Open Emby make my HDD grinding very fast for 2 seconds

[dzevel5 1]

Hi all

Open Emby make my HDD grinding very fast for 2 seconds, it doesn’t happen with Plex. Is this is normal behaviour?

why does it happen?

 

thanks

[Guest]

Do you have a log to attach from during this event?

Was Plex installed on the drive in question or on another device? Was logging enabled?

Emby does access files for metadata..display for the apps and webui.

 

[dzevel5 1]

I have Emby and Plex at the same time now. When I go to library (basically open Emby) the HDD are busy which is normal, but I really hear the arm moving extremely fast and rough. It never does this. Only when I start Emby, same noise every time.

Logs just showing regular GET requests.

Attached server log:

Embyserver.txt

Edited April 4, 2021 by dzevel5
Adding emby server log

[dzevel5 1]

It’s actually where ever I navigate the HDD arm goes crazy fast for 1-2 seconds.

especially when I click on a movie (before playing)

any idea? Is it normal?

[Guest]

If your server installation is on that drive then yes. Mine is not on the same drive as my library.

BUT if you have security software scanning EVERYTHING your system touches then it could be excessive if it is not put into exclusions. ESET for example, monitors and scans each file as you come across it or it is read or written to.. So if the target files or programmatic activity ensues and those directories or activity by that programs is not excluded in some way.. You are getting excessive drive access. 

My EHD's are loud and there are several of them.. The box is small and open  for ventilation by design.. so you can hear drive noise.. I get it on occasion.. My server installation is on an SSD.. I don't hear anything when it gets accessed. If I do a scan sometimes I hear it, or if performing maintenance or loading the drive in explorer ( I have them mounted as network drives ).. So what you are probably hearing is a combination of that access. Especially if you are storing artwork in those folders for your library.

It reads and writes files depending on what it is doing. If your drive is making excessive noise however, I would wonder about its age, and/or speed. You could be looking at drive failure.. but drive noise is normal.. to an extent.

[dzevel5 1]

Its not just working noise, I’m referring to super speed intense movement of the arm on every screen in Emby. 
It’s a NAS system with RAID 1 (WD RED). I don’t hear anything like this with Plex (or anything else) and I don’t have any security software locally on this NAS.

I wonder if it’s some settings in Emby that I did cause this and if I can reduce it. I guess SSD cache will eliminate this behaviour, but I don’t want to add SSD at this stage.

btw thanks for everyone support!

Edited April 4, 2021 by dzevel5

[Guest]

Do keep an eye on the WD's.. a lot of people use them.. but I never hear good things in the end.. but then again when something breaks..LOL

Which version are you on?

[dzevel5 1]

I’m actually very happy with them. Recently replaced to higher capacity 

but again, this HDD arm stress ONLY happens with every screen of Emby. Nothing else. These are 6 months HDDs, there’s nothing wrong with them.

My guess is something to do with index but I’m not sure.

I also tested it few minutes ago with Jellyfin - not the same behaviour. Very odd..

Someone know if this is a specific setting cause this or perhaps software bug? Surely it’s not something healthy  

[Guest]

Do you have your metadata to refresh on a regular interval in your library?

I found another thread about this here, the thread went dead last year.. and there were errors in the logs for port mapping and constant access to TMDB.. during the process..

You section of the log doesn't really show that much activity along those lines... but it is worth a check.

Checking your scheduled tasks as well might be a good place to start.

EDIT: Might want to include a full log.. maybe perform a restart.. and go in and do its thing.. then attach a FULL log this time..

Edited April 4, 2021 by Guest

[dzevel5 1]

I disabled all tasks.

This stress happens at every click I do in Emby or it’s menu, settings, dashboard, users.. everywhere.

How can I get the full log?

 

Edited April 4, 2021 by dzevel5

[Guest]

I don't have a clue here then.. It is extremely abnormal behavior....

I am still assuming this is on an NAS or something... nor do I know if the installation version is stable or beta..

Without anyone else posting here ...

