I have PMS running on a mac mini and am mounting a NAS (Synology) with my library per the recommended mac OS X external hard drive mounting method (login items) and it works fine until the NAS hibernates. When a client hits the server the NAS eventually does start up but the PMS times out and throws a resource-loader error. Subsequent requests from the remote client work but it’s very annoying that the PMS times out before the NAS responds. Is there some place i can adjust the PMS media timeout value ? I would rather not disable hibernation on the NAS to same wear and tear when not needed.
Thanks in advance.
Software that runs on servers tends to expect the server to be configured properly and always be accessible, and does not take well to things like drive spin-down. Arguably this has no place in server setups and is really a bad solution to a non-existent problem (you are causing more “wear and tear” with the frequent spinning-up due to having to break from friction which also uses several times the electricity, the surges of which also create electronic wear-and-tear).
So the answer is that there is no adjustable timeout value for the plex media server accessing it’s mounted volumes? That doesn’t make any kind of sense to me given the numerous discussions on this forum of users trying to get their NAS’s to hibernate and plex tasks keeping them awake (those discussions tend to end in the server being misconfigured). Also why would all the NAS manufactures implement hibernate features?
Still waiting for a reasonable answer. The startup transient/load example only comes into play if it’s frequent; mine is idle most of the time (id estimate duty cycle <15%) daily.
@DrMemory said:
given the numerous discussions on this forum of users trying to get their NAS’s to hibernate
They’re doing it wrong. 1000 people trying to do something wrong doesn’t make it right.
Also why would all the NAS manufactures implement hibernate features?
- They “all” don’t.
- Some features are made available under the caveat that the administrator understands the possible negative implications, which includes the fast amount of “server” type software which will likely react negatively. It’s expected that someone taking on the task of running a NAS has learned a thing or two, like handing someone a bandsaw with the understanding they won’t try to saw off their leg. If you don’t understand an option or aren’t ready to deal with the side-effects, you shouldn’t enable it. Not all switches are benign and free to tweak on/off willy nilly. The high-quality NAS software I use allows things like zero-redundancy pools (stupid) and de-dupe (insane) because it’s a tool, not your mommy.
Having a server/NAS hibernate is perfectly reasonable if it’s not accessed for long periods and the response when needed is not time sensitive. Whether it creates more “wear and tear” is a subject of debate and would be highly situation dependent in any case.
Personally I normally leave the spinning rust spinning, but that’s just me. 
The down side is that you’ll probably just have to live with eating that first timeout error.
One possibility would be to have some task try to access a file on the NAS shortly before you started using Plex. How to trigger that is the question, and would depend on the specifics of your setup and usage. A timer is one possibility, or a machine that’s normally started before you use Plex, or if you have some home automation when you enter your TV room would seem ideal.
John
@DrMemory said:
I have PMS running on a mac mini and am mounting a NAS (Synology) with my library per the recommended mac OS X external hard drive mounting method (login items) and it works fine until the NAS hibernates. When a client hits the server the NAS eventually does start up but the PMS times out and throws a resource-loader error. Subsequent requests from the remote client work but it’s very annoying that the PMS times out before the NAS responds. Is there some place i can adjust the PMS media timeout value ? I would rather not disable hibernation on the NAS to same wear and tear when not needed.
Thanks in advance.
This might not be exactly what you’re after, but at least it’s relevant to your actual question.
There is a server setting under the transcoder section that’s called segment timeout or something like that. I have read before that it can be adjusted to a higher value if you have a slower disk spin up / access time (to avoid timeouts). But naturally, it might only affect transcodes (I don’t know).
Anyway, just wanted to inform of that. Perhaps it’s helpful in your scenario?
