Before recording, a host or guest might get an error message that reads ‘Notallowederror: Permission denied’ or ‘Notallowederror: Permission denied by system’.
In this article:
Issue
When a host or guest is on a recording page, they get an error message that says ‘Notallowederror: Permission denied’ or ‘Notallowederror: Permission denied by system’.
Causes
Zencastr needs access to participants’ microphones for all recording modes and also needs access to participants' cameras for the ‘Record Audio Only, Show Video’ and ‘Record Audio and Video’ modes.
‘Permission denied by system’ is an error that appears when Zencastr is not able to access a participant’s microphone and/or camera. The participant (host or guest) who sees the error on their screen is the person whose microphone or camera is not being accessed.
This most frequently happens when:
Microphone and/or camera access has not been allowed in the browser.
The browser has not been allowed access to the microphone and/or camera in the computer’s security/privacy settings.
Note: Microphone and/or camera access permissions often need to be redone after updating a computer’s operating system version, and sometimes after updating a browser version.
Less frequently, this might happen when:
The wrong microphone and/or camera is selected in the participant's Zencastr settings.
Another application that uses the camera (e.g. Zoom, Skype, etc.) is open at the same time as Zencastr.
There is a problem with the actual microphone and/or camera that is causing it not to work.
Troubleshooting
Camera access is needed for the ‘Record Audio Only, Show Video’ and ‘Record Audio and Video’ modes. If the recording is in the ‘Record Audio Only’ mode, you can skip any troubleshooting steps for a camera, marked below with *.
Try in this order:
1. Enable microphone (and camera*) access in the browser
On the page, the participant clicks the lock icon on the left side of the browser address bar.
For Microphone, the participant selects Allow or toggle this to on.
For Camera, the participant selects Allow or toggle this to on.*
The participant may need to reload or refresh the page for the changes to take effect.
2. Enable the browser to access microphone (and camera*) in the computer’s privacy settings
The participant clicks the Apple menu on their computer.
The participant clicks System Preferences.
The participant clicks Security & Privacy.
The participant clicks the Privacy tab.
On the left, the participant locates Microphone.
On the right, the participant locates the browser they are using - Chrome, Edge, or Brave - and checks the box to allow that browser to access the microphone.
On the left, the participant locates Camera.*
On the right, the participant locates the browser they are using - Chrome, Edge, or Brave - and checks the box to allow that browser to access the camera.*
The participant restarts (closes and reopens) their browser for the changes to take effect.
The participant clicks the Start menu on their computer.
The participant clicks Settings.
The participant clicks Privacy.
On the left, the participant locates Microphone.
In the middle, under ‘Allow apps to access your microphone’ the guest toggles this to On.
Under ‘Choose which apps can access your microphone’, the participant locates the browser they are using - Chrome, Edge, or Brave - and toggles it to On.
On the left, the participant locates Camera.*
In the middle, under ‘Allow apps to access your camera’ the participant toggles this to On.*
Under ‘Choose which apps can access your camera’, the participant locates the browser they are using - Chrome, Edge, or Brave - and toggles it to On.*
The participant may need to restart (close and reopen) their browser for the changes to take effect.
3. Check Zencastr settings
The participant should check that the correct devices are selected in their settings for microphone, speakers, and camera.
Some audio interfaces or mixers have multiple options for microphone/audio input. If the participant is using one of these devices, they should make sure the correct microphone/audio input is selected.
For Rodecaster Pro, ‘Rodecaster Pro Stereo’ not ‘Rodecaster Multitrack’ should be selected as both the microphone/audio input and the speaker/audio output.
For Host
In the Recording Page, click Settings.
Check to see if the correct device is selected for the audio input, audio output, and camera.
Note: To change a device, click on the dropdown bar for the audio input, audio output, and/or camera and select the new device.
For Guest
On the green room page, the guest checks the microphone bar to see if the correct device is selected for the audio input.
The guest checks the speaker bar to see if the correct device is selected for the audio output.
The guest checks the camera bar to see if the correct device is selected.*
Note: To change a device, the guest clicks on the dropdown bar and selects the new device.
4. Close any programs besides Zencastr that are using the camera*
On some computers, particularly those running Windows, the camera cannot be used by two applications at the same time.
The participant should close any other programs that are using the camera, such as Zoom, Skype, etc.
5. Test the microphone (and camera*)
To confirm that there is not an issue with the microphone (and/or camera*) itself, the participant can open another browser-based program/app that uses the microphone (and camera*), such as Google Meet.
In Google Meet, the participant should test that the microphone (and camera*) can be selected and the input and output is working correctly.
6. Contact Zencastr Support
If none of the above steps work, contact Zencastr Support via chat or email.