Network Mount Points on the T2

[mister_bimbo]

Hi Simon,

Yes, I agree with Ian. By moving the hard drive over to the new device any problem stings, especially with the mount points, will have been copied to the new machine.

OK, well, I've now reformatted the drive and done a check on the file system. It is now reapplying the latest firmware (the one released on Friday).

I cant tell from your post whether you have successfully done a fresh install of the firmware.

Sorry - there is a lot of detail in the post. In step (3), the firmware failed to apply ... it successfully applied in step (15) ... I watched it apply and it told me that it was successful.

I'll report back when I've done the firmware update and just left the box running for a spell (without any network configuration as Ian suggests) ... see if it remains unstable.

Cheers,
David

[IanSav]

Hi David,

I do not have a T2 so I can't comment much about it. It seems surprising that there would be so many issues as the unit is technically very close in structure to its siblings. Similarly the firmware is also very closely related. If there were core problems then they should be seen more widely.

While it is not the configuration you wish to use starting the T2 from scratch should helpful in analysing the problem.

Regards,
Ian.

[mister_bimbo]

I'll report back when I've done the firmware update and just left the box running for a spell (without any network configuration as Ian suggests) ... see if it remains unstable.

So it didn't take long for the unit to freeze/crash - there is no network configuration other than the minimum done to get through the setup wizard (i.e. obtain an IP address via DHCP) after applying the firmware update.

I reformatted the drive before re-applying the firmware update, and then again after it completed successfully just to be sure that there was nothing on the drive. On both occasions I checked the file system before powering off the unit after the drive check, and then powering it on again.

Result: the unit CRASHED about an hour after being powered on and left with the TV broadcast running (no menus were active)

Just to be clear, there was no configuration performed on the unit other than the very basic setup wizard stuff (scanning channels and configuring the network interface). I didn't touch any of the default settings nor did I try and setup a network mount point. All bog-standard configuration and the unit still keels over

It'll have to be returned unfortunately.

Thanks all for helping!

Cheers,
David

[IanSav]

Hi David,

Your tests appear to indicate that there is something seriously wrong with that unit. Time to get Beyonwiz involved (again).

Regards,
Ian.

[mister_bimbo]

Hi Folks,

An update on what has been happening:

Faulty T2
1. BW support asked me to try running the unit without my hard drive (a Samsung 850 EVO - 500Gb) installed.
2. The unit ran flawlessly for a day, so I then started adding mount points ... expecting trouble, and got none ... except the usual behaviour which, thanks to the new firmware, I narrowed down to two particular mount points on the NAS (/Sport and /Music). More on this later ...
3. I then decided to install a spare 1Tb drive (a Seagate 1000Mb Barracuda) that I had into the T2 (I left the cover off and placed it on top of the 2.5" mounting bay.
4. The T2 duly froze ...
5. This means that the unit would appear to have a fault that is triggered when a hard drive is drawing power.
6. I have asked BW for a replacement to be provided.

T2 (T4) Networking Problems
A. With the release of the new firmware, I tried installing it onto my T4, which as you'll recall, has been working flawlessly on the network for some time.
B. The installation was successfully, when when I answered "yes" to restoring my settings, it crapped out - it appeared to half restore the old menu structure, with the result that you couldn't really control the box.
C. Therefore, as I was forced into a second firmware update, I thought that I'd just do the whole thing again ... including the manual configuration of the mount points in which I was now very practised as a result of the T2 problems I did not restore anything.
D. Amazingly, but probably not so surprisingly, the T4 started showing the same behaviour as the T2 ... and the mount points /Sport and /Music gave the same weird error when I tried to connect.
E. These same mount points were fully accessible from the P1, and from all the other computers in the house ... just the T2 & T4 gave trouble.
F. I decided to examine the connection logs on the NAS, and noticed that neither the T2 nor the T4 were logging connections to the NAS, even for the mount points where they had no trouble (such /TV_Shows and /Documentaries).
G. I then tried to see how I could turn on logging for the T2 & T4, and noticed that there was no option to log NFS connections.
H. I searched the manual on NFS connections and noticed that there were particular settings for NFS (I thought that perhaps I was exceeding the total allowed NFS connections).
I. Then I discovered that there were security settings particular for each protocol ... so I went and examined the two mount points where I was having trouble.
J. Turns out that for some unknown reason, the two mount points had been configured to block NFS connections, but allow all other protocols (e.g. SAMBA, Windows, AFP etc) ... which explains why the P1 had been able to connect, but the T2/T4 were getting the connections refused.
K. The mount points which worked fine had all been configured to allow NFS connections

Anyway, once the T2 is replaced a second time, I will hopefully be able to setup the network configuration and be able to enjoy a stable viewing experience.

Thanks all for helping, and PeterU - I really appreciate the enhancements you've done to the networking in the current release. It looks to be a lot more stable and has allowed me to get to the bottom of the networking issues that I'd been struggling with.

Cheers,
David

[jaaa]

Just thought I would add my experience to this thread - so anyone looking in future has similar issues & solutions in 1 place.

Thanks to the OP for his detailed trouble shooting effort. It was helpful for my similar issues & has good stepping through descriptions for novices. Also to the regular gurus who give out great help. Particularly peteru for a solution that worked for me.

I was trying to share a Qnap NAS & other PC files to a T4, & had a legacy mount point that stayed visible (but empty & non-existent) after it was deleted. (Think this issue was because the legacy point had the same IP address as a Mount Point wanted to keep & the original information was being retained until I took the same steps as the poster at the top of this page -Mantorok.

Followed peteru's advice from earlier -
ie. delete /etc/auto.network, file
then delete the mount(s) in the UI,
then add mounts again
This worked for me to both clear the phantom point & add the mounts I wanted cleanly.

Also kept track of the automounts.xml file - which contained the references to mount paths. (But didn't have the deleted mount in it - so that file probably wasn't the issue causing phantom retention.). Deleting the /etc/auto.network file & the mounts then re-scanning the network actually cleared the info from the .xml file. Then adding the mounts back automatically put the path info back in + the password for the shared device. (As noted by poster above - this could be a security issue for someone selling their Wiz.)

I did not actually have to re-boot the T4 to get the changes to the mounts into effect. Just re-scan the Network. I did this several times because I had issues with NFS & CIFS - so re-booted as well. But the re-scan was more important.

Had Mounts working well sharing & all files/folders visible on T4 using CIFS - from the NAS & other networked PC's. As most advice was to use NFS - I changed & tested NFS. Could not get this to work. Could see shared folders at top level on T4 but no content or sub-folders. Changed back to CIFS - which works perfectly.

Hope this helps someone else.
Thanks again.

[dRdoS7]

Hi,

As most advice was to use NFS - I changed & tested NFS. Could not get this to work. Could see shared folders at top level on T4 but no content or sub-folders. Changed back to CIFS - which works perfectly.

I have a Netgear NAS. I had problems with NFS initially. I had NFS turned on, but I couldn't see anything. Turns out I had to set the file access for the users/groups for each share on the NAS as well. There was also "Grant rename & delete privileges" setting to turn on. Your NAS may use different settings.

I'd not had a NAS before, I only ever ran FreeNFS on a PC. That didn't require any permissions to be set.

dRdoS7

EDIT: I used a program called Nekodrive on my PC. It's used to mount NFS shares on Windows PCs that don't have that ability. I used it to test my NAS NFS shares.