Starport is crashing my PCS - all of them

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Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:55 pm

I double checked my router settings. Nothing out of spec from what i can see. This is indeed a interesting issue I have come across. I have spent the entire day and evening troubleshooting this issue.

I just wanted to implement the software for remote dvd burning application on my htpc. No go, for the heck of it i opened ports 3260 and 3259 on my router on both ip addresses, the server and the client.

Short of a new router, I dont know what else to try. Both computers are barebones with exception to winxp now. and built in MS wireless drivers for laptop.

Iver read and double read the docs for both the starport and starwind. Im out of ideas to try.
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anton (staff)
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Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:10 am

Unfortunately I'm out-of-office till March 22nd so you'll have to wait till Valery would issue you with sample testing scripts for them. I do not have them around :(
Anonymous wrote:Could you please give me a step x step on using either iperf or NTTCP

I have located them both, just dont know what you mean. Sorry for being a noob at this level.

thanks.
Regards,
Anton Kolomyeytsev

Chief Technology Officer & Chief Architect, StarWind Software

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Val (staff)
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Thu Mar 17, 2005 9:37 am

Anonymous wrote:I double checked my router settings. Nothing out of spec from what i can see. This is indeed a interesting issue I have come across. I have spent the entire day and evening troubleshooting this issue.

I just wanted to implement the software for remote dvd burning application on my htpc. No go, for the heck of it i opened ports 3260 and 3259 on my router on both ip addresses, the server and the client.

Short of a new router, I dont know what else to try. Both computers are barebones with exception to winxp now. and built in MS wireless drivers for laptop.

Iver read and double read the docs for both the starport and starwind. Im out of ideas to try.
Hi,

You will not be able to burn DVDs over your wireless network.
The WLAN's speed is about 11MBit/s, but burning a DVD on 1x speed needs network throughput not less than 1.5MB/s (>12MBit/s).

The iSCSI protocol is rather sensitive to the network throughput.
So to use it successfully you need at least 100MB Ethernet connection between your initiator and target machines.
Best regards,
Valeriy
Guest

Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:01 pm

Well being that all the dvd data, iso files are on the same computer as the burner would the innitiator (starport) have to first transfer the iso to the client machine then send it back through the network to burn.

That being the case, you are right wireless is not gonna do well, at that. However it wasnt working from desktop machine either that is on 100mbit lan all hardwired. The only wireless pc in my network is a laptop and dell axim x50vpda.


Still no reason the sw should be locking up. I am convinced now that maybe the router is the culprit since i have switch and rotated client and host etc. But cant say it ever gets in the way of anything else. Including streaming HDTV transport stream files over it. Just doesnt add up in the end.

Still waiting for those scripts to test my network I suppose.
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anton (staff)
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Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:30 pm

You did not answer my question - do you have NAT or something like this? Or all of your machines have statically assigned IP addresses?
Anonymous wrote:Well being that all the dvd data, iso files are on the same computer as the burner would the innitiator (starport) have to first transfer the iso to the client machine then send it back through the network to burn.

That being the case, you are right wireless is not gonna do well, at that. However it wasnt working from desktop machine either that is on 100mbit lan all hardwired. The only wireless pc in my network is a laptop and dell axim x50vpda.


Still no reason the sw should be locking up. I am convinced now that maybe the router is the culprit since i have switch and rotated client and host etc. But cant say it ever gets in the way of anything else. Including streaming HDTV transport stream files over it. Just doesnt add up in the end.

Still waiting for those scripts to test my network I suppose.
Regards,
Anton Kolomyeytsev

Chief Technology Officer & Chief Architect, StarWind Software

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Val (staff)
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Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2004 8:38 pm

Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:33 pm

Anonymous wrote:Well being that all the dvd data, iso files are on the same computer as the burner would the innitiator (starport) have to first transfer the iso to the client machine then send it back through the network to burn.

That being the case, you are right wireless is not gonna do well, at that. However it wasnt working from desktop machine either that is on 100mbit lan all hardwired. The only wireless pc in my network is a laptop and dell axim x50vpda.


Still no reason the sw should be locking up. I am convinced now that maybe the router is the culprit since i have switch and rotated client and host etc. But cant say it ever gets in the way of anything else. Including streaming HDTV transport stream files over it. Just doesnt add up in the end.

Still waiting for those scripts to test my network I suppose.
Hi,

I suppose you have the NTttcp binaries under your hands.

So use the followin command lines to start a sender-receiver pair (you need to change the IP of your receiver machine to your local one).

Sender:
ntttcps -m 4,0,192.168.1.150 -a 4 -l 256000 -n 10000

Receiver:
ntttcpr -m 4,0,192.168.1.150 -a 4 -l 256000 -rb 20000000 -n 10000

BTW Does StarWind and StarPort work together on the same machine?

