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Emby Server 4.4.3.0 not stable on NVIDIA Shield Pro System version 8.2.0[32.6.435.1]


Netfool

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Netfool

Yes, I know; this is TL;DR, however there may be a clue in this epic saga:

I have two Emby Servers running Emby Server 4.4.3.0.  One on an NVIDIA Shield Pro and one on a small Atom (under)-powered Ubuntu Linux box.  The Linux box has been my test platform and the Shield my production server...  but I'm about to switch their roles.

The Shield system was recently updated to Shield System version 8.2.0[32.6.435.1].  One of my collections promptly disappeared after the restart.  I reconstructed it and shortly thereafter got a notice that one of the plugins was updated and I needed a server restart. I don't remember which one it was because the dashboard no longer shows me anything below the Active Devices listing where the recent system changes used to be displayed:

282768100_ScreenShot2020-08-28at11_05_06PM.thumb.png.0de866f817889612406cc3a0e0e5f908.png

 

Following the cumbersome server restart procedure (to avoid database corruption), there were two copies of the recently vanished collection.   About an hour later the server simply stopped responding to requests.  I assumed that it was time to rebuild the library.db.  When I made an SMB connection to the Shield to delete the old library.db, it took more than 4 minutes to connect.  Eventually I succeeded in deleting the file and did a Shield restart.  After the Shield restarted the Emby client on the Shield and my browser both said the server wasn't on the LAN.  Emby server apparently failed to restart.

I went to the Shield TV UI and opened the Emby Server app and there was a "Start the Server" button.  I restarted the server and was then able to connect to it. 

Since this is the 4th time I've rebuilt the database in two months, I've come to the conclusion that Emby Server on the Shield Pro is not stable enough to use as a production server.  This is a disappointment as I purchased the Shield because of the hardware encoding capability (which I have yet to successfully use for HEVC encoding).   The Linux box is under powered with an anemic GPU in the processor so I guess I'll have to build another Linux box with a real GPU as a production server.

Eeyore.thumb.jpg.c809a2a3b5d985943c148052d5caad42.jpg

The Shield, with it's rather elegant remote, does make a rather nice set-top box for running the Emby Client, but it doesn't appear to be capable of running Emby Server.

Is there a production GPU that is known to be capable of supporting HEVC encoding by Emby Server under Linux?

 

 

Edited by Netfool
Corrected error of fact.
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Netfool
11 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi there, can you please attach the emby server log from when this happened? Thanks.

Sure. There are 4 logs attached.  The logs ending in ...1161 and ...1781 cover the period described in my post. 

I downloaded those logs using the logs page. (I had an open browser window still pointed at the dashboard from last night).  My wife had reported a problem playing programs to completion this morning, so I rotated the logs and clicked on the home icon to attempt to reproduce that problem.  The home page came up with no graphics and a very different home page layout.  I clicked on the gear to get back to the  dashboard and got the non-admin version of the dashboard.

face-screaming-in-fear.png.ca1accd9cd4f094fe509bdc67894c40e.png

I assumed my user record in user.db was corrupted so I signed out and tried to sign in again to confirm.  That failed.  I tried signing in as my emergency backup admin user that failed. I opened an SMB connection to the Shield and found that users.db was not to be found.  Nor is there an authentication.db.

147233439_ScreenShot2020-08-29at12_41_20PM.png.7ccca006f4b4fdc80135a4cb52f09e83.png

I have some recent system config backups, but @cayars and I have spent hours going down this rabbit hole before.  All that's left when you get to the bottom is a twisty little maze of passages, all alike.  I think attempting to restore the config piecemeal is probably a waste of everyone's time.  

I used the SMB connection to get the logs covering the lock-out; embyserver.txt and the log ending in ...6000, they're attached as well.  I hope these logs will help improve future versions of the server.

Clearly it's time for yet another reinstall.  Since the Shield will now become my test server I suppose I might as well install the Emby Server Beta.  But....

Could someone answer the question I posed above; "Is there a GPU known to provide stable HVEC encoding acceleration on Linux?"

embyserver-63734231781.txt embyserver-63734251161.txt embyserver-63734256000.txt embyserver.txt

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There is most definitely something unique to your system that keeps causing files to get corrupted.  This is now the 3rd to 5th time (I've lost track) this has happened.

Just curious but why not run the server on a Windows machine?

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Netfool
26 minutes ago, cayars said:

Just curious but why not run the server on a Windows machine?

No good reason, actually.   I fled the Windows world decades ago somewhere between XP and VIsta. I'm assuming it's better now but Windows networking always drove me crazy.  I remember the Chameleon IP stack for Windows 3.1.    Back in the 90's I was CTO at little company doing ruggedized notebook machines for K12 education.  Paul Allen was one of the early investors.  I told him we were planning to run Win95 out of flash and he said we would never get it to work, (but he invested anyway!).  We did get it to work, but discovered that while Windows wouldn't run in 32MB of memory without a swap file, it would run in 16MB with a 16MB swap file.  (Yes... megs, not gigs).  So we built the initial machines with 32MB of RAM and used half of it as a RAMdisk.  (Actually it ran a bit faster than it did with 16 MB of RAM and a big swap file on rotating storage).  It was early days for flash memory but we needed to do that because the spec we needed to meet was a 5-foot drop to concrete.  Disks of the day (and maybe even today) simply weren't up to it.

