SERIOUSLY! PLEX, hosted on unRAID...is driving me #%&* NUTZ!!

[BRiT]

Before one goes to upgrading the RAM on an already old and aging platform, one should instead seriously consider again upgrading the entire core -- motherboard, cpu, and ram to a decent and supported Intel i5 setup. No sense in spending more good money on a dead platform, but that's just one person's opinion on what should have been done initially.

[CDLehner]

Before one goes to upgrading the RAM on an already old and aging platform, one should instead seriously consider again upgrading the entire core -- motherboard, cpu, and ram to a decent and supported Intel i5 setup. No sense in spending more good money on a dead platform, but that's just one person's opinion on what should have been done initially.

 

Brit, that's perfectly sensible advice. But the truth is...my slow, dated configuration; has been perfectly fine...as file-server. And that's really all I ever intended it to be.

 

Then v6, comes along...with its fancy Dockers and such, lol; and now I'm trotting out PLEX. But a) I don't foresee multiple Dockers, and/or b) multiple HD streams of PLEX, running at the same time.

 

So...for now; we'll give my old gal, a little boost on the cheap. If any of that changes, and I find myself...once again outgunned; I'll bite the bullet, and scrap parts.

 

Thanks

[John_M]

Before one goes to upgrading the RAM on an already old and aging platform, one should instead seriously consider again upgrading the entire core -- motherboard, cpu, and ram to a decent and supported Intel i5 setup. No sense in spending more good money on a dead platform, but that's just one person's opinion on what should have been done initially.

 

A lot of people have given a lot of opinions on this thread but the fact remains that it's the OP's prerogative to proceed as he wishes. He's chosen to stick with his motherboard and is therefore unlikely to go down the i5 route right now. Best just to help him along the path he's chosen.

 

@CDL just order a pair of 4GB DDR3 sticks and you'll be fine.

 

[CDLehner]

Before one goes to upgrading the RAM on an already old and aging platform, one should instead seriously consider again upgrading the entire core -- motherboard, cpu, and ram to a decent and supported Intel i5 setup. No sense in spending more good money on a dead platform, but that's just one person's opinion on what should have been done initially.

 

A lot of people have given a lot of opinions on this thread but the fact remains that it's the OP's prerogative to proceed as he wishes. He's chosen to stick with his motherboard and is therefore unlikely to go down the i5 route right now. Best just to help him along the path he's chosen.

 

@CDL just order a pair of 4GB DDR3 sticks and you'll be fine.

 

And John...now is the perfect time, to thank you for all your help!

 

It's been a l o n g thread...and there are many to thank, and I've tried to along the way. But obviously...you're the one, leading the charge right now 

 

Thanks

[CDLehner]

OK...cooler and RAM, so ordered!

 

Now we wait. 

[zero80472]

i know this might not help but on your signture you have a HDD cache drive ? (mechanical) i think you should try upgrading it to a small 60gb ssd

 

i had issues with plex as well but as soon as i upgraded memory form 4 to 8gb and added a ssd as a cache drive i haven't had any issuers

 

although it is a core i5 i have in my system (cpu is watercooled) as well

 

 

just my idea i thoight i would shoot

[CHBMB]

FWIW I run all my Plex data off a HDD not an SSD and have no issues (although my docker.img is on a SSD, however all the metadata is definitely on the HDD)

 

And CDLehner, I think we're all rooting for you, this has been an exceptional journey.  I think when you get Plex running I may get a tear in my eye tbh....

[CDLehner]

FWIW I run all my Plex data off a HDD not an SSD and have no issues (although my docker.img is on a SSD, however all the metadata is definitely on the HDD)

 

And CDLehner, I think we're all rooting for you, this has been an exceptional journey.  I think when you get Plex running I may get a tear in my eye tbh....

 

TY. I just hope when all is said and done; I don't end up, with a 26-page thread...at the PLEX forums, lol   

[zero80472]

FWIW I run all my Plex data off a HDD not an SSD and have no issues (although my docker.img is on a SSD, however all the metadata is definitely on the HDD)

 

And CDLehner, I think we're all rooting for you, this has been an exceptional journey.  I think when you get Plex running I may get a tear in my eye tbh....

