OBS Camera in browser - a nightmare of 5 cameras

[wcndave]

OBS added a new "virtual camera" in recent years, that replaced the need to install a plugin which created 4 virtual cameras.

However now I cannot get rid of the other 4.
I website I visited asks for permission, I gave it, and it used one of the virtual cameras, there was no way to select which one.
So I tried Firefox that lets you pick, and after picking, it asked me twice for each of 5 cameras each time I load a page...

There are 4 I don't need anymore, yet running virtualcam-uninstall.bat has not removed them.

Even in a zoom call or google meet, I have my elgato device, my main webcam, plus 5 other cameras to select from, which I don't need...

How can I remove them? I even uninstalled OBS and installed again and it made no difference!

Thanks, Dave

 

[PaiSand]

If you installed this virtual cams using a plugin you need to check the procedure for this plugin to be uninstalled.

 

[wcndave]

If you installed this virtual cams using a plugin you need to check the procedure for this plugin to be uninstalled.

I thought the instructions were to run virtualcam-uninstall.bat
This has made no difference...

 

[PaiSand]

Go to the plugin page and ask how to remove the extra 4 you created. You wrote that this external plugin created 4 virtual cams a time ago.
The virtual-cam that comes with OBS do not create 4 different virtual cams, just one. Thus, using the uninstaller only remove this single virtual cam. For other installations you need to follow the uninstall instructions for that other external installation.

Also, make sure you're running the uninstaller as admin.

 

[wcndave]

Go to the plugin page and ask how to remove the extra 4 you created. You wrote that this external plugin created 4 virtual cams a time ago.
The virtual-cam that comes with OBS do not create 4 different virtual cams, just one. Thus, using the uninstaller only remove this single virtual cam. For other installations you need to follow the uninstall instructions for that other external installation.

Also, make sure you're running the uninstaller as admin.

Thanks. I have found out through more searching that this is an ongoing problem with OBS.
I have now found many many users with phantom cameras that never go away.
I've seen registry edits, 3rd party cleaning software and other techniques, which don't work.
It appears these cameras will be here until I re-install windows...

I don't even know the exact plugin, since there's no way to see this in OBS, and I think it's been uninstalled anyway.

 

[koala]

The 4 cameras created by the obsolete plugin are separate to the 1 camera created by OBS itself. The 4 cameras need to be unregistered in Windows differently than the OBS internal one.

The most easy approach would probably be to find out what plugin it is and install that obsolete plugin again into the same directory to where it was before, so you get back all required files you might have deleted manually. Then directly uninstall it again without OBS start, and since all files are there, the removal of the webcam registry should succeed just during uninstall.

If you don't have the installer of that plugin any more, the obsolete plugin you want to get rid of is probably this: https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/obs-virtualcam.949/

Afterwards, I suggest you uninstall OBS completely, then clean up the OBS program directory from any leftovers and any other obsolete plugins, then install OBS and any other plugins you might want again. The configuration isn't touched by uninstalling - it's saved in the user profile and not deleted by uninstalling.

 

[wcndave]

The 4 cameras created by the obsolete plugin are separate to the 1 camera created by OBS itself. The 4 cameras need to be unregistered in Windows differently than the OBS internal one.

Thanks, I'll try that. Although I never uninstalled the plugin in the first place, I just upgraded OBS to a point where it has a built in camera and the others are not needed, however now, I can't select other cameras in chrome/FF etc, it always uses some camera that's not functioning...
I thought it had been uninstalled by the fact that I seem to remember some tools -> plugins option, however perhaps that's more to do with OBS upgrade than plugin removal.

 

[Suslik V]

At least, you can add screenshot to your post or write the name of the virtual devices (capital letters has matter), so anybody familiar with the same software could help you to uninstall your virtual devices.

 

[wcndave]

Sure thing, here's an example. At least in google meet I can select a camera, other sites don't have this.
Also, note that my built-in-to-OBS virtual cam is not running at the moment this was taken.

 

[Suslik V]

I think DirectShow filter for this kind of camera should be unregistered manually and only manually (via editing registry of by cmdline commands). But first, you need to locate the "obs-virtualsource.dll" or similar sources of the virtual camera itself (x86 and x64).

GitHub - CatxFish/obs-virtual-cam: obs-studio plugin to simulate a directshow webcam

obs-studio plugin to simulate a directshow webcam. Contribute to CatxFish/obs-virtual-cam development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

or

Uninstall OBS Virtual Cam but still available for selection · Issue #94 · CatxFish/obs-virtual-cam

Hi, I trialled OBS and the OBS Virtual Cam for a potential setup but no longer required it. I uninstalled both programs but the 4 virtual cams installed are available for selection in Zoom. How do ...

github.com

 

[wcndave]

I think DirectShow filter for this kind of camera should be unregistered manually and only manually (via editing registry of by cmdline commands). But first, you need to locate the "obs-virtualsource.dll" or similar sources of the virtual camera itself (x86 and x64).

I did everything suggested on that github page, however it made no difference. I have manually removed from registry, I have run the install file (which actually just uninstalls the new native virtual camera, so I don't think is even actually related to this plugin...)
Nothing has worked.

 

[Suslik V]

then wait while cache for UI and all your browsers will update.

 

[wcndave]

I have cleared all cookies, then rebooted, and still persists. I then tried in a brand new browser. I tried to join a google meet. It pops up asking if I give permission to access mic and camera (however the camera is OBS-cam and not my real webcam). I select allow, and then I get the pre-join page which says problems with camera, permissions are required, and I can't select the correct one... It's very frustrating indeed!

 

[Suslik V]

Before resetting your Windows, you may try to create new user on your PC with admin rights or without (sometimes it helps). But maybe someone will find better solution for you. I have no other thoughts so far.