There are a few issues that may prevent a user from sharing their webcam.
1. Unable to find available webcams
When the user clicks to share their webcam, the browser will first search for available webcams.
If none are available, you will see a NotReadableError: Could not start video source message. This error is caused when there are no available webcam sources. The reasons for this are
- Another application (such as skype) is using the webcam and won't release it
- You have an older version of ManyCam installed (Windows 10)
First, if you have ManyCam installed, upgrade it to the latest version.
Second, restart your computer. This clears any access to you webcam so that the browser can access it.
2. Latest version of FireFox, Chrome, or Edge
While there are checks in place to warn the user, in general the user should use the latest version of Chrome, FireFox, or Edge (which as of version 18 is based on Chromium).
Users of the older version of Edge will have intermittent success sharing their webcam.
3. Permission not granted to share webcam
Before a user can share their the webcam, the browser will ask for permission to access the user's webcam. On Mac OS X, the operating system will also ask (one time) for permission as well.
If the user didn't grant permission, there will be webcam icon on the browser's tool bar with a slash '/' through it. Click that icon will give the user another change to grant permissions (a refresh of the page may be needed).
4. Error Establishing Connection (1020)
If there is an error setting up a network connection with the virtual class server, the user will get "Error 1020: media could not reach the server". The issue is usually network-related (usually due to a firewall).