dropping connections -- squeezecenter 7.3.3

[parsifal9]

Hi Forum,

I have a problem with dropping connections.

The setup is
SqueezeCenter Version: 7.3.3 running on a linkstation pro with Freelink
netgear wireless modem router
2 squeezebox booms
1 squeezebox3

All works well but then the squeezeboxes loose the connection. This
does not happen straight away, it can be all right for many hours
before the connection goes. It doesn't seem to be a network problem,
as I can still ping the squeezeboxes. It doesn't seem to be a wireless
problem. When the connection goes, the web interface
http://192.168.1.101:9000 goes as well.

I can ssh to the linkstation and
see that slimserver.pl is running, using up about 98% of the CPU!

I have tried logging in to the linkstation and running squeezecenter manually with

/usr/src/squeezecenter/server/slimserver.pl --user=squeezecenter
--d_server --d_info --d_import --d_sql --d_mysql

I was hoping that this would give some insight into the
problem. However while it gives some error messages, they occur long
before the connection drops.

The error messages are things like

Slim::Utils::PluginManager::enablePlugins (424) Couldn't load
Slim::Plugin::PreventStandby::Plugin. Error: Plugin is incompatible
with your platform.
Slim::Networking::SqueezeNetwork::Players::_player s_error (146) Unable
to get players from SN: Connect timed out: , retrying in 300 seconds
Slim::Plugin::InternetRadio::Plugin::cacheIconErro r (233) Error
caching remote icon
http://www.squeezenetwork.com/static/images/icons/radiosearch.png:
Timed out waiting for data
main::checkVersionError (974) Error: There was an error while checking for updates to SqueezeCenter:

so apart from the excessive CPU usage there doesn't seem to be anything
apparent. I fix the problem by stopping and restarting squeezecenter.

I have looked through the forum and while there are other people with
connection problems, they seem quite different to this i.e. connection is
never established or lost immediately when accessing internet radio.

I realize this is not much to go on. Does anyone have any ideas how I get more debugging information? I think the problem only started when I got the booms last week, but I am not sure. This could be a red herring.

Bye
Parsifal9

[epoch1970]

I'd think of a memory leak. Can you run "free" and "uptime" and see what's up.
If everything, including running processes, went to the swap, then you'd probably meet timeouts and the like.
Though swapping wouldn't push the CPU to its limits, AFAIK. Only load would go through the roof.
Unless the machine tries to core repeatedly as a consequence.

Perhaps you can disengage all plugins and see what happens ?

[aubuti]

I don't have a solution, but if it's any consolation I used to have a similar problem when I ran SC on a LinkStation. I don't remember the exact SC version. I'm sure it was pre-7.3.3 because I never got 7.3.3 to run on the LS, but it may have been as recent as 7.3.2. Sometimes SC would suddenly take off and start using 98+% of the CPU. It wouldn't actually drop my connection, but it would get verrrry slow and unresponsive.

Disabling plugins is a good place to start on the diagnosis.

[parsifal9]

Hi Forum,

I have no third-party plugins installed. The plugin directories are empty.

Under SqueezeCenter Settings-> Plugins I have unchecked all the boxes except for a few that I dont seem to be able to change like "Command Line Interface (CLI) (v1.0)" and "Favorites (v1.0)". I dont really understand this but I suspect it is not important.

The problem is still there. It is definitely one of CPU usage not memory.
I have been playing with it trying to get more information. I think that it
always happens with the command "sleep at end of song" -- generally before the end of the song squeezecenter usage does through the roof and everything hangs.

However, it happens on other occasions as well.

I am starting to think that this is beyond me and that I should consider up or down grading to another version of squeezecenter.

Bye
parsifal9

[parsifal9]

Hi Forum,

any advice on what I should do here?

Apparently the squeezebox boom requires 7.2 or later.
This is a bit of a problem.

So far the history of this box is
1) installed slimserver_6.5.1
2) upgraded to 7.0 using the instructions at
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=46005
3) upgraded to 7.3.3 using the http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=59856

all of these upgrades have been quite difficult (for me) involving perl and mysql installations and problems (sometimes of my own making).

Does anyone know of an easy way to install 7.2 or later (i.e using apt-get or something)? At the moment I am thinking of using the instructions for 7.3.3. but trying 7.2 or 7.4

Bye
parsifal9

[MattW]

Hello Parsifal9,

I don't have a specific answer for you however I have had similar issues when running a SB Duet on my system alongside a SB3. It appeared that the wireless signal for the SB3 was fine but the SB Duet was on the edge of the range, kept connecting then losing the connection and causing slimserver to jump up to 100% usage. At that point both units would stop working. A reboot always cured the problem for a while but then it would come back.

I recently installed a new wireless router and a wireless bridge to extend the range and since then all has been well. I would suggest turning off all but one of the units to see if this cures the problem, if it does then try moving the units so they can get a better wireless signal or adding a bridge to your network.

If not then you try turning on logging to debug and see if the logs give any further details or using a network tool to see what information is being sent/received by your Linkstation.

Hope that helps,

matt

[parsifal9]

Hi MattW,

thanks for that. Since my last message I have installed 7.2.2 using your instructions (just changed the 7.3 to 7.2 in
svn co -N http://svn.slimdevices.com/repos/slim/7.2/trunk squeezecenter).

The problem still seems to be there in that the CPU usage
goes wild when I use the sleep function on the squeezebox or when the
alarm goes off. I have not yet see it happen randomly yet but it might.

The signal strengths are 33% and 89%, that should be OK shouldnt it?
Even just using the boom (signal strength 89%) the problem persists.

I have tried starting the server with
LS-GL7D6: /usr/src/squeezecenter/server/slimserver.pl --user=squeezecenter \\
--d_server --d_info --d_import --d_sql --d_mysql
Slim::Utils::PluginManager::enablePlugins (406) Couldn't load Slim::Plugin::PreventStandby::Plugin.
Error: Plugin is incompatible with your platform.
Slim::Utils::Firmware::downloadAsyncError (500) Warning: Firmware:
Failed to download http://update.slimdevices.com/update/firmware/7.2.2/jive.version (404 Not Found),
will try again in 10 minutes.

There is no 7.2.2 firmware at http://update.slimdevices.com/update
just 7.2 and 7.2.1 -- could this be part of the problem?
There are no other error messages.

With regards to the network tool, I am playing with wireshark but dont
really know how to use it.

I have been searching to see if this is a known bug but so far I have
found nothing.

Bye
parsifal9

[MattW]

Hello parsifal9,

Not too much to go on, I suggest looking at logging to see if there's more info to work with:

Select "Settings" from the bottom right of the web interface. Wait till the settings window opens then choose "Advanced" then from the drop-down choose "Logging".

You may need to play with various logging options, look at the "player" options then choose "Jive", "Alarmclock", "Firmware" and perhaps "Player.Streaming.Remote" and "servers.timers" - all these can be set to "Debug". Probably best to do one at time.

There's a checkbox called "Save logging settings for use at next application restart" that you need to tick if you have to reboot for the debug options to take effect.

Once the problem has happened, take a copy of the appropriate section of the log file (/usr/src/squeezecenter/server/Logs/server.log). Repeat for the other options as necessary.

Do you have any other scheduled tasks running (autoscan for example)?

Let me know when you got some information, PM me if you can as I only visit the site on odd occasions. I'll take a look at the logs and see if there's anything to go on.


Hope that helps,

matt