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Forum Discussion
Unable to Stream any HD Content from my ReadyNAS Pro 6
Hey There, Everyone!
New on the forum as of today, and ReadyNAS Pro 6 owner for approximately 1 week now! Happy to be aboard! Unfortunately I have run into a problem which is quite frustrating, but I'm sure there must be a solution, as I can read in the forums that others are using their ReadyNAS units in the exact same manner as I am, without these issues, so I'm hoping some of you good folks can steer me in the right direction! Please and thank you in advance for any responses!
So, my setup is a ReadyNAS Pro 6, connected via Gigabit to a D-Link DIR-655 router. The ReadyNAS has 2 - 3 TB HDDs, and 4 - 1.5 TB HDDs, and is running in standard X-RAID2 fashion with 1 drive failure protection. Then I have a MacPro that is also connected via Gigabit, and a MacBook Pro, that is normally connected via wifi, but I have switched to Gigabit to eliminate wifi as a potential issue.
I have moved all of my media (movies, tv shows, etc.) over to the NAS, and I have installed Plex, and setup my library (long time Plex user already - primary reason I purchased the ReadyNAS). I connected the MacBook Pro to the TV, it instantly picked up the Plex library on the NAS, and I started watching my first TV show from the NAS. 55 seconds in, playback froze, and after hanging for a minute stopped completely and went back to Plex...
After a long time of troubleshooting, here is what I've discovered:
Playing back any SD content to either the MacPro or the MacBook Pro from the NAS, using either VLC or Plex works just fine.
Playing back any HD content to either the MacPro or the MacBook Pro from the NAS, using either VLC or Plex freezes anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes in, and then either stops completely, or then plays for another 30 seconds or so, and then stops completely.
In order to troubleshoot this, here is what I've done:
1) Rolled back the firmware on the ReadyNAS to 4.2.17, as I found a couple of posts on here indicating that might help with these types of issues.
2) Tried to start playback, then copy a large file to the local HDD of the playback machine, as again, I found a couple of posts on here indicating that might help with these types of issues.
3) Enabled Jumbo Frames on the ReadyNAS, as my D-Link router supports and auto-detects the frame size
4) Direct connected the NAS to both the MacBook and MacBook pro to eliminate the switch altogether from the equation.
5) Played back the exact same files from the internal RAID on my MacPro over Gigabit to both Plex and VLC on the MacBook Pro, and those files playback perfectly.
6) Played back the exact same files from the internal HDD on my MacBook Pro over Gigabit to both Plex and VLC on the MacPro, and those files playback perfectly.
From that, I've concluded that since it is not the files, it is not the switch, and it is not either computer, it must be the ReadyNAS, as it is the only thing left in the equation. YES - I even swapped out all of the cables too! ;)
I've monitored the traffic over the NIC using iStat Menus during playback, and the traffic will be humming along as expected, and about 5 seconds before playback freezes, it starts dropping rapidly, until it eventually reaches 0. When this happens, I am unable to access my NAS through Finder using either AFP or CIFS for the duration of the playback freeze.
At this point I'm rather stumped, and a little disappointed. I've been troubleshooting on my own for several hours now, and I've run out of ideas, so again, I appreciate any help that someone could give!
New on the forum as of today, and ReadyNAS Pro 6 owner for approximately 1 week now! Happy to be aboard! Unfortunately I have run into a problem which is quite frustrating, but I'm sure there must be a solution, as I can read in the forums that others are using their ReadyNAS units in the exact same manner as I am, without these issues, so I'm hoping some of you good folks can steer me in the right direction! Please and thank you in advance for any responses!
So, my setup is a ReadyNAS Pro 6, connected via Gigabit to a D-Link DIR-655 router. The ReadyNAS has 2 - 3 TB HDDs, and 4 - 1.5 TB HDDs, and is running in standard X-RAID2 fashion with 1 drive failure protection. Then I have a MacPro that is also connected via Gigabit, and a MacBook Pro, that is normally connected via wifi, but I have switched to Gigabit to eliminate wifi as a potential issue.
I have moved all of my media (movies, tv shows, etc.) over to the NAS, and I have installed Plex, and setup my library (long time Plex user already - primary reason I purchased the ReadyNAS). I connected the MacBook Pro to the TV, it instantly picked up the Plex library on the NAS, and I started watching my first TV show from the NAS. 55 seconds in, playback froze, and after hanging for a minute stopped completely and went back to Plex...
After a long time of troubleshooting, here is what I've discovered:
Playing back any SD content to either the MacPro or the MacBook Pro from the NAS, using either VLC or Plex works just fine.
