Wayland screen sharing broken with GNOME 41 on Fedora 35

[intrlocutr]

Hi,

I recently updated to Fedora 35 with GNOME 41. This GNOME release restricts the screenshot API which Zoom has used for screen sharing on Wayland, so the screen sharing functionality no longer works (see here on Ask Fedora).

I require screen sharing for school, and I'm sure many others have a similar requirement/system configuration. With Wayland increasingly becoming a de facto standard on Linux, it is crucial that Zoom support Wayland screen sharing.

[feaneron]

Thank you, Brandon. Let's keep an eye on the next releases then. You've been maintaining a good, positive environment in this thread, that's appreciated, thank you for that.

[YaBoiB]

Hello @feaneron,

 Thank you very much for your feedback. It is much appreciated. I have been working with our Engineering team on this case since I read this first post. I can see how important this feature is for all users in this thread. It is my goal to deliver happiness to the users of Zoom. I hope that this message finds you having a wonderful day. 

[indyx1]

This issue is important to me as well, I need wayland for different UI scaling on different monitors. Zoom please provide a fix!

[ieugen]

Hi @YaBoiB ,

Any updates on this issue?
Tried to use Zoom on Debian and it did not work.

[YaBoiB]

Hello @ieugen, 

 We found a solution, and we are working on implementing it into a future release. That is all of the information that I have at this point. I will update you as soon as I have more information to provide. Thank you all for your continued efforts on this issue. 

[ieugen]

Hi,

Thank you for the quick reply.
I forgot to mention I am using flatpak version: https://flathub.org/apps/details/us.zoom.Zoom .

IMO I believe flatpack has advantages on the long run for both users ( security, sandboxing, it just works) and for distributors (installation across all linux distribution, stable runtime environment, etc).

It does come with some caveats - some things need a bit of attention because of the sandboxing.
On the long run I believe it is worth it.

Do you know if the solution is going to cover Flatpack as well?

[despdx]

Hmm, sounds cool, and I agree, that would be preferred.  But, it doesn't look official.  There is a newly opened issue about how the flatpak version regularly breaks, presumably because of server/client code changes that are not merged into the flatpak code in a timely manner.  I assume that's because the flatpak devs are not official, Zoom folks.  Many flatpak distributions are like that, I've found.  I tested the flatpak version, just now, and it seems functional, at present, but I don't think I'll switch until I hear that particular issue has been addressed.  But, flatpak would be better for both the sandboxing and the client-side initiated updates, which you can automate.

Also, in another ticket with Zoom, I got a good tip I think readers of this thread would find useful: there exists a stable place for Zoom for Linux release notes.  The page will get updated with a description of fixed bugs when new versions are released; might be worth bookmarking.  If this issue is not fixed in the next release, at least we can check for ourselves to be sure.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205759689-Release-notes-for-Linux

[YaBoiB]

@despdx, 

 Thank you for pointing that out. I did not think of pointing that out on this thread. You all can follow this page as well https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/sections/360008531112-Zoom-Releases-by-Product and get emails when the pages are updated by the Zoom team. I believe that this is good to note. Not sure how many Zoom users are aware of this. You can also follow the blog.zoom.us and other pages that Zoom manages. 

[marek_l]

@YaBoiB any updates on this issue? It's really disappointing it's been so long and this still hasn't been fixed.

I really can't wait until my company decides to move away from Zoom.

[cm-cc]

Just noticed on https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/205759689-Release-notes-for-Linux that a new release for Linux is due on Feb 28. Unfortunately, the wayland issue is not mentioned anywhere in the release notes...

[despdx]

good eye.

[intrlocutr]

At least audio sharing is mentioned as fixed.

[YaBoiB]

@cm-cc , 

 I am working to determine if the solution is going to be in the next release or not. The team stated that they would have a solution in a future release. They did not indicate that it would be in the next release. 

[cm-cc]

Thanks Brandon. My hope was for an "early" solution of the issue, but apparently is more difficult than my naive expectation. It's really affecting a quite large community, among which there are for sure people who paid a subscription fee directly or through their company.

[YaBoiB]

Hello @cm-cc, 

 Please trust that we can hear your concerns and our efforts are tireless in attempting to provide a solution. I truly appreciate the patience that you all have exhibited. 

[es-kyra]

Tested, screensharing is still broken for all platforms which use Wayland with the new version 5.9.6 (2225) release.

[idkman]

I bet its going to release with 6.0, if not, the changes are probably sitting in the master branch of their git repo and will eventually reach a stable version

[stephdl]

Well 2022 is there and still nothing workable screensharing under wayland. That's a pity.

No problem so far for now, hopefully my company has switched to teams 🙂

[NDOJOSEPH1OBITE]

Wow

[despdx]

Yikes.  This is getting out of control.  I installed the new zoom 5.9.6 yesterday, and I thought I had tested it, but today, it crashes when I try to start it.  I guess I'm glad these problems didn't happen when we first started using Zoom in Spring 2020.  It hasn't been a carefree experience, but at least it wasn't like this.