There is the default RamDisk in StarWind configuration. Could you try to install the both products on the same PC and check whether the StarPort is able to mount the RamDisk using 127.0.0.1 as server address.
Best regards,
Valeriy
Guest

Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:44 pm

[quote="anton (staff)"]You did not answer my question - do you have NAT or something like this? Or all of your machines have statically assigned IP addresses?


NAT is not installed,
Ive disabled any VPN or UPNP on router etc.

Yes I use static IP addressing.

or STATIC DHCP per router funtction.

To clarify: starport sees the drive just fine and starwind mounts the drive without hesitation. Its only when launching the burning applications such as yours or nero, alchohol etc. ] I dont use roxio S@H$I
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anton (staff)
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Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:06 pm

Good. If you're mapping hard disk (either over SPTI or just using image file emulation) how long reads and writes work?
Anonymous wrote:
anton (staff) wrote:You did not answer my question - do you have NAT or something like this? Or all of your machines have statically assigned IP addresses?


NAT is not installed,
Ive disabled any VPN or UPNP on router etc.

Yes I use static IP addressing.

or STATIC DHCP per router funtction.

To clarify: starport sees the drive just fine and starwind mounts the drive without hesitation. Its only when launching the burning applications such as yours or nero, alchohol etc. ] I dont use roxio S@H$I
Regards,
Anton Kolomyeytsev

Chief Technology Officer & Chief Architect, StarWind Software

Image
Guest

Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:23 pm

I wasnt mapping hard disk. Just dvd burner . NEC 2500A, I also tried a pioneer drive to eliminate a compatablility issue with your application.

I have since discovered a method to unfreeze the client computer. Disable the starwind service. Still frozen at this point.

Then restart the starwind service. Still frozen at this point.

Then disconnect the share from starwind and reconnect it. It then will allow me to do a cntrl alt del and kill the task that is freezing the pc. In this case your own app grabburn.exe or something to that effect.

Are we progressing a little now?

By the way I disabled the DHCP server in router as well as UPNP service in Winxp etc. Still nothing spectacular to post though.

I still need to run those diagnostics on network that valerie posted.

:(
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anton (staff)
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Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:52 pm

No. We're in the middle of the nowehere. B/s

1) You're the first one to have such a problem ever.

2) You was asked to run performance tests and hard disk mapping and you've skipped this.

3) You was asked to experiment with other iSCSI target and you've skipped this.
Anonymous wrote:I wasnt mapping hard disk. Just dvd burner . NEC 2500A, I also tried a pioneer drive to eliminate a compatablility issue with your application.

I have since discovered a method to unfreeze the client computer. Disable the starwind service. Still frozen at this point.

Then restart the starwind service. Still frozen at this point.

Then disconnect the share from starwind and reconnect it. It then will allow me to do a cntrl alt del and kill the task that is freezing the pc. In this case your own app grabburn.exe or something to that effect.

Are we progressing a little now?

By the way I disabled the DHCP server in router as well as UPNP service in Winxp etc. Still nothing spectacular to post though.

I still need to run those diagnostics on network that valerie posted.

:(
Regards,
Anton Kolomyeytsev

Chief Technology Officer & Chief Architect, StarWind Software

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Guest

Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:41 pm

The ram Drive works fine, No locking up on the client side.

I tested it by sending a copy of the grabburn exe to the drive.

Im sorry if you are frustrated with my trials. I really thought I was helping you more so than ticking you off.

The truth is that obviously this is a very uncommon issue. I dont see what could possible be wrong with my network at this point. Could you point me to another ISCSI target application perhaps.

I have tryed the MS initiator and it gave me same results.

I also just tryed the nttcp test that valery posted. I probally dont have the correct binary or something. Just did a google search for it. It launches from cmd prompt but offers no success with those scripts that she posted.

Again, Im sure this is wonderful software, but something is breaking it in my network. I will continue to try things out, just please understand I am not a ISCSI guru, Quite the novice it appears. There are many things I do understand very well. I still think my efforts are benneficial.

Could there be an incompatablilty with a particular chipset on the motherboards.

I am using an ASUS Nforce mobno
ASUS P4PE Intel Chipset
Via Chipset on Laptop
ASUS P4T on File Server

All computers have ATI video card with exception to File Server, Using 32MB Nvidia Card in that machine.

Dlink DI624 Router and also a Netgear 8 port switch. in the mix.

Thanks for all your help. Dont mean to be hostile. Obviously I have spent a lot of time troubleshooting this sw. Dont get me wrong. I enjoy that aspect. Just would like to see it work eventually.
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Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:57 pm

Dear Sir,

thank you very much for your efforsts troubleshooting your particular configuration. You can try MS iSCSI initiator and SBS iSCSI target from www.stringbeansoftware.com (however it seems to be overpriced and lacking features StarWind provides - however fine for cross-tests). After we'll be sure StarWind (and other RDS stuff) is not guilty - we'll continue with other possible issues.

