Zoom client for Linux SFS - Fadog64 8xx

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step
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Zoom client for Linux SFS - Fadog64 8xx

#1 Post by step »

Zoom is a remote meeting, sharing and collaboration web platform. This SFS repackages the Zoom client for Linux, and adds a little bit of Fatdog64 convenience: by default zoom runs as spot. If you prefer to run as root use the conversion tool in Control Panel > Desktop > Convert Spot Apps to Root Apps.

Instructions

- Download and move the SFS file to /mnt/home
- Load the SFS either by right-clicking the icon and choosing "Load SFS" or with Control Panel > System > System SFS Loader
- Run Zoom from the system menu > Network > Zoom

IMPORTANT If you want to uninstall this SFS you must use the System SFS loader or right-click the icon and choose Unload SFS, depending on how you got it installed in the first place. Don't use Glaspt package manager. Just don't.

Tested on Fatdog64-810, runs out of the box.
Shortly tested on Fatdog-800: you need to install package "libnss" and its dependency "libnspr" from the Package Manager.


Download link for version 5.1.418436.0628


What's new (Zoom client change log).
Since May 30th, 2020 all Zoom clients must be updated because stronger encryption has been rolled out globally. Older version can no longer work.

For a utility that draws a mouse pointer trail see here. It can be used when you are sharing your screen and the remote party can't see your mouse pointer.
Last edited by step on Sat 04 Jul 2020, 09:31, edited 15 times in total.
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SFR
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#2 Post by SFR »

Hey Step, the download link isn't working.

Greetings!
[color=red][size=75][O]bdurate [R]ules [D]estroy [E]nthusiastic [R]ebels => [C]reative [H]umans [A]lways [O]pen [S]ource[/size][/color]
[b][color=green]Omnia mea mecum porto.[/color][/b]

ndujoe1
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#3 Post by ndujoe1 »

I have bionicpup64 and zoom works on this machine.

I have used it many times to participate in online computer meetings.

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vtpup
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#4 Post by vtpup »

Anybody got a workable link to the SFS?
[color=darkblue]Acer Aspire 5349-2635 laptop Tahrpup.[/color]
[color=blue]Acer R11 and C720 Chromebks Bionicpup64[/color]
[color=olive]Acer Iconia A1-830 tablet no pup[/color]
[color=orange]www.sredmond.com[/color]

step
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#5 Post by step »

Link updated in the first post.

This SFS has worked very well for me so far (audio, video, desktop sharing and remote control). I'm impressed at the number of useful things one can do with Zoom after a few practice sessions. I have only been able to test it with small groups (2-4 people) and a mix of Fatdog64 and Linux Mint systems.

I noticed the following graphical glitches.

Desktop sharing from Fatdog64-810 -- on some old graphics cards (10+ year-old nvidia and intel chips) when you share your desktop the mouse pointer won't be visible to your audience. I haven't found a solution, but I've created a small utility that tracks the mouse as it moves on the screen; your audience will see the trail and know where the pointer is. I'm planning to release the final version of this tool on the standard Fatdog64 channel. If you need the development version urgently, send me a PM and I will arrange to send you a link.

update: Read here about the pointerpointer tool.

Zoom's own tool windows display as black boxes on the remote systems -- I think this is by design but I'm not sure. Zoom has a number of fly-over windows that show the remote webcams and some control menus. These windows display just fine on your desktop. But when you share your desktop your audience will see a black box for each such window. This isn't an issue in most use scenarios: minimize the window and the black box on your audience's screen will go away. The only scenario where I think this can become a limitation is if you're using Zoom to teach some remote party how to use Zoom. In that case, and for a one-to-one teaching session, I've found the combination of Zoom + Backseat driver very effective. However, bsdriver doesn't scale up to larger groups.
Last edited by step on Sat 28 Mar 2020, 13:38, edited 1 time in total.
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vtpup
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#6 Post by vtpup »

Thank you step!
[color=darkblue]Acer Aspire 5349-2635 laptop Tahrpup.[/color]
[color=blue]Acer R11 and C720 Chromebks Bionicpup64[/color]
[color=olive]Acer Iconia A1-830 tablet no pup[/color]
[color=orange]www.sredmond.com[/color]

step
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#7 Post by step »

No worries, vtpup, enjoy. I don't see Fatdog64 listed in your signature. I don't have any evidence that this SFS will work on other 64bit puppies but it should. If the system menu doesn't show the Zoom icon run zoom-spot & from a terminal (runs as user spot) or zoom & (runs as user root). Let us know if it works on other puppies, thanks.
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Mike Walsh
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#8 Post by Mike Walsh »

step wrote:No worries, vtpup, enjoy. I don't see Fatdog64 listed in your signature. I don't have any evidence that this SFS will work on other 64bit puppies but it should. If the system menu doesn't show the Zoom icon run zoom-spot & from a terminal (runs as user spot) or zoom & (runs as user root). Let us know if it works on other puppies, thanks.
Well, it won't run in Xenialpup64. Looking in the SFS I see there's a lot of 'dead' sym-links, and running

Code: Select all

zoom-spot &
.....in the terminal just gives 'command not found'. Actually, dissecting the SFS closely shows no sign of a 'zoom-spot' .sh or script anywhere, so, er.....how on earth did you get it running? (Yah, I know FatDog is very different.....but despite trying it out several times in recent years, I just do not like it. It's too different for me...)

