How to install NDI runtime and plugin ?

im trying to install NDI into OBS in Mint... ive got OBS installed and running OK and i think ive got the NDI plugin installed but looks like im missing the runtime.. everytime i load OBS i get the following error...

NDI™ Runtime not found.
Download the installer here:
https://github.com/obs-ndi/obs-ndi/blob/master/CI/libndi-get.sh

i follow that link.. download the .sh file, right click on it an select properties/permissions/allow executing file as program.. then i open it in terminal.. it proceeds to download something for about 20 secs, then a whole heap of other stuff executes in the terminal and it closes before being able to read anything..

i then re open OBS but i keep being met with the same error as posted above... im fairly new to linux.. does anyone know where i might be going wrong ?

well... after messing round with this for the last day or so i finally gave up and posted here... then 5 minutes after posting i seemed to get it going! for some reason the last few lines in the .sh script didnt work, but when i type them manually it now appears to work and OBS loads no problem.. weird..

I noticed the NDI output option is just a checkbox to turn it on or off for main and preview etc... how do you change the bitrate being broadcast ? id like the main window output to be in the region of NDI HX bandwidth not the full resolution NDI.... if thats possible ? i want to try and use it over WiFi..

EB123 said:

then i open it in terminal.. it proceeds to download something for about 20 secs, then a whole heap of other stuff executes in the terminal and it closes before being able to read anything..

Click to expand...

If you open an executable file in a terminal, then the terminal closes when the executable ends.
If you open a terminal first, and then type the command to run that file, then the terminal stays open and you can see what it did.

EB123 said:

for some reason the last few lines in the .sh script didnt work, but when i type them manually it now appears to work and OBS loads no problem.. weird..

Click to expand...

That's usually a permissions problem, or an assumed working directory that is not true, or something like that. Maybe you should have used sudo but didn't, or should have cd'd to a particular directory but didn't?

Ultimately, that's a bug in the script for not checking and enforcing that, so they might appreciate a bug report.

EB123 said:

how do you change the bitrate being broadcast ? id like the main window output to be in the region of NDI HX bandwidth not the full resolution NDI.... if thats possible ?

Click to expand...

I didn't think you could. My understanding of NDI is completely uncompressed, so whatever your frame size and rate are, times 32 bits per pixel (8 bits each for red, green, blue, and transparency), is your bitrate. Maybe someone else knows different?

EB123 said:

i want to try and use it over WiFi..

Click to expand...

DON'T!!! If at all possible to use a wire, use a wire! WiFi is radio, and radio has problems for reliability.

EB123 said:

well... after messing round with this for the last day or so i finally gave up and posted here... then 5 minutes after posting i seemed to get it going! for some reason the last few lines in the .sh script didnt work, but when i type them manually it now appears to work and OBS loads no problem.. weird..

I noticed the NDI output option is just a checkbox to turn it on or off for main and preview etc... how do you change the bitrate being broadcast ? id like the main window output to be in the region of NDI HX bandwidth not the full resolution NDI.... if thats possible ? i want to try and use it over WiFi..

Click to expand...

The NDI toolkit is needed.

OBS > NDI Bridge > NDI HX > 2nd PC

AaronD said:

If you open a terminal first, and then type the command to run that file, then the terminal stays open and you can see what it did.

Ultimately, that's a bug in the script for not checking and enforcing that, so they might appreciate a bug report.

DON'T!!! If at all possible to use a wire, use a wire! WiFi is radio, and radio has problems for reliability.

Click to expand...

cool thanks for the help.. i wasnt sure how it would go on wifi but wanted to try it... you arent the first person to suggest it needs a cable.. i'll think i'll start planning along those lines..

rockbottom said:

The NDI toolkit is needed.

OBS > NDI Bridge > NDI HX > 2nd PC

Click to expand...

ahh OK.. sadly i dont think they make NDI Tools for linux though ? my plan is to send NDI out of OBS on a RPi 5 to a computer running windows.. i could maybe do the transcode at windows computer but ideally id like NDI HX to be the output from the Pi to reduce the network bandwidth... if i cant use WiFi reliably though then maybe i can manage with the full bandwidth NDI.. thanks for the help.

Correct and the Bridge is Windows only. I thought you had posted in the NDI thread. It requires a Nvidia or Intel GPU & will use an encoding session but utilization is fairly low. I've tested it with a 1660 Super & 3090 with no issues while also recording/streaming with OBS.

no probs.. thanks for the help.

EB123 said:

well... after messing round with this for the last day or so i finally gave up and posted here... then 5 minutes after posting i seemed to get it going! for some reason the last few lines in the .sh script didnt work, but when i type them manually it now appears to work and OBS loads no problem.. weird..

Click to expand...

I'm seemingly having this same issue. I've retyped the last few lines of the script as you suggested, but it's not working. Did you do anything different? Do you know what script you edited? I'm sure we're going off the same source for order and files, but can you share that with me? I've been going at this for hours so just need to look at whatever possible to find my error.
Thanks.

i dont know if i did anything else that might have affected it.. after installing the NDI plugin i got the error as i posted in the first post.. i followed the link to the runtime and ran it but it didnt remove the error initially.. so i typed the last couple of lines from the script and then it worked.. as mentioned earlier maybe its some permissions thing ? other than that i dont know, sorry i cant be more help..

EB123 said:

well... after messing round with this for the last day or so i finally gave up and posted here... then 5 minutes after posting i seemed to get it going! for some reason the last few lines in the .sh script didnt work, but when i type them manually it now appears to work and OBS loads no problem.. weird..

I noticed the NDI output option is just a checkbox to turn it on or off for main and preview etc... how do you change the bitrate being broadcast ? id like the main window output to be in the region of NDI HX bandwidth not the full resolution NDI.... if thats possible ? i want to try and use it over WiFi..

Click to expand...

Hi EB123,

I've been running into the same issue but have not been able to resolve it. If possible could you let me know what items you had to type out manually or even just run through the setup that you did that ended up working?

i cant remember exactly what i did sorry.. all i recall is manually changing something in the .sh file which i think i copied from github..