Theta V stuck in boot loop

[neopifex]

My Theta V refuses to boot. All it does is slowly blink blue on the power button and the indicator light above the shutter button. It does this for what seems like minutes before it stops, otherwise I have to hold power + wifi for a few seconds to make it stop.

The wifi and camera lights never turn on, the wifi never appears on my phone’s wifi scanner, and Windows doesn’t see it when connected to my PC via USB (I’ve tried multiple cables, too).

I’ve googled high and low for fixes to try. I’ve tried every combination of button holding for various lengths of time that people say will reset it, but to no avail.

I opened the camera and removed the battery and popped in another. No change.
I charged the original battery in an external charger. Didn’t help.

Is there anything else I can try?

[craig]

I’m assuming you’re at wits end and are on verge of tossing it.

In you’re desperate and are just thinking of throwing it away, then in order of lowest risk to highest risk

1. delete all media
2. reset all settings using API if you can get to it (which it appears you can’t get to API)
3. apply for plug-in partner program to get development mode access. then perform factory reset using Android (internal camera OS) settings. see article below
4. reboot bootloader (must be in dev mode)

Ricoh theta Z1 Error when switching on

I’ve had a similar problem with my Z1 a number of times. Were you able to fix the problem? You can try connecting your Z1 as a storage device to to a Windows computer, then save all your media to a safe location on your laptop or cloud. After your media is saved, delete all media from the Z1. Reboot camera. if the “easy” fix of deleting media doesn’t work If you are desperate and the camera is bricked, you can try more aggressive techniques if you have exhausted all other normal things such …

HDR Wireless Live streaming(Flow Tours) - 4K resolution in YouTube Live

The video you uploaded looks great. I successfully uploaded the 28 minute video, but it is still processing on YouTube. I may try and upload it again. I tried to take a 3hr 16 minute videos, but it put my camera into an unbootable state, showing only a triangle with an exclamation point in the center. I was able to boot it again with adb shell reboot bootloader I’m not sure what the command actually did, but the Z1 is working again and I’m going to try a 60 minute video recording this time…

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As the lens assembly is still intact, you can shop online for a working unit with cracked lenses and then preform the swap on the entire lens assembly. Alternately, you can try and sell it as a working lens assembly and body.

[neopifex]

Hi Craig. Thanks for your reply.

I’ll try joining the partner program. I should note that when I run the Ricoh Theta Windows app and try to connect, it doesn’t detect the camera at all. This happens when I click Plug-In > Developer Mode… and when I click File > Firmware Update…

In the meantime, I definitely can’t access the camera via USB or Wifi to delete anything or reset it. Is there any combination of buttons I could press that would initiate a factory reset?

By the way, does the little recessed button on the bottom (near the 3.5mm jack) do anything? I tried pressing it but I don’t feel any movement or “click” like a button normally would produce.

[craig]

I do not know of a way to do a factory reset from the button presses of the THETA V.

It seems like the camera is in an unfortunate boot loop with no connectivity via USB or WiFi.

If you can’t connect to the camera with adb (the program to access the OS shell inside the camera), the technique to do fastboot will not work.

I do not think the recessed button by the 3.4mm audio jack does anything.

Unfortunately, I do not have a good idea right now of how to move forward. As the THETA V lens assembly is still intact, the unit still has some value.