netrender os x

[TheToadStool]

Hi! I'm trying to avoid posting stupid questions, but I have an inquiry about netrender. I use OS X and just got netrender running. I followed the tutorial http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?act=a...st&id=61145 which is very informative about adding additional cores from the 2 core default, etc. Applets, all that... very informative. My question is: WHERE is there a document that just states in plain English how to make external machines into nodes and how to have them interact with the main computer? I just bought additional nodes and there is NO satisfactory information on what to do with the master0.lic file that I just purchased. PLEASE tell me that it's so simple and that's why there's no literature about it? I've scoured the forum and I feel like the hours are just flying by and I can't understand why it's so difficult to figure out what to do next. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

By the way: in the FAQ link on the subject : http://www.hash.com/faq/index.php?action=a...&artlang=en the link for OS X installation of additional nodes is a dead link.

 

thanks!

 

-Adam

[Fuchur]

Hi! I'm trying to avoid posting stupid questions, but I have an inquiry about netrender. I use OS X and just got netrender running. I followed the tutorial http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?act=a...st&id=61145 which is very informative about adding additional cores from the 2 core default, etc. Applets, all that... very informative. My question is: WHERE is there a document that just states in plain English how to make external machines into nodes and how to have them interact with the main computer? I just bought additional nodes and there is NO satisfactory information on what to do with the master0.lic file that I just purchased. PLEASE tell me that it's so simple and that's why there's no literature about it? I've scoured the forum and I feel like the hours are just flying by and I can't understand why it's so difficult to figure out what to do next. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

By the way: in the FAQ link on the subject : http://www.hash.com/faq/index.php?action=a...&artlang=en the link for OS X installation of additional nodes is a dead link.

 

thanks!

 

-Adam

 

Hi Adam,

 

I do not have a Mac, but it should not be different there.

The master0.lic you received needs to go into the installation folder of your A:M installation and needs to fit that computer. Be sure to backup the existing master0.lic file! (for isntance rename it to bak_master0.secure)

Netrender (server) needs to run on that computer.

 

All the other computers with only the messengers/renderslaves running on them do not need a master0.lic-file. If they have some suited for them, that is fine too, but the licencing is done on the render server.

Be aware, that netrenderer (server) should receive at least one core of your computer... that means you can run 3 messengers on the server itself too if the server is a 4 core system, etc..

 

Then get the ip-address of your netrender server computer. That one needs to be specified for the netrender messengers on the other computers to connect them. On windows there is a small icon in the task bar, where

you can double-click on and specifiy the ip of the server. I do not know how this is handled on the other computers.

 

Let me know how it works out and if you have any other "stupid" questions (there really are none especially in that matter, since it is not very well documented)...

 

See you

*Fuchur*

[jason1025]

I am a mac guy. I use net render with 40 cores but not on the mac boot. I dual boot into windows with bootcamp. Mac is only 32 bit for AM. No good for intense projects that require more than 2 gigs of ram.

[robcat2075]

Hi Toadstool, welcome to the forum!

 

When you have questions or doubts, go ahead and ask, someone here will have an answer.

[robcat2075]

Didn't someone already make a write-up on how to set up NetRender? I dimly recall that.

[Rodney]

Didn't someone already make a write-up on how to set up NetRender? I dimly recall that.

 

Yeah, I think that is the PDF that Adam referred to in the first post.

That one is for the Mac.

 

I assume that and other information was gleaned from the Netrender forum.

 

Jody's guides for Netrender setup (Windows) are here:

 

NetRender_Guide-Basic.pdf

 

NetRender_Guide-Advanced.pdf

 

Source: Link

 

Welcome to the forum Adam!

[TheToadStool]

Well, so I updated the code in the netrender.scrpt applescript file to show 4 cores. When I boot netrender it gives me that 4 cores detected, you can only use 4 cores and so 4 rendermessengers loaded and one was "off-line". Now is there a difference how the 'server' displays versus the 'slaves'? Should I only be seeing 3 active slaves for a 4 core processor? At some point I though deleting the cores from the slavelist in the bottom window was a good idea (thought it might re-recognize what I have and give me a clean slate) No go on that. Now, I have no slaves and have no idea how to refresh them. How does one trouble-shoot this netrender? How do I get my slaves back and how do I get them "On-line". This is day #3 on this switch over. The good news is that last night I had 3 cores running and managed to render like 25 frames or so over night. Now I've seemed to screw up netrender and can't get it back.... Any advice on how to change off-line to on-line?