 

TY. I just hope when all is said and done; I don't end up, with a 26-page thread...at the PLEX forums, lol   

 

 

na it will be 200 pages on plex

[CHBMB]

FWIW I run all my Plex data off a HDD not an SSD and have no issues (although my docker.img is on a SSD, however all the metadata is definitely on the HDD)

 

And CDLehner, I think we're all rooting for you, this has been an exceptional journey.  I think when you get Plex running I may get a tear in my eye tbh....

 

TY. I just hope when all is said and done; I don't end up, with a 26-page thread...at the PLEX forums, lol   

 

Let me know if you do.  It'll be like Breaking Bad finishing and Better Call Saul starting.... 

[mr-hexen]

I run my dockers and appdata off a mechanical 1tb laptop drive without issues.

[CDLehner]

OK, so...

 

Chip is here...heatsink due tomorrow; and RAM on Friday.

 

Saturday morning...I'll probably do the do. Not worried about that; like I said before...I may ask some "idiotic" questions, about "software", and procedure. But I know how to remove a heatsink, carefully pull a chip; do the reverse...and slot some additional RAM.

 

My question is...give me an idea, of what to expect on start-up? Again...BIOS changes; just approval of the hardware change, etc.

[John_M]

Have you powered it up since flashing the BIOS? I'd do that to check that everything works before fitting the new CPU. It's also a chance to check that the BIOS settings are correct and as they need to be for booting the unRAID flash device.

 

I'd fit the memory first and check that the system is happy with that upgrade before fitting the new CPU. In other words, do one small upgrade at a time rather than everything at once - that makes troubleshooting so much easier.

 

The system might tell you that the amount of RAM has changed and that the CPU is different, but possibly not. If the BIOS reports fan speeds and CPU temperatures, you'll want to make a quick sanity check. That's pretty much it. Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

 

[JonathanM]

I'd fit the memory first and check that the system is happy with that upgrade before fitting the new CPU. In other words, do one small upgrade at a time rather than everything at once - that makes troubleshooting so much easier.

This, exactly. I'd want at LEAST 12 hours of clean memtest with all the RAM installed before swapping the CPU, and preferably another 12 hours of clean memtest after the CPU swap before booting back into unraid. The last thing you want is to boot up unraid with an unstable CPU / memory configuration and start dealing with data corruption or crashes.

[CDLehner]

^^ OK...

 

A) yes, I have flashed the BIOS; and unRAID still successfully runs after.

 

B) I'll follow the tip, to install the RAM...and the testing; before moving on to the CPU.

 

and C) When it happens...you're going to have to walk me through; WTH "clean memtests" are...lol 

[John_M]

With a monitor and keyboard connected to your server boot it from the unRAID USB flash and choose the memory test from the boot menu.

 

From the unRAID FAQ:

 

Memtest - Run the Memtest that appears on the unRAID boot screen. Most memory errors appear within a few minutes, others within a half hour of so, others may take many hours to show up. Plan on running it all night. The array will be completely down and inaccessible during this test. No memory errors are acceptable. If it takes 24 hours and produces only 1 error, you still need to replace one or more memory sticks. If you can't completely trust your memory, then you can't trust your system.

 

So a clean memtest is one that passes without a single error.

 

The screen display doesn't look as pretty as Dynamix but it does the job. There as some screenshots in the Wikipedia article so you know what to expect.

 

[CDLehner]

OK...cool 

[CDLehner]

RAM came a day early! Time to read-up 

[BRiT]

I wish you the best of luck on the upgrade process. 

[CDLehner]

Thus far...

[CDLehner]

This, exactly. I'd want at LEAST 12 hours of clean memtest with all the RAM installed before swapping the CPU, and preferably another 12 hours of clean memtest after the CPU swap before booting back into unraid. The last thing you want is to boot up unraid with an unstable CPU / memory configuration and start dealing with data corruption or crashes.

 

OK; so let me make sure I have this straight: you guys are saying...I should let this memtest; do several passes. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 hours worth. Then put the CPU in...and run another ~12 hours of memtests?

[interwebtech]

To be double sure yes. Me I often throw caution to the wind and just slap it together and call it done.

[CDLehner]

UPDATE-

 

Half-way through, second pass; ~5.5 hours...0 errors

 

Goodnight unRAID server; see you in the morning, when I'll put your new chip in...and let you run all day 

 

 

[CDLehner]

Step 2; fingers crossed 

[CDLehner]

And now...we wait