I am going to say that yes this is abnormal.. and to remove it, try to reinstall after removing all files and see if it changes - or simply remove it period.

I certainly would not want the drives to thrash-out, degrading the performance and steadily edging them into failure.

 

[dzevel5 1]

You’re running Emby on SSD so surely you won’t experience it. Thank you for trying but I hope

someo else can advise here?

I wouldn’t blame the NAS or the HDD if it’s Emby only causing it. But anyway, it’s Synology DS920+ tested on 2 stable versions.

Running Emby latest version 4.5.4. I removed it and tried Emby beta version 4.6 - same behaviour exactly. Weather it’s Samsung TV app or iOS app/browser side-  every click anywhere in Emby cause the HDD to go crazy for 1-2 seconds.

I don’t want to just give up and removing it but appreciate your advice. I want to purchase Emby because I’m really happy with many things Emby have to offer, especially when it comes to privacy, but I really don’t want to put my HDD at risk (regardless backup). 
 

[dzevel5 1]

Just a small update, I tested it now on 4.4.3 which has similar behaviour but much worse. This stress is for additional 1-2 seconds. 
I hope the developers see this post as I’m not sure it’s a software default behaviour which can be improved.

Edited April 4, 2021 by dzevel5

[Guest]

When is the last time you defragged the drive and run maintenance on it?..

It can reduce EHD stress.. especially if the data is more linear in read fashion..

[dzevel5 1]

Like I said, the system itself quite new so no need to defrag. This behaviour happens only with Emby, non of the other apps cause this so I’m really not sure why you coming back to blame the system. I appreciate your help but maybe to give someone else a chance to reply on this?!

As mentioned, it happens when I click EVERY button in Emby. Weather it’s menus, dashboard, settings etc.

[dzevel5 1]

Just for the record, Iv’e completed defrag tonight. No difference 

[pwhodges 2012]

14 hours ago, dzevel5 said:

How can I get the full log?

Go to the dashboard; scroll to the bottom of the system menu; near the bottom is the "logs" menu item.  The top log will be the latest server log - click the download icon to save it, then attach it to a post here.

Paul

[dzevel5 1]

Thanks. That what I did in my first attachment here. Server log

I didn’t see any abnormal indication 

looks like it’s the default behaviour of Emby. Anyone from development can confirm? 

embyserver.txt.webarchive

[dzevel5 1]

I did another test

removed Emby completely, installed the latest stable without adding my media - same behaviour. HDD arm move aggressively fast.

did it on an old pc with Toshiba HDD. Same

looks like someone else experienced it.. but I don’t think the solution make sense. If Plex can do it - I’m sure Emby  can make it better than them 

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by dzevel5

[Guest]

What browser and OS are you on? Also hardware specs.. It would seem as though a cache is not being used at all.. since access to the disc is very high.. If your browser is not selectively caching a page.. for whatever reason.. it is having to request the files over and over..

OR maybe there should be better cache handling of EMBY?.. Someone else would have to ring her on that one... Even referencing the database file is but one file.. I also thought about that maybe if your system resources are low.. or our pagefile settings were different you would also get this type of behavior..

Quite a few elements come into play here along those lines. ( On Both Sides )

EDIT: This would/could also mean that the server may be handling its cache in memory differently ( you can't expect all metadata in memory BUT it still should be using one to some extent and updating that cache as files or data changes ). This would mean a difference in the memory consumed to run Emby as well. Right now it is using @189 MB of RAM.. Haven't tested PLEX or the other servers that I remember..

Edited April 5, 2021 by Guest

[dzevel5 1]

As mentioned, from multiple clients, Samsung SmartTV (Tizen), Chrome/Brave briwser, Safari browser, Edge and Safari. Tested on iMac, iPhone, Samsung TV and Dell laptop.

also tried from Fedora machine I have.

the hardware of the server is Synology DS920+ With WD RED but I checked it today with Toshiba HDD on a PC as a server

a friend told me he have the same on PR2100 NAS with HGST disks

it’s sounds like cache However, I don’t think it’s cache related, the reason is that I installed a clean Emby - no media folder attached and it’s still happening. Every button of Emby cause this. 

