n-Serve crashes

Posted by: bobsp on 07 June 2017

I have an HDX-SSD attached to a Synology NAS and I have a recurring fault whereby n-Serve crashes when creating a new playlist. The playlist is created and seems ok, although on one occasion I have lost some without any notice. The HDX and n-Serve are up to date.

Rebuilding the indexes (on advice from a Naim dealer) seemed to fix the problem, but it came back after the first HDX reboot - I usually close the system down overnight. The problem is more of a nuisance than anything else, although the concern is what is causing the problem. Naim are aware of the problem, so the purpose of the post is to find out whether anyone else has seen the problem.

Posted on: 07 June 2017 by Richard Dane

Bob, I've moved this to the Streaming Audio room, which is probably more appropriate for your post.

Posted on: 08 June 2017 by Adam Zielinski

First of all I would not close the system down for the night - it's designed to be left on 24/7. If anything - the software and hardware in the HDX / UnitiServe are a bit ancient and prone to bugs - the most vulnerable moments are shut-downs and startups (the last sentence is based on my experience).

 

Posted on: 08 June 2017 by Claus-Thoegersen
Adam Zielinski posted:

First of all I would not close the system down for the night - it's designed to be left on 24/7. If anything - the software and hardware in the HDX / UnitiServe are a bit ancient and prone to bugs - the most vulnerable moments are shut-downs and startups (the last sentence is based on my experience).

Prone to bugs?

 

The worst thing about the old servers is the low tolerance to unexpected powerdown in the wrong way!

 

And yes I have seen the problem also. Unfortunately not when the last beta version of nserve was tested. I am not a big fan of playlists.

Claus

Posted on: 08 June 2017 by bobsp

Hi Adam and Claus thanks for your responses. The whole system, aged NAP250s aside, used to be left on, but in these more environmentally conservative times, I started to switch it off. I know leaving it all on is meant to stabilise the circuits etc. There are pros and cons in the case of the HDX. There is always the risk of a power outage or lightning strike, with the risk greater if it is on 24x7. If you close the HDX down cleanly and are not bothered about the warm-up period, then I see no reason that it should cause a problem.

Really the HDX should be resilient to failures but in some cases the unit has to be sent back to Salisbury. It would be interesting to know whether further firmware upgrades are planned that would make it more resilient. There are some  constraints with the HDX for those who have HiRes classical music in that the number of metadata tags supported via indexing, is very limited.

it is good to know that at least Claus has seen the playlist problem. Whilst I do not use them a lot, sometimes it is useful to be able to tie different but related pieces of music together.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: 08 June 2017 by Adam Zielinski

My UnitiServe had to be exchanged 4 times and reset several times - somehow it never made it past the start up phase - it was stuck executing some BIOS commands. So now I just leave it on (that's what I meant by 'bugs').

Posted on: 08 June 2017 by bobsp

Hi Adam, thanks for the clarification. It sounds like you have been through a few issues. I would still suggest that the problems should not occur and it sounds like you are still at risk of a power outage.

Posted on: 08 June 2017 by Adam Zielinski
bobsp posted:

Hi Adam, thanks for the clarification. It sounds like you have been through a few issues. I would still suggest that the problems should not occur and it sounds like you are still at risk of a power outage.

My UnitServe now resides in an 'engine room' with other network equipment. It's plugged into a UPS which will power the network equipment, US and my NAS for up to 20 minutes. Enough for a controlled shutdown.

Posted on: 08 June 2017 by bobsp

Ok, so it looks like you have all eventualities covered! From memory UPS are not cheap. The HDX has to be close to the rest of the system and sits on the Naim Fraim. Even if I bought a UPS, there would be nowhere I could put it out of sight..

Posted on: 08 June 2017 by Adam Zielinski
bobsp posted:

Ok, so it looks like you have all eventualities covered! From memory UPS are not cheap. The HDX has to be close to the rest of the system and sits on the Naim Fraim. Even if I bought a UPS, there would be nowhere I could put it out of sight..

Iin your case UPS is not really an option for two reasons.

One: mentioned already: they are not the prettiest things invented.

Two: they actually create a fair amount of interference on the mains, so it's best to keep them on a separate circuit.

Posted on: 08 June 2017 by bobsp

Yes good point. Really there should be no need for a UPS as the US and HDX should be resilient enough. I would think that your US is the exception and not the rule?

Posted on: 08 June 2017 by Adam Zielinski

US or HDX don't need UPS at all. In my case, I have a dedicated network equipment room. We suffer, on average, 1 power outage a year - I live in an old part of Warsaw with a bit old infrastructure. So I decided to protect the US as well, by placing it in the same room and powering it from my network equipment rack.

As to my US - that's a long story - I even started a thead on that called 'Dead Unitiserves Society'

Posted on: 09 June 2017 by bobsp

Ok, now I see why you have such a fault tolerant infrastructure.

As I understand it, after WW2, there was very little left of the old Warsaw as its destruction was ordered by Hitler in response to the uprising encouraged by the Russians. This followed on from the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and the bloody nose they gave the Germans Including an SS unit.