Optio S problem...

I had also a big surprise with my old Optio-S (series of 2003 or 2004?:
without any warning or any sound the lcd went black, camera went dead with the lens stuck out.
Only sign of life was the green led around the on-off button, this led was lit on.

Tried fresh battery, nothing.
tried pushing all the buttons, nothing.
tried leaving overnight without battery (to empty condensators ??) , nothing

Then read all forum messages on this website, bingo!
I noted all the possible solutions and had good luck on the first try: try another SD card. BINGO !!!!!!!!!!!

When i read the old SD that was on the camera when it crashed then i see in windows all the pictures but also a lot of garbage files with funny filenames like russian signs. Clearly currupted files garbage!
That must have been the cause because now the camera works fine.
I think the camera made these funny files and then it crashed.

I will try to clean or format the old SD but i dont really care about that now, it costs only 15 euro.

I hope this helps you out there!

Bob

ps: just to be complete i list the other options i was going to try:
-try fresh SD card
-format camera (it needs to work first!?)
-format old SD and try it again
-update firmware in camere (it needs to work first??)
-press all the buttons a lot more.
-soft blows agains camera
-finally: let the dog try it

Please only post a message once, not three times in different threads in the same category.

Thanks.

Problem was an Optio S40 lens stuck closed.
Note that the lens "gates" were not tightly closed.

Note also that when switched on in "Audio" mode it would sart up and stay on. Further when started with the replay button pressed it would also stay on.

However there was never a whir from the motor to suggest that the gears were faulty.

Took cover off and tried every possible easy solution.
After reading all the posts which suggested a costly or terminal problem, the end was in sight so I tried "force" in the light that if it failed, the camera was totally u/s anyway.

Well, with a fine screwdriver I pushed the inside ring of the lens (not the ring with the aluminium and printing on it but the fine plastic part) colockwise with considerable force. It moved and the gates shut.
Presumably I closed the mechanism fully. AND the camera works perfectly although a bit ugly on the face as a fair bit of plastic was removed as part of the forcing the lens closed.

A Tip. If the wording on the lens is not perfectly even - ie the 3x OPTICAL ZOOM is not perfectly aligned with the centre of the camera, the lens is not fully shut. I now note that the lens is slightly below the level of the camera body, not flush as was the case previously.

The soultion is not pretty but works and I presume that so many of the other problems have been caused by a software issue which simply says that unless the lens is showing fully closed (or probably open), it wont start the motor.

My suspicion is that when a battery goes or is going flat when the lens is out, there's not adequate power to close it properly.

Best of luck.

Aussie John, your advice was bang on. I picked up an S45 on ebay for 99 cents; it had a stuck lens and would not power on. With quite a lot of force on the lens in a downwards and clockwise direction I got it to recognize the lens was closed and it powered up. Not bad, another camera to play with for 99c.
Paul

Firstly I must appologise for not following up on my original post. I must hold up my hands and admit to accidently deleting my bookmarks and loosing this really useful forum. These things happen I guess.

It seems my problem was a combination of dead battery, a broken battery clip and a (then) sense of panic that my beloved camera wasn't working properly! It was easily resolved by replacing the battery, finding that the clip was dodgy and fixing it. Nice and simple in the end.

So many thanks to eveyone who posted their help!