Network rendering node "asleep" until I connect remotely to it.

[notamondayfan]

Hi guys,

Strange issue I'm having.

Occasionally, if I submit a job to a rendernode, I have to use TeamViewer to look at the node, in order for it to start rendering. I have accidentally left it for hours at a time, only to realise, log on, and then vray starts it's pre-passes. As far as I can tell the file is loaded, and it just hangs before the GI pre-passes.

I have been through the windows settings, making sure all the sleep and power saving functions are turned off, but it's still happening.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Dean

[vlado]

If you look at the V-Ray log, does it say anything meaningful?

Best regards,
Vlado

[notamondayfan]

I can upload the vraylog file if you like?

The vray log window doesn't show on the node (rendering though backburner).

Thanks,
Dean

[vlado]

Yes, if you can upload it here it will be helpful.

Best regards,
Vlado

[notamondayfan]

Thanks vraylog.txt

[notamondayfan]

vraylog.txt

This time, it happened when saving the passes. The render finishes yesterday, but stalled on saving the passes. As soon as I remote connect to the node, the passes start saving. The drives are all mapped correctly.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Dean

[notamondayfan]

Here's a screen shot, see the ETA being 162 hours, when the rendering takes 3-4 hours. Also you can see the drives (X where the project files are), and RENDERS (where the files are saved) are both mapped and working.

[notamondayfan]

OK I'm really losing sleep now!

I'm not sure what's happening. My latest test was to submit a job to the node, with the image save location to the C drive, so essentially cutting out any network. Once the job has been submitted, the job hangs. Only when I remote connect do the files save. I can't honestly figure out why this is happening.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,
Dean

[notamondayfan]

OK, I'm confident it's not vray, I've gone back to 3.5, when I know everything worked fine, and I'm still having the same issues.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,
Dean

[svetlozar.draganov]

What else (besides V-Ray) have you updated since last time it worked fine? Any Windows, Antivirus updates or installing other software? Any hardware updates?
What is Windows Power Settings, is there any difference if you switch to High Performance Plan or it's the same thing or machines already use that plan?
Would it be also possible to send us the Log file from BackBurner, it might be a good idea to check it.
Does the same thing happens if you render with V-Ray DR or with another render manager, or with another render engine?
Does it work correctly if you render small scenes, that requires a minutes or two to complete? This will help us to find out whether the issue appears for long renderings only or it's not time dependent.
What's the windows account type used to log on the machines, can you try to log on with Administrative account and see if the same thing happens.
What about saving to .vrimg file format, this format is written during the rendering unlike all others.

[notamondayfan]

DR worked fine.

I think I have it solved though. I spent a few hours re-setting all the network adapters, re-installing the motherboard software. Did a full shut down of everything. Reinstalled Hamachi, Team Viewer.

I'm guessing something happened with a windows update that messed up some network settings. What a strange situation. Time for some sleep now!

[svetlozar.draganov]

Glad to hear you sorted it out. If you found out what exactly happened feel free to share it in case anyone else hit the same wall.

[notamondayfan]

I think it was down to a Windows 10 update. Windows updates have never agreed with me. On my workstation I had to re-install about 5 pieces of software after the last update.

I think the thing which ultimately caused the problems was the Ethernet adapter. I uninstalled and disabled it. Restarted, re-installed the drivers for it, and restarted again (which prompted Windows to "configure" when it restarted).

Having said all this, it will probably re-occur tomorrow!!

By the way, one thing did make me think.....

What about saving to .vrimg file format, this format is written during the rendering unlike all others.

Are you saying that rendering .vrimg file will speed up the saving of the files on the render end? Sometimes it can take a few mins to save all the passes with a large render, which is annoying, especially with animations.

[svetlozar.draganov]

Vrimg files are written during the rendering yes.
This will remove the waiting time at the render but overall render time should be prety much the same.
That is also applicable for bucket rendering only.