight ‘Reboot system now’ and press the Power key.
  9. The phone will now reboot longer than usual.

After deleting the system cache and the problem remained, try to do the master reset and if that failed either, then it’s time you sent your phone in for further checkup by a technician.

Q: “There is a warning message in my phone that shows up whenever it wants to. I can’t really trace the source of the error, it just started one day out of nowhere and I haven’t done anything to my phone that could have triggered it as I don’t usually change the settings with my phone. The error message is telling me about the camera that failed whenever I open it. Also, there are times when the same error shows whenever I’m viewing pictures. Can you fix this?

A: First of all, verify if this problem was brought about by an update because if so, try wiping the cache partition before anything else. If that doesn’t fix the problem, you need to do a thorough troubleshooting  and since the error specifically mentions the Camera app to be having a problem, then you need to clear its cache and data first. You also mentioned that the same error shows up sometimes when you view pictures, there’s a possibility that the Gallery app crashes from time to time and affects the camera. In this case, you also need to clear its cache and data:

  1. From the Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Find and tap on Settings.
  3. Touch Applications and then Application manager.
  4. Swipe to ALL tab.
  5. Find and touch Gallery.
  6. Touch the Force Close button first.
  7. Then, tap Storage.
  8. Tap Clear cache and then Clear data, Delete.

If all else fails, then do the master reset.

Q: “I hope you guys know how to fix this problem but every time I open the camera to take some pictures, it either closes immediately or won’t launch. I think this problem started after the recent update. I’m with AT&T and there have already been a couple of updates (I think) and the first one got installed without any issues. I’m always hesitant to download updates as I already had a lot of experiences that my phone got messed up after an update but I really can’t do anything except postpone it and at some point, I know I will be forced to download it as preparation for some major updates. So, I downloaded it and this problem started. What should I do?

A: It’s often inevitable that some caches or data get corrupted during a firmware update and I believe this is what happened to your phone but since you’re not getting any error message, then you don’t have to do the clearing of the cache and the data of the Camera app. Rather, you need to immediately delete the system cache by booting your phone in recovery mode. I think that’s the only thing you should do to fix this problem.

Q: “The error about the camera that says ‘Unfortunately, Camera has stopped’ just popped out one day while I was trying to take pictures. My phone is pretty new and it’s the Galaxy S7. I have a microSD card mounted and it’s where pictures and videos are automatically saved. By the time the error popped up, I could no longer view my pictures or my videos. So, how can I fix the error so I can access my pictures again?

A: Well, the thing is, the error message isn’t the cause but the result. It seems like the microSD card failed and the phone may have a difficult time reading from it that’s why your pictures can’t be viewed. Consequently, since the Camera can’t save the pictures into it, it results to an error and that’s what you’re getting right now. The best course of action is to find out if the SD card is already damaged and it contents lost or if it’s just a temporary issue.

I suggest you remove your SD card and let a computer read it. If the computer can read it, at least, you can salvage your pictures and other files but if it prompts you to format the SD card the moment you inserted it, then it’s time bought a new SD card and say bye, bye to your pictures.

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