But the Emby Server on Linux has been very stable for me.  I just got seduced into the Nvidia Shield Pro because of the promise of a small, quiet set-top box with a nice remote that promised (but didn't deliver) hardware acceleration for HVEC encoding.  Switching from an HDHR Duo to an Extend fixed the problem with Live TV recordings on the Linux box.   The Linux boxes on the shelf here are all at least 5 years old with little Atom processors (except for a couple of RaspberryPis and a Jetson Nano), so they're pretty anemic and don't have a real GPU, ...well the Nano does but it can't yet run ffmpeg!   My son did give up on the Shield and move his Emby Server to a Windows machine because he was trying to do 10-bit 4K transcoding and again the Shield fell short.

So the plan is to build a linux box with a real GPU and use that for my primary Emby server.  But I'm up to my eyeballs in projects right now, so that will have to wait a couple of months.  I'll limp along on the Atom box for the moment, and just use the Shield for the Emby Client, and a little experimentation with the Beta Server.  I do like Shield remote... way better than the AppleTV remote.

But with all the trekking down rabbit holes, I have learned a lot playing with the Emby Server on the Shield.  And I'm grateful for all the patient support from the Emby team.  You guys rock!

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As a test, can you try removing the dlna plugin, then restart the server and see if that helps? Thanks.

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Netfool
13 hours ago, Luke said:

As a test, can you try removing the dlna plugin, then restart the server and see if that helps? Thanks.

 

On 8/29/2020 at 1:16 PM, Netfool said:

I assumed my user record in user.db was corrupted so I signed out and tried to sign in again to confirm.  That failed.  I tried signing in as my emergency backup admin user that failed. I opened an SMB connection to the Shield and found that users.db was not to be found.  Nor is there an authentication.db.

Ahhhh..... If I can't log in I can hardly remove a plugin.     But the point is moot because I've already uninstalled 4.4.3.0 and installed the 4.5.0.22 beta.

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Netfool
21 hours ago, Luke said:

So are you all good now with the beta?

For the moment...   But I've thought that a couple of times before with 4.4.3.0.  Fingers-Crossed-Emoji.png.215692a62e568e27c3d343ffc8b5222e.png

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I updated to the newest shield firmware as well and after i rescanned my library the videos i added nothing is showing up for the newer added files , i tried to installed the new beta etc and im getting these errors.

embyserver.txt

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WarrenGz
On 8/29/2020 at 4:44 PM, Netfool said:

No good reason, actually.   I fled the Windows world decades ago somewhere between XP and VIsta. I'm assuming it's better now but Windows networking always drove me crazy.  I remember the Chameleon IP stack for Windows 3.1.    Back in the 90's I was CTO at little company doing ruggedized notebook machines for K12 education.  Paul Allen was one of the early investors.  I told him we were planning to run Win95 out of flash and he said we would never get it to work, (but he invested anyway!).  We did get it to work, but discovered that while Windows wouldn't run in 32MB of memory without a swap file, it would run in 16MB with a 16MB swap file.  (Yes... megs, not gigs).  So we built the initial machines with 32MB of RAM and used half of it as a RAMdisk.  (Actually it ran a bit faster than it did with 16 MB of RAM and a big swap file on rotating storage).  It was early days for flash memory but we needed to do that because the spec we needed to meet was a 5-foot drop to concrete.  Disks of the day (and maybe even today) simply weren't up to it.

But the Emby Server on Linux has been very stable for me.  I just got seduced into the Nvidia Shield Pro because of the promise of a small, quiet set-top box with a nice remote that promised (but didn't deliver) hardware acceleration for HVEC encoding.  Switching from an HDHR Duo to an Extend fixed the problem with Live TV recordings on the Linux box.   The Linux boxes on the shelf here are all at least 5 years old with little Atom processors (except for a couple of RaspberryPis and a Jetson Nano), so they're pretty anemic and don't have a real GPU, ...well the Nano does but it can't yet run ffmpeg!   My son did give up on the Shield and move his Emby Server to a Windows machine because he was trying to do 10-bit 4K transcoding and again the Shield fell short.

So the plan is to build a linux box with a real GPU and use that for my primary Emby server.  But I'm up to my eyeballs in projects right now, so that will have to wait a couple of months.  I'll limp along on the Atom box for the moment, and just use the Shield for the Emby Client, and a little experimentation with the Beta Server.  I do like Shield remote... way better than the AppleTV remote.

But with all the trekking down rabbit holes, I have learned a lot playing with the Emby Server on the Shield.  And I'm grateful for all the patient support from the Emby team.  You guys rock!

 

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16 hours ago, Drewaac said:

I updated to the newest shield firmware as well and after i rescanned my library the videos i added nothing is showing up for the newer added files , i tried to installed the new beta etc and im getting these errors.

embyserver.txt 252.83 kB · 0 downloads

@Drewaac what error are you getting?

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40 minutes ago, Luke said:

@Drewaac what error are you getting?

When i scan the library it does it for a second and it acts like nothing is there now and i'm pointing it to the folder that the video files are in. 

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Like any home video used to be shown in the library now it's all gone. they are just 1080p and 4k videos mp4's and now it doesn't seem to pick up that the files even exist, and i just tried to see if kodi could pick it up that they are there and it worked fine. 

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