Playing back any HD content to either the MacPro or the MacBook Pro from the NAS, using either VLC or Plex freezes anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes in, and then either stops completely, or then plays for another 30 seconds or so, and then stops completely.
In order to troubleshoot this, here is what I've done:
1) Rolled back the firmware on the ReadyNAS to 4.2.17, as I found a couple of posts on here indicating that might help with these types of issues.
2) Tried to start playback, then copy a large file to the local HDD of the playback machine, as again, I found a couple of posts on here indicating that might help with these types of issues.
3) Enabled Jumbo Frames on the ReadyNAS, as my D-Link router supports and auto-detects the frame size
4) Direct connected the NAS to both the MacBook and MacBook pro to eliminate the switch altogether from the equation.
5) Played back the exact same files from the internal RAID on my MacPro over Gigabit to both Plex and VLC on the MacBook Pro, and those files playback perfectly.
6) Played back the exact same files from the internal HDD on my MacBook Pro over Gigabit to both Plex and VLC on the MacPro, and those files playback perfectly.
From that, I've concluded that since it is not the files, it is not the switch, and it is not either computer, it must be the ReadyNAS, as it is the only thing left in the equation. YES - I even swapped out all of the cables too! ;)
I've monitored the traffic over the NIC using iStat Menus during playback, and the traffic will be humming along as expected, and about 5 seconds before playback freezes, it starts dropping rapidly, until it eventually reaches 0. When this happens, I am unable to access my NAS through Finder using either AFP or CIFS for the duration of the playback freeze.
At this point I'm rather stumped, and a little disappointed. I've been troubleshooting on my own for several hours now, and I've run out of ideas, so again, I appreciate any help that someone could give!
8 Replies
Replies have been turned off for this discussion
- Just wanted to update to say that I have continued to look at this, and I've also just noticed that when playback freezes, the ReadyNAS is also no longer accessible from frontview. When playback freezes, it's almost like the whole NAS itself is locking up for 30 seconds or so.
The best performance I've received thus far is with the NAS and MacPro connected to the D-Link Router, and jumbo frames enabled on the NAS and MacPro as well. With this setup I can playback a 1080p blu-ray rip of Life for approximately 4 minutes before playback freezes. Then it stops for 30 seconds, continues playback for about another 30 seconds, freezes again, repeats. Each time it freezes I cannot access the NAS over AFP, CIFS, or through Frontview from either the playback machine or my laptop. - the plex addon is an early development version, have you tried streaming without using plex on the readynas?
ie stream the files via cifs/nfs/afp - Hey There,
I sure have. I initially thought Plex might be to blame, so then I tried VLC over both AFP and CIFS, and then I tried QuickTime player as well, all with the same results. Then I booted into windows 7 and tried WMP as well, all with the same results. - very strange, I have the original pro and it can exceed the bandwidth of a single gbit connection and no problems with hd.
Some other things you might consider;
- open an online support ticket, while the online forums are supported by the jedi's, if you want official help you need to open a ticket
- if you have a spare disk, power down, remove and label each disk, put the extra spare disk int the nas by it self and let it boot up/factory default it, copy some HD content to it and see if it will stream without errors.
this will help identify if it is related to the disks in the original array. If the single disk streams fine, one (or more) of the other disks could have problems/delays reading that affect the real time hd streaming.
- if possible, you should test each of the array disks with the vendor tools on a PC, ie connected directly to the motherboard sata or esata using wd diags or whatever.
Keep in mind that the disks with your data must be kept as a set and not modified or booted by themselves, and only take them out/put them in the nas with the power off. - Hey Everyone,
Thanks for continuing to try to help me troubleshoot!="TeknoJnky"
- if you have a spare disk, power down, remove and label each disk, put the extra spare disk int the nas by it self and let it boot up/factory default it, copy some HD content to it and see if it will stream without errors.
Thanks for this tip! You got me to thinking it might be the disks... Would another way to test this, be to connect an external HDD via USB to the NAS, and then try to stream to one of my computers from that? I thought it might be a bit easier than taking out all the drives, etc., but still achieve the same effect - streaming from the NAS, with the content on some other drive than it is on now.
In order to get some metrics around my disk/network speeds, I did a couple of things...
First, I did the drag and drop test from the "How to optimize the ReadyNAS" article, and with a 3.01 GB file, I get an average of 32.34 MB/sec read speed from the NAS through my Gigabit network.
Second, I used the AJA System Test to do a Disk Read Existing File test, and the average read speed from the NAS through my Gigabit network was 102 MB/sec.
So then I started taking a look at the disks themselves...