 

adam

[TheToadStool]

By the way, folks. Hello !! I'm really glad to be here and I really appreciate the animation tool and the opportunity to tech out on the new artistic freedom in this community. I just got netrender working by just re-installing A:M all together.... Now, to try and get external machines going...

 

 

adam

 

http://www.classmplanets.com

[robcat2075]

Any advice on how to change off-line to on-line?

 

In Windows there is a little pop-up menu at the bottom that shows "hidden" apps (those not with a button on the task bar) and it shows the icons for the render nodes that are "offline" with red cricle and slash over them. You on them and select "Activate" to make them "online"

 

that's how it is handled in Windows and there must be something like that on Mac?

[markw]

Hi Adam and welome

I'm glad my short intro to Netrender was useful, as far as it went.

Sadly I still only have the one computer so expanding that PDF into the area of networked computers isn't an option for me as yet.

 

As to getting back a messenger that is "Off Line" or indeed has been deleted from the list at the bottom of the Render Server window, there unfortunately dose not seem to be a built in method to do this. (that I know of)

On the rare occasions I've needed to do it I've just shut down Netrender completely, re launched and started again.

I admit not a particularly elegant solution!

 

@ Robert;

Where exactly are you looking to get that option of relaunching an "Off Line" messenger?

Here's a screenshot of options available on the Mac when right clicking.

[TheToadStool]

As per Mac users, A lot of my confusion is Mac related. I do not have the little application toolbar to 'enable' cores that have gone off-line, BUT the easy solution that I was looking for (instead of constantly re-installing A:M) is to remove the files that are created in the application folder for each core. These files are located in the app folder as ie. "Instance1". If I delete those files and reopen netrender, it opens fresh nodes. This took me a few hours to figure out because I was thinking about the whole problem wrong.

 

The other part of adding additional nodes from remote computers is coming along. A lot of it was Mac networking 101. Go into your sharing system preferences and make various things sharable. I had to mess with this so that my server computer would SEE the other computers. So far, I have an older version of A:M that I no longer use on the remote computer and I opened Rendermessenger remotely. So, (and I am experimenting with this as I go) I was able to have rendermessenger open on the server and I opened it again on the remote computer and I got an error that said the ports weren't in sync and there cannot be two messenger apps open at the same time so I just updated the remote messenger to have the same IP address as the server computer and so far it installed one additional node on the server. I will keep messing with this until it works, but I thought I would contribute some additional mac related info for folks like me that are trying to reinvent the wheel. Thanks so much for all your help and I look forward to sharing some future projects with alls yalls.

 

-adam

Edited April 15, 2014 by TheToadStool

[robcat2075]

Adam, if you have time someday it would be great to make a post that explains the Mac-specific stuff you've found out, for the benefit of other mac users.

 

 

@ Robert;

Where exactly are you looking to get that option of relaunching an "Off Line" messenger?

Here's a screenshot of options available on the Mac when right clicking.

 

Here's what I get on PC...

 

clip3512NetrenderNodes250.mov

[markw]

Thank you very much for that Robert. It just turned a light bulb on above my head!

This seems to be an issue not so much with Neternder but how Mac OSX works.

It sees one or more messengers still running so won't allow the RenderMessenger app to be launched again by the user.

A simple fix!

I made an AppleScript App to instruct RenderMessenger to launch, so it now thinks the command has come from the OS, not the user and so create a replacement messenger.

Works a treat!

Here are both the script and the app made from it for any other Mac users who might want it.

Just place them in the A:M folder along with Netrender.

The launcher will create 1 messenger each time you use it.

Note this app is only intended for bringing back online render messengers that are showing as "Off Line" or have been otherwise deleted from the RenderServer list of available messengers.

RenderMessengerLauncher.zip