C Drive fills up

[Johnd2@hotmail.com 3]

Has anyone had issues where their C:Drive fills up?  Once I reboot or restart Emby I get the hard drive space back.  Anyone know best way to fix this issue?  Should I point Emby config files to another drive and how would I do that?

Thank you,

John D.

[Happy2Play 9780]

Sound like your transcode-temp folder is not cleaning up per session like it is supposed to and gets cleaned up on restart.  But there are actually several topics of this still happening assuming this is the issuel

[Luke 42079]

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

[Johnd2@hotmail.com 3]

Happy2Play - Can you please point me to one of the threads here that shows how to fix the temp space transcoding issue?

[Johnd2@hotmail.com 3]

Hi Luke - I have attached two log files, I have more from other dates if needed.  This harddrive filled up on 11/6 and 11/9.

Thank you for you help.

embyserver.txt embyserver-63803375999.txt

[ebr 16184]

22 hours ago, Happy2Play said:

Sound like your transcode-temp folder is not cleaning up per session like it is supposed to

Not necessarily.  He could just have a lot of streaming going on...

[Luke 42079]

How many clients are playing when this happens? Are you able to try stopping them all and seeing if that clears up the space?

[Johnd2@hotmail.com 3]

Hi Luke,

Usually maybe 2 or 3 clients at most and maybe 1 recording happening at the same time.  Seems like it fills up during transcoding and once I stop the server and restart it, it clears up the space issue.  Do you think I should change the location of the transcoding?  It also happen again last night.  I can send you the log file if you need it.

Thank you,

John D.

[Happy2Play 9780]

@Johnd2@hotmail.com Are you saying the transcode session is not being cleaned up when stop or you just have to many things going on and filling the drive?

If active sessions need more space then available then yes you should consider moving Transcode-temp to a larger drive.

[Johnd2@hotmail.com 3]

I have a 256G SSD drive with 175G free, do you think this is not enough space for the transcoding files?  I can move it to another drive with more space, but the issue is why after transcoding, the server is not returning the free space.  Before I move it I like to know why.

Thank you.

[Scott D 69]

This has been happening to me for years (I believe my first post on this was in 2018). 

I have provided on several occasions log files and examples.  I have been told more than once to wait for the next update.

I too have about 200G free on an SSD and often find the space into the double-digits of Gig free.  I have found that the only way to keep the space clear is to RESTART the server on a DAILY basis.  This will clear any remaining files, close any open tuners (if you utilize any tuners) and in general, do some housekeeping.

If you find another solution, please post here as I too would like to be able to walk away from my server for more than 2 days.

This example is of a tuner left open, but this happens with media files as well.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Scott D

[Happy2Play 9780]

4 hours ago, Johnd2@hotmail.com said:

I have a 256G SSD drive with 175G free, do you think this is not enough space for the transcoding files?

That is truly subjective to how many users are transcoding at that same time.

But yes determining the client and why properly stopped session are not cleaning up after themselves is needed.  But there are many topics out there.

[ebr 16184]

21 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

why properly stopped session are not cleaning up after themselves

Have we actually determined that is happening?  All I've seen is the report that it is filling up the drive.  This could be through just normal use - if there is a lot of it.

[visproduction 315]

Maybe build a bat script to delete last accessed files that have not been used for 24 hours or so.  You could also create a powershell script or linux.
Windows command line to find just file names oldest created listed first:  dir /b /s /ta /aa

Other options discussed here: https://superuser.com/questions/545553/list-of-recently-changed-files-for-a-directory-and-all-subdirectories

Some interesting options with xcopy and dates: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17616045/find-files-on-windows-modified-after-a-given-date-using-the-command-line

There should be a way to not list files accessed in the last 6 hours or so and put all the commands into one command file (batch file or Power Window script.)  I believe you can schedule the file to run inside Windows.  Try deleting the older files and see what breaks!  Ha.

Edited November 14, 2022 by visproduction

[Ronstang 294]

I have a simple batch file that consists of: 

del "A:\~~Emby Transcoding Temp\*.*" /q

That is set up as a service in Windows to run every hour.  Once I added this to my system 2 years ago I no longer have this problem.  All anyone needs to do is replace my file path to the transcoding temp directory with their own, create the service to run it and never look back.

Simple with one caveat.....if you are using LiveTV to actually watch TV and are allowing others to do so then this likely will not help much because all it takes is one slip of the remote to improperly exit a channel and then emby does not release the tuner and it will continue to fill up your drive unless you can stop and restart your tuners or restart emby.

I was told the new LiveTV will fix this but that was 2 years ago so I'm not sure when LiveTV will actually be usuable.  I have a special needs son and I cannot let him use emby for TV as he just can't grasp how to exit a channel.  I had to stop using LiveTV all together to avoid this problem.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Ronstang

[Johnd2@hotmail.com 3]

Thank you Ronstang for the info.

[Scott D 69]

5 hours ago, ebr said:

Have we actually determined that is happening?  All I've seen is the report that it is filling up the drive.  This could be through just normal use - if there is a lot of it.

Have you had a look at this example.  The dashboard shows that sessions were ended but the temp files continue to grow as well as locking up a tuner channel.

