Nx Server or Nx Desktop Client Crash Troubleshooting

In rare cases, users may experience a crash in the Nx Server application or Nx Desktop client. Typically, these are isolated incidents. However, if you are facing a recurring problem take these steps:

Step 1: Find your current crash dump files

Windows

For Nx Server

C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\*.dmp

For Nx Desktop

C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\.*dmp

Note: Make sure that these dumps have the same version and build number as the software you are currently using. File names might contain words and phrases "HD_Witness.exe", "mediaserver.exe", or "Nx_Witness.exe".

Ubuntu

For Nx Server

• (GDB backtrace)

  /root/mediaserver*.gdb-bt

• (System kernel dmp)

  /opt/networkoptix/mediaserver/bin/core

For Nx Desktop

/home/$USER/desktop_client*.gdb-bt

NOTE: Make sure that these dumps have the same version and build number as the Nx Witness you are currently using. 

Step 2: Enable & produce full crash dump files

This step is optional. Skip it unless the Nx Support Team directs you to complete this step.

Crash Dump files are automatically generated memory stack files that help our developers debug situations that may be causing crashes. Simple crash dumps are generated each time the Nx Desktop or Nx Server application crashes for any reason. However, to fully diagnose the cause of a crash, Nx Developers need the full, more detailed crash dump files. Follow the steps below to enable and produce detailed crash dump files.

Windows

1. Open the Windows registry editor (Open Windows Command Prompt > type in "regedit")
2. Add a new string value (Edit > New) with the name createFullCrashDump and value true in the following locations:
   • For Nx Server
     

     HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Network Optix\Network Optix Media Server

   • For Nx Desktop
     

     HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Network Optix\Network Optix HD Witness Client

3. Restart both the Nx Desktop client and Nx Server application.
4. Reproduce the crash if possible by going through the original process that caused the crash a few times.  
5. Look for new crash dumps after reproducing the crash. Crash dump sizes should be in the hundreds of megabytes. 

Ubuntu

1. Launch Terminal in Ubuntu (Ctrl+Alt+T)
2. Use a text editor (vi, vim or nano) to open the configuration file and add a new parameter called createFullCrashDump and set its value to true.
   • For Nx Server
     

     /opt/networkoptix/mediaserver/etc/mediaserver.conf

   • For Nx Desktop
     

     /home/$USER/.config/'Network Optix'/'Network Optix HD Witness Client.conf'

3. Save the file and close the text editor.
4. Restart Nx Desktop and Nx Server.
5. Reproduce the issue or crash. 
6. You shall be able to have a crash dump file in the folder presented in Step 1.
   NOTE: The file size of the crash dump could be large. (i.e., several hundreds of MB.)

Step 3: Upload crash dumps & open a support ticket

1. Upload the crash dumps to a file-sharing app (e.g. Google Drive, Dropbox, Sharefile).
2. Submit a new support ticket and include the link to the uploaded crash dumps - and make sure we are able to access them!
3. We recommend that you return the configuration back to normal after full memory dumps have been collected. Otherwise, full dumps might occupy a lot of storage space. Also, enabling createFullCrashDump will increase the load on the CPU and RAM.

What to do if the required dumps cannot be found on Windows

Sometimes Nx Witness may be unable to produce crash dump files. In this case, additional configuration is required with the Windows Error Reporting Service (according to this post):

1. To enable and configure the feature, create the following registry values under the following key
   

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\

2. Start with creating new nested registry key LocalDumps
3. Left-click it and proceed with its right panel edit
4. Right-click it and create Value DumpFolder (Expandable string type) with any path value you like(e.g. C:\dumps)
5. Value DumpCount (DWORD type) with dumps count(e.g. 2)
6. Value DumpType (DWORD type) with dumps type(set 1)
7. To enable full Dump generation for specific Media Server and Client processes you need to create separate keys called "mediaserver.exe"(Server) and "HD Witness.exe"(Client) with the same value created. DumpType value should be set to 2.
8. After the application is crashed dumps will be put to the DumpFolder. After at least 2 crashes upload 2 dump files to the file sharing service and share it with our support staff.
9. Get a full version of the crashing software part. Without it won't be possible to analyze the dump.
10. Upload generated dumps and software version information
11. Remove registry changes

Note: We recommend you remove these settings after full memory dumps are archived. Otherwise, full dumps might consume a lot of drive space.

Questions

If you have any questions related to this topic or you want to share your experience with other community members or our team, please visit and engage in our support community or reach out to your local reseller.