OBS hangs when opening "Properties for 'Video capture'" window.

[joshuah]

Hey,

I've been troubleshooting an issue where OBS hangs when selecting "Video Capture Device" from the "Add Source" menu.

I'm currently using an Elgato 4k60 Pro Mk.2 as my capture card. I have tested this with multiple 4k60 Pros and 4k60 Pro Mk.2s across multiple PCs with varying specs. Each one has hit the same problem.

Whenever I select a video capture device with one of the mentioned Elgato capture cards I get the "Properties for 'Video capture'" window appear, but it's completely white. As soon as this appears OBS hangs and becomes unresponsive. I'm unable to close the window, and when trying to interact with any part of OBS after this appears

I have been through what feels like every forum post/Reddit thread related to this issue and have had no success with any of the attempted fixes.
Off the top of my head I have disabled HAGS, fully uninstalled OBS and Elgato 4K capture, updated firmware, reinstalled Windows, modified a reg key for something that I honestly can't remember, moved the capture card to every possible PCIE slot, etc.

For contect, the only thing that I have found that does work, is rolling back to OBS version 25.0.8. On this version I'm able to access the "Properties for 'Video capture'" menu with no issue and then view the capture card as a source.
However, I am running a project that requires a plugin that is only compatible with OBS versions 30 and above. So rolling back isn't currently an option.
I would like to highlight that I DO NOT have the plugin installed at this stage, so it's not that causing the issue.


At this point I'm honestly hoping someone just comes across with an easy fix and I can put this all behind me.

 

[joshuah]

Here's a screenshot of the issue for ref.

 

[joshuah]

Updating for future visibility in case anyone else has the same issue.

I have found a workaround for this issue that I'm quite frankly going to refuse calling a resolution, but at least it works.

I purchased an ASUS TUF Gaming Capture Box-4KPRO to test if I ran into the same issue with an external capture card.
Thankfully it did! No issue with that card and I was able to add it as a source without hitting the white properties window and hang.
However, when adding the ASUS card as a source I noticed that the Elgato 4k60 Pro Mk.2 was also listed. So I went back to the sources menu again and was able to add the Elgato card as a source with no issue this time.

Now, this is where it gets weird.
As I mentioned in the original post I had tested this across multiple PCs, so I thought I'd test different variations of plugging in the new external ASUS capture box and see what happened.

Firstly, I tried on a PC with the Elgato card installed and the ASUS capture box unplugged. I went through the steps of attempting to add a source until I hit the white properties window and confirmed that OBS was now hanging. At this point I plugged the ASUS capture box in and as if by magic, OBS seemed to come back to life. The properties window went from white to it's intended menu options and OBS ceased hanging, allowing me to add either capture device as a source.

Second, I took a PC that had an Elgato card installed that I had previously confirmed had the OBS hang issue. Before launching OBS I plugged in the ASUS capture box and then after a short wait I removed it. I then launched OBS and attempted to add the Elgato capture card as a source. It worked! No white screen, no hanging, it just worked.

Third, I took a different PC that had an Elgato card installed that I had previously confirmed had the OBS hang issue. I removed the Elgato card and booted up the PC. After signing in I plugged in the ASUS capture box and launched OBS. From here I was able to add sources as expected. I then shut down the PC, removed the ASUS capture box and installed the Elgato card again. Once I booted the PC back up and to my surprise I was able to add the Elgato card as a source with no issue.

Finally, I took another PC that had an Elgato card and the OBS hang issue. I performed a clean reinstall of Windows 11 on this PC and once I was signed in the first thing I done was plug in the ASUS capture box, wait a short handful of seconds, then uplug it. I then proceeded to install OBS and attempt to add the Elgato card as a source. You probably guessed by now, but again this worked.
Now there's no way to guarantee this PC was oging to show the same issue again, but considering my sample size (well into double digits, potentially reaching triple digits with a near 100% reproduction rate) I'm going to make the assumption that this would have run into the same issue as all of the others if not for the ASUS intervention.

It's worth mentioning that with all of these PCs I tried my best to get the white screen/hang reappear.
I rebooted the PCs, deleted pretty much everything in the user appdata folders, uninstalled and reinstalled OBS, cleared any relevant reg files, and the list goes on.
It didn't matter, short of a complete OS reinstall the effect of plugging in the ASUS capture box seems permanant.

Now, is this workaround nonsensical?
Yes, very much so.

Is it funny and will I now be using this as a way to "fix" this issue.
Damn right I will.

I don't have the will to dig through log/event files to find exactly what is causing this. I have a way to make this work now and tbh I've sank enough time into finding a resolution that I'm just happy to take the win as is.

TLDR; Buy an ASUS TUF Gaming Capture Box-4KPRO , plug it into your PC and the issue goes away.