Taking a look at the SMART status of each disc in Frontview, I see the following:
Disk 1: Reallocated Sector Count - 0, ATA Error Count - 0 (Brand new HDD)
Disk 2: Reallocated Sector Count - 0, ATA Error Count - 0 (Brand new HDD)
Disk 3: Reallocated Sector Count - 8, ATA Error Count - 0 (1 Year old HDD)
Disk 4: Reallocated Sector Count - 27, ATA Error Count - 0 (1 Year old HDD)
Disk 5: Reallocated Sector Count - 9, ATA Error Count - 0 (1 Year old HDD)
Disk 6: Reallocated Sector Count - 41, ATA Error Count - 0 (1 Year old HDD)
That got me thinking that, yep, those 1 year old HDDs must be having some issues, so I downloaded all the logs from the ReadyNAS, and in the system.log, I see a couple of curious entries:
This seems to pop up each time I reboot my NAS:
Oct 15 07:17:08 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: WARNING: device requires firmware update to be fully functional.
Oct 15 07:17:08 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: WARNING: device requires firmware update to be fully functional.
Oct 15 07:17:08 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: WARNING: device requires firmware update to be fully functional.
Oct 15 07:17:08 Media-Server kernel: ata6.00: WARNING: device requires firmware update to be fully functional.
And this seems to happen when the streaming stops and the ReadyNAS becomes unreponsive:
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: failed command: FLUSH CACHE EXT
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: cmd ea/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: status: { DRDY }
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata3: hard resetting link
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: failed command: FLUSH CACHE EXT
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: cmd ea/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: status: { DRDY }
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata4: hard resetting link
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata3: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata4: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: configured for UDMA/133
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: retrying FLUSH 0xea Emask 0x4
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: retrying FLUSH 0xea Emask 0x4
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: device reported invalid CHS sector 0
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata3: EH complete
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: device reported invalid CHS sector 0
Oct 15 08:26:04 Media-Server kernel: ata4: EH complete
Oct 15 08:27:31 Media-Server kernel: ata6.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Oct 15 08:27:31 Media-Server kernel: ata6.00: failed command: FLUSH CACHE EXT
Oct 15 08:27:31 Media-Server kernel: ata6.00: cmd ea/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0
Oct 15 08:27:31 Media-Server kernel: res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Oct 15 08:27:31 Media-Server kernel: ata6.00: status: { DRDY }
Oct 15 08:27:31 Media-Server kernel: ata6: hard resetting link
Oct 15 08:27:31 Media-Server kernel: ata6: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
Oct 15 08:27:32 Media-Server kernel: ata6.00: configured for UDMA/133
Oct 15 08:27:32 Media-Server kernel: ata6.00: retrying FLUSH 0xea Emask 0x4
Oct 15 08:27:32 Media-Server kernel: ata6.00: device reported invalid CHS sector 0
Oct 15 08:27:32 Media-Server kernel: ata6: EH complete
Oct 15 08:29:47 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Oct 15 08:29:47 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: failed command: FLUSH CACHE EXT
Oct 15 08:29:47 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: cmd ea/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0
Oct 15 08:29:47 Media-Server kernel: res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Oct 15 08:29:47 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: status: { DRDY }
Oct 15 08:29:47 Media-Server kernel: ata4: hard resetting link
Oct 15 08:29:47 Media-Server kernel: ata4: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
Oct 15 08:29:47 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
Oct 15 08:29:47 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: retrying FLUSH 0xea Emask 0x4
Oct 15 08:29:47 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: device reported invalid CHS sector 0
Oct 15 08:29:47 Media-Server kernel: ata4: EH complete
Oct 15 09:27:24 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Oct 15 09:27:24 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: failed command: FLUSH CACHE EXT
Oct 15 09:27:24 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: cmd ea/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0
Oct 15 09:27:24 Media-Server kernel: res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Oct 15 09:27:24 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: status: { DRDY }
Oct 15 09:27:24 Media-Server kernel: ata5: hard resetting link
Oct 15 09:27:24 Media-Server kernel: ata5: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
Oct 15 09:27:24 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: configured for UDMA/133
Oct 15 09:27:24 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: retrying FLUSH 0xea Emask 0x4
Oct 15 09:27:24 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: device reported invalid CHS sector 0
Oct 15 09:27:24 Media-Server kernel: ata5: EH complete
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: failed command: FLUSH CACHE EXT
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: cmd ea/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server kernel: res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: status: { DRDY }
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server kernel: ata4: hard resetting link
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server kernel: ata4: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: retrying FLUSH 0xea Emask 0x4
