Emby Server not responding

[SWMedia 0]

Hello all -

 

We have Emby server installed on a Windows 10 PC.  Server version is 3.0.5785.0.  We are running Emby as a service, not from the system tray.  All our media libraries are stored to a NAS.  Both the PC and NAS are hardwired to the same Gb switch. We have several Roku clients that are connected wirelessly and stream music and video using the Emby app.  They all sign in using our Emby user account.  We recently started having a problem where the Emby server will stop responding and the clients cannot connect to it.  When we try to open the web interface to see what's happening, it also does not open.  We try restarting the service, but it times out attempting to stop and we have to End Task and restart it.  After restarting, everything works again for a time, then the same behavior repeats.  I've attached the log from the last timeout this morning.  We are pretty new to this so don't know what to look for to fix this. The program has really helped us a lot so far so we want to keep using it, but the irregular crashes are making it hard.  Please any help you can offer is appreciated.  Thanks!

server-63587721600.zip

[SWMedia 0]

Happened again this afternoon.  Log is attached. 

Also noticed this post:

​
http://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/28131-server-constantly-crashing-or-hanging/

 

We haven't installed any plugins and have setup no collections - only libraries and playlists.

 

server-63587760770.txt

[Happy2Play 9783]

I would look at all the issues with "System.IO.IOException" in your log.

 

 The process cannot access the file 'C:\Users\swumc\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Server\transcoding-temp\7c682be6e48d0a2168796f4c955fd1130.ts' because it is being used by another process.
 System.IO.IOException

 

 Unable to write data to the transport connection: An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine.
 System.IO.IOException

[SWMedia 0]

Thanks for the reply, but I'm afraid I'm not sure what I should be looking for.  IO stands for Input/Output, correct?  This file location is within the Emby folder, so what else could be using it except Emby?  Are you thinking it is being held open somehow, maybe by an antivirus program or something (we only have Defender on the computer, no third-party AV).  From the folder location, I assume this is the temporary folder for transcoding?  That is what the video file does while it is being streamed, right?   why would Emby have problems reading its own files while it is streaming?  I'm not clear what these .ts files are for and how they are relating with the rest of the program and why errors reading those files would cause the entire browser interface to not pull up.  Sorry for all the simple questions, but thanks for your patience.

[jmessier 0]

I am trying to install Emby Server on Windows 10 again.  I've been having troubles with it since I started using Windows 10, but up until now, I have been able to fix it.  During the extract, the following error comes up:

 

Error

 

Could not move system directory to backup

 

System.IO.IOException

Access to the path

'C:\users\sweetpickle\appdata\roaming\emby-server\system' is denied.

 

I have tried uninstalling EVERYTHING and reinstalled from scratch, but still the same error.  I have tried running it as Administrator, running the compatibility troubleshooter, I have changed security settings for the drive, and for every directory included in the path. I am about out of ideas and I REALLY want to continue using Emby.  ANYONE have ANY advice for me? 

 

 

 

 

[Luke 42081]

Hi, sorry to hear about your troubles. Have you tried rebooting, as well as deleting that directory if it already exists? Let us know, thanks.

[SWMedia 0]

Hello,

which directory should I be deleting?  Since our access denied errors are displaying under transcoding-temp, is it safe to delete that directory and will it be recreated on the fly? 

 

I have been doing some reading on file transcoding to try and find a pattern to the video files to see if we can get most of the files to stream directly to the Rokus instead of burdening the Emby server with the transcoding.  All Media Info for the video files I've checked are codec H264 for video and AAC audio.  The only difference I've seen in them is that the ones that are transcoding are a higher bitrate than the ones that are direct streaming.  For example, one mp4 with bitrate of 2999kbps was transcoded while another with 1271kbps was direct streamed.  All of their other Media Info settings were identical or very similar.  I read up on the Emby app for Roku and how to adjust the settings to accept a higher bitrate for direct streaming, so long as the file format is supported. I'm not sure what its default setting is now; I will be going over tomorrow to make the change, assuming it helps. 

I also re-read this post:

 

http://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/28131-server-constantly-crashing-or-hanging/page-3

 

and we did have several collections setup under one of the user accounts, but not the account that was streaming the videos.  In any case, I've deleted the collections and the server did not crash today.  In checking the Recent Activity, though, I'm not sure that the users streamed as much video today as they did yesterday.  Today looks like it was mostly music files, so there may still be an the issue.  I'll have everyone keep an eye on it after I make the adjustment on the Roku and let you know what happens. 

[SWMedia 0]

Hello -

 

Just giving an update.  Last weekend, we adjusted the Emby app for the Rokus to support the highest bitrate possible (30Mbps, I think).  We also modified the name of each Roku on the network so we could tell the devices apart when they tried to play a file.  After watching the devices for the last couple of days, no one has reported a crash.

 

We are still seeing the System.IO.IOException errors in the log, with no noticeable drop in frequency.  

 

I do not believe the increased bitrate had any affect on the videos that were transcoding before, so there must be something else about those files that prevents them from direct streaming. 

 

It would seem that somehow the collections were causing the frequent crashes, though I'm still not clear why or how. We will continue to get feedback from the users if they have any more problems playing the videos. 

 

I do have some follow-up questions:

1.) Is a transcode log created each time a file is transcoded?  Would it then be possible to use the transcode logs to track down every video that was transcoded by the server over the last several days?  This would help us determine which videos the users are playing that are transcoding so we can try modifying the files to be accepted for direct stream.

