Camera output no longer seen on Ubuntu 18.04

[GitLabber]

I am running the latest version of Zoom (5.10.6) on Ubuntu 18.04 and as of this morning Zoom is no longer able to view

my camera output (Logitech C525).  Other applications are able to view the camera output but not Zoom.

When I select my C525 camera for video the screen is black.   I have uninstalled and reinstalled the application multiple times. 

Are device permissions stored under /opt/zoom for things like cameras? 

Thanks!

[rknapp]

Did you ever find a solution to this issue? I am having the same problem following an upgrade to Zoom 5.10.4 on Ubuntu 22.04. When I start Zoom by opening a scheduled meeting from a calendar link, the camera (Logitech C920) is recognized but the displayed video is just a black screen. However, if I close Zoom and reopen it from the Zoom program icon (e.g., in the Favorites bar) the video displays properly when I subsequently click on a calendar meeting link. So, my current workaround is to start Zoom from the program icon. Not ideal, but it works for me.

[GitLabber]

I tried everything.  My only recourse was to downgrade from 5.10 to 5.9.

At the end of the day I followed this process to regain the use of my camera:

• uninstalled Zoom (sudo apt remove zoom)
• moved my ~/.zoom folder to ~/.zoom-prev
• installed a previously known working version of Zoom (in this case 5.9.6)
• ensured my C525 camera was, indeed, on /dev/video2 - where Zoom had previously expected it.

[rknapp]

Thanks for the description of your workaround. Let's hope that future Zoom releases for Ubuntu resolve this issue.

[compressor]

I had this same issue with Zoom 5.10.6 on Ubuntu 18.04 and found that when I switched off "blur background" the camera worked properly.

[str]

THIS was the fix

[rknapp]

This solved the issue for me too. C'mon Zoom, please fix this bug.

[ggyurchev]

I can confirm this on Ubuntu 22.04 and zoom 5.15.2. Interestingly, if I enabled the "I have a green screen" option, there is no issue! (but I don't have a green screen...)

This looks like something that should definitely be fixed by zoom...

[Serpentor]

I began experiencing this issue in Nov 2024 and have been tearing my hair out. Blur background was the culprit.

[rammann1]

THIS was the fix also in Ubuntu 24.04. 
Thank you!

[GitLabber]

That is interesting.   I have not used the "blur background" feature until a few weeks ago so I am confident that was not my issue.  I have noticed that if I use (shudder) Microsoft Teams and exit the desktop application it will hold my camera connection and prevent Zoom from using it.

[MarlinBailey]

It seems like a permissions issue. Try resetting Zoom or checking Ubuntu settings—FUN&FIN troubleshooting!

[GitLabber]

It could be a permission issue for some users.  In my case (see above) it clearly was not.  It was a bug in the latest release.  I downgraded until the bug was fixed and the new version released.  Problem solved.