No, there should be such issues with the hardware compatibility problems. We have nearly the same hardware and there were no such a problems reported by anybody ever.
Anonymous wrote:The ram Drive works fine, No locking up on the client side.

I tested it by sending a copy of the grabburn exe to the drive.

Im sorry if you are frustrated with my trials. I really thought I was helping you more so than ticking you off.

The truth is that obviously this is a very uncommon issue. I dont see what could possible be wrong with my network at this point. Could you point me to another ISCSI target application perhaps.

I have tryed the MS initiator and it gave me same results.

I also just tryed the nttcp test that valery posted. I probally dont have the correct binary or something. Just did a google search for it. It launches from cmd prompt but offers no success with those scripts that she posted.

Again, Im sure this is wonderful software, but something is breaking it in my network. I will continue to try things out, just please understand I am not a ISCSI guru, Quite the novice it appears. There are many things I do understand very well. I still think my efforts are benneficial.

Could there be an incompatablilty with a particular chipset on the motherboards.

I am using an ASUS Nforce mobno
ASUS P4PE Intel Chipset
Via Chipset on Laptop
ASUS P4T on File Server

All computers have ATI video card with exception to File Server, Using 32MB Nvidia Card in that machine.

Dlink DI624 Router and also a Netgear 8 port switch. in the mix.

Thanks for all your help. Dont mean to be hostile. Obviously I have spent a lot of time troubleshooting this sw. Dont get me wrong. I enjoy that aspect. Just would like to see it work eventually.
Regards,
Anton Kolomyeytsev

Chief Technology Officer & Chief Architect, StarWind Software

Image
Guest

Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:26 pm

Well , it works better on the wired pc. It actually showed up in nero, then when i went to select the iso file, it dropped out. How bad is it to use RDP or other remote software when troubleshooting this situation. Is it possible that that is what is causing the dropouts???

I guess the other and more probably possibility at this point is this:

DLINK Routers just arent up to the task for this software. Something is crapping out somwhere in the pipe.

I was pleased to see it mount the NEC drive in on the desktop though. The only thing else I know to try is this. Dont use RDP at all and walk upstairs to see if it works. Although pointless because I wanted to administer this function via my laptop.

The funny thing is this. I have a brand new 3520 16 nec burner sitting here waiting for fedex today to bring me my enclosure so that i may burn dvds on my laptop via firewire, usb 2.0. This was just a thought I had to see if it would work. And apparently it does for some.

My point, is my router doesnt suffer anywhere else that I can see. In fact I actually like the router. But for somereason it is not liking your target sw. I will still try the stringbeen stuff just for kicks.
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anton (staff)
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Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:33 pm

Yes. Plese try other router (it CAN mangle iSCSI pakcets internally) or hubless configuration. And of course - other software. I do not know why it works with hard disk (RAM disk) mapping but true hardware mapping fails... Would be *VERY* nice to know! :)
Anonymous wrote:Well , it works better on the wired pc. It actually showed up in nero, then when i went to select the iso file, it dropped out. How bad is it to use RDP or other remote software when troubleshooting this situation. Is it possible that that is what is causing the dropouts???

I guess the other and more probably possibility at this point is this:

DLINK Routers just arent up to the task for this software. Something is crapping out somwhere in the pipe.

I was pleased to see it mount the NEC drive in on the desktop though. The only thing else I know to try is this. Dont use RDP at all and walk upstairs to see if it works. Although pointless because I wanted to administer this function via my laptop.

The funny thing is this. I have a brand new 3520 16 nec burner sitting here waiting for fedex today to bring me my enclosure so that i may burn dvds on my laptop via firewire, usb 2.0. This was just a thought I had to see if it would work. And apparently it does for some.

My point, is my router doesnt suffer anywhere else that I can see. In fact I actually like the router. But for somereason it is not liking your target sw. I will still try the stringbeen stuff just for kicks.
Regards,
Anton Kolomyeytsev

Chief Technology Officer & Chief Architect, StarWind Software

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Guest

Thu Mar 17, 2005 6:39 pm

string bean, only sees hard disks. Not ide devices.


Am I asking too much for this software. For example

Should I be able to use an application like Nero or GrabnBurn and access the dvd burner from the client pc, burning an .iso or other image file.

The Iso image is located on the starwind machine if it makes any difference.

BTW, I have an SMC router in the closet. I forgot about it. I could try it just for your tests. But Im not giving up my Dlink that easy.

I tryed a WRT54G one time and the range sucked compared to my Dlink.

That was when i tried 3 diff routers for 30 days from Best Buy here in the states :) and 3 Diff wireless lan cards. I ended up liking the dlink the best and the others went back
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