2.) IF 2 people are attempting to play the same video file at the same time, and that file was being transcoded, would the server create a separate transcode file for each stream of the video?  I'm trying to determine if the 2 devices would possibly be sharing a transcode file and could that be contributing to the access denied errors I'm seeing in the log relating to the transcoding-temp directory.

 

Thanks!

[Luke 42081]

Hi, nice work. It would not share transcode files and yes you could use the transcode logs to monitor transcoding.

[SWMedia 0]

Hello again,

We have had several people complain of the Emby app on  Roku not working again. As before when we hear of this, we try to connect to the web browser interface to view the Emby server and it won't respond until after the Emby service is restarted..  The reports seem less frequent this time (before we removed the Collections, we were getting complaints every few hours, now it seems to be every few days) but they are still happening. 

 

After the last round of issues we started running the Emby server from the system tray icon instead of as a service.  When I connect to the server, I am able to restart the program using the system tray icon and it starts working again.  If you recall, previously when we were running it as a service it would not respond to a restart and we had to End Task and manually start. 

 

Today, I connected in during one of their busier times when all the devices were in use and I noticed one of the videos was transcoding and the ffmpeg service was peaking the CPU to 98%.  What does the ffmpeg service do?  I have seen it mentioned on these forums before.  Does it have something to do with transcoding the files?  Is it very processor intensive?  Perhaps we are running out of resources during these peak times and that is what is causing the server to stop responding? Any tools you know of we could use to try and verify this?  I have attached the last 2 logfiles from the last restart.  Please advise, thanks!

 

server-63588412800.zip

server-63588625068.txt

[Luke 42081]

Yea I think you are running out of resources. You have only a dual core CPU and yet you are saying

several people

A dual core CPU is not going to be suited to simultaneous connections involving transcoding. What you're going to want to do is either consider upgrading your system, OR consider preparing your media so that transcoding will not be required and everything can just direct play.

[SWMedia 0]

Great!  Thanks.  Yes, we have 5 Roku devices on the network that are using the media library.  The most I've seen online at any one time is 3, but if they are all playing video that needs transcoding at the same time and that is too much for the Dual Core we can look into getting something else.  We just used a PC that we had available at the time so we could try out the setup.  Everyone seems to like it well enough, so I think we'd be okay with purchasing something a little better.  I'd still like to keep the specs reasonable, but what type of configuration would you recommend we look into getting (processor and RAM)?  It would definitely be a Windows PC.

[SWMedia 0]

Oh, and do you think we could use a VM?  I'm thinking that would make it easier to migrate up in the future, but not sure what the performance hit would be to run Emby server on a VM instead of directly on the hardware?  We would probably use HyperV. 

[Luke 42081]

I imagine a VM would add even more overhead.

[ThePaladinTech 22]

I am trying to install Emby Server on Windows 10 again.  I've been having troubles with it since I started using Windows 10, but up until now, I have been able to fix it.  During the extract, the following error comes up:

 

Error

 

Could not move system directory to backup

 

System.IO.IOException

Access to the path

'C:\users\sweetpickle\appdata\roaming\emby-server\system' is denied.

 

I have tried uninstalling EVERYTHING and reinstalled from scratch, but still the same error.  I have tried running it as Administrator, running the compatibility troubleshooter, I have changed security settings for the drive, and for every directory included in the path. I am about out of ideas and I REALLY want to continue using Emby.  ANYONE have ANY advice for me? 

 

Same issue - And my emby server is "refusing connections" as well, http://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/29931-emby-refusing-connections/ - And we are all running windows ten...

 

I've (unfortunatly apparently) tried uninstalling and reinstalling emby so I guess any logs are gone. 

 

the emby service is not running and "isn't respodning in a timely fashion" to the request to start it. ( i read somewhere that someone had multiple instances trying to start emby and that was an issue? I'll look into that when I can, but I am (or was) running it as a service - so not sure how it could try to run it more than once) - Oh and the emby icon is showing in the system tray???? - I'll try exiting from that and starting the service to see if that is an issue.

 

Are there people with Win 10 Pro and the latest MS updates that are working ok? if so I guess it's time (once again) to rip out my emby install manually and reinstall it?

Edited January 21, 2016 by ThePaladinTech

[Luke 42081]

Same issue - And my emby server is "refusing connections" as well, http://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/29931-emby-refusing-connections/ - And we are all running windows ten...

 

I've (unfortunatly apparently) tried uninstalling and reinstalling emby so I guess any logs are gone. 

 

the emby service is not running and "isn't respodning in a timely fashion" to the request to start it. ( i read somewhere that someone had multiple instances trying to start emby and that was an issue? I'll look into that when I can, but I am (or was) running it as a service - so not sure how it could try to run it more than once) - Oh and the emby icon is showing in the system tray???? - I'll try exiting from that and starting the service to see if that is an issue.

 

Are there people with Win 10 Pro and the latest MS updates that are working ok? if so I guess it's time (once again) to rip out my emby install manually and reinstall it?

 

Please see how to report a problem so that we can help you as your issue is most likely not the same. Thanks.

[moviefan 187]

Oh, and do you think we could use a VM?  I'm thinking that would make it easier to migrate up in the future, but not sure what the performance hit would be to run Emby server on a VM instead of directly on the hardware?  We would probably use HyperV. 

 

If you're going to buy a new system just for this, I would recommend not using a VM.  How does this help with migrations?  Are you referring to buying another system in the future and migrating the VM to it?

 

I would just get a system with a good CPU and at least 8GB RAM. I would recommend an intel chip that is QuickSync capable so you can try out the transcoding offload function as emby continues to improve its support for it.