Skip to main content
Explorer
Oct 15, 2026 11:30 PM UTC
Solved

Zoom 7.2.1 on Debian 13: webcam freezes or turns black when selecting any virtual background

Environment

  • Debian 13

  • i3WM, X11

  • Zoom Workplace 7.2.1 (5760), DEB package

  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

  • NVIDIA driver 550.163.01

  • USB webcam: Microdia 0c45:6366

Problem

After upgrading Zoom to version 7.2.1, the camera preview becomes frozen or black whenever I select any virtual background or the blur effect. The camera works normally again as soon as I select “None”.

The issue also occurs during meetings. The camera is selected in Zoom, and its activity indicator turns on. The webcam works correctly outside Zoom, including with ffplay.

Using a clean Zoom configuration restored normal camera operation, but the virtual background issue persists.

Virtual backgrounds worked correctly in previous Zoom versions.

This appears to be a possible regression in Zoom 7.2.1 on Linux. Could you investigate the virtual background/video processing path and advise on a workaround?

Thank you.

    simonluoAnswer
    Employee
    Oct 28, 2026 5:55 AM UTC

    Please check again next week for the latest release 7.2.5

    4 replies

    Oct 27, 2026 3:11 PM UTC

    Same here and i know multiple other guys which have the same problem on Dell laptops.

    OS: Ubuntu 24.04

    Secure Boot : enabled

    Zoom: 7.2.1.5760

    Have an internal webcam and an external USB cam.

    Internal webcam does not work at all, usb webcam only works without any filters or backgrounds(HD works), otherwise blackscreen or freeze.

    In 7.1.5.4332 everything is working as expected for both cams with effects and backgrounds...

    Disabled all effects, HD, avatar ,backgrounds, hardware acceleration without any effect on the internal cam

    zoom opens the cam device (fuser -v /dev/video0 showed this). No other process is running which tries to access the cam, only zoom.
    Tried to use a virtual device like this with the same results:
    sudo apt install v4l2loopback-dkms ffmpeg
    sudo modprobe v4l2loopback devices=1 video_nr=10 card_label="Interne Kamera" exclusive_caps=1
    ffmpeg -f v4l2 -input_format mjpeg -video_size 1280x720 -framerate 30 -i /dev/video0 -pix_fmt yuyv422 -f v4l2 /dev/video10
    Selected „Internal Camera in zoom.

    Only pinning to the last known working zoom version is now the “solution”, but that’s bad because of security issues.

    Translate
    Explorer
    Oct 27, 2026 3:18 PM UTC

    That’s bad. It clearly is a regression in the latest version

    Translate
    simonluoAnswer
    Employee
    Oct 28, 2026 5:55 AM UTC

    Please check again next week for the latest release 7.2.5

    Translate