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[rcblackwell]

I was configuring an old PC with Linux Ubuntu so it could be used as a media server to stream music throughout the house. After installing Linux I searched the a suitable application to use for media streaming. That's when I came across JRiver Media Center. This application seemed like the perfect solution. I was able to successfully install the app on the Linux Serer but was experiencing difficulty with JRiver crashing after import of the music library. Figuring the problem was related to the old hardware or a lack of memory, I gave up on the idea.

Over the weekend I purchased a QNAP TS-251. Much to my delight, I found JRiver Media Center was available as an installable app. Following QNAP's instruction, the application was installed. With the NAS connected to an HDMI monitor I was able to navigate through JRiver and see much of it's functionality. Without media being imported to the library it was hard to see exactly how the application functioned. In order to complete a Library Import I copied some 20,000+ songs to the Multimedia folder on the NAS. Once the files were in place I started JRiver and performed an Import. All was going fine until the Import completed then the application crashed. The application crashed exactly like it did when being tested out on the Linux PC. I'm able to restart the application but it crashes as soon as I try to navigate through any of the menu's.

I really would like to try this application out but due to constant crashes I'm finding it hard to do so. Being new to the application I don't know where to start troubleshooting. Is their a log file somewhere on the NAS that will help me determine the cause of the crash? Could there be a problem with the Import - a special or unrecognized character in one of the song titles. Any help you may offer in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

[JimH]

Is there an update available on the QNAP?  This sounds like a problem from a few weeks ago.  You could read about it in the QNAP thread, starting near the bottom.

[rcblackwell]

The version experiencing crashes was 21.0.61. I see that has been superseded by 21.0.63. The version in use on the QNAP NAS is 21.0.54. According to information in the thread related to crashes on version 21.0.61, 21.0.54 should be stable. At least folks experiencing problems with 21.0.61 were advised to rollback to 21.0.54. I don't see any means to update to a later version. In any event I was afraid to do so given 21.0.54 was supposed to be stable. Later today I'll see if there's a means to upgrade. Will if I find a way.

[JimH]

I'll merge this with the QNAP thread.  I'm not sure how QNAP updates itself.

[Junghwan]

Memory problem? Not sure.
But 21.0.54 on my TS-251(8GB RAM) is quite stable. 

[rcblackwell]

Memory problem? Not sure.
But 21.0.54 on my TS-251(8GB RAM) is quite stable.  

A search through the Support Wiki reveals no hardware requirements listed for a Linux based system. At least I could find none. I did find that Windows based configurations require a minimum of 512 MB. The QNAP unit here has 1 GB installed so, based on what I've been able to find, JRiver should run okay.

Can someone point out where I'd find the log files. At least that way I could start trouble shooting the issue.

[bob]

A search through the Support Wiki reveals no hardware requirements listed for a Linux based system. At least I could find none. I did find that Windows based configurations require a minimum of 512 MB. The QNAP unit here has 1 GB installed so, based on what I've been able to find, JRiver should run okay.

Can someone point out where I'd find the log files. At least that way I could start trouble shooting the issue.

You'd have to log into the qnap. Then it's in the home directory under .jriver/Media Center 21/Log.txt if you have logging turned on.
I suspect you have a bad file that MC's trying to parse and is crashing on. Of course it shouldn't crash on a bad file but it's difficult to catch all of these cases.

[rcblackwell]

You'd have to log into the qnap. Then it's in the home directory under .jriver/Media Center 21/Log.txt if you have logging turned on.

Hi Bob,

Started JRiver to turn on logging. A couple of interesting things happened; the application loaded, allowed selection of songs and played without an issue. A message at the bottom of the screen indicated 29,000 + song files were in the library. Why was it crashing he other day and not now? Following a little testing I decided to import 12 or so short video's. Using the Library Import function the files were imported from a folder on the NAS to the Library. As the import was finishing, JRiver crashed. It started right back up. I immediately went to the logging screen and tried to open the log file. A message appeared advising Google Chrome could not be run as ROOT. Given this issue, I tried searching for the log file in the directory described above. Couldn't find it. I know the directory is hidden thus made sure to look for hidden files. No luck. Any thoughts on how to proceed from here?

[rcblackwell]

Memory problem? Not sure.
But 21.0.54 on my TS-251(8GB RAM) is quite stable. 

It appears you may be correct on your assessment. An error turned up in the QNAP log today. It reads;

Type   Date   Time   Users   Source IP   Computer name   Content
Warning   2016/04/03   07:02:58 PM   System   127.0.0.1   localhost   [Kernel] Out-Of-Memory. Kill process 20985(mediacenter21). To reclaim memory resources, try disabling some applications or consider expanding the system memory (if possible).   

Looks like a memory upgrade may be required! Wish I had known this at the outset, I may have purchased a different NAS.

