Flash Webcam non responsive

Question

I've got the same problem as this gentleman: https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/flashplugin-nonfree/+question/176541

Where the webcam settings / access does not work at all / is completely unresponsive in Ubuntu 11.10.

I've tried webcam access in Facebook, Google+, my own code + a number of tutorials/demos and none work.

What happens is the settings dialogue is completely unresponsive. Clicking tabs or buttons does nothing.

In the question linked to a suggested answer is to run Unity 2D. Unfortunately this does not work for me (the exact same thing happens). I've also tried Gnome 3 which also does not work.

Note that it is only the webcam settings that don't work. YouTube videos and annoying banners work just fine.

Does anyone know of a workaround for this (except going back to 11.04) or if they've fixed this in 12.04? - also, are any of you experiencing the same thing?

Solution 1

As suggested in one of the replies to the question in the link in my question (what a sentence); logging into Unity 2D may solve it. It did not work for me. What did work, however, was logging into Gnome Classic (No Effects). From there I could interact with the settings dialog and enable webcam and microphone access for the sites I need it. After that, going back to Unity (normal) the webcam is activated.

Solution 2

In my case the workaround suggested here did work: http://www.ironzebra.com/news/42/how-to-get-flash-webcam-to-work-on-ubuntu-linux . It requires to manually insert allowed sites.

Solution 3

It is a bug. And it has not been solved in 12.04 yet. See https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity/+bug/865672.

Comments

[Jorge Castro]

Can you add what kind of webcam it is?

[aMat]

Not sure what I have tbh. But it doesn't seem to have to do with the model anyway.

[Jorge Castro]

It might, but it doesn't hurt to know it. Can you look at this question and then edit your question adding the information? It should show up in an lsusb

[aMat]

It's not connected by USB, it's built in. Anyway, the problem is solved. And according to this: bugs.launchpad.net/unity/+bug/865672 it's a bug in flash or unity, not the webcam.

[Jorge Castro]

Anything in the logs that has a hint of the kind of webcam it might be?

[aMat]

Actually, I can reach the settings through a right-click, the problem is that once there I can't do a thing.

[aMat]

Thanks for your reply. I do have the Google Talk Plugin installed and that actually works fine (I can do G+ Hangouts fine), the problem is exactly as described in the link I provided. I assume that your suggestion to use the "Adobe Flash Player Preferences" app instead will allow me to set which sites to allow and hence avoid the non-responsive settings dialog? Regardless, I've actually fixed it now by going into Gnome Classic (No Effects) and enabling it.

[Gabo]

It is possible that access to the camera and the microphone is disabled for some sites.

[aMat]

Hmm no, the problem is that when the dialog appears, it's completely unresponsive. Exactly the same problem as here: answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/flashplugin-nonfree/…

[dadexix86]

Yes, I just modified the answer (sorry, I'm not native-speaker) because it wasn't what i meant :)

[suresh]

I have the same problem in 12.04. My ubuntu 10.04 installation worked fine but when I upgraded to 12.04, this does not work. I am looking for some solutions.