Hi all,

I just wanted to share a few temporary fixes for some regular crashes several of us have been experiencing.

Crash 1:
RAYT errors in Camera, however if you launch the exact same render again, it works. This error appears if you have RAM in Camera set very high.
Solution: Lower the RAM allocation to Camera to 1750MB.

Crash 2:
Camera unexpectedly quitting. Camera will quit and the crash report lists the thread that crashed it as ‘com.apple.QD’ (Apple quickdraw). This occurs only on very long renders (45mins plus).
Solution: Close the Camera window when Camera opens.

Crash 3:
Renderama not connecting consistently with slaves.
Solution: Turn off the Apple Firewall (in System Prefs) on ALL machines.

Crash 4:
Camera does not always launch when it receives a .ccn (via Renderama).
Solution 1: Restart
Solution 2: Manually start the Camera app in the slave, it will then work perfectly for the duration of the job.

Hope this helps someone,
Ian

Crash 5
Renderama will not connect to slaves on MacPros simply giving an ‘Unknown Error’ - Renderama Slave also does not report the correct IP number.
Solution: Pull out the Ethernet plug from the port it’s in and put it in the other port.

(Probably the biggest bug in 701, this solution has worked for two people (out of two) so far, please chime in if it works for you).

The Apple firewall is somewhat buggy. For example, it will ask me everytime I start Skype whether the program shall except incoming messages. Unless you are not directly connected to the internet (e.g. not over a router) then there is no real point to protect your computer from the “inner” network.

Ian - 03 March 2008 09:53 AM

Crash 5

(Probably the biggest bug in 701, this solution has worked for two people (out of two) so far, please chime in if it works for you).

You gave me hope there… but it’s not working for me.

Ahh damn-it! That’s 3/4 so far then…

Sorry Richard

1 out of 4? This means I’m a lucky guy… I’ll buy lottery tickets tonight… ;_)

Anyway Ian it’s really not a big problem for me as I can render with Renderama with NO problem at all as long as I keep the cable out.
You seem to have more glitches then I do.
So, I can wait for a fix. Is there anything more I can do to help pinpoint the problem? At home I have no trouble on my Airport network.

just so your stats are right Ian - it didn’t work for me either !

This is bizarre, it just worked again on another computer here.

I guess Renderama Slave simply doesn’t know which IP to use…
Ian

Maybe you can swap the configurations for the two ports, because maybe Renderama is attaching to the “first port”.
Machines with more than one network is difficult to use for any app (attach to which network?).

Are you using DHCP or are you assigning an IP by hand? Ian, Richard, Geordie?

DHCP for me Patrick.

DHCP

DHCP for me too

Hehe, so it is DHCP for both Ethernet cards. And the slave will report the wrong IP (the one of the other card - not the one the plug is in). This is so weird!

Have you compared the IP shown in the “System Preferences” -> “Network” with the IP shown by the slave?
(BTW, a network card without plug configured as DHCP has no IP.)
In other words, what IP does the slave show, and what IP has the network card acquired via DHCP?
Did you configure your router, so that the same network card will get the same IP everytime?

Patrick

Hi Patrick,

The trouble is for them, that ‘Slave’ will not even lunch, it bounces and then disappears. So they can not see what IP it is reporting…

It is a very strange situation.
If you remove the ethernet plug, then Slave will launch....

Ian

Patrick, I’m afraid I can’t compare the two. If I plug the ethernet cable in (to port 1 or 2) I get the same IP Address for my Mac in the network settings. But then I can’t launch the Slave at all...not even to see the IP address its trying to use. If I unplug the ethernet then each slave pops up with 1**.0.0.1 to which I can assign port numbers and get it working as a farm. (not being a network afficionado I’ve blanked out the number but I’m guessing its a default Mac without network one to be honest).

Our set up is an ADSL Router connected to a switch connected to a variety of Macs. Never had a problem with rama until 7.

Cheers

James