[SOLVED] Slow playback after replacing drive

Hello all, I'm new to Unraid.  I built this server a couple months ago.  Here's my drive config:

Parity: 3TB Hitachi

Disk1: 3TB HItachi

Disk2: 2TB WD Green

Server hardware:

Intel DG33TL motherboard (I'm using the on-board Sata)

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300

4GB ddr2

I mostly use the server to hold my blu-ray backups (the large .m2ts files).  At first I had very choppy playback, but then I added more memory to the server and it fixed the problem.  Then about 3 weeks ago, my Disk1 failed and I RMA'd it.  I got the new drive and it re-built successfully.  However, now the slow playback issue is back again and I don't know why.  I keep all my blu-rays on Disk 1, but I also tried moving a movie over to Disk2 to see if the problem still occurred, and it did.  I still have some blu-ray on my local machine, and they playback just fine.  I use Media Player Classic Home Cinema for playback.  I'm running Unraid version 5 beta 12a.  System log is attached.  Any help is appreciated, thank you.

syslog.txt

It may be slow due to the parity check but that should not interfere with playback of a single concurrent file.

It may be slow due to the parity check but that should not interfere with playback of a single concurrent file.

I did the parity sync and check after the drive was replaced, and I didn't access the server during that time.  Currently there isn't a sync or check being performed, but the laggy playback continues.

What are your raw read/write speeds with just copying a file?

What are your raw read/write speeds with just copying a file?

 

 

Is there a certain place you look on unraid to see that info?  Or a program that you use?

I just copied a 900MB file to the disk, and the write speeds ramped up to 18MB/s by the end of the transfer (looking at the transfer window in Windows 7).

Could it have anything to do with the fact that I didn't pre-clear the replacement drive?  I thought it would do it automatically before adding it to the array, but I was wrong.  Would removing the drive, running the pre-clear script, then putting it back into the array would make a difference?

If anyone has any ideas, I'd greatly appreciate it.  I can't watch any of my blu-rays or recorded TV, because of the terrible lag.

lets go beyond the unraid box for a second. how are you connected to the unraid from your HTPC? wireless? wired? gigabit?

the uncompressed bluray will eat a bit of bandwidth...

lets go beyond the unraid box for a second. how are you connected to the unraid from your HTPC? wireless? wired? gigabit?

 

the uncompressed bluray will eat a bit of bandwidth...

My router is in the office, and I run a cat 6 to the bedroom.  From there I use a gigabit switch to connect the unraid server (located in the bedroom) and my desktop PC; using cat 6 for everything.  

Oh and I went on unmenu to Disk Performance to look at the read speeds while I play a blu-ray, and I would get between 500kB/s and 1000kB/s.  I also played a recorded TV show off of disk2, and got the same read speeds during the laggy playback.  I attached a screenshot.

Also, something interesting that I just noticed.  Before I had drives sda, sdb, and sdc, but now instead of sdc I have sdd.  Could that be an issue?  I didn't even touch the other drives when I replaced the sdb drive.

edit: Oh crap I just realized that my router isn't gigabit.  It's a WRT160N.  Maybe that has something to do with it?  However right now I'm the only one using the network, so shouldn't 100M be good enough?

In theory, a raw 1080p bluray rip (m2ts) would stream at up to 50Megabits per second.

that should be ok over 100Mb router. 2 at once it might choke. (this is why many people encase it in mkv).

If you could bypass the linksys for testing. then you know if it is your server or the router.

the 1000kB a second is only 8Mb per second... that is low for 1080p bluray.

You hardware is fine for file serving and there should be no issues there.

I run a set of Intel DG45FC's with E6800's for file servers. They can push 100% gigabit 24x7 without a hickup (under 2008r2).

I didnt see any red flags while glancing at your syslog.

as far as the flip-flopping /SDx, thats nothing, it happens all the time.

In theory, a raw 1080p bluray rip (m2ts) would stream at up to 50Megabits per second.

that should be ok over 100Mb router. 2 at once it might choke. (this is why many people encase it in mkv).