[bob]

It appears you may be correct on your assessment. An error turned up in the QNAP log today. It reads;

Looks like a memory upgrade may be required! Wish I had known this at the outset, I may have purchased a different NAS.

You could try disabling some of the QNAP features that you aren't using (if you have any) to see if you can free up enough memory.

[rcblackwell]

You could try disabling some of the QNAP features that you aren't using (if you have any) to see if you can free up enough memory.

Hi Bob,

I tried disabling as many QNAO applications as possible. When that didn't work, memory on the unit (TS-251) was upgraded to 8 GB. Regardless, the problem remained the same. The application runs for a short while then quits.

In another thread on this board there's mention of a similar problem. The thread suggests random crashes are occurring due to a problem with album art update. I've been unable to locate the JRiver log files thus cannot determine what is causing the application to crash. I wish there was more information to offer however insight into the applications logs doing so is next to impossible. Not sure where to go from here?

[bob]

Hi Bob,

I tried disabling as many QNAP applications as possible. When that didn't work, memory on the unit (TS-251) was upgraded to 8 GB. Regardless, the problem remained the same. The application runs for a short while then quits.

In another thread on this board there's mention of a similar problem. The thread suggests random crashes are occurring due to a problem with album art update. I've been unable to locate the JRiver log files thus cannot determine what is causing the application to crash. I wish there was more information to offer however insight into the applications logs doing so is next to impossible. Not sure where to go from here?

8 gigs should be way more than you'll ever need.
If you log into a command line on the QNAP you'll see the program data directory:
/share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/.qpkg/HD_Station/root/.jriver/Media Center 21
The logs will be in there.

It's always possible something else is running the QNAP out of memory and it's just choosing Media Center to kill to free up memory.
If you run
top
from the command line and hit M you'll sort the processes by resident memory.

[rcblackwell]

8 gigs should be way more than you'll ever need.
If you log into a command line on the QNAP you'll see the program data directory:
/share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/.qpkg/HD_Station/root/.jriver/Media Center 21
The logs will be in there.

It's always possible something else is running the QNAP out of memory and it's just choosing Media Center to kill to free up memory.
If you run
top
from the command line and hit M you'll sort the processes by resident memory.

Bob,

Thank you for this detail.  I'm tied up for a few days and will be unable to follow up until sometime Thursday. It may be late Friday or the weekend before I can report back on my findings.

[rcblackwell]

8 gigs should be way more than you'll ever need.
If you log into a command line on the QNAP you'll see the program data directory:
/share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/.qpkg/HD_Station/root/.jriver/Media Center 21
The logs will be in there.

It's always possible something else is running the QNAP out of memory and it's just choosing Media Center to kill to free up memory.
If you run
top
from the command line and hit M you'll sort the processes by resident memory.

Bob,

I found time today to look into the problem with JRiver on the QNAP TS-251 NAS. Given the NAS is new and had very little data on it, I decided to do a hard reset, reconfigure the unit then reinstall JRiver. Instead of installing HDStation through QNAP's QTS Browser, installation was managed via a wireless keyboard and monitor connected directly to the NAS. Interestingly enough when I selected install HDStation, Google Chrome, QNAP's HDPlayer, QNAP's QTS Configuration Station and a CODEX package were also installed. At this point I turned to QNAP's web-based browser, opened HDStation to disable HDPlayer and install JRiver.

Following installation of JRiver a library of 25,000+ songs was copied to the Multimedia folder on the NAS. JRiver was then started and a manual import of the Multimedia folder initiated. I'm pleased to say the import went well. Near the end of the import I noticed a message in the bottom left corner of the screen indicating Album Art was being updated. This is the point were JRiver was crashing before. The import wasn't without issue; when I clicked on the button to view what had been imported, JRiver crashed. I tried to restart it a couple of times right the initial crash but it would start then immediately crashed again. Thinking that perhaps a few background processes needed time to shut down, I let a few minutes pass before restarting the app.

I'm pleased to say the application has been running for about an hour now without crashing. Music is currently being served to two DNLA devices while I monitor what's being played from the monitor connected to the NAS. I'm not going to say everything is working just right yet as I do want to see JRiver run for a few days without crashing. If we manage to get by the weekend without a crash then I may consider this install a success. I'll let you know Monday (April 11th).

[rcblackwell]

I suspect you have a bad file that MC's trying to parse and is crashing on. Of course it shouldn't crash on a bad file but it's difficult to catch all of these cases.