Edit:- A-ha. Correction; it will run under Xenial64. After some faffing around,

Code: Select all

run-as-spot /opt/zoom/ZoomLauncher
...does it for me. I take it you need to create an a/c first? Attempting to sign-in with Google produces the cryptic message 'No URL handler defined....'


Mike. :wink:

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WoodLark
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#9 Post by WoodLark »

I'm running the SFS on xenial64 (just installed this morning and haven't actually joined in meetings yet). The only problem I have noticed so far is that it does not close properly. If I run it then close it (by clicking the "x" in the upper right corner of the window, the only way I can see to close it), I can't restart the program unless I first restart the graphical server.

Trying to restart in a console window, I can see that it starts then immediately exits saying that there is another instance already running.
Last edited by WoodLark on Sat 21 Mar 2020, 15:22, edited 1 time in total.

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WoodLark
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#10 Post by WoodLark »

Mike Walsh wrote: 'I take it you need to create an a/c first? Attempting to sign-in with Google produces the cryptic message 'No URL handler defined....'
There is a link on the sign in page that says "sign up free" if you click that, then you can sign in with Google (a bit screwy?).

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Mike Walsh
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#11 Post by Mike Walsh »

WoodLark wrote:I'm running the SFS on xenial64 (just installed this morning and haven't actually joined in meetings yet). The only problem I have noticed so far is that it does not close properly. If I run it then close it (by clicking the "x" in the upper right corner of the window, the only way I can see to close it), I can't restart the program unless I first restart the graphical server.

Trying to restart in a console window, I can see that it starts then immediately exits saying that there is another instance already running.
@ Woodlark:-

Uh-huh. Right; are you seeing a small blue squared icon with a white camera, in the systray/notification area over to the right of the tray (where the Retrovol/Clipit/freememapplet icons, clock, etc, all live)?


Image


That always shows in the tray when you've got an instance of Zoom running. If it's there, simply left-click on it, and, assuming you're signed-in, the 'Home' window should appear, upper right-hand of the screen. Otherwise, sign-in before going any further.

(I've set mine to keep me signed-in; starting Zoom takes me straight to the Home window, then clicking on 'New Meeting' opens up your 'meeting-room' with a video session already running and waiting to invite others to join in.....)

In the 'Home' window, click on the wee gear icon, top-right corner; this'll let you set everything up, including video & audio settings. I just did all this a few minutes ago, followed by clicking on the 'New Meeting' button in the Home window; this'll let you see the actual meeting screen, along with controls at the bottom, plus the ability to record a short clip and play it back to make sure audio/video are all coming through properly. (That gets saved to /root/spot/Documents/Zoom, and you should find an mp4 file with your recording somewhere inside there....)

This all works perfectly by selecting the Logitech c920 HD 'Pro' webcam, both capture audio and playback. I know these are pretty expensive pieces of kit, but I bought this for two reasons; one, because I knew it was on a short list of webcams known to be supported OOTB by the kernel-module v4l2 driver for UVC devices, and two.....because I'd been promising myself one for years! :lol: When PCWorld here in the UK had it on offer at just under 50% of RRP last but one 'Black Friday', I grabbed one fast; at that price, they wouldn't remain on the shelf long..... And so it proved. Never mind; I'd got mine! :D

This was all in Xenialpup64, just a few minutes ago. I'd be more than happy to have a go at this group meeting stuff, if there's 2 or 3 others among you who fancy trying it out. We can then put this down as a definite that works for Puppy..... :D


Mike. :wink:
Last edited by Mike Walsh on Sat 21 Mar 2020, 23:01, edited 1 time in total.

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WoodLark
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#12 Post by WoodLark »

You are right! I never even noticed the blue icon in the systray. I am going to have to spend a little more time trying to learn Zoom.

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Mike Walsh
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#13 Post by Mike Walsh »

WoodLark wrote:You are right! I never even noticed the blue icon in the systray. I am going to have to spend a little more time trying to learn Zoom.
'Salright; it took me at least one session before I realized it was there myself...

Nah, there's not much to it, TBH. I found it was simpler to just go straight to the Zoom website and create an a/c there, rather than keep messing about with trying to sign in via Google in the client. Having created the a/c, I've only signed-in the once with the client; I've set it to keep me signed-in, and it appears to remember this choice through multiple reboots.

It takes just 2 clicks to get to the 'meeting-room's' video screen; one, to open Zoom from the Menu, and a second to open a 'New meeting', annnd.....Bob's yr uncle. Ready to go! :)

(Once the 'meeting-room' screen is open, the display will appear to 'freeze' for a few seconds while Zoom is establishing connections, and setting-up and registering the unique Meeting ID for that session. Lasts about 5 seconds, and appears to be an integral part of the process, so.....nowt to worry about.)


