28518e403e
- netdata-apps-fds-group-false-positive: the apps_group_file_descriptors_utilization false 100% on forking/root app groups (tailscaled on MajorToot 2026-05-15), the not-a-privilege gotcha, fleet-wide silence fix in MajorAnsible. - obs-stale-script-paths: pending from prior session (not on remote). - SUMMARY.md: link both (re-applied onto upstream after concurrent rebase). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
129 lines
4.8 KiB
Markdown
129 lines
4.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "OBS Studio — \"Error opening file: (null)\" After Windows Profile Rename"
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domain: troubleshooting
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category: streaming
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tags: [obs, streaming, windows, lua, profile-migration]
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status: published
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created: 2026-05-14
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updated: 2026-05-14
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---
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# OBS Studio — "Error opening file: (null)" After Windows Profile Rename
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## Symptom
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Loading a scene collection in OBS Studio triggers a popup like:
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```
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[<ScriptName>.lua] Error opening file: (null)
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```
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The `(null)` is the giveaway: OBS resolved the registered script path to nothing — the file doesn't exist where the scene collection says it does. Most commonly this happens after a Windows profile was renamed or migrated and `C:\Users\<old>\...` paths were not updated.
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## Why it happens
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OBS stores per-scene-collection Lua/Python script registrations inside the scene collection JSON at:
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```
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%APPDATA%\obs-studio\basic\scenes\<Collection>.json
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```
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Each entry under `modules.scripts-tool[]` is an absolute Windows path. Renaming the Windows profile does not rewrite these — the JSON keeps pointing at the old `C:\Users\<old>\...` location, and OBS surfaces the resolution failure as a `(null)` popup on collection load.
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## Diagnose
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From WSL (or any shell with access to `%APPDATA%`):
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```bash
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OBS_DIR="/mnt/c/Users/<current-windows-user>/AppData/Roaming/obs-studio"
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# 1. List scene collections
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ls "$OBS_DIR/basic/scenes/"
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# 2. Find collections referencing the missing script
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grep -l -i "<script-name-substring>" "$OBS_DIR/basic/scenes/"*.json
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# 3. Dump the scripts-tool paths from each suspect collection
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python3 -c "
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import json, sys
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d = json.load(open(sys.argv[1]))
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for s in d.get('modules', {}).get('scripts-tool', []):
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print(s.get('path'))
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" "$OBS_DIR/basic/scenes/<Collection>.json"
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```
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If a printed path contains `C:/Users/<old-username>/...` and the file doesn't exist on disk, you've found it.
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## Fix
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> [!warning] Close OBS first
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> OBS rewrites the scene collection JSON when it exits. Any edit made while OBS is running will be overwritten. Confirm with `tasklist.exe | grep obs64` (WSL) or Task Manager.
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### 1. Make the missing script reachable
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Either:
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- **Re-extract / restore the script** to a path under the new profile (recommended — gives you a clean canonical home), or
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- **Leave it in the rescue/migration folder** and point OBS there (fragile if the rescue folder is later deleted).
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### 2. Back up the scene collection JSON
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```bash
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SCENES="/mnt/c/Users/<current-windows-user>/AppData/Roaming/obs-studio/basic/scenes"
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STAMP="$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
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cp -p "$SCENES/<Collection>.json" "$SCENES/<Collection>.json.$STAMP.bak"
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```
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### 3. Rewrite the paths atomically
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Edit the JSON in place by parsing it, replacing the matched path strings, and writing through a temp file (so a crash mid-write can't corrupt the collection):
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```bash
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python3 <<'PY'
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import json, os
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scenes = "/mnt/c/Users/<current-windows-user>/AppData/Roaming/obs-studio/basic/scenes"
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mapping = {
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"C:/Users/<old>/Pictures/.../<script>.lua":
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"C:/Users/<new>/Pictures/.../<script>.lua",
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}
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for fn in ("<Collection>.json",):
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path = os.path.join(scenes, fn)
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d = json.load(open(path))
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for entry in d.get("modules", {}).get("scripts-tool", []):
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if entry.get("path") in mapping:
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entry["path"] = mapping[entry["path"]]
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tmp = path + ".tmp"
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json.dump(d, open(tmp, "w"), indent=4)
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os.replace(tmp, path)
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PY
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```
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OBS scene JSONs use forward slashes in Windows paths — preserve that style.
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### 4. Verify
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Re-run the diagnostic Python snippet and confirm every printed path resolves to a real file (translate `C:/` → `/mnt/c/` from WSL).
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### 5. Reopen OBS
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Load the scene collection. The popup should be gone.
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## Why not just remove the script?
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If the script is part of a third-party overlay pack (Twitch Pimpage, OWN3D, etc.), removing the registration also removes the overlay's source presets — fixing the path keeps the imported scenes intact. If you don't actually use the overlay anymore, removing the `scripts-tool` entry is fine; OBS will silently drop the broken reference on next save.
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## Generalization
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This same pattern applies to any OBS asset path stored in a scene collection or profile:
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- Browser source local files
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- Image / media source files
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- Lua / Python script paths
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- VST plugin paths
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All of them are absolute, all of them survive a Windows profile rename in stale form, and all of them can be batch-rewritten with the same JSON-edit pattern above. Search for the old username substring across `%APPDATA%\obs-studio\` to catch them all in one pass.
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## Related
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- [[../../MajorInfrastructure/Devices/MajorRig|MajorRig device note]] — Incident Log 2026-05-14 (TTT/MLS scene popups) and 2026-05-07 (`majli` profile retirement that left these references stranded)
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- [[../04-streaming/obs/obs-studio-setup-encoding|OBS Studio Setup and Encoding Settings]]
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