Bug Report OBS is becoming unstable!

G

Grid21

Member
I don't care what anyone says, there is something wrong with the OBS Studio Update 25.0.4. I am having issues with the Encoder Crashing, or a new one, OBS Out Right Crashed and CLOSED itself in the middle of my stream. I have done the following. Clean my GPU Drivers, Updated my Plugins for NDI and web socket. I made sure Windows was up to date, and I am STILL having issues on my Nvidia GPU.
I INSIST that the OBS Team Please check the code for OBS because I am NOT the only user that has had CONSTANT crashing issues. and NO My Logs don't even REFLECT a crash either. I really don't understand what is going on with OBS and WHY NOW? Why after months of being fine is this suddenly happening? It really unlike this software to do what it's doing. :(
 

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Your windows is not up to date. You're on 1903. The most recent full revision is 1909. You're also running 2nd gen Ryzen... when is the last time you updated your bios?

Regardless of that fact, you're running into a bug that has yet to be narrowed down with nvenc:
Code: 
20:28:03.460: [jim-nvenc: 'streaming_h264'] get_encoded_packet: nv.nvEncLockBitstream(s, &lock) failed: 4 (NV_ENC_ERR_INVALID_DEVICE)
Supposedly this is something that needs to be fixed on Nvidia's side, and is related to vram usage. I'm not that familiar with the full details there, other than it has plagued COD:MW and similar titles starting back around October of last year.

What I can say is that you can possibly change your encoding settings to help.
Code: 
16:59:27.861: [jim-nvenc: 'recording_h264'] settings:
16:59:27.861:     rate_control: CBR
16:59:27.861:     bitrate:      18000
16:59:27.861:     cqp:          20
16:59:27.861:     keyint:       250
16:59:27.861:     preset:       hq
16:59:27.861:     profile:      high
16:59:27.861:     width:        1920
16:59:27.861:     height:       1080
16:59:27.861:     2-pass:       false
16:59:27.861:     b-frames:     2
16:59:27.861:     lookahead:    true
16:59:27.861:     psycho_aq:    true
Turn off lookahead and Psychovisual tuning. These both use CUDA, and potentially will exacerbate the issue.

Aside from this, the general guidance is to limit your in-game VRAM usage (with texture resolution being the main factor).

If that does not solve the issue, then the most likely "fix" will come from an nvidia driver update down the road. In the meantime, using x264 or other encoding is the only as-of-yet known way to entirely avoid this specific problem.
 
carlmmii said:
Your windows is not up to date. You're on 1903. The most recent full revision is 1909. You're also running 2nd gen Ryzen... when is the last time you updated your bios?

Regardless of that fact, you're running into a bug that has yet to be narrowed down with nvenc:
Code: 
20:28:03.460: [jim-nvenc: 'streaming_h264'] get_encoded_packet: nv.nvEncLockBitstream(s, &lock) failed: 4 (NV_ENC_ERR_INVALID_DEVICE)
Supposedly this is something that needs to be fixed on Nvidia's side, and is related to vram usage. I'm not that familiar with the full details there, other than it has plagued COD:MW and similar titles starting back around October of last year.

What I can say is that you can possibly change your encoding settings to help.
Code: 
16:59:27.861: [jim-nvenc: 'recording_h264'] settings:
16:59:27.861:     rate_control: CBR
16:59:27.861:     bitrate:      18000
16:59:27.861:     cqp:          20
16:59:27.861:     keyint:       250
16:59:27.861:     preset:       hq
16:59:27.861:     profile:      high
16:59:27.861:     width:        1920
16:59:27.861:     height:       1080
16:59:27.861:     2-pass:       false
16:59:27.861:     b-frames:     2
16:59:27.861:     lookahead:    true
16:59:27.861:     psycho_aq:    true
Turn off lookahead and Psychovisual tuning. These both use CUDA, and potentially will exacerbate the issue.

Aside from this, the general guidance is to limit your in-game VRAM usage (with texture resolution being the main factor).

If that does not solve the issue, then the most likely "fix" will come from an nvidia driver update down the road. In the meantime, using x264 or other encoding is the only as-of-yet known way to entirely avoid this specific problem.
Click to expand...

