Question / Help macOS Catalina camera, mic and screen capture fix

kinngh

New Member
This is continuation of the October 6 thread, thought should post again with all fixes. [ https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/macos-catalina-bug-fix.111268/#post-421752 ]

macOS Catalina breaks OBS, because of the new privacy and app signing requirements. This quick guide fixes most of the issues, along with updating from an older version to the latest version of OBS.

1. Go to your Applications folder and copy/paste the OBS app on your desktop / other location. This is for safe keeping, in case things break, you'll have a backup of your scenes and other properties.

2. Head over to obsproject.com and download the latest installer and update OBS. I just updated mine and my scenes / settings are still there, so can confirm it doesn't break anything. But, backup using step 1 JUST IN CASE.

3. Open Terminal by going to Launchpad and searching for Terminal.

4. From Terminal, open an app like Discord which requires your microphone and camera permissions to work. Can be any other application like Skype to force it to ask for privacy permissions. To Open an app from terminal, type "open" <space> then open the Applications folder, right click on an app like discord, click on "show package contents", go to "Contents", then "MacOS" and drag the "discord" [or whatever app you opened] into the terminal and press enter. If you opened Discord, your terminal should have the following:

Code:
open /Applications/Discord.app/Contents/MacOS/Discord

5. Now do something that requires the access of camera and microphone. In Discord's case, I just video called a friend and allowed "Terminal" to take access of Camera and Mic.

6. Now, close terminal, and using the same method, open OBS, but this time, use the following code:
Code:
 open /Applications/OBS.app/Contents/MacOS/OBS --args -picture

7. Now, give Terminal and SH access to record screen.

Why this works:
- Using terminal to open an app forces terminal to ask for access and clear permissions. If you open OBS after opening a properly functioning app, it will allow OBS to run properly.

Known Bugs:
- Using this method might force OBS to quit about ~5 minutes later the first time. Reopening OBS and streaming works just fine. I streamed for about 4.5 hours with no crash.

Alternate Mic Fix:
My MacBook Pro took my microphone in the first go and worked well, but my iMac just wouldn't pick up any sound from the microphone, so here's a workaround, just incase anyone needs it.

1. Download a virtual audio router for macOS.my personal favorite is Loopback from Rogue Amoeba [Paid] or you can use an open source audio router like Soundflower from Flux Forge/

2. Add microphone as a source in your audio router.

3. Change the source for your mic to your audio router source.

Incase y'all need help, just reply. I will try to help as much as I can. Also, please add in screenshots along with a copy / paste of your error.

Happy Streaming / Recording!
 

rachalmers

Member
This is continuation of the October 6 thread, thought should post again with all fixes. [ https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/macos-catalina-bug-fix.111268/#post-421752 ]

macOS Catalina breaks OBS, because of the new privacy and app signing requirements. This quick guide fixes most of the issues, along with updating from an older version to the latest version of OBS.

1. Go to your Applications folder and copy/paste the OBS app on your desktop / other location. This is for safe keeping, in case things break, you'll have a backup of your scenes and other properties.

2. Head over to obsproject.com and download the latest installer and update OBS. I just updated mine and my scenes / settings are still there, so can confirm it doesn't break anything. But, backup using step 1 JUST IN CASE.

3. Open Terminal by going to Launchpad and searching for Terminal.

4. From Terminal, open an app like Discord which requires your microphone and camera permissions to work. Can be any other application like Skype to force it to ask for privacy permissions. To Open an app from terminal, type "open" <space> then open the Applications folder, right click on an app like discord, click on "show package contents", go to "Contents", then "MacOS" and drag the "discord" [or whatever app you opened] into the terminal and press enter. If you opened Discord, your terminal should have the following:

Code:
open /Applications/Discord.app/Contents/MacOS/Discord

5. Now do something that requires the access of camera and microphone. In Discord's case, I just video called a friend and allowed "Terminal" to take access of Camera and Mic.

6. Now, close terminal, and using the same method, open OBS, but this time, use the following code:
Code:
 open /Applications/OBS.app/Contents/MacOS/OBS --args -picture

7. Now, give Terminal and SH access to record screen.

Why this works:
- Using terminal to open an app forces terminal to ask for access and clear permissions. If you open OBS after opening a properly functioning app, it will allow OBS to run properly.

Known Bugs:
- Using this method might force OBS to quit about ~5 minutes later the first time. Reopening OBS and streaming works just fine. I streamed for about 4.5 hours with no crash.

Alternate Mic Fix:
My MacBook Pro took my microphone in the first go and worked well, but my iMac just wouldn't pick up any sound from the microphone, so here's a workaround, just incase anyone needs it.

1. Download a virtual audio router for macOS.my personal favorite is Loopback from Rogue Amoeba [Paid] or you can use an open source audio router like Soundflower from Flux Forge/

2. Add microphone as a source in your audio router.

3. Change the source for your mic to your audio router source.

Incase y'all need help, just reply. I will try to help as much as I can. Also, please add in screenshots along with a copy / paste of your error.

Happy Streaming / Recording!

Now this is interesting. Having started OBS from the Terminal line using this "open /Applications/OBS.app/Contents/MacOS/OBS --args -picture" yesterday, I already set the permissions in Settings. sh and terminal are both ticked. So today, opening a terminal window I just put in "open <app>" where I dragged the OBS binary from open /Applications/OBS.app/Contents/MacOS/OBS without the arguments, and it works fine. The menu bar on the screen top is now responsive and all my original settings work, screen capture etc etc.
Does it work from the Application folder directly? No it doesn't. It comes up with the "Failed to find locale/en/US.ini" window popup.
But, works fine from the command line. So something is amiss. 24.0.2 version I might add.
 

djsobs

New Member
Anyone figure out a work around for Syphon Inject launched within OBS? (when OBS is launched from the terminal).
 

kinngh

New Member
Now this is interesting. Having started OBS from the Terminal line using this "open /Applications/OBS.app/Contents/MacOS/OBS --args -picture" yesterday, I already set the permissions in Settings. sh and terminal are both ticked. So today, opening a terminal window I just put in "open <app>" where I dragged the OBS binary from open /Applications/OBS.app/Contents/MacOS/OBS without the arguments, and it works fine. The menu bar on the screen top is now responsive and all my original settings work, screen capture etc etc.
Does it work from the Application folder directly? No it doesn't. It comes up with the "Failed to find locale/en/US.ini" window popup.
But, works fine from the command line. So something is amiss. 24.0.2 version I might add.

With the --args -picture command, what you're doing is forcing the app to get camera permissions. So even when you run it later, or even without the arguments, the popups for permission are still going to be there. The --args -picture is purely to ensure that permissions are granted on the first launch
 

ladio

New Member
The user MartinM describes a solution in this post which solved the issue for me:
 

benjancewicz

New Member
Is there any fix for this? I run "open /Applications/OBS.app/Contents/MacOS/OBS --args -picture" every time I need to start OBS to get it to work, but it gets old.
 

dodgepong

Administrator
Forum Admin
The latest versions of OBS should not require any special command. Simply run OBS as normal, and ensure that OBS has permission to record your screen in your macOS security/privacy settings.
 

dodgepong

Administrator
Forum Admin
System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy tab > Screen Recording > check the box next to OBS (you may have to click the lock in the lower left corner first).
 
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