SOLVED

TEAMS video freezing at the start of video call

Copper Contributor

Hi,

 

I have a user on Windows 10 who has TEAMS installed through Office 365. The moment he starts video call through TEAMS then his video freezes. Whereas he can see the video of the user on the other end. This has only started to arise 2 weeks ago. Prior to that it was working fine. Any assistance on this will be greatly appreciated. At the start of the video call, the user gets an error "Video isn't working. We couldn't use your webcam for video".

Looking forward to an early resolution of the issue.

 

Thanks,

Vik.

17 Replies
best response confirmed by ThereseSolimeno (Microsoft)
Solution

Hi,

I get this too. And in my case for it to work I have to switch to another video source feed. It is essentially the one web cam but it only seems to work with one of the many web cam software programs I have, which is probably the cause.

So you can try clicking on the video feed button with the continous arrows around it, to switch source, if this is even an option and see if it helps?

I know you shouldn't have to but if this rings true I think basically it is not coping in situations that multiple camera software is installed.

I have Logitech Capture software, XSplit Cam software, Logitech Web cam and Surface built in web cam.

The only way it works for me is by way of XSplit Cam, even though that is ultimately using the Logitech Camera.

I am going to reset my Windows installation soon just to see if that puts me back to an expected working state on the camera front and then install the software one by one to see at what point it breaks.

Thanks

Henry

Hi Henry,

where i be able to make the change:

 

"So he can try clicking on the video feed button with the continous arrows around it, to switch source, if this is even an option and see if it helps "

 

Kindly update me accordingly..

@Vikram Romana 

In a meet now can you see the camera option to the right of turning video on or off. If present, this is what will allow you to change between different sources.

henryarphillips365_0-1593727400187.png

For a call it will look something like this in the bottom right hand corner:

henryarphillips365_1-1593727563172.png

Thanks

 

Henry




ok perfect, i will try it and see how it goes.

 

Thanks,

Vikram.

@Vikram Romana, do you know the Make/Model & Windows 10 Version of the device the user is having problems with?

I am experiencing the same issue with a number of my users, all on a Lenovo Laptop with the latest Windows 10 2004 installed.

G

Hi @UpMaBigKilt ,

 

I experience this issue on the following version and hardware wise I am using a Surface Laptop 3:

 

henryarphillips365_0-1593797481908.png

In relation to when the app freezes and crashes I always see this event:

 

henryarphillips365_1-1593797517532.png

 

Which led me to believe the disablement of EnableFrameServerMode registry change would do the trick but for me it just makes it not freeze but equally not even start at all:

https://manios.org/2020/01/12/lenovo-thinkpad-t470p-camera-problem-windows-10

 

I also noticed that the above fix was suggested for a similar issue reported after the anniversary update way back in 2016.

 

Interesting to note that my external Logitech cam works fine through its camera software but not if directly being interacted with, by way way of Teams.

 

So my only working method at present is the Logitech camera by way of XSplit's Camera Software and then using that as my source in Teams, not ideal but better than nothing.

 

I have raised this via the Feedback hub app in Windows 10 and raised a support case with Microsoft Store as my device is under warranty, just in case I can get some help on the hardware side of things.

 

I have tried latest drivers, firmware, Reset Window 10, reinstalled Windows 10, you name it. It just makes no difference. I will endeavour to update this thread should I find anything more conclusive.

 

Thanks

 

Henry



@Vikram Romana @UpMaBigKilt 

Well I wasn't expecting that and am kind of kicking myself but the nice chap from Microsoft suggested that I uninstall all of the Cameras within Device Manager, reboot and thought OK I will go through the motions but it did actually work.

 

So feel free to give the above a try, it might just work for you too.

 

I did also noticed an entry of personify in the camera list, alongside the expected built in one. That was not present. So when I plug my Logitech back in I will see if that shows at any point and if when showing things still work.

 

Thanks

 

Henry

I believe it is a Windows 10 1909 device. I will check the Make and Model of the Laptop as well.

