usb webcam works, but not in net-im/zoom

Message

jyoung · Post by **jyoung** » Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:45 pm

Hi,

I have a logitech usb webcam that seems to work for pretty much everything, except in zoom (package net-im/zoom). If it was a device-driver issue, it seems like it wouldn't work with anything at all. Then, to make matters stranger, and old lower-quality logitech webcam does work in zoom. I'm pretty baffled! Does anyone have any idea what might be going on?

thanks!

BT · Post by BT » Thu Apr 02, 2020 1:54 am

Try starting Zoom from a terminal (Konsole, GNOME Terminal, etc.). It may produce verbose output which could help you diagnose the problem.

jyoung · Post by **jyoung** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 2:34 am

Here's the output in the xfce terminal. Nothing obvious here. What do you think? "error was 0" seems to imply no errors.

Code: Select all

zoom started.
Client: Breakpad is using Single Client Mode! client fd = -1
[CZPClientLogMgr::LogClientEnvironment] [MacAddr: D8:9E:F3:47:4B:1A][client: Linux][OS: Gentoo/Linux][Hardware: CPU Core:4 Frenquency:3.4 G Memory size:15878MB CPU Brand:Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7500 CPU @ 3.40GHz GPU Brand:][Req ID: ]
Linux Client Version is 3.5.374815.0324
QSG_RENDER_LOOP is 
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP = XFCE;   GDMSESSION = 
Graphics Card Info:: 00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 630 (rev 04)
Zoom package arch is 64bit, runing OS arch is x86_64
AppIconMgr::systemDesktopName log Desktop Name: xfce 
error was 0
qt.svg: :/images/wechat.svg:10:6: Could not resolve property: #pattern0

One more clue I forgot to mention: The indicator light on the webcam does light up when zoom activates it, but no picture comes through. I've even used the record feature on zoom to see if a picture is coming through but not being displayed, and nothing.

BT · Post by BT » Thu Apr 02, 2020 2:51 am

The output doesn't help. I have a Logitech C270 HD webcam that I could test with Zoom. It will take a while to install since it depends on dev-qt/qtwebengine.

jyoung · Post by **jyoung** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 3:40 am

That would be really great! No rush if it takes a while.

BT · Post by BT » Thu Apr 02, 2020 9:44 am

Zoom detects my webcam as "UVC Camera (046d:0825)" but there is no video, only audio. There is nothing in the Zoom terminal output that would indicate a problem with the webcam. It works fine with Google Hangouts.

There is an existing bug about webcams not working with Zoom: https://bugs.gentoo.org/715106

jyoung · Post by **jyoung** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 6:56 pm

Yeah, that's the same as what I'm getting, except my camera is lised as "UVC Camera (046d:081b)".

Shoot, it looks like there's no easy fix. I'll keep experimenting and if I find something I'll post here and on the bug tracker.

xaviermiller · Post by **xaviermiller** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 6:59 pm

Hi,

Can you use your camera wth other software (as guvcview)?

Jaglover · Post by **Jaglover** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 7:00 pm

May it be zoom can handle the camera just well, but is struggling with output to the screen. Just my 2¢.

jyoung · Post by **jyoung** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 7:20 pm

Yes, the camera works well with other software. Skype, for example. Honestly, I've never run into a problem with this camera before. I can even use the camera with zoom through a browser, although the browser version of zoom has serious limitations.

May zoom isn't displaying the camera output? Possibly. But, it does display the output with the older logitech webcam. And, when I make a recording with zoom, save the video as an mp4, and then play that video with mplayer, the recording doesn't seem to have video.

Jaglover · Post by **Jaglover** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 7:47 pm

Well, then there is another possibility. Zoom cannot handle the video format coming from this camera. What is it, H.264 or H.265 maybe?

ScootNBagNz · Post by **ScootNBagNz** » Thu Apr 02, 2020 9:06 pm

Perhaps also test against a client downloaded directly from zoom?
While using portage to manage applications is ideal, you can download a tarball from zoom that comes with pre compiled libraries. Just need to change your working directory to the uncompressed tree and run their launcher script. I used this the other day with no problem.

