Troubleshooting

Phone can’t find the computer

Discovery uses mDNS and a UDP broadcast probe. Both need the phone and the computer on the same local network. Work down this list:

1. Same network? The phone on Wi-Fi (not mobile data), the computer on the same Wi-Fi or wired to the same router. The first three numbers of both addresses usually match, such as 192.168.1.x.
2. Client isolation. Guest, hotel, university and many office and “IoT” networks block devices from talking to each other. Nothing on the devices can fix that; use a hotspot.
3. Firewall. Camlane connects through it anyway (the computer dials the phone), but discovery needs UDP 47392 and 5353. See the firewall guide.
4. Permissions. Android 13 and newer: Nearby devices. Android 8 to 12: Location, which Android requires for Wi-Fi discovery.
5. Battery or Wi-Fi saving on the phone can drop multicast on some phones. Turn it off and try again; the UDP probe usually still works.
6. A VPN on either device sends traffic away from the local network. Turn it off or exclude your local network.
7. Docker or virtual network adapters on the computer can make Camlane listen on the wrong one. Pick the right network in the desktop app, or start the CLI with --bind <your LAN address>.
8. Still nothing: scan the QR code or type the address. If that works, the stream is fine and only discovery is blocked.

Connecting forever, or connects then drops

• Wrong PIN too often: after 5 failed attempts in a minute, wait 60 seconds.
• Different versions: update the phone and the computer from the same release. The builds page shows the latest.
• Antivirus “network protection” on Windows: add an exception for Camlane.

Black video, or the camera is missing

Linux

• The device needs exclusive_caps=1, or Chrome and Zoom hide it. Check: cat /sys/module/v4l2loopback/parameters/exclusive_caps prints 1 or Y. Reload the module as in the Linux guide, then restart the app.
• v4l2-ctl --list-devices doesn’t show “Camlane Camera”: the module isn’t loaded (lsmod | grep v4l2loopback), or Secure Boot rejected it. Run sudo dmesg | grep -i v4l2loopback and enrol the key.
• Black but listed: is a phone connected, and does Camlane’s own preview show video? If you see “permission denied”, add yourself to the video group.
• Flatpak or Snap apps: grant camera access (see the Linux guide).

Windows

• “OBS Virtual Camera” isn’t listed: OBS Studio isn’t installed or its driver was never registered. Install or repair OBS, start and stop its virtual camera once inside OBS, then try again.
• Black: OBS is running its own virtual camera at the same time. Stop it in OBS.
• The app was open before Camlane started the driver: quit it fully, including from the tray, and reopen it.

macOS

• The virtual camera isn’t available on macOS yet. Preview and the microphone work.

No audio

1. Is the microphone on in the phone app, and does Camlane have the microphone permission?
2. Linux: pactl list short sources | grep camlane should show camlane_mic. If it’s there but silent, check that Camlane’s output is camlane_sink and that it isn’t muted in pavucontrol.
3. Windows: Camlane’s output must be CABLE Input; the app’s microphone CABLE Output. They’re easy to swap. If VB-Cable shows a yellow warning, restart.
4. macOS: output BlackHole 2ch in Camlane, input BlackHole 2ch in the app.
5. Crackle: set VB-Cable to 48000 Hz on both its tabs. Camlane streams 48 kHz.
6. Speech cut off: the app’s own noise suppression (Zoom, Discord) can fight Camlane’s. Lower it.

Lag or stutter

What the stats show	Meaning	Fix
Round trip above 20 ms and jumping	Wi-Fi is the bottleneck	Use 5 GHz or 6 GHz, move closer to the router, or wire the computer
Queue growing, dropped frames rising	The phone can’t push frames fast enough; the queue is dropping them as designed	Lower the bitrate first, then the frame rate, then the resolution. Opus instead of PCM frees about 1.5 Mbit/s
Frame rate lower than set, phone warm	The phone is throttling	Plug it in, turn off blur and stabilisation, try 1080p30, take it out of its case
Fine in Camlane’s preview, laggy in the call	The call app is buffering or re-encoding	Not the phone. In OBS, turn off buffering on the V4L2 source

Also turn off Wi-Fi power saving on laptops (Linux: iw dev wlan0 set power_save off).

Stream stops when the screen turns off

The phone’s battery manager stopped Camlane. Apply the settings for your brand in the Android guide, restart the phone, and lock Camlane in Recents. Keep the phone charging for long sessions.

The encoder fails, or the app crashes

• “Encoder configure failed” at 4K or 60 fps: the phone’s encoder can’t do that combination. Pick a lower setting.
• Crash when turning on blur on an old phone: blur needs OpenGL ES 3.1.
• Camera in use: another app holds the camera. Force-stop Camlane and the other app.

Sideways or upside-down picture

The phone applies rotation; the computer never rotates. Use the phone’s orientation lock or the rotate control in the app. Some apps mirror your own preview but not what others see; that’s normal.

Ads

• “Test Ad” in the banner: you’re running a test build.
• A consent form appeared: Google requires it in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland. Change your choice in Settings → Privacy & ad choices.
• An ad covers the camera picture or a control, two ads show at once, or an ad appears full screen: that’s a bug. Email a screenshot to hello@camlane.live. See how ads work in Camlane.

Start over

• Phone: Settings → Apps → Camlane → Storage → Clear data. This forgets paired computers and LUTs.
• Computer: delete the settings folder: ~/.config/camlane on Linux, %APPDATA%\camlane\Camlane\config on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/app.camlane.Camlane on macOS.

Still stuck

Email hello@camlane.live with your phone model, Android version, computer OS and Camlane versions. Logs help: on the phone, adb logcat -s Camlane; on the computer, start Camlane with RUST_LOG=debug set.