I know this issue has been discussed a lot on the forums, but I have found one tentative solution.
Is there any way to have the OBS development team take a look at this issue? And should I show them? If you have an opinion, please let me know.
Details of the problem
While distributing using OBS, the status bar in the lower right corner suddenly turns red and the transmitted packet becomes 0kb/s.
(Depending on the OBS settings, the status bar sometimes remained green and became 0kb/s.)
Sometimes it would be in increments of 1-2 hours, sometimes in increments of a few minutes, sometimes in increments of a few tens of seconds.
In addition, after the 0kb/s, the OBS reconnect function restores the connection in about 10-20 seconds, but during that time, the transmission is completely frozen on the viewer's side, so it is impossible to even watch properly if this happens frequently in increments of several minutes.
(The Twitch Inspector log shows a lot of communication interruptions. There was a pattern of live streaming that lasted only 22 seconds.)
How I dealt with my case (conclusion)
I tried every possible solution, but I couldn't solve the root problem.
The temporary solution was to switch the distribution tool to a tool other than OBS or StreamlabsOBS. (I reluctantly ended up using XSplit)
Possible causes
As we will see later, the same symptom occurred in OBS (windows/mac) and StreamlabsOBS, which is developed by appropriating the source code of OBS, suggesting that there is probably something wrong with the core processing of the OBS software.
(What do you think about this conclusion? Do you think there are other possibilities?)
--
Log of trial and error
・Update OBS to the latest version
The problem has been around for a few years, so updates have come and gone, but updating has never solved the problem.
・Configure various settings of OBS
Output mode:
I tried both Basic and Advanced. Some people in other forums said this solved their problem.
Encoder settings:
I tried all three: H.264, H.264 / HVENC(new) and H.264 / HVENC(ffmpeg). Some people in other forums said that this solved their problem.
Rate Control:
Tried CBR and VBR.
Bit rate:
The frequency of the symptoms did not change at all when the target bit rate was lowered to a very low rate of 500 kbps or less.
Presets:
We tried all kinds of patterns, from quality-oriented to performance-oriented.
Process priority:
I tried changing it to a higher one, but there was no change.
Network:
We specified Ethernet as the IP to be used for live streaming. We also tried all the checkboxes for dynamic bit rate, network optimization, and TCP pacing.
Campus Resolution:
Downscaling from 1080p to 720p.
Frame Rate :
Reduce from 60fps to 30fps.
Language setting:
I changed the language setting to English and re-distributed it.
(After all this time, I am Japanese. I'm sorry for my poor English.)
・Trial and error for OBS settings related to live streaming service
Switching live streaming services:
The same problem occurred on both YouTube Live and Twitch. I also tried streaming live via Restream.io, which can broadcast to multiple sites, but the same problem occurred when sending packets to Restream.io.
Specify the server to be used for live streaming:
Since the major distribution services have servers in various countries around the world, we tried servers in Japan, as well as in Korea, Taiwan, and the United States.
Ignore recommended settings for live streaming services:
I toggled the checkbox on and off, but there was no change.
・Start OBS with administrator rights.
Some people on foreign forums said this solved the problem, but it didn't make the slightest difference at all.
・Live streaming with OBS completely reset
I tried live streaming with the OBS settings and scene composition reset, but there was no change.
・Using the multi-service simultaneous live streaming plug-in
I tried live streaming using obs-multi-rtmp, an OBS plug-in for simultaneous live streaming developed by a volunteer, but there was no change.
・Using RtmpRelayer
This is another application that allows you to use OBS for live streaming to multiple services at the same time, with RtmpRelayer taking the data from OBS and sending packets to various live streaming services. This one didn't work either.
・Try streaming with OBS for mac and StreamlabsOBS
I tried OBS for mac, which I have, and StreamlabsOBS. (Both are almost clean installs), but I had the exact same problem with both.
Since the same problem occurred on different platforms and applications, my brain had already determined that it was a network problem.
・Restart the ONU and router
Unplug the ONU and the router connected to it and plug them back in.
・Do not use a switching hub
I tried live streaming by connecting my PC directly to the router without going through a switching hub, but it didn't work.
・Different LAN cable
This is the one that I could try in the process of connecting not through the switching hub, but there is no change.
