[macOS] OBS Virtual Camera not detected

[morremeyer]

• I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates

• I am using Signal-Desktop as provided by the Signal team, not a 3rd-party package.

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Relates to #5199, #5559.

Bug Description

OBS's Virtual Camera is not detected by Signal (at least not on macOS Ventura 13.4.1).

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open OBS and turn on the Virtual Camera
2. Open Signal and try to select it as Camera source

Actual Result:

The Virtual Camera is not available in Signal. It is, however, available in e.g. my browser, leading me to believe it's an issue with Signal and not with OBS.

Expected Result:

OBS's Virtual Camera should be available in Signal.

Screenshots

Platform Info

Signal Version: 6.26.0 production (Apple silicon)

Operating System:

macOS Ventura 13.4.1

Linked Device Version:

Android 12, Version 6.27.7

Link to Debug Log

https://debuglogs.org/desktop/6.26.0/d1db2cd6cd656f06486ec237a90120088ef8bfd92a5b692cdbad58a0103722ce.gz

[ironc0in]

getting a similar issue with an external USB camera (DSLR) documented here #6504 . It may be the same. Last version it worked with was 6.20, and I keep downgrading to that just so I can use my expensive camera for video calls.

[scottnonnenberg-signal]

Hey there @ironc0in - we're still looking for that debug log from you!

[jamiebuilds-signal]

@morremeyer What browser are you using that successfully detects the camera? Is it a Chromium-based browser?

[morremeyer]

@jamiebuilds-signal Firefox, I can check the version later if that helps

[sunknudsen]

Same issue using OBS 29.1.3 (Apple silicon version) running on macOS Ventura 13.6.

Virtual camera is available (can be selected as source) in Brave 1.58.135 and Jitsi Meet 2023.9.1 (which is also an Electron app) but isn’t available in Signal 6.32.0.

[jgcrossman2]

Signal (6.37.0) used to support the OBS (29.1.2) Virtual Camera on my MacBook Pro (Apple Silicon, Sonoma 14.0 currently). I am not sure when it dropped out but I would guess it was in the last few months. Right now, Signal only picks up the physical cameras (the Macbook camera or my Logitech Brio by USB, if attached) but not the OBS. If possible, I would like to see that feature reinstated as it allows for fun backgrounds and, more practically, presentations.

[scottnonnenberg-signal]

@jgcrossman2 What do you see at our camera test site? Is your OBS stream shown there? https://camera-test.signalusers.org/

You can help us figure out what's going on by providing that site's output here (or sending it to Signal Support) - it doesn't send us anything automatically.

[argasek]

I'm experiencing the same issue on macOS 12.7.1, desktop client. Not only OBS Virtual Camera stopped to be seen, also my PCIEx video capture card does not show anything. I got 4 cameras in total (2x built-in LG Ultrafine 5K display cameras, OBS Virtual Camera and the beforementioned capture card). The website https://camera-test.signalusers.org/ I can see all four cameras in Chrome (118, 119), my default browser is Orion though and there I can only see LG ones. The last working version of Signal was 6.20.

I remember I faced similar issue couple months ago with Discord and actually I applied the instructions I found here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/obs/comments/tgtv4h/help_obs_virtual_cam_not_showing_up_in_discord_mac/?rdt=40288

to Signal and bang, 6.38 works again like a charm.

Edit: I've found an interesting thread which might be related to this issue: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/131826

[JMY1000]

Definitely a codesigning issue, PTP Webcam doesn't work either even with legacy video device support turned on:

The main problem with apps trying to use 3rd party video sources is that security restrictions for apps using Apple's Hardened Runtime and 3rd party libraries are not fine-grained enough. Apps can either choose to disable Library Validation, or are only allowed to use the ir own and system libraries, which excludes this project (and many other 3rd party camera drivers).

The only currently available solution, as a user, is to disable codesigning for those applications, which allows the use of 3rd party plugins at the expensive of disabling some OS security features for those apps.

Not sure how big of an issue this is longterm since I think everything will need to through the new System Extensions framework, but yeah would be nice to not have to resign everything. Maybe not worth it given the security stuff? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