MED1000X3D Box freezes when streaming over NFS - SOLVED

[sweet_anesthesia]

Hi there!

I just upgraded from Firmware 1.0 to 1.03b Sept.21 via GUI. Now most (not all) mkv i stream from my linux box via NFS let the box freeze randomly after a few minutes watching. The picture freezes and the box does not react to any input except pressing the power button for >5 seconds or so. The freezes occur randomly, not at always at the same point in the movie. It did not happen with the 1.0 firmware. When I copy the mkv to the internal HD the mkv will play fine without any problems.

The box is connected to a Denon AV 2309 receiver via HDMI and further to a Samsung LED TV. Network connection is via gigabit ethernet switch to a linux box running fedora 17 using the builtin nfs-server.

I did not really find a pattern as to when mkvs stream fine and when they let the med1000x freeze. Is there a way to access a log file or debug information which would give me or any of you a hint where the problem lies?

Thank you for any help here.

EDIT: This issue has been solved with firmware version 1.0.3b Oct17

[Maasbommel]

How did you connect to your nfs shares?
same way as you did with the 1.0 version?
Or did you now use the probe function?

[sweet_anesthesia]

The same way I connected before - manually entering the network adress and share.

I will try the new firmware from Sept 29 and report back.

[Maasbommel]

check the new NFS diagnose feature by pressing F1 button in that release.

[sweet_anesthesia]

Well the problem remains with the latest firmware. I tried the NFS probe function also this time - nothing changed. Here is the output from the NFS diagnose function:

rw,relatime,vers=3,rsize=32768,wsize=32768,namlen=255,hard,nolock,proto=udp,port=65535,timeo=7,retrans=3,sec=sys,mountport=65535,mountproto=,addr=192.168.178.20

I can't see anything suspicious but maybe you guys can compare it to your output and see if there is a difference.

Tomorrow i will set up a samba share and see if that works. But i would rather stick with NFS if possible.

Thank you!

[Mede8er1]

sweet_anesthesia

You should try to disable 'Jumbo Frames' and you can also try to enable 'Flow Control' on your Linux box.  Otherwise plug the X3 into a 10/100 port on your router as a test.

Mede8er1

[sweet_anesthesia]

Hi there!

Jumbo Frames are disabled by default on the server (mtu 1500):

Code: [Select]

ifconfig

p20p1: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.178.20  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.178.255
        inet6 fe80::21a:4dff:fe5f:1878  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether 00:1a:4d:5f:18:78  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 38624722  bytes 49773408960 (46.3 GiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 37773671  bytes 27146362482 (25.2 GiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

The strange thing is, I can copy the mkv via the Mede8er NFS menu to my internal HD and the copy process runs smoothly. I can watch that copy without any glitches or freezes. If I stream it directly via NFS I get the freezes (after 5-10 minutes usually).

So the network setup can't be the problem in my understanding.

I set up samba on my box and right now I am successfully streaming that same mkv via samba share.

Next thing I will look for an old 100Mbit switch and see if that makes a difference to NFS streaming.

Btw. is it possible to telnet into the Mede8er as it was with the older models? I would like to change the NFS client settings and this is not possible via GUI.

Thank you.

[jer1956]

When  your copying the CPU can focus totally on emptying the TCP/UDP buffers.  When your streaming the CPU has to also run the player which unpacks the media and sends it to the codec chip. So it's essential to not waste the CPU's time hanging around waiting for network  handshakes.  The system dosn't muit-task well..it has to transfer a bit..and then process it in sequence. So sometimes it's better to send smaller amounts of data when streaming...which is ineffecient from  a copying viewpoint.    

Also if using NFS..there is no need to enable Samba. If Samba is on..but not in use..it's going to get interrogated periodically by Network Discovey..and thats' more unwanted multi-tasking.

[sweet_anesthesia]

@jer1956 Thank you for your comment. I understand your point. I am not complaining about stuttering audio or video, I am complaining about the box completely freezing during mkv playback so that a hard reset is needed. I don't use Samba. I like to stick with NFS. But if NFS doesn't work, i need to switch to Samba.

