We are using a Sun Systems NAS for media storage on several projects. So far, all well for a year or so, except for this recent occurrance: When a HDV tape of 60 minutes is digitized to the NAS, the digitize stops when the file size has reached 2GB and leaves a partial dig which we can use. When digitizing to the PC's internal drives, the whole tape is ingested. The same goes for a consolidate, except the consolidate doesn't leave behind a partial. We can transfer a media file well in excess of 2GB (32GB transferred OK), so the file size limitation doesn't appear to be due to the NAS. Does Avid had some restrictions when it comes to digitizing/consolidating to a NAS? PC is an HP xw8200, 4GB RAM, Win XP SP2, running MC ver3.1.3. Media creation set to MXF, NAS connection over a 1GHz Ethernet. Any ideas? Cheers, Stu.

Hey Stu,

I'm not familiar with that product at all, but the fact you see the error at 2GB is probably significant. I'd only be speculating, but it may be some difference in how the NAS handles a file copy and a direct write (where the Avid opens a file handle and writes until it's finished).

Can't offer any solutions I'm afraid. But I don't think it's the MC at fault, I think it will be something about how the NAS deals with it.

Maybe too simple, but you might want to check your captures settings/MXF Media Files/ Maximum capture time.  Good luck.

jackbass:

Maybe too simple, but you might want to check your captures settings/MXF Media Files/ Maximum capture time.  Good luck.

 

Thanks for the comment. I did check prior to posting. The max capture time is set to 90 minutes. Cheers, Stu.

If it stops at 2gb limit, check that the drives on nas aren´t formated as fat32. Maybe there´s the problem.

 

boltown:

If it stops at 2gb limit, check that the drives on nas aren´t formated as fat32. Maybe there´s the problem.

 

Thanks for the post, boltown. The NAS is formatted with a proprietory SUN system, which has within itself no 2GB restriction. However, to access the file system on the NAS, an intermediary between Windows and the Solaris system on the NAS is used. This intermediary, SAMBA, looks like it could be the culprit. I have read various posts on computer forums that indicate certain (or all) versions may have a 2GB limit. Strangely, it is only the HDV material that gets no further than 2GB. If I ingest from any other source, the ingest proceeds fine, but on examination of the media, each clip is broken up into 2GB files, which should not really be happening with MXF media. Cheers, Stu.

 

This issue has finally been "put to bed" in that, with a lot of work with the local SUN engineers (very helpful people), we have determined that the "fault" lies with the nfs protocol that is responsible for the  writing of files to the nas. It has an inherant 4GB limitation and Avid seems to "see" this as branding the nas as if it is FAT32! Once an MXF file is written to any of the suite's internal drives and transferred accross the network to the nas, avid is fine with playing it, if it is able to relink to the moved file. The editor concerned had relinking problems, but I am not at present able to replicate his methods, as he is still very busy in that suite cutting the series that started all the fuss.(I get in in three weeks time)

I believe Avid gets over the nfs problem by utilising additional proprietory code that sorts out the write to a nas such as the UNITY system. Guess this is why their solution has the price tag that it does!

BTW, we have devised and tested (off site) a way of utilising this nas that makes it look to AVID as if it is an acceptable external NTFS drive. We will trial this in a production environment next year and if successful, I'll post the result and the method.

Cheers, Stu.

Hey Stu! Thanks for reporting back.

Cant wait to see the results of the method you are developing.