・Using a USB Ethernet Adapter
Naturally, I have a wired connection to my PC to connect to the Internet, but I thought the Ethernet connector might be bad, so I tried to use the Ethernet adapter that connects to the USB port that I used for the Nintendo Switch, but there was no change.
・Switching to Wi-Fi
I dared to start streaming wirelessly to determine if there was a problem somewhere around the wired wiring, but there was no change.
・Specify a DNS server
I tried Cloudflare DNS, but it didn't work.
・Setting exceptions for firewall and security software
Assuming that Windows Defender or security software is misbehaving, set OBS and related communications as exceptions.
・Release the port used by RTMP.
Some people in other forums said that this solved their problem. I released the port 1935 in the TCP related settings of the router.
・Windows and GPU Driver Update
I updated Windows 10 itself and GPU related drivers. I also switched between the Studio driver and the Game Ready driver in Geforce Experience.
・Trying applications other than OBS and streamlabsOBS
After all this trial and error, I finally started to suspect the cause to my ISP.
Thinking that these would not work, I tried XSplit and Avermedia's RECentral 4.
Both of them confirmed that I could connect to the Twitch server stably.
Check out the Twitch Inspector log here. You can see that the lines that have been tested using OBS are still frequently interrupted (the longest is 2.6 hours), but the top line is the one that was tested using XSplit. Can you see the continuous delivery time of 10.8h listed on the left side?
To be honest, I couldn't believe my eyes, but I couldn't imagine that something that had been repeatedly interrupted until just before would become so stable without any particular reason. After that, I repeated the test transmission with XSplit for a while, but the transmission was not disconnected even once.
To be honest, I didn't want to believe it, but I finally found out that it was caused by an application called OBS.
It may be that I was blind to this possibility because I liked the fact that the software was free and very easy to use and customize, so much so that I could not accept the idea of using any application other than OBS for live streaming. I still don't want to believe it.
--
I don't want to give up on using OBS, but I currently have no choice but to give up on OBS, and I'm hoping that the fact that XSplit can deliver without problems will give me a clue. If anyone knows a solution, please suggest it. Thanks in advance.
Is there any way to have the OBS development team take a look at this issue? And should I show them? If you have an opinion, please let me know.
Details of the problem
While distributing using OBS, the status bar in the lower right corner suddenly turns red and the transmitted packet becomes 0kb/s.
(Depending on the OBS settings, the status bar sometimes remained green and became 0kb/s.)
Sometimes it would be in increments of 1-2 hours, sometimes in increments of a few minutes, sometimes in increments of a few tens of seconds.
In addition, after the 0kb/s, the OBS reconnect function restores the connection in about 10-20 seconds, but during that time, the transmission is completely frozen on the viewer's side, so it is impossible to even watch properly if this happens frequently in increments of several minutes.
(The Twitch Inspector log shows a lot of communication interruptions. There was a pattern of live streaming that lasted only 22 seconds.)
How I dealt with my case (conclusion)
I tried every possible solution, but I couldn't solve the root problem.
The temporary solution was to switch the distribution tool to a tool other than OBS or StreamlabsOBS. (I reluctantly ended up using XSplit)
Possible causes
As we will see later, the same symptom occurred in OBS (windows/mac) and StreamlabsOBS, which is developed by appropriating the source code of OBS, suggesting that there is probably something wrong with the core processing of the OBS software.
(What do you think about this conclusion? Do you think there are other possibilities?)
--
Log of trial and error
・Update OBS to the latest version
The problem has been around for a few years, so updates have come and gone, but updating has never solved the problem.
・Configure various settings of OBS
Output mode:
I tried both Basic and Advanced. Some people in other forums said this solved their problem.
Encoder settings:
I tried all three: H.264, H.264 / HVENC(new) and H.264 / HVENC(ffmpeg). Some people in other forums said that this solved their problem.
Rate Control:
Tried CBR and VBR.
Bit rate:
The frequency of the symptoms did not change at all when the target bit rate was lowered to a very low rate of 500 kbps or less.
Presets:
We tried all kinds of patterns, from quality-oriented to performance-oriented.
Process priority:
I tried changing it to a higher one, but there was no change.
