EOS 6D Mark II top LCD screen scrambled - camera not working

[shadysamsf]

After leaving my camera on in video mode all night, I see this in the morning when I replace the dead battery. While it was on it was not recording video.

No matter what I do, the camera does not function and the top lcd screen is scrambled and looks like this. Doesn't matter whether I power the camera on or off, the screen remains like this as soon as I insert the battery and close the battery lid. In this state the camera does not work. It did work like normal once but now it's back to being this again.

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance! c:

[Tronhard]

Hi Sam and welcome to the forum:

A few questions to clarify if you don't mind helping out there...

While you had the camera in video mode, as I understand it the Rec button was not actually causing the camera to record video, is that correct?

Normally the camera has a power saving mode that will shut the camera down to save energy in the battery.  Was that still set to the default, or had you disabled that?

Did you fully recharge the battery and use that same battery in your camera, resulting in the symptoms you describe?

Are you turning the camera OFF before inserting the battery and then turning it on.  Your explanation made it sound like you are using the camera with the power switch set to ON and inserting the battery at that point.

Do you have access to another battery?  If so, have you tried switching between them?

[shadysamsf]

Hi Trevor, thanks for your reply.

The camera was not recording video while it was in video mode.

I have previously activated the auto-shutdown feature to put the camera in sleep mode after about 5 mins of inactivity. So this should kick in after 5 mins, no?

When I checked the camera the next day, the battery was completely dead. It could mean either of two things: either the camera was on all night in video mode until the battery died (this could mean I did turn the auto shutdown feature off and I simply forgot), or I did actually set it up to record video all night and left it like that.

The battery that died was a third-party chinese battery. It died as it was in the camera. The next day I cherged the same battery and re-inserted it. The result was that screen in the picture above. I do have other batteries and I did try the original canon battery that came with the camera. At first it didn't work but then it actually did turn on normally with the canon battery. But now, even with the canon battery, the display still remains scrambled and functionality is thrown out the window.

I've tried all combos - put the battery in while the power switch was on; put the battery in with power switch off; removed sd card, pwr sw off, insert battery, then pwr sw on; the combos go on. It doesn't matter whether the power switch is on or off, the top lcd turns on like this as soon as I close the battery lid.

I also plugged this camera in with a usb cable into my camera in hopes that the PC detects it, but it didn't detect the camera.

I hope these answer your questions.

[Lotus7]

Does the LCD view screen work correctly?  If so you might try a "factory reset"

Install a known good, fully charged battery;  Press "Menu" Select the "wrench" tab;  Select "Clear Settings"

Then Select "Clear All Camera settings"

If the Menu screens do not function properly or if the "Factory Reset" does not restore proper operation, you may have a hardware failure.  That might be anything from a loose or defective ribbon cable to a damaged main processor "motherboard".  If so, your best recourse is to send the camera to Canon for evaluation.

It's also possible that the firmware has been corrupted and needs to be replaced.  However, if the camera has a hardware problem, trying to re-install the firmware can cause the camera to become totally inoperative (the camera is "bricked") which will make it more difficult to troubleshoot or repair.  Personally, I would not attempt a firmware install on a camera if there is any question of a hardware issue. 

The fact that the camera is not detected as an external storage device when you connect it via USB (presuming that it did previously) is another indicator of a hardware issue.

[shadysamsf]

Hey Lotus,

It seems like the only option left is to get it to a Canon repair shop. Really hope it gets fixed.

[Waddizzle]

I’m sorry to see your camera in this condition.  It needs to sent to a Canon Repair center for service.  Do not leave a third party battery inside of it when you do.

[shadysamsf]

Hi Waddizzle,

Thanks for the condolences, I appreciate it. I'm going to take it to a Canon repair center. And I'll be sure to keep the original Canon in there. Thanks.

[ummagummamumma]

Hi - Just wondering if the Canon Repair Centre was of any help and if you got your camera back in original working order?  I just had the exact same thing happen to my Canon 6D MII. Cheers, L.

[shadysamsf]

Hi, I have taken the body to an authorized Canon repair shop and they told me that a motherboard replacement is required after an examination. With the current state of inflation in my country, the replacement motherboard would cost me about the same as the cost of the camera itself (the price I bought it for, about 1100 USD). So I decided to not repair it.

I would eventually look for a scrap 6D MII whose motherboard still works and replace it with that. But since photography is my hobby, I don't find it important enough to spend money to fix it now. Hope that helps.

[kimpoeun20982]

I have the same issue. Dang