I have set up the Unraid, and put my movies on it. I just got my HTPC installed, and playing the move from the Unraid box, it is very poor. Stops, pauses, jerks.

 

My network is wired; cat 5; GB speed; Utilization at < 2.5%; Looking at ifconfig from a telnet session, 0 errors, o drroped, 0 overruns.

 

The drives are WD 1GB SATA.

 

Box is ABIT9 MOBO.

 

I also hooked to it with my Laptop just now (also wired to cables), and same thing.

 

 

Any ideas?

 

 

Gigabit Ethernet requires Cat5+ or Cat6.  Plain Cat5 is a recipe for disaster.

 

What is the b itrate of the movie you are trying to play, and what format it is?

It's standard definition, and I've been playing movies over this network on the other system for years.

 

I think maybe the problem was it was doing a parity check. I dont' know how long one of those takes, but I just checked on the Main window and the last one was at 10:47pm. That's a bit after I had this problem. I'm not sure if that is the begin time or end time.

 

How can I configure the parity check to be a different time?

 

 

You will definitely have issues with disk throughput while a parity check is going on.... a parity check is a very disk-intensive operation.  Just wait till it's over, and try again.

So, I can't change or set a schedule for that? It happens right during movie watching time.

 

Over the past 4 years, I've been using Raid 5 with a Promise card through Windows machine. Never had a problem with performance. I understand this works different, but I need to be able to change it to do that check in the wee hours of the morning.

So, I can't change or set a schedule for that? It happens right during movie watching time.

 

Over the past 4 years, I've been using Raid 5 with a Promise card through Windows machine. Never had a problem with performance. I understand this works different, but I need to be able to change it to do that check in the wee hours of the morning.

There is no "parity check" scheduled in unRAID, ever.  The only time it occurs is if you reboot after a non-clean shutdown. (power loss) or on demand when you press the "Check" button.  Once parity has been completely calculated, it does not need to be run except for once a month or so to exercise the SMART features of your disks. (preventative maintenance, to verify all blocks of all disks are readable)

 

so... has your parity check ever completed? or are you shutting down before it is done?

Are you stopping your array before powering down? (good) or just turning power off?  (bad)

 

Please attach a copy of your syslog.  It might give clues why your parity check is running.  (As I said, it ONLY runs on demand once parity has been initially calculated.)  Other than that, parity is maintained when you write files to the unRAID server, or when files are moved from the cache drive to the data drives (if you use a cache drive)

 

Instructions on how to save a copy of the syslog to attach to your next post are in the wiki: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Troubleshooting

 

Joe L.

ewingr, are you turning your unRAID server on and off as needed, or do you leave it on 7x24?

Joe's explanation answers the issue.

 

I was in fact removing the old Windows box, and moving this system to that location. I had shut down the system .I  used the power button, which when I was watching once through a console, I got the impression the OS did an orderly shutdown. Maybe I just learned somethign about that.

 

But if that didn't cause the issue, this is what did: when I hooked up the lan cable, I had the box situated where I couldn't really see, and I put it in the wrong port. I ended up turning it off again.

 

I can say that when I shut it down, the disks were spun down.

 

Anyway, between all that, I'm sure that is why it did the rebuild.

 

All this makes me wonder if maybe I should put it on a battery.

 

IN answer to the question about leaving it on: I do leave it on 24X7. I plan on using it to backup my other computers to, and have that scheduled weekly, during the very early mornings.

 

Thanks, everyone, for the info. I guess I was a panicked newby to this system. Sorry 'bout that.

 

 

 

No need to apologize.  While unraid is a relatively straightforward solution, it ain't no appliance - something that requires no care and feeding other than turning it on.

 

Like any modern device, one of the first things you should do is peruse the documentation (after you set it up, no self-respecting person reads documentation before diving in  ).  The wiki is an amazing source of information and you will likely have several "aha" moments.

 

One aha moment you should take to heart - the "restore" button is poorly named, don't assume it restores anything.  If tempted to push it, don't.

 

 

Cheers,

Bill

Yes, definitely put a small UPS on it and run it 7x24.  ... seems in post places I've lived, 95% of power outages were just blips that last a few seconds at most, so a small UPS of appropriate Wattage will suffice.