Bob,

I believe I've found the cause of the problem. After rebuilding the NAS and reinstalling JRiver I took a measured approach at moving files into the media library. The import of 22,000+ songs went well. That is, songs were imported, any missing ablum art acquired, JRiver recognized and played a selection of songs without crahsing. After letting the application sit idle over-night several videos were moved into the media library. Shortly thereafter JRiver crashed. I couldn't tell from the log what file(s) caused the crash so I started eliminating files until the app was once again stable. I've since determined a video file in MS wmv format causes JRiver to crash. Remove the file from the library and JRiver seems to work okay. I have yet to upload the photo library thus cannot say all is in working order however the measured approached that I'm taking at this time has been helpful.

[bob]

Bob,

I believe I've found the cause of the problem. After rebuilding the NAS and reinstalling JRiver I took a measured approach at moving files into the media library. The import of 22,000+ songs went well. That is, songs were imported, any missing ablum art acquired, JRiver recognized and played a selection of songs without crahsing. After letting the application sit idle over-night several videos were moved into the media library. Shortly thereafter JRiver crashed. I couldn't tell from the log what file(s) caused the crash so I started eliminating files until the app was once again stable. I've since determined a video file in MS wmv format causes JRiver to crash. Remove the file from the library and JRiver seems to work okay. I have yet to upload the photo library thus cannot say all is in working order however the measured approached that I'm taking at this time has been helpful.

That's very nice debugging work.
Is it a protected wmv?

[rcblackwell]

Is it a protected wmv?

Bob,

I'm not sure. How would I tell if it's protected?

I know the author and may see him next week. If I do I will ask.

[bob]

Bob,

I'm not sure. How would I tell if it's protected?

I know the author and may see him next week. If I do I will ask.

Try playing it with VLC on a linux box.

[gulp]

8 gigs should be way more than you'll ever need.
If you log into a command line on the QNAP you'll see the program data directory:
/share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/.qpkg/HD_Station/root/.jriver/Media Center 21
The logs will be in there.

It's always possible something else is running the QNAP out of memory and it's just choosing Media Center to kill to free up memory.
If you run
top
from the command line and hit M you'll sort the processes by resident memory.

Hi, in my case I have to get such a log and send it to support. How can I get the log from this hidden QNAP Directory without Linux knowledge?

[bob]

Hi, in my case I have to get such a log and send it to support. How can I get the log from this hidden QNAP Directory without Linux knowledge?

You could log into it with ssh (putty from Windows, command line from a Mac) then
in MC go to
Help->Logging and turn logging on
then: reproduce the problem
next: Help->Logging->Report Problem (this creates a zipfile of the log in the QNAP MC Documents directory).
from your ssh login:

Code: [Select]

cp /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/.qpkg/HD_Station/root/Desktop/JRiver\ Log\ 2016-06-02\ 16-29-42.zip  /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/Public
replace the log name of mine above JRiver\ Log\ 2016-06-02\ 16-29-42.zip with yours (spaces in filenames require backslashes in front of them)
You can then grab the log from a windows PC or Mac from the /public share on the QNAP.

[gulp]

Thanks much, I now can post the log in the other thread

[Baler]

Help please,

I have a QNAP TS-251+ running MC21 supplying a bunch of Naim players around the home. Installation was straight forward and library created easily enough. I access the library either through JRemote or Webgizmo and both work well when I can connect and there is the problem. After a couple of hours, connection is lost to MC21 and both JRemote and Webgizmo show that the server is 'refusing connections'. It is remedied by using QNAP's Qremote to simply restart MC21. The version of MC21 is 21.0.83. Just one more thing I do have MC21 for Windows on a separate PC in the home also acting as a server.

Thx. Baler.

[bob]

Help please,

I have a QNAP TS-251+ running MC21 supplying a bunch of Naim players around the home. Installation was straight forward and library created easily enough. I access the library either through JRemote or Webgizmo and both work well when I can connect and there is the problem. After a couple of hours, connection is lost to MC21 and both JRemote and Webgizmo show that the server is 'refusing connections'. It is remedied by using QNAP's Qremote to simply restart MC21. The version of MC21 is 21.0.83. Just one more thing I do have MC21 for Windows on a separate PC in the home also acting as a server.

Thx. Baler.

Sounds like the QNAP is running out of resources and is killing MC.
You might try turning off auto-import and changing the thumbnail creation threading to low.

[Baler]

Bob,

Thanks for your reply. The QNAP has 8gb memory installed and auto import is currently switched off. the library size is around 150gb, mainly audio and consists of around 18.5k tracks I will switch logging on tonight to see whether that sheds any further light. I was just interested to know if anybody else had encountered this problem.

Baler

[rcblackwell]

Not sure if the problem I'm experiencing is caused by the same issue as you however I've noticed Media Center on a QNAP TS-251 with 8 Meg stops running from time to time. Like yourself, I find it necessary to restart the application. I do so by clicking on the MC21 Icon on QNAP's HybridDesk station. I'm running version 21.0.83 of MC.