[Guest]

Which does mean it would be how the server is handling this area..

[dzevel5 1]

@Hxemby001We going back in circles, it doesn’t happen only on my NAS, but also on PC and different NAS

Edited April 5, 2021 by dzevel5

[Guest]

You might want to read it in chunks.. gets jumbled it you fly through.. LOL..sorry.. It comes with some intermediary experience with server behaviors and configurations.

There have been some changes in the latest Beta.. but I am not really sure it would help out here necessarily..

Performance Improvements for Large Databases - Emby Server - Emby Community

NAT? Only NAT.. I know of is NAT firewall right now.. I am guessing you mean NAS in both cases..

Right so it happens on your PC when the server is installed there and the NAS where the shares are at the same time.. AND if it is installed on the NAS it does it there too.

Which as far as I know... unless it is waking the NAS, when it is installed on the PC.. instead of it caching its resources/files ( EMBY as a server ) in memory; it is accessing them right off of the drive. Which in some cases that is to be expected, but your browser should be caching the images it is loading and using that cache to render the page UNLESS those images have been updated or there is a change since last load.

IF you were storing images in your media folders, then I would expect that to be accessed from the NAS, BUT I thought that EMBY built these images into its metadata folder and referenced them from there either after first load/scan/metadata download, and this works with the library.db to reference those locations.

SO.. I was saying that IF your server was placed on the NAS.. disk activity would be higher in that case, but it should subside to some extent or minimalize through browsing by using the browser cache. In this case the metadata, database and server resources are all on the same drive/system.. so all access comes from the one device. UNTIL cached.. or data changes.. ( almost as though it is reading a file access time as file change ) and reaching to access those files each time.

IF the server is installed on the PC, after the library has been built, the access stays within the server resources ( On the PC ) - then the access to the NAS should subside ( IF there are no images stored on/in those folders.. AND if the cache again is working correctly for the browser and there are no caveats in the server code... Then in fact even that access should subside to an extent, with minimal access as you browse your server with the browser.. until you reference new data, or data changes.

IF Emby used more RAM for its cache and cached commonly browsed items in RAM, the disk access would be minimalized unless it is loading to start and building said RAM Cache. BUT it may be designed to straight out reference the data from disk. (since you can indicate certain files being able to be cached or not in the pages/code)

So all of the information sort of gives me information about how it seems to be operating on your system, and what Emby is possibly doing... without being the Developer of that area for Emby, and seeing the code or designing it.. I would not know. I would say that it would mean altering this area of Emby in development.. but I haven't seen more than three people talk about this happening to them.. Even though it is a good point in improving Emby, if so.

I was looking for a program to see what program is accessing what data/files on your system as this is happening.. a form of real time monitoring.. but I have yet to find anything exactly what I was looking for.

EDIT: This is in fact as a side note.. to do with the straight out fact of nothing else doing anything else while these files are being touched or accessed.

Edited April 5, 2021 by Guest

[dzevel5 1]

Let me try to make myself clearer.

scenario 1: Install Emby on Synology DS920+ with WD RED RAID1. HDD arm grinding aggressively from the moment it’s installed and before I add any library. Same of course happens when I do add the movie library.

tested with latest stable version and with beta version. Also tried old versions.

Scenario 2: Emby on PC with 1xToshiba HDD, not connected to any library nor to the NAS. Purely on a PC. Simple installation with no media at all. Same behaviour 

Scenario 3: a friend with WD PR2100 NAS - same behaviour. 

Like I mentioned. This behaviour happens even when no media added. Every button in Emby cause this. That means no files are being touched except the Emby app (server) itself. 
 

I also don’t see many people complaining about it, perhaps because they’re used to this behaviour or don’t really care. I’m just comparing with Plex which I desperately want to get rid of, but I don’t want to stress the HDD unnecessarily.