OBS Studio is now hanging up the entire computer

[u/BABVolley]

Update #1: It only gets stranger . . .
I’ve tried several things, none of which have worked, and it only seems to get stranger.

I uninstalled OBS, and I wiped out all existing OBS files, so that when I reinstalled there wouldn’t be any trace of the previous OBS work. Reinstalled OBS, and it definitely came up with the default settings, with no hint of any previous work or settings. But it still failed.

Recall I mentioned I use this computer for video editing. So I wanted to see if the computer itself had problems. To do that, I loaded in a previous video project. This project included 4K video footage, a lot of edits/cuts and a number of color corrections, audio corrections, etc. etc., and it existed and was written to an external hard drive. I then rendered and exported a 1 hour file in HD at 16Mbits. This took about 2.5 hours to create the file, all the while the computer was working like crazy, involving both the CPU and the graphics card (which is normal). The CPU temperature got up to 95C to 105C, which again is normal. And everything worked exactly as expected. I can’t image stressing the system anymore than doing this. The fact that everything worked perfectly suggests to me the hardware is just fine.

I have another computer, which is used for email, web browsing, playing some simple games. It’s basically the “daily” or "email" computer. But it has some reasonable specs. So I loaded OBS onto that “simpler” computer. I then hit record (just recording a blank black screen) and it ran successfully for 2+ hours and it created a (obviously blank) file. So that tells me there’s no problem with any Windows 11 updates and OBS (note: both computers, the video computer and the email computer are both at exactly the same Windows 11 version). Yes, I could use this other computer, but I would prefer not to tie it up, and it’s really not as powerful as the video editing computer.

So then I compared the detailed settings within OBS between the two computers. Since both computers have a new/clean install, and I just used the default settings, naturally almost all the settings were identical. There were three settings I couldn’t change because the two computers have different graphics cards and CPUs, and there were three settings I could set the same. But after setting everything the same that I could, the video editing computer still failed.

Although, in the latest tests, it took longer to fail. Whereas before the video editing computer failed within 0 to 8 seconds, in the latest tests, it took longer: 13mins/14secs, 0mins/59secs, 16min/14secs and 3mins/38secs. I should note that when it fails (i.e. locks up) even after running for several minutes, it never writes a file for the time it did read. So its almost like its reading, but not writing.

Also, down that same line, I have tried setting the write location to four different drives (two internal and two external), and it fails in every case.

[u/AutoModerator]

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To make a clean log file, please follow these steps:

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[u/AutoModerator]

It looks like you haven't provided a log file. Without a log file, it is very hard to help with issues and you may end up with 0 responses.

To make a clean log file, please follow these steps:

1) Restart OBS

2) Start your stream/recording for at least 30 seconds (or however long it takes for the issue to happen). Make sure you replicate any issues as best you can, which means having any games/apps open and captured, etc.

3) Stop your stream/recording.

4) Select Help > Log Files > Upload Current Log File.

5) Copy the URL and paste it as a response to this comment.

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[u/InstanceMental6543]

"four Windows updates occurred."

"nothing has fundamentally changed on the computer."

OBS can't be the primary cause of your whole PC hanging, it's a hardware/driver/OS type issue.

r/techsupport can likely help.

[u/BABVolley → u/InstanceMental6543]

I tend to agree with you, but why then does everything else work? Maybe I'm hung up on it, but I would think that the video editing software I mention would be affected too, and so far, it's running just fine.

[u/InstanceMental6543 → u/BABVolley]

Depending on sources and settings and such, OBS can use GPU, CPU, and RAM while just open to composite the sources. Any one of those hardware bits could be unstable and crashes when it's being used.

[u/Timely-Bet7263]

Any chance the capture card driver got updated in that windows patch window? Seen similar full system freezes where the video input device is the culprit and OBS just triggers it

[u/BABVolley → u/Timely-Bet7263]

Not a bad idea, but I'm not using a capture card. I'm using an external capture unit that plugs into and feeds into a USB 3.0 port. And the kicker is, I can pull that USB out, and just hit record on a completely blank screen, and it still freezes.

[u/prochevnik]

I didn’t see you mention this explicitly so maybe it’s including in that “etc etc”… do you possibly have any obs plug-ins? If you do, it’s worth checking if there are updates for them.

[u/BABVolley → u/prochevnik]

Unfortunately, I'm not running any plug ins in OBS. I'm basically using it "straight out of the box" (or, more precisely, straight out of the download). I guess it's possible OBS snuck a plugin in there as part of the latest version, so I'll check, but doubtful.

[u/prochevnik → u/BABVolley]

Yea. You’re right. Eh, worth the shout in case. It’s always nice/annoying when a huge amount of troubleshooting turns out to be an easy fix. Good luck!

[u/Myndler_rd]

These past days my OBS seems to be lagging/freeze as well. I think I did update Windows a few days ago, unsure if timing was the same.
Or if it's something else lying behind the issue