Network:
We specified Ethernet as the IP to be used for live streaming. We also tried all the checkboxes for dynamic bit rate, network optimization, and TCP pacing.
Campus Resolution:
Downscaling from 1080p to 720p.
Frame Rate :
Reduce from 60fps to 30fps.
Language setting:
I changed the language setting to English and re-distributed it.
(After all this time, I am Japanese. I'm sorry for my poor English.)
・Trial and error for OBS settings related to live streaming service
Switching live streaming services:
The same problem occurred on both YouTube Live and Twitch. I also tried streaming live via Restream.io, which can broadcast to multiple sites, but the same problem occurred when sending packets to Restream.io.
Specify the server to be used for live streaming:
Since the major distribution services have servers in various countries around the world, we tried servers in Japan, as well as in Korea, Taiwan, and the United States.
Ignore recommended settings for live streaming services:
I toggled the checkbox on and off, but there was no change.
・Start OBS with administrator rights.
Some people on foreign forums said this solved the problem, but it didn't make the slightest difference at all.
・Live streaming with OBS completely reset
I tried live streaming with the OBS settings and scene composition reset, but there was no change.
・Using the multi-service simultaneous live streaming plug-in
I tried live streaming using obs-multi-rtmp, an OBS plug-in for simultaneous live streaming developed by a volunteer, but there was no change.
・Using RtmpRelayer
This is another application that allows you to use OBS for live streaming to multiple services at the same time, with RtmpRelayer taking the data from OBS and sending packets to various live streaming services. This one didn't work either.
・Try streaming with OBS for mac and StreamlabsOBS
I tried OBS for mac, which I have, and StreamlabsOBS. (Both are almost clean installs), but I had the exact same problem with both.
Since the same problem occurred on different platforms and applications, my brain had already determined that it was a network problem.
・Restart the ONU and router
Unplug the ONU and the router connected to it and plug them back in.
・Do not use a switching hub
I tried live streaming by connecting my PC directly to the router without going through a switching hub, but it didn't work.
・Different LAN cable
This is the one that I could try in the process of connecting not through the switching hub, but there is no change.
・Using a USB Ethernet Adapter
Naturally, I have a wired connection to my PC to connect to the Internet, but I thought the Ethernet connector might be bad, so I tried to use the Ethernet adapter that connects to the USB port that I used for the Nintendo Switch, but there was no change.
・Switching to Wi-Fi
I dared to start streaming wirelessly to determine if there was a problem somewhere around the wired wiring, but there was no change.
・Specify a DNS server
I tried Cloudflare DNS, but it didn't work.
・Setting exceptions for firewall and security software
Assuming that Windows Defender or security software is misbehaving, set OBS and related communications as exceptions.
・Release the port used by RTMP.
Some people in other forums said that this solved their problem. I released the port 1935 in the TCP related settings of the router.
・Windows and GPU Driver Update
I updated Windows 10 itself and GPU related drivers. I also switched between the Studio driver and the Game Ready driver in Geforce Experience.
・Trying applications other than OBS and streamlabsOBS
After all this trial and error, I finally started to suspect the cause to my ISP.
Thinking that these would not work, I tried XSplit and Avermedia's RECentral 4.
Both of them confirmed that I could connect to the Twitch server stably.
Check out the Twitch Inspector log here. You can see that the lines that have been tested using OBS are still frequently interrupted (the longest is 2.6 hours), but the top line is the one that was tested using XSplit. Can you see the continuous delivery time of 10.8h listed on the left side?
To be honest, I couldn't believe my eyes, but I couldn't imagine that something that had been repeatedly interrupted until just before would become so stable without any particular reason. After that, I repeated the test transmission with XSplit for a while, but the transmission was not disconnected even once.
To be honest, I didn't want to believe it, but I finally found out that it was caused by an application called OBS.
It may be that I was blind to this possibility because I liked the fact that the software was free and very easy to use and customize, so much so that I could not accept the idea of using any application other than OBS for live streaming. I still don't want to believe it.
--
I don't want to give up on using OBS, but I currently have no choice but to give up on OBS, and I'm hoping that the fact that XSplit can deliver without problems will give me a clue. If anyone knows a solution, please suggest it. Thanks in advance.