Zoom freezes for 2min+ on startup and connecting to calls on new laptop

[ROBYER1]

I have a brand new HP Z Book Laptop from my work. Its got Windows 10 pro, Intel Core i9 high spec, 1tb SSD, 32GB RAM and an Nvidia RTX 2070 Max-Q.

It should run Zoom flawlessly, with both the 32-bit and 64-bit client the calls always freeze on connecting for at least 2mins+ and starting up Zoom results in it freezing also.

I don't use a VPN and work from home where Zoom works fine on other Windows laptops. Zoom, Windows 10 and GPU drivers all updated and I even reinstalled Zoom several times and set Zoom GPU to the Nvidia one in Nvidia Control Panel but it still hangs on every join call/startup.

I also wondered if it had something to do with the Dell Displaylink adapter box I use via USB-C to connect to multiple monitors at my desk but even on a cold unplugged boot of the laptop, Zoom still likes to freeze on startup/connecting to calls and it also does it when I am in office.

Is there anything I can do to fix this? Surely I can't be the only one with this issue?

[ommatinn]

Hey, 
Please share what version of the Zoom client are you using? Be sure to have the latest version. Please join the meeting and check how much CPU Zoom consume and please contact Zoom support. 

[ROBYER1]

I am using the Zoom Client for Meetings, 64-bit currently although usually I use the 32-bit client. I am a software developer and this laptop is for heavy workloads.

On join of a meeting, CPU usage for Zoom does not exceed 0.8%  and Memory is around 108mb tops for the meeting session.

[ommatinn]

I would suggest please run the 64bit client and test. If you have any other external connected, make sure to remove it and try again. Please also make sure you have installed all the new windows updates. 

Please also make sure, if any policies are applied on this laptop.

[ROBYER1]

I can confirm I have tested multiple times with nothing connected to the laptop on a fresh boot. Using 64-bit client currently.

Another thing is I am on a regular windows user account controlled by my workspace who own separate windows Admin accounts so I have UAC on. However this is the identical setup for the rest of the 50+ other staff members who do not have this issue.

I have used the Help>Report Problem form in the Zoom Meetings Client also to report this just now however I have had no email correspondence or even a support ticket for what I reported?

[ommatinn]

Please chat with Zoom support, you will get help to solve your issue.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us

[ROBYER1]

Thanks I have raised a ticket there as I have exhausted most of the solutions I could try to troubleshoot this myself. If I have a fix or answer I will post back here to help others in the community.

[ROBYER1]

Also I found some other users with similar issues. However this fix didn't apply as I actually don't have MS Office installed and uninstalled the Office app.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://amp.reddit.com/r/Zoom/comments/l62zpa/b...

[whopperz]

There's a known issue with Zoom freezing with version 5.7.4 and higher - try using an older version until they release a fix.

[ROBYER1]

I tried uninstalling then rolling back to 5.4.4~ but unfortunately Zoom on install checks online for a newer version and wouldn't allow me to install it. It just said install a newer version of zoom. I might try installing while offline later but not holding out any hope.

[ROBYER1]

I found the fix and the cause

I am using Nvidia Broadcast which causes Zoom to hang only if the Nvidia Broadcast Speaker output is enabled in Windows Sound settings.

All I had to do was goto windows control panel > sound settings and disable the Nvidia Broadcast Output speaker (it's not needed anyway).

Credit to this Reddit post for the solution

[ommatinn]

Please select solved this issue, thanks to you 

[ROBYER1]

I made an Nvidia Broadcast Community Support forum post about this issue also as disabling the Nvidia Broadcast Speaker in Windows 10 output settings isn't a permanent fix - on some reboots the virtual device re-enables itself somehow which causes Zoom to freeze again until I open that control panel to disable the Nvidia Broadcast speaker output again. Forum Post 

[ROBYER1]

Unfortunately this is now not fixed as the issue still pops up a lot on the same laptop. Found a load of other users on the Zoom SubReddit finding the same issue. Hoping to see a fix for this in a future update.

[spawnofbruce]

Experiencing the same problem, do not have Nvidia broadcast on my laptop (I9, 3080, GE76 Raider) and it's driving me insane. Old dell workhorse I used for 5 years never once had this problem... Can't figure it out.  

[ROBYER1]

I initially thought it was Nvidia Broadcast however it doesn't seem to be caused by Nvidia Broadcast and it's just always freezing up when joining calls or starting up the desktop client. This is a high spec HP laptop it's running on too.

I have just submitted the logs with a support ticket to Zoom support. The crash gives me the error code - ssbcrash_hang with a Crash Minidump file also which I can't view.

Upon trawling through the .dmp dump file too, I stumbled across an error for dns_provider_t::sync_resolve failed, errno = 11001

[ROBYER1 · Accepted solution]

I can finally confirm this is fixed in this Zoom desktop client update:

October 25, 2021 version 5.8.3 (1581)