[Ronstang 294]

2 minutes ago, Scott D said:

Have you had a look at this example.  The dashboard shows that sessions were ended but the temp files continue to grow as well as locking up a tuner channel.

I determined this myself 2 years ago....and it's why I stopped using LiveTV.  I have Ceton cards and have to run CetonProxy to make them appear to be HDHomerun tuners.  The nice thing is there is a way to monitor activity on the individual  tuners and that is when I noticed that stations I had watched earlier but was no longer watching were still tuning in programming and filling up the transcode temp folder.  It was only after talking to Cayars that I realized I was exiting the channels incorrectly and emby was thus not releasing the tuner.

For several days I tried using LiveTV remembering how to exit the channels properly to release the tuner but all it would take is an errant remote button and "BOOM" I had incorrectly exited a channel and had to restart emby to release the tuner.  

It wouldn't be as big of a problem as it is if you could delete the transcode temp file while it is still active.....but you can't so until the tuner is released that file can grow and grown and consume your hard drive.  I was forced to stop using LiveTV because of this issue.  I was told the new LiveTV would correct this and was only a few months away but that was exactly two years ago and I haven't heard anything about the new LiveTV.  I only bought Premiere to use LiveTV and get rid of my cable rental equipment but here I am 2 years later stuck in the same boat......and have spent hundreds of dollars in equipment rental fees I would have had to if the new LiveTV would have been made available in a timely fashion.  I have no idea when it will be here.

[ebr 16184]

@Scott D @Ronstang those are your situations.  I'm talking about the original poster in THIS situation...

[Scott D 69]

15 minutes ago, ebr said:

@Scott D @Ronstang those are your situations.  I'm talking about the original poster in THIS situation...

 

On 11/10/2022 at 5:17 AM, Johnd2@hotmail.com said:

Has anyone had issues where their C:Drive fills up?  Once I reboot or restart Emby I get the hard drive space back.  Anyone know best way to fix this issue?  Should I point Emby config files to another drive and how would I do that?

Thank you,

John D.

The OP was asking if anyone had experienced C:Drive (transcode_temp) filling up.

On 11/11/2022 at 8:32 AM, ebr said:

Not necessarily.  He could just have a lot of streaming going on...

 

On 11/13/2022 at 4:53 AM, Johnd2@hotmail.com said:

Hi Luke,

Usually maybe 2 or 3 clients at most and maybe 1 recording happening at the same time.  Seems like it fills up during transcoding and once I stop the server and restart it, it clears up the space issue.  Do you think I should change the location of the transcoding?  It also happen again last night.  I can send you the log file if you need it.

Thank you,

John D.

With 2 or 3 clients streaming and if "clean-up" is working properly, there should be no issue with a 256G drive.

 

20 minutes ago, ebr said:

@Scott D @Ronstang those are your situations.  I'm talking about the original poster in THIS situation...

If you wish to only address the issue of the original poster, then perhaps the post should be locked to only allow messaging from the OP and developers.  The community has provided (I think) sufficient information to indicate there is a problem.  This problem is repeatable, and has been noted by many users (including myself) for many years.

 

21 hours ago, ebr said:

Have we actually determined that is happening?  All I've seen is the report that it is filling up the drive.  This could be through just normal use - if there is a lot of it.

I think we (the community) have "actually" determined that this is happening.   If developers are unable to get around the problem of users pressing the wrong button, or not exiting in a "proper" way, or losing connectivity, or several other reasons Emby does not recognize the end of a session, then maybe a "Scheduled Task" to Restart Server or Clean-up temp files.

IF No Connections and IF No Streaming Activity and IF Time of Day = xx:xx Restart server - would seem to solve many, MANY, problems.

 

[ebr 16184]

I'm simply trying to get to the details of this specific report so that we can address it properly.  It is still possible that the drive is filling just from normal use.  Its also possible that some streams are getting stranded but we just don't know yet.

The issue you guys are having are rare and very hard to track down due to this.  We aren't ignoring those.  We are just trying to address this issue that was reported and we haven't gotten complete details for it yet.

[Scott D 69]

 

[Ronstang 294]

I apologize for potentially muddling the discussion but I'm sorry....these issues are all related.  I love emby, it is my favorite piece of software but I can't even use it most of the time because LiveTV is a mess.  I bought new equipment to make emby LiveTV work more effiecently to alleviate issues like the one at hand but at this point that is all a bandaid.  I only bought Premiere because of LiveTV and I have yet to be able to use it to replace my  useless cable equipment because right away I had so many issues with LiveTV I had to cease using it.  The only thing I use it for currently is to record movies I want to put on my server.

There is one simple solution to all of this....release the new LiveTV.  It has been promised for at least 2 years because I began hearing about it when I bought Premiere.  

Is the new LiveTV on the horizon?  It should be a priority in my opinion considering people pay to use it and would solve a whole host of problems.  From a business perspective it makes sense too as the current version is not capable of replacing rented cable equipment, even thought it's potential features and experience are an order of magnitude better.  I am trying to be patient but my confidence is waning.

[Luke 42079]

Hi, we're looking into this. Thanks for reporting.