Cannot share sound in Ubuntu 20.04

[Inseyn]

When sharing screen I cannot share the sound. If using the .deb package it works.

[ogra1]

can you attach:

~/snap/zoom-client/current/.zoom/logs/zoom-terminal.log

and the full output of:

snap version

[Inseyn]

zoom-terminal.log

snap 2.44.3+20.04 snapd 2.44.3+20.04 series 16 ubuntu 20.04 kernel 5.4.0-31-generic

[Inseyn]

Thank you for looking into this

[ogra1]

Hmm, there is nothing unusual in your log, are you sure you have the "Share computer sound" checkbox checked that is at the bottom left of the "select a window" screen ?

[Inseyn]

Strange. I have Share computer sound checked. And also the screen sharing takes a lot longer on snap. Almost like 10 sekunds before it starts sharing the video. But no sound at all. :( I also tried under advanced in Zoom and select share sound only but that didn't work either:(

Both works with the deb file.

[nielsvl95]

I can also confirm this is a issue using 20.04 Because the need of being the host from time to time, I would like to have it working. Therefore I had to install the .deb package as well. But I would still prefer to use the snap as it will update the package while the deb won't do that.

If there is anything I could do to help you find the problem, I would like to help. Anyway, thanks for the work you are doing to make it available as a snap!

[LornaJ51]

I have this issue too.

When I am host using Zoom on a Linux machine and I attempt to play an mp3 for the meeting participants they cannot hear it. Free account. I found a Windows machine and installed Zoom on it, then set up a second user. With User 1 as host on the Linux machine running the Zoom client application I invited my user 2 via a web link. As User 1 I attempted to share an mp3 by selecting ‘share screen’ and ‘share music or computer sound only’. I then selected an mp3 on the Linux desktop and played it. The sound was clearly audible on the host machine but the user 2 machine was receiving nothing at all. I checked the sound settings on both machines and they were functioning as expected. I repeated the test, but with User 1 as the meeting host on the Windows machine and User 2 as the guest on the Linux machine. The shared mp3 was now audible on the Linux machine, albeit with a 1 or 2 second delay, which I imagine is to be expected with the round-trip to the ISP.

I am a languages teacher so sharing mp3s and mp4s are Use Cases I use practically every time I use Zoom. Now that I know it works on the Windows laptop I'll have to use that to host my Zoom meetings. Up until now I've used a work-around where I send the student the mp3 or mp4 via a file share and they play it locally, but then I cannot hear it myself!

Do you know if there is likely to be a fix for this soon? I prefer to use Linux so it would be great if there were. nielsvl95 says that the Debian package does work. I've not tried it, but I suppose I could try uninstalling the Snap version and installing the Debian one.

I am running the latest version of the Snap software: 5.0.418682.0603

snap 2.45 snapd 2.45 series 16 ubuntu 18.04 kernel 5.3.0-53-generic

[nil2l]

Same problem if installed from the Software app (with snap support enabled). But works well if installed from .deb package.

Also noticed if you open Zoom (installed from store) in Software app it has Permissions tab. And some of them are not checked. Maybe you need to check permissions in runtime when starting a system sound sharing? Zoom installed from deb in Software app has not this Permissions tab.

(long 10 seconds running also present if installed from store)

[LornaJ51]

It seems that if you are Host on a Windows 10 machine, even if you invite a Guest who is on a Linux machine all should work OK, provided that (a) the volume of your media player is at a normal level (b) you are using "Share Screen, Advanced, Computer sound only" It is also advisable (though not 100% necessary) to mute your microphone while you are playing a sound file, to avoid an echo at your end.

If you are Host on a Linux machine the sound on the Guest machine becomes badly distorted – like a Dalek on helium. This distortion is generated by the Host machine, because it is the same on the meeting recording. Also, if a Linux-based Host forgets to mute their microphone the Guest sometimes hears an unpleasantly loud high-pitched whine which cannot be muted at the Guest end, presumably a feedback loop between the Host microphone and the computer audio.

I am currently using the Debian version of Zoom, Version 5.0.418682.0603 amd64 but I have also tried it with the Snap version 5.1.412382.0614 and it is no different.

[Fuseteam]

can confirm on ubuntu 18.04, it should be noted that pulse-audio doesn't autoconnect, connecting manual does not resolve the issue however

[ogra1]

the pulseaudio interface should technically not be used, audio-record fulfills the same purpose, the (less secure) pulse interface is just there for distros with very old snapd that would otherwise not be able to run zoom at all ...

there might be an issue with zoom using the very insecure pacmd (which effectively would allow you to take over the host via the pulse socket) over the actually recommended pactl but i have not been able to nail this down yet.

[Fuseteam]

ohw that's interesting

[LuisChacha]

Thank you for looking into this

Was the problem fixed?

[Fuseteam]

not yet so far

[aglibert393192]

Same problem here. When switched to the deb file it works all right :) Dunno how I could help about it :)

[lemarcantoine]

I had a similar (if not the same) problem, which I solved by installing Zoom from the official .deb.

Since I installed the .deb version I know have a zoom_combine_device audio device available, that was not present with the snap version. Maybe it's linked with our issue.

Edit: my problem was that my shared sound was very low and I had to max my volume to make it louder (and that was breaking my ears ☹).

[Fuseteam]

so i just tested this again and it appears that when I'm unmuted it the sound does get shared. but this doesn't happen on the deb. on the deb version if I screen share and unmute myself but do not check the "share sound" checkbox it doesn't share sound, while it does pick up my voice on the snap version if I screen share and unmute myself but do not check the "share sound" checkbox it does share sound and pick up my voice

[neripunk]

I can confirm the same issue on Ubuntu 21.10 (sound sharing does not work for the snap package, but does work for the .deb downloaded from the zoom website, microphone sound works for both). Another detail I noticed: when I start snap zoom-client from the command line, I see this message "Testing for explicit PulseAudio choice... ...and PulseAudio has been explicitly chosen, so using it.". This message is absent for the .deb version.

However, in the zoom_stdout_stderr.log for the snap there is this line "No PulseAudio daemon running, or not running as session daemon", which is not present in the .deb logs

[VitaliiLazebnyi]

Same from my side. Ubuntu 22.04. No desktop sound is shared with Zoom and discord :-1: