Issue:
After updating Windows 10, Backburner no longer renders and a "Could not broadcast servers" warning message appears in the Backburner log file when submitting a network rendering job job from 3ds Max or Maya. The following notification is displayed when submitting a job via 3ds Max in the Backburner Server, Manager or log files:
"Could not broadcast servers"
The message from the Backburner Server Log reads as follows:
WRN Could not broadcast FIND_SERVERS request on lo: A socket operation was attempted to an unreachable network.
WRN Could not broadcast DISCOVER_SERVERS request on lo: A socket operation was attempted to an unreachable network.
Environment:
- Windows 10 Creators Update (1703)
- Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (1709)
- Windows 10 April 2018 Update (1803)
- Windows 10 H202 Update
Solution:
Below is a collection of the most up-to-date solutions available. The list is not complete, and the ultimate solution may require one, or a combination of the following:
Use the same Operating System on all participating workstations
Using different operating systems will cause a series of compatibility and networking issues. It is not advised and cannot be supported.
Disable the Windows SSDP Discovery Service
SSDP (Network Discovery) is a non-essential service intended to allow Windows to find PnP network devices.
In Windows Services, disable the SSDP Service:
- Go to Windows Start.
- Type Services.
- Find the "SSDP Discovery" entry in the list.
- Right-click the entry and choose Properties.
- If SSDP Discovery is already running on the machine ensure that "Startup Type" is set to Disabled.
- Apply and accept the changes.
- Reboot all machines and restart the Backburner Manager, Monitor and Server applications on all PCs.
Disable the Windows Auto-Tuning feature
The Window Auto-Tuning feature is enabled by default in Windows 10 and makes data transfers over networks more efficient. More information can be found in the article: Window Auto-Tuning in Windows 10.
To disable the Auto-Tuning feature, do the following:
- Go to Windows Start.
- Type cmd.exe.
- Right-click the Command Prompt and choose "Run as administrator."
- Confirm the User Access Control (UAC) prompt that opens.
- Run the command:
netsh interface tcp show global
This will display the network configuration of a computer.
Note: To run the command, copy and paste the code sample text into the elevated Command Prompt.
- Press Enter to execute the command.
- To disable the Windows Auto-Tuning on the machine, run the command:
netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disable
- Press Enter to execute the command. The Command Prompt will then show "OK" when completed.
Note: If the feature needs to be enabled on the machine at a later time, this can be done by running the following command:
netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal
Re-enable the Function Discovery Resource Publication networking service
To re-enable the Function Discovery Resource Publication networking service that ensures PCs are discovered on a local computer network:
- Follow the instructions in the provided link for all machines on the network:
- Reboot the machines and restart the Backburner Manager, Monitor and Server applications on all PCs.
Note: Although the "broadcast servers" error may still appear in some Backburner Server windows after the preceding fix, if the Server app then shows that it has connected successfully to the Backburner Manager, you should be able to submit jobs at that point.
If the error persists when rendering with Arnold or V-Ray (
Chaos Group), do the following:
Check for Arnold updates
See the following article:
"INF Adapter returned unexpected code -2 for "C:\Program files\Autodesk\3ds Max 20xx\maxadapter.adp.exe" when running Backburner.
Check the V-Ray License Server
Confirm that the V-Ray License Server is still using the correct IP address. Occasionally, after Windows Updates are installed, the IP address for the License Server can change, causing Backburner to fail.
Finally, in some cases despite the warning messages in the logs, the job can, and will, still complete. The messages can be ignored, but it is still good practice to ensure the Timeout settings are customized.
Products:
3ds Max; Arnold;
