# Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle USB Linux using libbmusb?



## FireStarW (Dec 31, 2016)

While OBS Studio does support Blackmagic devices on linux, Blackmagic themselves don't provide a driver for the  USB 3.0 Intensity Shuttle for linux, making it unusable.

However, there does seem to be a reverse engineered driver that is in the ubuntu repos:
http://packages.ubuntu.com/yakkety/libbmusb-dev
It's a .cpp file driver making it only useful for developers, perhaps OBS could use it so that the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle USB 3.0 is supported under linux?


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## cespuny (Jul 6, 2017)

Hi everyone,

I'm also interested on this topic.
Is there any news about it?  (I'm using Ubuntu 16.04)

Thank you very much!


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## SubbrSchwob (May 18, 2020)

There is this: https://github.com/s-ol/obs-bmusb


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## cyb3rsyn (Nov 12, 2020)

FireStarW said:


> there does seem to be a reverse engineered driver that is in the ubuntu repos:
> http://packages.ubuntu.com/yakkety/libbmusb-dev
> It's a .cpp file driver making it only useful for developers, perhaps OBS could use it so that the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle USB 3.0 is supported under linux?


You can install this package from apt if you enable the Universe (Sources) repository.


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## cyb3rsyn (Nov 12, 2020)

SubbrSchwob said:


> There is this: https://github.com/s-ol/obs-bmusb



Trying to build this from source is a bit tricky, yet to come out clean the other end but I've added a ticket on the git and forked the project to update the README with some further instruction if anyone else wants to have a go.


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## cyb3rsyn (Nov 12, 2020)

The bmusb does not help the intensity shuttle talk to desktop video or media express though so I think it just tries to read the card somehow and pipe the video information onwards.

From what I read, the ubuntu bmusb package is from here http://git.sesse.net/bmusb which is used here https://github.com/mstorsjo/nageru. Looking around the bmusb git, seems to be piping the card through v4l2 somehow but I'm not code-y enough to really get it. It seems this is what s-ol is trying to do, adapt the way that nageru picks up the video data stream and pipe it into obs instead.


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## SubbrSchwob (Nov 17, 2020)

I gave up on the intensity shuttle. Even though, it might be interesting since OBS on my Linux system has hard trouble keeping audio and video in sync. I usually measure the delay but once I restart my computer or OBS, I arbitrary get different latency values, varying hundrets of milliseconds. So a DeckLink card or Intensity Shuttle would solve this as it combines audio and video input. But I never got this to work on Linux.

I got a Blackmagic Atem Mini Pro today, but this won't replace OBS since its direct streaming capabilities are apparently broken in the firmware. So I guess I need to quit streaming until I find the money to by a Mac. OBS on Linux doesn't work properly, also in 26.0.2. the V4L2 Inputs don't work with Avermedia USB-UVC interfaces and the audio/video not-sync is a catastrophe. The industry leader falls behind. But yeah, you get what you pay for.


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## Tuna (Nov 19, 2020)

Want to donate the Shuttle for a bmusb plugin development? :-)

Avermedia I believe is broken by design on Linux. At least last time I got my hands on some logs it was advertising Windows GUIDs on Linux which does not make any sense in the slightest.. Then again if you made these devices work with other Linux app this may be a bug in OBS.

Linux itself is often not to blame. Support from companies for their devices often is..


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## SubbrSchwob (Nov 19, 2020)

The Avermedia Live Gamer Mini and the Avermedia Live Gamer Portable 2 work well on Kubuntu 18.04. – perfect with Skype or Zoom. Close to perfect with OBS 25.0.2. That is to say, very occasionally, the Live Gamer Portable 2 will need rebooting. The Live Gamer Mini really is nice… inexpensive, no trouble. I have used it quite a lot during this year.  

The popular Elgato Cam Link 4k HDMI however did not work with any application for me. The Z Cam E2C in USB-UVC mode makes quite some trouble, but Z Cam neither is too much into Linux support nor into this feature. Which is funny, because it actually is likely to be a V4L2 loopback device inside the camera, which does run Linux and registers as "Linux gadget" to my laptop.

For me, the V4L2 input generally does not work with OBS 26.0.2. - well it does input, but as soon as I go to the settings dialog of a V4L2 source, OBS will enter an infinite loop and will quit responding. 

A last resort would be to try different kernel versions since the V4L2 drivers are shipped with the kernel. But I really don't have the energy for that right now, trying to make at least a few bucks somehow in the Covid lockdown situation. My main job used to be the audio guy, now trying to get at least a little somewhere with streaming. Hence I returned the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle USB to the retailer quite soon.


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## s-ol (Apr 14, 2021)

Hey, "author" of obs-bmusb here. I'm sorry to say that obs-bmusb does not currently work! I tried to get it work but quickly moved on and did other things. Here is the thread in which I asked for help: https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/support-for-bmusb.76295/#post-364965



cyb3rsyn said:


> Looking around the bmusb git, seems to be piping the card through v4l2 somehow but I'm not code-y enough to really get it. It seems this is what s-ol is trying to do, adapt the way that nageru picks up the video data stream and pipe it into obs instead.



bmusb is a driver that talks to blackmagic cards over USB3. Blackmagic also provides a linux driver (called DeckLink) but it only supports PCI and Thunderbolt products. bmusb is used in nageru, but can be used by anyone anywhere to get data into and out of BM devices. I just didn't manage to do it, but someone else might. It should be pretty straightforward theoretically.


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