What I don't understand was, all I was playing was Valorant. And while yes I have quite a few browser sources and plugins. a 6GB Video card like a 980 Ti shouldn't be having this issue at all!


Also if I turn off the psyhco-visual tuning, and Look Ahead will that affect the look and quality of my stream? Is there a way to let Nvidia know that this bug is happening? Also, I can't update my bios beyond version 5007 because the most recent update renders my Motherboard unbeatable. I will try to call Asus and ask them if I can go at least 1 version up from 5007. Please let me know the answers I need from the questions I have because I have been losing my mind over this and my viewers feel bad when my stream crashes and I feel so unprofessional when my stream goes down. :(
 
Honestly, psychovisual tuning and lookahead will have minimal impact on the quality. Do side-by-side tests for your own verification, but in my own testing I can't tell a difference in a blind comparison (using a 900-series card as well).

As far as letting Nvidia know this is happening, I'm not exactly sure what routes are available. They do have their own forums, as well as support channels, although this is one of those technically niche issues where getting in contact with the right person is paramount.

For reference sake, this mantis ticket has the most information I know of that exists on the issue, and this started back in September. It was "fixed" with an nvidia driver update in late january, although the completeness of this fix is unclear.

For your motherboard bios issue, I would definitely contact ASUS support and see what needs to be done. That is definitely an issue.
 
carlmmii said:
Honestly, psychovisual tuning and lookahead will have minimal impact on the quality. Do side-by-side tests for your own verification, but in my own testing I can't tell a difference in a blind comparison (using a 900-series card as well).

As far as letting Nvidia know this is happening, I'm not exactly sure what routes are available. They do have their own forums, as well as support channels, although this is one of those technically niche issues where getting in contact with the right person is paramount.

For reference sake, this mantis ticket has the most information I know of that exists on the issue, and this started back in September. It was "fixed" with an nvidia driver update in late january, although the completeness of this fix is unclear.

For your motherboard bios issue, I would definitely contact ASUS support and see what needs to be done. That is definitely an issue.
Click to expand...
Can you explain to me what about my Ryzen has to do with my Issue with OBS Studio? I am a little lost as too how it connects with my current standing issue.

EDIT: I ask so that when I call Asus, I have something sensible to tell them so I don't sound like some idiot with a problem.
 
Blaming others and the community behind OBS Studio for your own devices & failures is unprofessional. Hardware companies run into bugs all the time, especially companies involved with new games, more so new releases, beta and early access titles.
Carl gave you some good tips in the post above, but it's up to you to configure your own stuff. The only thing we in community can do is to chip in if we have the time and want to, we're not responsible for your streaming life.
Posting demands, blaming everyone is unprofessional as you so fittingly put it.

Nvidia has a forum over here -> https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/discover/
You can also open a support ticket there. https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/support/

Your cpu should be able to pull off a 720p stream x264, how much the game will tax the cpu at the same time idk as i havent played it.
As a means to an end temporarily it would work quite fine. Alternatively buy a dedicated x264 encoder or setup another pc do to that.

Grid21 said:
What I don't understand was, all I was playing was Valorant. ..980 Ti shouldn't be having this issue at all!
..beyond version 5007 because the most recent update renders my Motherboard unbeatable... I have been losing my mind over this and my viewers feel bad when my stream crashes and I feel so unprofessional when my stream goes down. :(
Click to expand...
 
Grid21 said:
Can you explain to me what about my Ryzen has to do with my Issue with OBS Studio? I am a little lost as too how it connects with my current standing issue.

EDIT: I ask so that when I call Asus, I have something sensible to tell them so I don't sound like some idiot with a problem.
Click to expand...
AMD has been updating their microcode to go along with windows updates (with 1st and 2nd gen being most impacted), which is important for stability and hardware communication. Considering you're experiencing issues related to your GPU and/or drivers, making sure you have the most up-to-date bios to work with the most up-to-date windows helps to eliminate potential issues at the motherboard/cpu level.

The fact that you can't perform the bios update is not normal -- this is something that is either faulty with the bios that was released (which is very much a possibility), or something is going on with your motherboard.
 
