How to give camera access to zoom?

Håkon Hægland

6/8/24, 9:09 PM

I just installed zoom by downloading the deb file from here https://zoom.us/download. Then I installed it using

$ mv ./zoom_amd64.deb /tmp  # See https://askubuntu.com/a/1416892/156688
$ cd /tmp
$ sudo apt-get install ./zoom_amd64.deb

But when I open a zoom session, it is not able to access my camera. I tried to go to Settings->Applications->Zoom but there is no "Use your camera" option there, see screenshot below:

For comparison, skype works fine and can use my camera. The Settings->Applications->Skype page looks like this:

I am using Ubuntu 22.04.

113

1 + 0

permissions

webcam

camera

software-installation

zoom-meeting

Score:1

Ubuntu

waltinator

6/8/24, 11:19 PM

Check the ownership and permissions of the camera ls -l /dev/video*. Note that the camera grants rw access to the owner (root) and to members of the video group.

Adding yourself to the video group is the solution to your problem.

It's a two step process:

First,

sudo adduser $USER video

Then, logout. Login again (login sets up group memberships).

Use the id command to ensure that you have video group membership.

+ 4

Håkon Hægland

6/9/24, 5:28 AM

Thanks for the help, but it is still not working. I have added myself to the video group, and logged out and back in. Output of id command is now: `uid=1000(hakon) gid=1000(hakon) groups=1000(hakon),4(adm),24(cdrom),27(sudo),30(dip),44(video),46(plugdev),122(lpadmin),134(lxd),135(sambashare),137(libvirt),999(docker)`

Håkon Hægland

6/9/24, 5:37 AM

I think it might be a more general problem with the webcam. I tried the `cheese` application and it also shows a black screen (camera not working). But I know that the camera is working since I have had microsoft teams sessions (from the web browser, google chrome) then the camera is working fine.

Håkon Hægland

6/9/24, 5:55 AM

I also tried this online webcam test https://www.onlinemictest.com/webcam-test/ from both chrome and firefox and they both show the FPS count, but no video (black screen).

waltinator

6/9/24, 2:28 PM

Comments are designed for US to ask YOU questions about your Question. You should [Edit] your question to add information. By updating your Question, and using the formatting buttons, you make all the information available to new readers. People shouldn't have to read a long series of comments to get the whole story. AskUbuntu is a Question and Answer site, not a conversation site. If you have an update, [edit] your Question. If you have a new question, see [Ask].

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