Couldn't start capturing media! Is your microphone set up and does this app have permission?

[RyanBraley]

Hi,

Riot desktop cannot do audio or video calls: I get this error message Couldn't start capturing media! Is your microphone set up and does this app have permission?

Riot Version: Version 1.2.1(1.2.1)

Log: sent

[RyanBraley]

[lampholder]

Hi @RyanBraley - can you advise which OS/version you're running on?

[rbraley]

I am on MacOS mojave 10.14.5

It used to work for a while then maybe I added a new microphone device or was using my camera in another app and it never worked again. I don't think it was an upgrade that caused this, although this issue has persisted across multiple releases now. https://github.com/vector-im/riot-web/issues/8979 https://github.com/vector-im/riot-web/issues/8993

At the very least I would like to have the video chat back. Right now audio only calls work fine, but when I start a video call I get the above screenshot message. @lampholder

[jryans]

If you try the web version at https://riot.im/app, what behaviour do you see there?

[rbraley]

The web version works perfectly well for video calls. No video issue.

Here is a log from the desktop client. vector-1559403935906.log

[jryans]

Interesting! Which browser(s) and browser version(s) did you try?

[rbraley]

I tried on Waterfox which I believe is based upon Firefox 56. It worked the first time for video call but I plugged in a new mic and opened a screen capture software later and it doesn’t work anymore in the browser. Is there anyway to clear the local storage on some of that or reset my profile data again. It’s a shame to not be able to do calls and switch to another app.

[jryans]

You could experiment with removing the desktop app's profile data on disk with the app is closed. On macOS, that data is stored at /Users/<User>/Library/Application Support/Riot. I would recommend keeping a backup just in case. Also, removing the profile data will force you to log in again. If you haven't set up key backup already, you might lose access to messages in encrypted rooms, so consider setting that up first.

[lzmartinico]

I am running into the same issue on 1.4.1, and removing that directory did not resolve it

[awesome-michael]

Have the same issue. I'm on macOS Mojave 10.14.6 and Riot Desktop 1.5.3 In the settings I don't see the button for requesting permission but I see the dropdowns for choosing the devices. In macOS privacy settings for camera/mic the app isn't listed.

I checked a view older versions of Riot, at every try I deleted /Users/<User>/Library/Application Support/Riot and installed the other version. 1.5.3 -> not working 1.4.2 -> not working 1.3.6 -> working, asking for permission

[awesome-michael]

Think this could be the issue: https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/20449

A workaround is to install the 1.3.6 version of Riot, get camera/mic permission and then update to 1.5.3. MacOS saves the permission and Riot is able to use camera/mic.

[jryans]

Thanks for the update! I think we may need to see how that Electron issue unfolds upstream.

[awesome-michael]

Have not tested excessively but it seems v1.5.4 also works. I got the request for camera permission after updating. Maybe vector-im/element-web#11435 fixed this. Give it a try.

[Lyamc]

Testing with Windows 10 Pro 64bit, cannot initiate calls because of the permissions Testing with Chrome Canary I also cannot initiate calls because of the permissions Testing with Firefox Nightly properly asked for permissions and worked.

[HugoPoi]

Ok I have maybe found a related bug

1. When I click on Audio or Video call button I always had a Couldn't start capturing media! Is your microphone set up and does this app have permission?
2. I check devices configuration in Settings/Audio & Video and all peripheral was on Default.
3. I change all the Default to the correct peripheral
4. And Voila it works !

On 1.6.0 on riot-desktop Archlinux.

[r4dh4l]

I change all the Default to the correct peripheral

This worked for me on riot-desktop as well but as far as I remember only until a certain version. Since element the workaround doesn't work anymore.

My system details:

• Element version: 1.7.1
• olm version: 3.1.3
• Debian 10.5

[gitmeatrisk]

The same issue here for me :

• Element 1.7.5
• olm 3.1.3
• Windows 10 version 2004

[gerroon]

I have the same issue on Debian Sid, 1.7.8 I tried with Pulseaudio and without Pulse (removed it from the system), with Alsa No luck

I think that was working with previous version.

[euri10]

I have one desktop one laptop, same os (debian buster) and same Chrome version (Version 89.0.4389.114 (Official Build) (64-bit))

The desktop works out of the box, while on the laptop I had this error message. As described here the fix for me was to explicitely select the audio and video and NOT use the defaults in the settings. Hope it helps someone down the road.