 

If you could bypass the linksys for testing. then you know if it is your server or the router.

 

the 1000kB a second is only 8Mb per second... that is low for 1080p bluray.

 

You hardware is fine for file serving and there should be no issues there.

I run a set of Intel DG45FC's with E6800's for file servers. They can push 100% gigabit 24x7 without a hickup (under 2008r2).

 

I didnt see any red flags while glancing at your syslog.

 

as far as the flip-flopping /SDx, thats nothing, it happens all the time.

How would I go about bypassing the router?  Do I disconnect the ethernet cable from the router to the switch?  Leaving only the server and my desktop connected to the switch?

Thanks again for your continued help, I really appreciate it.

I'll assume the switch is your dhcp. So leave that connected to the switch. The plug the htpc and unraid into the switch also. The router is ok to be on the network. We just want to make sure the stream is not going though it.

I'll assume the switch is your dhcp. So leave that connected to the switch. The plug the htpc and unraid into the switch also. The router is ok to be on the network. We just want to make sure the stream is not going though it.

Do you mean the 'router' is my dhcp?  I currently have the router connected to the Internet port on the switch, then I have the HTPC and the unraid server both connected to that switch.

yes, i meant the router is the dhcp. typing while walking ...

yes, i meant the router is the dhcp. typing while walking ...

Ok NP.

So that is the setup that I have been using.  Does this mean that the problem is with the server?  Or is there another step to checking the network?

.. grr

yes, then we go back to the server as athe issue. sorry.

I would also verify that your HTPC is connected at 1gig also.

Your are using a motherboard with very old BIOS as shown here:

Nov  6 10:52:31 Tower kernel: DMI:                  /DG33TL, BIOS DPP3510J.86A.0326.2007.1206.2256 12/06/2007

and your syslog starts with kernel memory crash.

There are at least ten if not more newer releases that fix something with the latest been 0572 from 07/15/2009 and with change-log here:

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/17930/eng/DP_0572_ReleaseNotes2.pdf

I will flash the BIOS to the latest revision, load the default values and then disable any unused hardware feature (serial and par. ports, IDE, floppy, audio, etc...)

And then try to see if the playback is now OK.

Thanks for noticing that, I'll update the bios firmware later tonight.

edit:

As I showed before, I only get from 500kB/s to 1000kB/s when I'm playing back a blu-ray.  But when I transfer a file from the unraid server to the HTPC, I can get much better rates (attached).  That doesn't make much sense to me.

I updated to the newest BIOS firmware, and I still have the laggy playback problem from both disks. 

I've attached a new system log.

syslog_new_bios.txt

Have you tried a different player?

Have you tried a different player?

For the recorded TV, I'm using Windows Media Center.  For the blu-ray playback, I've been using MPC Home Cinema, but I've also tried VLC player and PowerDVD 9, and the playback is choppy on all. 

The log is very short. Post a log that contains a playback event.

Yesterday I did another parity sync, and then restarted the server to try the playback.  And the playback problem was still there.  Then I found a thread about slow playback, and I changed to these settings:

md_num_stripes=2784

md_write_limit=1536

md_sync_window=576

But it still didn't help.

Then, the strangest thing happened today.  I came home and powered up the server, to playback some files in order to give you a new log file.  And the playback was perfect for about 40 minutes.  I opened a few different blu-rays, and they all played just fine.  Then at about 1:55pm local time, the playback started chopping again.  And now nothing plays fine.  I attached the log file, but I don't see anything time stamped around 13:55.  I spun up all drives at 14:07 to see if it made any difference, but it didn't.  

I was the only one using the network during all of this. 

syslog_playback.txt

Can you try  a different computer for playback?

It looks like my LAN driver got corrupted somehow.  I repaired the LAN driver, and it fixed the playback issue.  I guess the timing of the whole situation just threw me off, because the playback issue didn't present itself until after the failed drive was replaced.  So that made me think it was the server.

Thanks everyone for all your help, I greatly appreciate it.