BT · Post by BT » Thu Apr 02, 2020 11:58 pm

The client works when I manually download the tarball and run it. I guess the Portage version is missing a dependency.

jyoung · Post by **jyoung** » Fri Apr 03, 2020 2:49 am

Okay, I justed downloaded the client and ran it, and it works fine.

I'm not actually sure if this camera is H.264 or H.265. It's a logitech camera, but there's no model on it for me to look up.

BT · Post by BT » Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:46 am

Based on the device id you provided it should be a Logitech Webcam C310. You can run lsusb to confirm. To list the available formats you can install media-tv/v4l-utils and run 'v4l2-ctl --list-formats' or 'v4l2-ctl --list-formats-ext'.

dmbtech · Post by **dmbtech** » Tue Apr 14, 2020 3:09 pm

Wow, i havn't posted here in a while. Had the same problem, it was due to system libjpeg-turbo being used, using bundled version works.

DO both of these things and give it a try
1. Add bundled-libjpeg-turbo /etc/portage/profile/package.use.mask
2. Add net-im/zoom bundled-libjpeg-turbo to /etc/portage/package.use, or "USE=bundled-libjpeg-turbo emerge zoom"

I think zoom only works with libjpeg-turbo 1.x, while gentoo stable package is libjpeg-turbo 2.x.
Is this worth opening a gentoo bug on? Also, why is bundled-libjpeg-turbo use flag masked?

Post by **toralf** » Tue Apr 14, 2020 4:30 pm

https://bugs.gentoo.org/715106 ?

Post by **ulm** » Mon Apr 20, 2020 8:39 am

dmbtech wrote:Also, why is bundled-libjpeg-turbo use flag masked?

The bundled libjpeg-turbo is an old version (1.4.1 or 1.4.2) with known security vulnerabilities, see [bug=715106#c21]bug 715106 comment #21[/bug]. So we have no other option but mask it.

If you have a webcam that doesn't work with the system libjpeg-turbo, then you can unmask and enable the flag. However, this is not a supported configuration and it will be on your own risk.

letonga · Post by **letonga** » Thu Jul 09, 2020 9:21 pm

Tried with bundled libjpeg turbo and its all the same. When running downloaded client with all of its obsolete libs it works.

mikb · Post by **mikb** » Fri Oct 02, 2020 5:35 am

I'm having no luck at all with this. Zoom runs, but if I go into video settings, all I see is a black rectancle. In fact the only app that seems to be able to get the camera to work is guvcview.

I have four (4) /dev/video? devices

Zoom gives me a menu choice for two: "Integrated Camera C" or "Integrated Camera I". Integrated Camera C (corresponding to /dev/video0) is what works in guvcview.

Here are the details for the camera device:

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lsusb -vs 003:003

Bus 003 Device 003: ID 13d3:56ba IMC Networks Integrated Camera
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.01
  bDeviceClass          239 Miscellaneous Device
  bDeviceSubClass         2 
  bDeviceProtocol         1 Interface Association
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x13d3 IMC Networks
  idProduct          0x56ba 
  bcdDevice           99.08
  iManufacturer           3 Azurewave
  iProduct                1 Integrated Camera
  iSerial                 2 200901010001

I'd really like to try and get Zoom and Teams up - instead of having to rely on a windows laptop, or my phone.

But I'm completely at a loss how to approach this!

tayga · Post by **tayga** » Thu Feb 18, 2021 4:55 pm

wow!
I have the same problem:
In zoom installed from gentoo repository webcam pictures is a "grey rectangle", webcam's light lights up but no picture is coming through. In the version of Zoom downloaded from the website the webcam is working properly.
Webcam working fine in all other apps like google meet and in discord

usb webcam works, but not in net-im/zoom

usb webcam works, but not in net-im/zoom

bundled libjpeg-turbo does not help