Last edited:
carlmmii said:
AMD has been updating their microcode to go along with windows updates (with 1st and 2nd gen being most impacted), which is important for stability and hardware communication. Considering you're experiencing issues related to your GPU and/or drivers, making sure you have the most up-to-date bios to work with the most up-to-date windows helps to eliminate potential issues at the motherboard/cpu level.

The fact that you can't perform the bios update is not normal -- this is something that is either faulty with the bios that was released (which is very much a possibility), or something is going on with your motherboard.
Click to expand...
I was told by Asus not too, for the moment, go to the newest bios, but if I am really having issues, maybe I can ask them if I can go to the bios version before the one that was unstable and causing issues. I wasn't sure who was at fault as a lot of other OBS users were also having the same issues as myself. I had been streaming at 720p 60FPS, but decided to go to a higher resolution for a better-looking stream. So is it possible I am also reaching the limit of my current GPU too? Or should that not matter and is this a CPU/Nvidia driver issue?
 
I wouldn't worry about the bios then -- this update seems to have been having issues across the board, so that's probably what's going on there.

I doubt changing the encoding output resolution is going to have an effect on this specific issue -- the compositing is done at the resolution of your canvas, and then that final image is scaled down to the output resolution. Once it's in the nvenc encoding chain, there's no impact on the rest of the GPU (unless CUDA functions are enabled).

Aside from that, for the bitrate that you're set to, a 720p60 stream on x264 veryfast (or fast, if you can pull it off) is probably going to look much better than 1080p60 on 900-series nvenc. If this were a turing card, it would be a different issue. But previous-gen Nvenc's quality barely trades blows with x264 veryfast, and considering what you're giving it (i.e. fast motion shooter), going for a lower resolution but higher quality-per-pixel would be a worthwhile tradeoff.
 
carlmmii said:
I wouldn't worry about the bios then -- this update seems to have been having issues across the board, so that's probably what's going on there.

I doubt changing the encoding output resolution is going to have an effect on this specific issue -- the compositing is done at the resolution of your canvas, and then that final image is scaled down to the output resolution. Once it's in the nvenc encoding chain, there's no impact on the rest of the GPU (unless CUDA functions are enabled).

Aside from that, for the bitrate that you're set to, a 720p60 stream on x264 veryfast (or fast, if you can pull it off) is probably going to look much better than 1080p60 on 900-series nvenc. If this were a turing card, it would be a different issue. But previous-gen Nvenc's quality barely trades blows with x264 veryfast, and considering what you're giving it (i.e. fast motion shooter), going for a lower resolution but higher quality-per-pixel would be a worthwhile tradeoff.
Click to expand...
I prefer using Hardware Encoding because 1. it seems like the best route for most cases, and 2. for my system it seemed to work the best. I'll try turning off the 2 settings you mentioned and see what happens tonight when I go to stream again.
 
I agree with you that hardware encoding would be the best route for performance for your system. But if you're encountering a bug that's unavoidable without a fix from nvidia or a workaround from OBS devs in the future, then the only real option right now is to not use it for those cases where the bug appears.
 
carlmmii said:
I agree with you that hardware encoding would be the best route for performance for your system. But if you're encountering a bug that's unavoidable without a fix from nvidia or a workaround from OBS devs in the future, then the only real option right now is to not use it for those cases where the bug appears.
Click to expand...
Would it deem possible that a newer RTX card would solve this issue? Or is it truly just a Driver issue? Not to mention, do the OBS Devs know this is a current standing issue?

EDIT: Here's something I just found in the changelog for the most current driver 445.87

"Behavior Change in NvEncCreateBitstreamBuffer API of Video
Codec SDK
In the NVIDIA driver, Release 415 and later, the behavior of the Video Codec SDK API
(NvEncCreateBitstreamBuffer) has been changed to return NV_ENC_ERR_UNIMPLEMENTED instead
of NV_ENC_SUCCESS when the encoder instance is configured to run in the motion estimation-only
mode. As an indirect consequence of this change, the AppEncME sample application from the
Video Codec SDK prior to SDK version 8.2.16 will crash due to a bug in the NvEncoder class."
 
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