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Most problems show up right in the SermonWave dock: a status line at the top, health warnings, and messages under each section. This article explains them and lists common messages with their fix.
Who it's for#
Anyone running the SermonWave OBS plugin when something isn't working.
Before you start#
- Open the dock: Docks → SermonWave.
- Note your plugin version: open Advanced ▾ at the bottom of the dock; the info line shows the device number and plugin version.
Read the status line#
The top of the dock shows the connection and the session state.
| Connection | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Connected | All good. |
| Connected (reconnecting event stream…) | Briefly lost the live channel; it reconnects by itself. |
| Connecting… | Starting up. |
| Server unreachable — retrying | No internet, or a firewall blocks SermonWave. Audio is buffered meanwhile. |
| In use by another client (e.g. a browser tab) | The device is open as a Web device somewhere. Click Take over this device. |
| Taken over by another client | Someone took the device from another place. Take it back with Take over this device if that was a mistake. |
| Unpaired — pair again / Not authorised | The pairing was removed. Pair again. |
The session state is Idle, Armed — waiting for speech or Translating.
Health warnings#
The plugin watches its connection and your computer and shows a warning in the dock when something is wrong for more than a few seconds:
- Audio link down — buffering (N s) — audio isn't reaching SermonWave. Nothing is lost: the plugin keeps up to 5 minutes of audio and sends it when the link is back, and translations catch up. Check the internet connection.
- Network congested — translation delayed N s — your upload is too slow to keep up. Translations arrive late. Reduce other uploads (translated streams, cloud backups) or the stream bitrate.
- Network congested — the stream is dropping frames — your main stream is struggling. Lower the video bitrate or remove a translated stream.
- Computer overloaded — OBS is skipping frames — the computer can't keep up with encoding or rendering. Use a hardware encoder, lower the resolution or frame rate, or close other programs.
Below the warnings, a line like "Audio link: Opus · 26 kbps · last send 0.4 s ago · 0 reconnects" shows the audio connection in detail.
Logs and diagnostics#
OBS log file. Everything the plugin does is written to the normal OBS log, on lines starting with [sermonwave-obs].
- In OBS, open Help → Log Files.
- Choose Upload Current Log File and copy the link, or Show Log Files to find the file.
- Send it to support with the time the problem happened.
Automatic diagnostics. When the plugin detects a problem (for example a long audio backlog, repeated reconnects, or translations arriving without a voice), it sends a diagnostics report to SermonWave once the connection allows. Support can also ask your OBS for a fresh report while it is connected, so you don't have to collect anything by hand. Reports never include stream keys, passwords or sign-in tokens.
Dashboard. The device's page in the Dashboard shows its status, and for OBS devices each translated output (live, bitrate, dropped frames, recording file), read-only. See Live monitoring.
Common messages#
| Message (exactly as shown) | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The code expired. Get a new code. | The pairing code is older than 10 minutes. | Click Get a new code. |
| Pairing was denied in the dashboard. | An admin clicked Deny. | Get a new code and ask the admin to confirm. |
| Too many pairing attempts from this network. Retrying in a minute… | Many codes requested from your network. | Wait; it retries by itself. |
| This server does not support OBS pairing yet. | The server in Advanced ▾ isn't the normal SermonWave server. | Choose SermonWave (default) and Apply. |
| Could not reach the server (…). Retrying… | No connection to SermonWave. | Check internet and firewall. |
| The selected source is not in this scene collection — nothing is being sent. | The pastor mic source doesn't exist in this scene collection. | Pick a source under Pastor microphone. |
| The source is muted — sending silence. | The mic source is muted in OBS. | Unmute it in the Audio Mixer. |
| No languages assigned to this device — ask a SermonWave admin. | No languages assigned in the Dashboard. | An admin assigns languages to the device. |
| Could not save the languages: … | Saving the device languages failed. | Check the connection and try again. |
| The device no longer translates into this language, so no captions will arrive. Choose another language. | A language OBS uses was removed from the device. | Choose another, or add it back under Translation. |
| Error: paste your stream key | A translated stream has no key. | Paste the key for that language. |
| Error: the server must start with rtmp:// or rtmps:// | Invalid custom server. | Fix the Server. |
| Error: the server refused the stream key | Wrong or expired key. | Copy the key again from the platform. |
| Error: could not connect to the server | The streaming server can't be reached. | Check the address and your connection. |
| Error: this is the main stream's own server and stream key — … | Same key as the main stream. | Use a separate stream key per language. See translated streams. |
| Error: start the main stream / recording first | The translated output needs the main output. | Start your main stream or recording. |
| Error: the main recording has no shareable encoder (lossless or custom output) — use a normal recording format | Lossless or custom recording output. | Change the recording quality/format in OBS. |
| Error: no AAC audio encoder available | OBS has no AAC encoder. | Reinstall OBS Studio from obsproject.com. |
| Re-sync failed (the disk is full). … | No space for the synced file. | Free disk space. The live-mixed file is kept. |
| … sentence(s) later than the delay (up to … s): raise the sync delay | Translation took longer than the sync delay. | Raise Sync delay. See sync. |
| YouTube: live streaming is not enabled on this channel (…) | Channel not enabled for live. | YouTube Studio → Go live; wait up to 24 h. |
| YouTube: the sign-in was revoked or expired — sign in again | YouTube access ended. | Click Sign in with YouTube. |
| That YouTube stream key was deleted — pick another | Key removed in YouTube Studio. | Pick another key. |
For more YouTube messages, see Stream to YouTube automatically.
FAQ#
Translations stopped during the service. Is the audio lost?#
Usually not. If the link drops, the plugin buffers up to 5 minutes of audio and sends it when the connection is back; translations catch up a little later.
Should I restart OBS?#
Only as a last step. Most problems recover by themselves once the connection is back. If you restart, note the time first so support can find it in the log.