[es-kyra]

What's wild is this timeline of events:

How Not to Support Desktop GNU+Linux, Zoom Edition

• 2015, Wayland added as a login option for Gnome 3.16 … first Zoom release for desktop GNU+Linux lands several months later
• 2016-2020: Distributions begin switching to Wayland as the default, exposing many issues with Zoom's (lack of) support
• 2020-2021: Four years after distros began to switch, Zoom claims to support Wayland…but it uses a private API meant for the system to take screenshots, not video (the correct API has been advertised since 2018). Zoom is just as buggy, and the performance is unusable in many cases.
• 2021-now: End of last year, Zoom acknowledges issue in the forum after many customers complain and say they were ignored in support tickets. Workarounds which disable security are offered with no warning, customers are told complaints go against community guidelines, and even scapegoating of Gnome. A fix is supposedly in the "next release", which turns out to be entirely false, and several releases go by with no fix.

[YaBoiB]

Hello Team, 

 Our Engineering team has looked into the issue and your feedback and has decided on the best way to resolve the issue. Initial tests look promising, but there are still other tests this must go through before release. The plan is to have this available within the next month, depending on how the testing goes. Please keep an eye on our official Linux release notes for when this will go live, as well as this thread, where I will attempt to keep you all up-to-date when I have more to share publicly. 

We appreciate all of your efforts and feedback on this topic and are excited to see a resolution in the works. 

[ieugen]

I do hope it works via flatpack 🙂 🤞

[chutchins]

Going to bump this thread so it doesn't go stale before it *actually* gets fixed and we get a version and date for the fixed package. Otherwise I don't want us to expect something that isn't going to happen.

[jasonriedy]

You do realize that many of the folks here could provide much wider testing than you can in-house, correct?

[gehrehmee]

By all means, I'd love to be involved in a beta program if Zoom had one, to see if what they're building is actually solving the problem.

[YaBoiB]

Hello @jasonriedy  and @gehrehmee , 

 We do have a beta program but this solution is not going to be involved in the Beta program. If you are on an account with a CSM (Customer Success Manager) or AE ( Account Executive) you can ask an admin or owner of your Zoom account to request to be in the beta build program through Zoom. All approvals for that program go through those teams. 

Regards,

Brandon 

[despdx]

Okay, I have more information, but I'm confused why others haven't been complaining here.  My Zoom app is now non-functional.

On Fedora 35, the Zoom client cannot share screen under Wayland and *crashes* on X11.  I've tested this on two systems, now.  5.9.6 made the situation worse: I went from anxious-for-a-fix-or-better-workaround to unusable.

Thanks to @ieugen for the flatpak suggestion, though, because the Flatpak version *does* work on X11.  So, I'm limping from one workaround to another.

[despdx]

Interesting update from Zoom support.  They said they plan to have the Wayland issue reported here --they mentioned this specific thread--in version 6.0, as others on the list speculate. And they pointed me to the Linux release notes page for confirmation, again.

Update on the "new" problem: I found that the native Zoom 5.9.6 client crashes, now, on Xorg/X11.  This appears to have something to do with the environment variable QT_QPA_PLATFORM.  I think 5.9.6 started paying attention to this value, but I didn't verify that.  Anyway, Zoom will *not* crash if I just unset the value.  Now, I don't understand why QT_QPA_PLATFORM is set to wayland when I'm on Xorg. Not every QT program has a problem with this setting, but maybe not just Zoom.  I'm trying to follow up on  it with Fedora.

[despdx]

I solved this problem by unsetting this setting.  I had completely forgot, but I set this in my profile a while ago for another application, and then I missed it when troubleshooting.  So, mystery solved, And, it wasn't actually something that changed with Zoom 5.9.6, either. Just a coincidence.

I have moved to using the flatpak version as my main version, though.

[johnfparis]

FYI, the previously mentioned "workaround" for Wayland (disabling security) no longer works. It allows you to share the desktop (background) but not any application windows. Switching to GNOME on Xorg does work.

From cobbling together various information from a variety of sources, I have found a workaround that actually works to provide screen sharing under Wayland.

Here are step-by-step instructions:

1) install the Video For Linux (Version 2) loopback driver, known as v4l2loopback. NOTE: This is a kernel module.
-- Under Fedora, it's a kmod package (kmod-v4l2loopback) available in the rpmfusion-free repository.
-- Under Ubuntu it's v4l2loopback-dkms. See https://zoomadmin.com/HowToInstall/UbuntuPackage/v4l2loopback-dkms

2) Install OBS Studio. https://obsproject.com/wiki/install-instructions#linux-install-directions

3) Launch OBS Studio. Across the bottom of the screen you will see five panels, the second of which is Sources, the last of which is Controls.

4) At the bottom of the Sources panel, click on the + sign and choose Window Capture (PipeWire)

5) A dialog box will pop up, asking you which window you want to share. Click on the appropriate choice and then click on the Share button.

6) In the middle of the Controls panel, click on Start Virtual Camera. You have now created a "virtual camera" that you can share on Zoom.

7) Launch Zoom and connect to your meeting.