Anyway, I tried to downgrade the firmware from the latest 1.03 to 1.02 because I did not have this problem with the original 1.0 firmware. 1.02 was the closest one I found to the original 1.0.  And now, running 1.02, streaming over NFS works like a charm. No more crashes. So I figure the problem was somehow caused by a change in one of the latest firmware versions.

I would really like to help pinpoint the bug that causes the crashes in the newer firmwares. If I can be of any help, please feel free to contact me.

Btw. downgrading can only be done with the emergency firmware installation. The GUI does not support downgrading.

Thank you!

 

[Mede8er1]

sweet_anesthesia

Thanks for you feedback.

We have done some huge work on the high bit rate mkv's and increased the max stream speed from about 33Mb/s to +- 90Mbs for the users who complained about this problem.

If you check the changelogs you will see the changes in the following releases  

V1.03 - 29Aug 2012  -  Max MKV stream speed +- 60Mb/s
V1.03 - 21Sept 2012  - Max MKV stream speed +- 90Mb/s

So it would help a lot if you can do two tests for us
1) Test Version  V1.03 - 27Aug 2012 with mkv files on NFS  
2) Test Version  V1.03 - 29Sept 2012 with non MKV files on NFS

We need to know if this is a NFS / MKV problem due to the tuning that we did on MKV max stream speed .
      
Mede8er1

[sweet_anesthesia]

@Mede8er1

So i tried those firmwares on my Mede8er and this is what I found:

V1.02 - 24Jul 2012:
.mkv - plays fine
BD-ISO - plays fine

V1.03 - 29Aug 2012:
.mkv - box freezes
BD-ISO - plays fine

V1.03 - 21Sept 2012:
.mkv - box freezes
BD-ISO - plays fine

All playbacks via NFS. Hope that helps. Feel free to ask me for more information or testing.

Thank you

[sweet_anesthesia]

 

I really hate to say this, but the Firmware version 1.0.3 from October 17 does not fix the mkv-freezing-issue i am experiencing on my network setup.

I went through all the firmware versions that are available for download. The only version I can use without my box freezing during mkv-playback over NFS is version 1.0.2 from July 24.

The feature or bug that causes this problem for me was introduced between v1.0.2 jul24 and v1.0.3 aug10 and is persistent in all versions from then on.

Please tell me if I can help you in any way to fix this.

Thank you

[jer1956]

Changes are being made dealing with variuos issues raised by users of specific NAS devices. Your "linux box" is very vague. It would be nice to have more details of that device..hardware software etc?

It's not unknown for changes made to help one group create issue for others who never had them before. We can't just go back as that puts the others back where they where.

[Mede8er1]

sweet_anesthesia

We were able to reproduce the freezing of MKV files via NFS 32K on Gbit network and as far as we are concerned our 12 hour continues play test confirms that this issue is resolved. Pls can you re download the release as when it was originally posted the link pointed to the incorrect firmware ie 29 Sept release and that has since been corrected.

Mede8er1

[sweet_anesthesia]

jer1956:

My server is a desktop pc being used as a homeserver.

hardware is a gigabyte ga-ep35-ds3r mainboard with a intel core2quad q9300 cpu at regular clockspeed. 8 gb ram. 5 samsung sata hds connected via the onboard controller and used as a raid5 with linux software-raid. the system is connected via the onboard gbit ethernet port to a D-Link 1005d gbit switch and from there with the med1000x.

the system is running 64bit Fedora 17 gnome desktop. the raid is shared as nfsv4 share.The linux system is running the latest updates. The nfs-server software is the one that is builtin the fedora system. the raid is shared in /etc/exports with this configuration: /srv/nfsv4/raid 192.168.178.0/255.255.255.0(ro,sync,root_squash)

I am not asking you to go back. I am just pointing you to the firmware version where this bug was introduced. I figured this might be useful in finding the reason for the med1000x freezing.

Is there any way to get debug information or logfiles that might give a hint to the problem? Is there a way to access the med1000x via ssh or a terminal to get to this information as it was with the older mede8er boxes?

Thank you for your help