Only some tracks rip & Windows Delayed Write Failed

[Gonzo]

Hi, I seem to have developed some kind of problem ripping.
I have ripped hundreds of discs before with no issue at all.
I am ripping to a NAS drive on a Windows xp computer. Using dBPoweramp release 15.1
The problem I am having is that nearly all tracks on an album show an error, except for about 4, that rip completely; ie they rip the track. On various occasions since this started I have had different error messages.

The error message in the poweramp rip report says:

Unable to write to file
Or
error opening file, check no other program has it open [clDecoder:WriteIDTags]

Or
I have had a Windows message that says:

Windows - Delayed Write Failed. Windows was unable to save all the data for the file/...

(perhaps the the “unable to save all the data for the file/...“ may be part of why not all tracks rip)?

I have also had trouble in Windows explorer when clicking on the share for the music. It intermittently gives me a message saying:

\\Nas name\file etc...... “is not accessible . You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. The network path was not found."

Netgear have checked the NAS setup and say the NAS is operating ok and speculates that there is some kind of Windows problem/corruption as to why sometimes I get error messages clicking on the share. I have been assured the path is stable and correctly setup.

Somehow dbpoweramp can't rip a full cd to the NAS. It just skips from one track to the other in a nano second saying error. Up until a day or so ago all was fine with ripping on dBpoweramp.

Any clues on what to do? Would changing the version of dBpoweramp help?

Any help appreciated!

[Spoon]

Re: Only some tracks rip & Windows Delayed Write Failed

The issue is 100% outside of dBpoweramp.

A network share should always be available, so if you get windows error messages about delayed write (which means the communication to the nas is lost) or clicking the share and it says it cannot access, then dBpoweramp has no chance of writing to the nas either.

Take a look at your network, simplify it, is NAS >> router >> PC, replace network cables. Check your security software on PC is not blocking the NAS. Try a different PC.

[THEM]

Re: Only some tracks rip & Windows Delayed Write Failed

Depending on the NetGear NAS in use (presumably some part of their "ReadyNAS" family?), and the level of firmware you're running, this sort of issue is a known problem (and, as Spoon pointed out, it is nothing to do with dBpoweramp).

In particular, do you have fast CIFS writes enabled on your NAS? If so, turn it off - that's known to cause this issue, particularly when performing a lot of potentially large writes (such as, not coincidentally, when ripping ...).

There's a post here which discusses the issue in depth. It's quite an old post, but you're running quite an old operating system

Incidentally, the reason the behavior is happening now, when it wasn't before, is (if fast CIFS writes are the issue) probably down to the amount of space in use on the NAS; that affects the optimisation strategies used (and all sorts of other things) and could easily have caused the fault to manifest itself now when previously it wasn't. Please note that this also only (well, almost only ...) happens on lots of large writes, which is probably something the NAS support people didn't check - you normally have to get down to at least second, and probably third, line support before you start getting that level of response.
You might also want to check your event log (for XP, right-click "My Computer" and pick "Manage"; go to "Diagnostics" - IIRC - then "Event Viewer"; if you have a "Custom View" of "Administrative Events", look there; otherwise look in the "System" log - sorry, that's all from memory, it's been a while since I've had to dig around XP ...). There might be useful messages in there, either to guide you towards a solution or to throw at the NAS support people to say "Errrrr, yes, it is a problem with talking to your NAS ...".

Hope that helps, and good luck getting your NAS and XP box to play nicely again!

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Only some tracks rip & Windows Delayed Write Failed

Any clues on what to do? Would changing the version of dBpoweramp help?

Any help appreciated!

With the cause already explained, my suggestion would be to rip to your local computer first, rather than directly to the NAS. When you're satisfied that the files have ripped successfully, and you're happy with all the metadata, etc., it's easy enough to then move them to the NAS. (I recommend this workflow even without the network issue you're experiencing, as I think it's always a good idea to do a thorough metadata review & clean-up before adding files to the final library.)

[Gonzo]

Re: Only some tracks rip & Windows Delayed Write Failed

Hi all,
I’ve managed to get the ripping going again, with no problems.

Thank you to forum member THEM, for your suggestion of looking at the Event Viewer for any relevant information. The pathway in XP was right click from My Computer Manage, Event Viewer, System. There were many occurrences of warnings and errors. Some files/components of XP appear corrupted/not working properly which is contributing to the issues. I am not a computer geek and have had to rely on some tech phone support.

The NAS drive itself was not the problem. The NAS drive is plugged into the modem router. The cable connections to and from the router were checked by running some tests and were ok. The path to the NAS drive was not working due to problems in the router. It has now been fixed such that there is no problem ripping from dB Poweramp to the NAS drive.

No settings, or fast cifs, etc were changed. I'm not sure what the cif is currently set at. I'm just glad the ripping is now working. I am still awaiting some further tech assistance with the other XP file issues.

I prefer writing to the NAS drive, this way the Sonos can access the music files when the computer is off. There is also the benefit that if there is a computer problem or it requires service, the music is still accessible.

One question that arises is in relation to modem routers. Can anyone recommend a modem router that handles NAS drive throughput and connection better than some others?

G.

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Only some tracks rip & Windows Delayed Write Failed

Hi all,
I&*8217;ve managed to get the ripping going again, with no problems.

Glad to hear it.

I prefer writing to the NAS drive, this way the Sonos can access the music files when the computer is off. There is also the benefit that if there is a computer problem or it requires service, the music is still accessible.

Understood...that's the way many of us have our systems set up. My suggestion to rip first to your local hard drive was founded in the common experience that "freshly ripped" files will very often have metadata omissions and errors that will need correcting. Ripping to the local hard drive serves a couple purposes: (1) it "reminds" you that that CD isn't completely done yet...that it still needs its final metadata processing; and (2) making these final post-rip changes is generally easier/faster on the local drive rather than over a network. Once the files are finished, it's easy enough (in Windows) to just move them over to the NAS.

The basic premise of this workflow is that albums shouldn't be moved into their final location...your music library on the NAS...until they are finished. Ripping is just the easy first step...getting the metadata right so that everything looks & behaves the way it should on your Sonos controllers can be a considerably more involved process.

One question that arises is in relation to modem routers. Can anyone recommend a modem router that handles NAS drive throughput and connection better than some others?

G.

When you say "modem router," do you literally mean the single-unit, combined device? There are some of these available, but the more common setup is to have a separate modem and router.

Generally, any decent consumer-grade router should handle your NAS throughput without issue....it's what they're made to do! In fact, your music streaming doesn't put especially high demands on the router, so unless your current router had issues that suggest failure (rather than just incorrect settings), you probably don't even need a new one.