Ok thanks for the update Henry. I will uninstall all the Camera Drivers from Device Manger and then reboot the Machine. Hopefully it resolves my issue. I will update you once i have done that.

 

Thanks,

Vikram.

Hi Henry,

 

I tried the steps but i keep on getting the same error when i start using Microsoft TEAMS: Video isn’t working. We couldn’t use your webcam for video.

 

I have also Rolled Back the Driver, Updated the driver and also applied the latest Windows updates but still the same error mentioned above.

 

Any suggestions that will help in the resolution of this at the earliest would be appreciated.

Hi @Vikram Romana ,

 

Sorry to hear that you are still struggling.

I reread your post and see that you mentioned uninstalling the drivers, just to confirm did you uninstall the device completely, such as clicking on the below highlighted option:

henryarphillips365_0-1594144682757.png

So you want it so there is nothing listed, then reboot and it should pick up again based on the latest drivers you have.

 

Do you see a Frameserver event in the event logs?

Would you be able to post a screenshot of your cameras in device manager please?

 

Thanks

 

Henry

Getting the same issues too. Several of my work colleagues are getting this happening. Sometimes the only way to fix is to rapidly turn the camera on and off several times.

Updated all the windows drivers from the manufacturer and running the latest Teams version.

Wondered if others are on VPN when this happens or not?

@StuartC1971 
We don't use VPN and some of our users have this issue. We run the latest drivers and Teams version. 

Video works for approx  2 seconds and freezes. 

We tried disabling GPU in Teams settings. Tried the REGEDIT in the Windows Media Foundation key. Clearing all of the Teams caches seems to work for a week or 2, but it will return. Is there a way for MS to fix this? THis issue does not happen when they use Cisco webex or Zoom. 

Hi @Jan-Willem van Vaneveld ,

 

The only thing that resolved the specific issue of the Camera working for a split second and then freezing was to uninstall, so not just uninstall drivers or update drivers, but uninstall the device and let it detect again. I also removed all other references to Cameras. This was done via Device Manager.

 

If it was the same as what I had, it was not just Teams, but any Windows app making using of the camera. So if you launch the Camera app and switch to video in Windows 10 you will see the same thing, so not just Teams specific.

 

Thanks

 

Henry

@HenryPhillipsNimbitech 

I tried this with device manager but it does not help. In the previous version it wasn;t that bad anymore but with 1.3.00.21759 a lot more users are reporting this issue. Drives me nuts. 
The Camera app does NOT have this issue at our notebooks.

We discovered that our issue is somehow caused by Teams. 
We tried everything: new drivers for all hardwarecompnents. regkeys, disabled GPU accelleration etc etc. But the ONLY thing that DOES work is closing Teams.exe and delete all folders from %appdata%\microsoft\teams.

In my oppinion MS should investigate soon whats causing this and update! Maybe it's a combination with some kind of webcam driver because ALL our new HP X360 ENVY notebooks have this issue. 

@HenryPhillipsNimbitech After months of trying to figure out the solution to this problem, this did it for me! Thank you! Notably, I also had the "Personify Virtual Camera" in my list and removing it fixed the issue. This device is a remnant of having ChromaCam installed but apparently was not removed when I uninstalled ChromaCam.

1 best response

Accepted Solutions
best response confirmed by ThereseSolimeno (Microsoft)
Solution

Hi,

I get this too. And in my case for it to work I have to switch to another video source feed. It is essentially the one web cam but it only seems to work with one of the many web cam software programs I have, which is probably the cause.

So you can try clicking on the video feed button with the continous arrows around it, to switch source, if this is even an option and see if it helps?

I know you shouldn't have to but if this rings true I think basically it is not coping in situations that multiple camera software is installed.

I have Logitech Capture software, XSplit Cam software, Logitech Web cam and Surface built in web cam.

The only way it works for me is by way of XSplit Cam, even though that is ultimately using the Logitech Camera.

I am going to reset my Windows installation soon just to see if that puts me back to an expected working state on the camera front and then install the software one by one to see at what point it breaks.

Thanks

Henry

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