camera.setParameters failed in android

Question

I have included the camera functionality in my application. I have also launched the app in the market. I got an error message from one of the users that he is getting an error while opening the camera.

I have tested the app on the device on 2.1. The error I got from the user is using nexus one which will mostly run 2.2...Here's the logcat error that I've received...

java.lang.RuntimeException: setParameters failed at android.hardware.Camera.native_setParameters(Native Method) at android.hardware.Camera.setParameters(Camera.java:647) at com.CameraApp.Preview.surfaceChanged(Preview.java:67) at android.view.SurfaceView.updateWindow(SurfaceView.java:538) at android.view.SurfaceView.dispatchDraw(SurfaceView.java:339) at android.view.ViewGroup.drawChild(ViewGroup.java:1638) at android.view.ViewGroup.dispatchDraw(ViewGroup.java:1367) at android.view.ViewGroup.drawChild(ViewGroup.java:1638) at android.view.ViewGroup.dispatchDraw(ViewGroup.java:1367) at android.view.ViewGroup.drawChild(ViewGroup.java:1638) at android.view.ViewGroup.dispatchDraw(ViewGroup.java:1367) at android.view.View.draw(View.java:6743) at android.widget.FrameLayout.draw(FrameLayout.java:352) at android.view.ViewGroup.drawChild(ViewGroup.java:1640) at android.view.ViewGroup.dispatchDraw(ViewGroup.java:1367) at android.view.View.draw(View.java:6743) at android.widget.FrameLayout.draw(FrameLayout.java:352) at com.android.internal.policy.impl.PhoneWindow$DecorView.draw(PhoneWindow.java:1842) at android.view.ViewRoot.draw(ViewRoot.java:1407) at android.view.ViewRoot.performTraversals(ViewRoot.java:1163) at android.view.ViewRoot.handleMessage(ViewRoot.java:1727) at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99) at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:123) at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:4627) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:521) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:868) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:626) at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method) 

I ran the app on 2.2 emulator also to check it. But it worked fine. Can anyone please tell me why the error is occurring?

Here is the class which I mentioned in the comments:

class Preview extends SurfaceView implements SurfaceHolder.Callback  {     private static final String TAG = "Preview";      SurfaceHolder mHolder;     public Camera camera;      Preview(Context context)      {         super(context);          // Install a SurfaceHolder.Callback so we get notified when the         // underlying surface is created and destroyed.         mHolder = getHolder();         mHolder.addCallback(this);         mHolder.setType(SurfaceHolder.SURFACE_TYPE_PUSH_BUFFERS);     }      public void surfaceCreated(SurfaceHolder holder)      {         // The Surface has been created, acquire the camera and tell it where         // to draw.          camera = Camera.open();         try {         camera.setPreviewDisplay(holder);         } catch (IOException exception) {         camera.release();         camera = null;             // TODO: add more exception handling logic here         }     }      public void surfaceDestroyed(SurfaceHolder holder)      {         // Surface will be destroyed when we return, so stop the preview.         // Because the CameraDevice object is not a shared resource, it's very         // important to release it when the activity is paused.         camera.stopPreview();         camera.release();         camera = null;     }      public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int w, int h)      {         // Now that the size is known, set up the camera parameters and begin         // the preview.          Camera.Parameters parameters = camera.getParameters();         parameters.setPreviewSize(w, h);         camera.setParameters(parameters);         camera.startPreview();     }      @Override     public void draw(Canvas canvas)      {         super.draw(canvas);         Paint p= new Paint(Color.RED);         Log.d(TAG,"draw");         canvas.drawText("PREVIEW", canvas.getWidth()/2, canvas.getHeight()/2, p );     } } 

Answer 1

It is failing because not all devices support arbitrary preview sizes. Apparently some do but you can't rely on it. In your surfaceChanged method you need to do something like this:

public void surfaceChanged(SurfaceHolder holder, int format, int w, int h) {     Camera.Parameters parameters = camera.getParameters();     List<Camera.Size> previewSizes = parameters.getSupportedPreviewSizes();      // You need to choose the most appropriate previewSize for your app     Camera.Size previewSize = // .... select one of previewSizes here      parameters.setPreviewSize(previewSize.width, previewSize.height);     camera.setParameters(parameters);     camera.startPreview(); } 

You'll have to figure out a way to scale this so that you don't lose the aspect ratio etc.

For reference here is the Android SDK doc.