8 ) In Zoom, click on Share Screen

9) At the top of the screen that pops up, choose the Advanced tab

10) Choose "Content from 2nd Camera"

11) Click on the Share button

SIMPLE, RIGHT? You will probably want to double-click on the shared screen to take it out of full-screen mode, so you can make changes in the window you are sharing. Also, note that there is a "Switch Camera" button on the shared screen, which switches between the OBS Studio share and your built-in camera.

For more information on using OBS Studio to share your screen, including various bells and whistles, I recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcn5ayvpoqw

[johnfparis]

One of the "bells and whistles" mentioned in the video above is the notion that, because Zoom sees the OBS Virtual Camera as a camera, you can switch to it (instead of screen sharing it). This allows you to share your screen even if you don't have permission -- it's just seen by the other participants as "your camera". (You do have to turn off the mirror image to do so, but it also might reduce lag.)

[YaBoiB]

Hello Team, 

 Once again, I would like to thank all of you for your time and efforts on this case. I know that you all have been very patient, and that has not gone unnoticed. I can tell you that I will not allow this thread to go stale, for one, because I am not that type of person. I was on vacation last week, and now I am wholly back, recharged to take this head on and get this solved for you all. I can tell you all that the beta testing that our Software Engineers have been doing is looking promising. We do have a target release, but I have not yet confirmed what release yet. I promise all of you that as soon as I know, you will know. I feel and understand how important this piece of software is to you all. Please know this. Zoom does have a beta testing program, and if you have an Account Executive with Zoom, I would say that this is a conversation you should have with that person. Zoom Support does not control that program. I can request that you be added to the beta program, but I have no power beyond a simple request. I do believe that we are getting closer to a GA release of this software based on the conversations that I have had with the Software Engineers. So, with that, it is looking promising. I cannot express my thanks to the many of you that I have chatted with here and in Support tickets. I thank you for your time and efforts. 

[jasonriedy]

Again, the people on these threads can test many more configurations than y'all can.

We're offering.

I'd rather use jit.si or linphone/ring/whatever, but I'm not the one making the decisions.

[johnfparis]

Addendum: I discovered that you apparently need to have the OBS Virtual Camera active BEFORE entering the Zoom meeting. Otherwise, you have to leave the meeting and re-enter after starting the virtual camera (Step 6).

[solymr]

Zoom, please fix it! Do you know how many Fedorians there are in the world? Is it rocket science? Come on...

[marek_l]

Month after month passes, and the only thing we hear from Zoom Support is that they know about the issue and that it's being worked on. By now I understand that it's one of the two options: either they don't care at all but just tell straight lies to make us stay on zoom as long as possible (while we're hoping it'll be fixed eventually) or they have so incompetent developers that simply can't fix it (which is ridiculous considering even a gnome maintainer offered to help them and they refused it).

To anyone who comes by this thread looking for a solution. I've been waiting for months, others for years, and here we are, the end of March 2022, with no progress at all. I can only tell you, don't expect anything from Zoom, if you need screen sharing, just look for an alternative. I've done so, and I'm a happier person now

[YaBoiB]

Hello All, 

 Update, our team is still actively working on this issue. I am personally working with the Dev Team and chosen customers/Zoom Partners. I have stated this before, and I will state it again. I do know and understand how important this functionality is to you all. I am not sure how to state that any differently. There is a solution on the roadmap, and I will let you all know when that solution is present. Many thanks to all of you who have helped along the way with your feedback. I truly appreciate this from the bottom of my heart.

Delivering happiness is at the core of who we are as Zoomies. We plan to deliver happiness with this issue as well. 

[chutchins]

What I think would be a significant help is to have somebody write up a blog post on this issue to clarify that zoom is aware of the issue, it would probably keep a lot of users from jumping ship to other apps because this thread is not very visible. Anybody that doesn't know about this thread probably just downloads zoom, sees that it can't do screenshare, and then just says "oops that sucks time to use teams".

Plus having developers write up a response will clarify that the status is actually work in progress rather than "we have a guy in pr handling a bunch of people in the forums and otherwise ~we don't talk about screenshare~".

Mind you, I know that you can't tell the dev team to do something, rather, you can just request information. But it way help in the long run to get this issue visible to more users.

[chutchins]

For what it's worth I believe Brandon is communicating our issues to the dev team but the only real target systems for businesses n terms of linux are redhat users. The funny thing being that redhat 8 now defaults to wayland so they are also SOL. But again this development team almost certainly just doesn't have any dedicated team members to the linux client so whatever people have time to do something for the linux client do it quick in the afternoon one day then push it. Again I'm sure Brandon is submitting reports to the dev team but customer support and dev are certainly not working closely per traditional corporate structure. The feature will probably come one day but i'm sure for now it's just going to be use the web app when possible and when not, use a different tool in the meantime/switch to a different tool. The devs work on their own schedule and what comes of that is what comes. I still use zoom but that's because I'm the only linux user on my team and the rest use mac and have no issues. I am *hopeful* this feature gets released but either they fix it or drop linux--wayland is coming to every distro whether zoom likes it or not.

I do appreciate anybody that actually works at zoom is responding here, despite the fact that the dev team themselves have decided to hide from our chat.

Thank you Brandon, I'm sorry that you have to be the middle man to the people actually causing this problem and the users just hoping for the fix.