Mike. :wink:
Last edited by Mike Walsh on Sat 21 Mar 2020, 23:29, edited 1 time in total.

step
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#14 Post by step »

@Mike, thanks for testing on Xenialpup64 and reporting that it runs with the specific command line you figured out.
This SFS is packaged for Fatdog64, and there it works out of the box. The seemingly "dead" links point to standard Fatdog files. Here's the full disclosure, should other people want to use this SFS for other puppies:

Code: Select all

/usr/bin/Zoom-spot -> program-spot
/usr/bin/zoom -> /opt/zoom/ZoomLauncher
/usr/bin/zoom-spot -> program-spot
When /usr/bin/program-spot runs as a link target it starts run-as-spot followed by the link name without "-spot". Therefore - on Fatdog64 - running zoom-spot becomes run-as-spot zoom, and since zoom -> /opt/zoom/ZoomLauncher the fully resolved command becomes run-as-spot /opt/zoom/ZoomLauncher. It might seem complicated at first sight, but it's standard stuff on Fatdog. This mechanism provides a consistent, standard way to publish programs intended to run as spot.

You might wonder what's /usr/bin/zoom for. That's for people who want to run zoom as root. What about Zoom-spot? That for people who like to start their commands with a capital letter :) No, seriously, that's because the Zoom launcher creates /usr/bin/Zoom, so I felt compelled to add Zoom-spot as a companion.

@WoodLark, thanks for reporting about Xenial64. I think Mike explained very well that in order to quit zoom you need to right-click the zoom tray icon and select Exit. There's no other way, I think. I did exactly like you, the first time I used it. I didn't notice the tray icon, and started a second instance, which didn't start because zoom will run single-instance only.

My time spent trying to learn zoom was well worth the effort. Keep learning!
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step
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#15 Post by step »

@Mike, I don't remember whether I created an account through the zoom website or through the client. But using the zoom client for actual session is key to get full functionality. The web interface is limited. For instance, at least on Windows, you can't give control of your desktop if you're connected through the web interface.
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Mike Walsh
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#16 Post by Mike Walsh »

@ step:-

No, like I said, I only visited the website simply because it was easier to create the account there! Having created it, I only needed to sign-in once with the client, since by requesting it to keep me logged-in, it appears to remember this request across multiple re-boots. Which is handy.

Now all it takes is 2 clicks, and I'm at the meeting 'screen'. Couldn't be simpler. In fact, I've found it's just as easy to link the wee launcher script I've placed into /root/Startup, so it fires-up at boot time. Okay, the 'Home' window shows up, but it's simple enough to just minimise it to the tray as part of my start-up sequence; I have various things starting up at boot-time, so this is just one extra click. Like this, it's sitting in the tray, ready to go when I want it.....and unlike AnyDesk, which I've found seems to have a habit of spawning 'zombie' instances of itself when you close it from the tray icon, Zoom just sits there quietly, minding its own business.

Anyway, thanks for putting this together. I've a feeling it's going to come in handy over the coming months, 'cos it's so easy to use....

Cheers.


Mike. :wink:
Last edited by Mike Walsh on Sat 11 Apr 2020, 09:26, edited 2 times in total.

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WoodLark
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#17 Post by WoodLark »

To my chagrin, I discovered that I had installed zoom on a laptop with no camera. I have now installed it on one that does have a camera and can confirm that it works under BionicPup64.

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Microphone not seen by Zoom

#18 Post by dr. Dan »

Hello sage or anyone else, Zoom is not seeing my microphone. I'm running Fatdog64, and the Alsa Input Level Control Panel applet shows a functional mic. Any suggestions as to where I should look?

p310don
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#19 Post by p310don »

Hello sage or anyone else, Zoom is not seeing my microphone. I'm running Fatdog64, and the Alsa Input Level Control Panel applet shows a functional mic. Any suggestions as to where I should look?
I'm the same as Dr. Dan on my laptop's built in webcam. No problems with my USB webcam (which has never had sound before on Puppy)

step
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#20 Post by step »

Re: audio issues

I'm aware of other people who report random mic and speaker issues. It happened to me once. If it happens at all, it's generally before you start a meeting but it happened to me while I was in a meeting. In most cases it was fixed by fiddling with the mic and speaker audio controls in the settings dialog: even though these might be saying that everything is setup correctly, toggle the check-boxes from auto to manual, raise volumes, toggle back to auto and see if it works now. You can access the settings dialog from the Zoom client window, which minimizes into the application bar when you are in a meeting: click the cogwheels icon in the upper right corner of the Zoom client window.
Another tip: don't forget to join the conference with audio enabled. Also you might inadvertently have muted your mic while in a meeting. The unmute button is located in the lower-left corner of the video and desktop sharing views. It's a fly-over button bar, so you need to move your mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen.

But here is the PEARL TIP: close seamonkey completely before you join a meeting. You can start it again while in the meeting, that's OK. But close it before the meeting, especially if you've been surfing youtube or other audio sites. This tip is purely experiential but it seems to work.
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