Failed to start recording. Could not start video source

[pannet1]

After the countdown i got Failed to start recording. Could not start video source

./Recordly-linux-x64.AppImage [91539:0919/145329.052797:ERROR:ui/gl/init/gl_factory.cc:110] Requested GL implementation (gl=egl-gles2,angle=none) not found in allowed implementations: [(gl=egl-angle,angle=default)]. [91539:0919/145329.065581:ERROR:components/viz/service/main/viz_main_impl.cc:190] Exiting GPU process due to errors during initialization [media-server] Listening at http://127.0.0.1:33027 [91555:0919/145329.199111:ERROR:ui/gl/init/gl_factory.cc:110] Requested GL implementation (gl=egl-gles2,angle=none) not found in allowed implementations: [(gl=egl-angle,angle=default)]. [91555:0919/145329.200152:ERROR:components/viz/service/main/viz_main_impl.cc:190] Exiting GPU process due to errors during initialization RECORDINGS_DIR: /home/pannet1/.config/Recordly/recordings User Data Path: /home/pannet1/.config/Recordly [91585:0919/145329.331074:ERROR:ui/gl/init/gl_factory.cc:110] Requested GL implementation (gl=egl-gles2,angle=none) not found in allowed implementations: [(gl=egl-angle,angle=default)]. [91585:0919/145329.331952:ERROR:components/viz/service/main/viz_main_impl.cc:190] Exiting GPU process due to errors during initialization [91486:0919/145329.346417:ERROR:dbus/object_proxy.cc:572] Failed to call method: org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Get: object_path= /org/freedesktop/portal/desktop: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.InvalidArgs: No such interface “org.freedesktop.portal.FileChooser” [91592:0919/145329.354051:ERROR:ui/gl/init/gl_factory.cc:110] Requested GL implementation (gl=egl-gles2,angle=none) not found in allowed implementations: [(gl=egl-angle,angle=default)]. [91592:0919/145329.354966:ERROR:components/viz/service/main/viz_main_impl.cc:190] Exiting GPU process due to errors during initialization [PERF:MAIN] HUD Window: did-finish-load in 321ms [PERF:MAIN] HUD Window: renderer-ready in 476ms [91486:0919/145329.695923:ERROR:ui/gfx/x/atom_cache.cc:234] Add _NET_RESTACK_WINDOW to kAtomsToCache Checking for update Update for version 1.4.0 is not available (latest version: 1.4.0, downgrade is disallowed). [91486:0919/145759.798929:ERROR:content/browser/browser_main_loop.cc:274] GLib-GObject: ../../../gobject/gsignal.c:2699: instance '0x37c01c09dc0' has no handler with id '1955' [main] Closing HUD window via hud-overlay-close

OS: Debian latest
built using npm build:linux

[Adedamolas]

Same here on v1.4.0 (Linux AppImage, Pop!_OS / GNOME on X11, single monitor). I tracked down the root cause.

Root cause:
When no source is selected in the HUD, the renderer falls back to the screen:linux-portal pseudo-source and calls getDisplayMedia(). The main-process setDisplayMediaRequestHandler then does this on Linux, regardless of session type:

js
if (process.platform === "linux" && (selectedId === "screen:linux-portal" || !selectedId)) {
callback({ video: { id: "screen:0:0", name: "Entire screen" } });
return;
}

screen:0:0 only works with the Wayland/PipeWire portal. On X11, desktopCapturer source IDs are based on the RandR monitor, e.g. on my machine:

"screen:411:0 | Screen 1 (Primary)"

So Chromium can't open screen:0:0 and throws NotReadableError: Could not start video source.

Verification
Running inside the HUD window via DevTools:

Call & Result
|---|---|
| getUserMedia({ chromeMediaSourceId: "screen:0:0" }) | ❌ NotReadableError: Could not start video source |
| getUserMedia({ chromeMediaSourceId: "screen:411:0" }) | ✅ 1920×1080 @ 60fps |
| getDisplayMedia() (after the patch below) | ✅ screen:411:0, 1920×1080 |

The Requested GL implementation (gl=egl-gles2…) / Exiting GPU process errors in the log are a second, separate bug. They don't cause the capture failure (capture succeeds with the GPU disabled once the source ID is correct). But they break the editor: after recording, it shows

No supported Pixi preview renderer was available. Attempted: webgl: CanvasRenderer is not yet implemented | webgpu: CanvasRenderer is not yet implemented

The cause is in mE(): on X11, Recordly appends use-gl=egl. This Electron build only allows egl-angle, so the GPU process exits, Chromium falls back to --use-gl=disabled, and WebGL/WebGPU are unavailable. After dropping that switch on Linux (useGl: undefined), the GPU process starts normally. WebGL reports ANGLE (Intel, Mesa Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620, OpenGL 4.6), WebGPU gets an adapter, and the editor preview renders.

Fix:
Only use the portal path on Wayland. bx() (the existing Wayland session check in main.cjs) already does this:

- if (process.platform === "linux" && (selectedId === "screen:linux-portal" || !selectedId)) {
+ if (process.platform === "linux" && isWaylandSession(process.env) && (selectedId === "screen:linux-portal" || !selectedId)) {

On X11 it then falls through to desktopCapturer.getSources() and picks the real screen.

And for the editor, stop forcing EGL on X11:

- linux: { useGl: shouldUseEgl(env) ? "egl" : undefined, disableFeatures: [...] }
+ linux: { useGl: undefined, disableFeatures: [...] }

I patched both into the built app.asar locally, and recording and editing now both work.

It looks like several open PRs already address this (#678, #705, #768, #905, #925). Could one of them get merged? Right now the Linux release is unusable on X11 out of the box.

Workaround for other users

Explicitly select a screen/window in the HUD source picker before recording. That path calls getUserMedia with the real source ID and works on X11.

Related: #364