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server kernel: ata4.00: device reported invalid CHS sector 0
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server kernel: ata4: EH complete
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server cnid_dbd[7615]: read: Connection reset by peer
Oct 15 12:11:08 Media-Server cnid_dbd[7615]: error reading message header: Connection reset by peer
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: failed command: FLUSH CACHE EXT
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: cmd ea/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server kernel: res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: status: { DRDY }
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server kernel: ata3: hard resetting link
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server kernel: ata3: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: configured for UDMA/133
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: retrying FLUSH 0xea Emask 0x4
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server kernel: ata3.00: device reported invalid CHS sector 0
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server kernel: ata3: EH complete
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server cnid_dbd[7615]: read: Connection reset by peer
Oct 15 12:12:29 Media-Server cnid_dbd[7615]: error reading message header: Connection reset by peer
Oct 15 12:17:17 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
Oct 15 12:17:17 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: failed command: FLUSH CACHE EXT
Oct 15 12:17:17 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: cmd ea/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 0
Oct 15 12:17:17 Media-Server kernel: res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Oct 15 12:17:17 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: status: { DRDY }
Oct 15 12:17:17 Media-Server kernel: ata5: hard resetting link
Oct 15 12:17:17 Media-Server kernel: ata5: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
Oct 15 12:17:17 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: configured for UDMA/133
Oct 15 12:17:17 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: retrying FLUSH 0xea Emask 0x4
Oct 15 12:17:17 Media-Server kernel: ata5.00: device reported invalid CHS sector 0
Oct 15 12:17:17 Media-Server kernel: ata5: EH complete
So it seems pretty clear at this point that the ReadyNAS is not very happy with the status of Drives 3-6.
My plan of attack at this point was to attempt to upgrade the firmware on those drives, and then see if the performance is any better and those warnings/errors disappear.
Failing that, I would plan on swapping out the 1 year old drives with new drives on the compatibility list, one at a time, letting the RAID rebuild, and once complete with new drives, see if the performance gets better.
So now my questions are:
1) Any way to upgrade the firmware of the drives now that they are in the ReadyNAS?
2) If not, can I pull the drives, put them into a USB enclosure, and upgrade the firmware by direct attaching them to a Mac or PC, without messing up the data they contain?
3) Thoughts on my plan of attack?
I suppose worst case, I just take the RAID offline, upgrade the firmware of the drives on another machine, then rebuild the RAID once that has been done, and move my data back over to the RAID. I just hate to do that since I spent such a long time copying everything over. - Hey There!
Well, after doing a little more digging, I think I may have solved the problem! Since the system.log said devices 3-6 all needed a firmware update, and they were the ones having the errors in the log as well, I applied a little Google-fu to the drive make/model, and it turns out this drive with this firmware had issues freezing, especially in RAIDs, and there was a firmware update to address this!
That gave me great hope, but it ended up being a pain in the you know what :twisted: to get the update done, given my hardware situation. There's no way to update the firmware while the drive is in the ReadyNAS (no fault of Netgear on that one!), and I only had access to Macs. Luckily, I came across this:
http://www.tow.com/2008/12/12/updating- ... -firmware/
Which ended up being exactly what I had to do. I downloaded the bootable CD image from Seagate, then went rummaging around for 30 minutes trying to find blank CD-Rs ;) After that, took the drives out of the ReadyNAS, one at a time, removed them from the drive-tray, put it in my Mac Pro drive-dray, booted from the CD (couldn't believe it worked - booting FreeDOS an a Mac!), and then flashed the drive. It took about an hour to do all four of them.
Then I put them back in the NAS, and booted it up just fine, did not have any problem with the drives after the upgrade, and no data had been lost. It currently shows everything as healthy, and I have now streamed over 15 minutes of 1080p HD content over my Gigabit from the NAS to my Mac Pro, and there were no issues or any of the errors mentioned above in the log this time.
Unfortunately I have to run out to take care of some things, so I'll give it a more extensive test this evening, and report back, but hopefully lesson learned - always check your drive model and firmware for any known issues, and take care of it BEFORE you put them in an expensive RAID! :slap:
Many thanks to TeknoJnky for pointing me to the drives, rather than the NAS itself! - awesome, glad you got it sorted
- Just a side comment on your drives, I had several Seagate drives that developed Reallocated Sector counts.
Some were 1.5TB, some were 2TB. In all cases I started to get unexplainable pauses in Read operations.
I also did a firmware update on the 1.5TB drives - probably the same drives that you have.
I RMA'd all the drives that had Reallocated Sectors and the pauses stopped.
I just sent another one back with 25 RSs and a Refurb is expected tomorrow. The other Refurb units still have a Zero count.
Seagate seem quite relaxed about this - no issues wrt the returns
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