Need help recovering an irreplaceable MKV recording (M1 Mac, Intel OBS, recording stuck on "Stopping Recording")

Z

Zeax

New Member
Hello,

I'm hoping someone can help me recover an important recording that cannot be recreated.

System

  • MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020)
  • macOS 26.5.2
  • OBS Studio 32.1.2 (Intel version, running under Rosetta)
  • Recording format: MKV
  • Video encoder: x264
  • Audio encoder: FFmpeg AAC
  • Rate Control: CBR
  • Bitrate: 6000 Kbps
  • Output Resolution: 1644×1028
  • 60 FPS
What happened

I recorded a once-in-a-lifetime event. When I clicked Stop Recording, OBS became stuck on "Stopping Recording" for approximately 35 minutes.

During that time:

  • The recording file continued to exist on disk.
  • The file eventually grew to about 2.48 GB.
  • OBS eventually returned to normal without crashing.
The original MKV still exists.

The problem

The recording appears to be corrupted.

  • The timeline originally showed about 58 minutes.
  • The video is almost completely frozen from the beginning (only a few frame changes).
  • The audio becomes corrupted around 24 minutes.
  • Remuxing the MKV to MP4 does not fix it.
  • VLC shows the same behavior.
  • Playing the MKV directly in OBS also shows the same behavior.
I also discovered afterward that I had accidentally installed the Intel version of OBS instead of the Apple Silicon version.

After switching to the Apple VT H.264 Hardware Encoder and changing my recording settings, all new recordings work correctly, so the issue seems limited to recordings made with my previous configuration.

Relevant log information

The log includes:

  • <span>Rosetta translation used: true</span>
  • <span>Video stopped, number of skipped frames due to encoding lag: 190098/190144 (100.0%)</span>
I also noticed rendering lag reported in the log.

What I still have

  • The original MKV file
  • A remuxed MP4
  • The complete OBS log from the recording session
My questions

  1. Does the log suggest the encoded video frames were never written, or could the MKV still contain recoverable video data?
  2. Is there any recommended recovery method beyond remuxing (OBS tools, FFmpeg, or another approach)?
  3. Has anyone seen this specific combination of symptoms before (Intel OBS under Rosetta, recording stuck on "Stopping Recording," and 100% encoding lag)?
  4. If needed, I'm willing to provide the log file or a sample of the recording.
This recording is extremely important to me and cannot be recreated. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I can give a small sample of the damage MKV if needed.

Thank you.
 

Attachments

The file is toast...

17:00:43.595: Output 'adv_file_output': Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 5722 (21.8%)
17:00:43.600: Video stopped, number of skipped frames due to encoding lag: 9447/26174 (36.1%)
 
I understand the recording is likely corrupted. Before I give up, is there any way to verify whether the encoded H.264 stream actually contains usable frames, or is the 100% encoding lag enough to conclude that the video was never successfully encoded? I still have the original MKV and I'm trying to determine whether any specialized recovery tool would have a chance.
 
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