Qmaster Cluster just doesn't work?

Try setting one machine to "Services and Cluster Controller" then on all the other machines set it to "services only". then go to the Apple Qadministrator app and create a cluster assigning the Controller to it and adding in all the service only machines, this way you have a captured cluster.

-n

Might also be that the nodes can't mount the nds export from the controller. Try restarting the controller service, or just rebooting all the machines. I don't use unmanaged for this reason.

It might be easier. You can do as Nate suggested. I reread your original post, and what you did was create 3 separate quick clusters. The problem with the automatic cluster storage thing is that it assumes your networking is set up to resolve host names, and that you arent using DHCP.

Why not try this. Stop Services on one of those Quickclusters. OPTION-CLICK the Start Sharing button, then Yes to Reset Services. Then select Quickcluster with services, check Share for Compressor Service, and managed. Then start sharing. Can you submit to this cluster now?

2 cents from a newbie wandering down the garden path...

Only one Mac is set up as the QuickCluster, all other Macs are Services Only. Any Mac can be used to submit a job to the QuickCluster using the Compressor application. However, the Compressor application does not have to be launched on every Mac. You launch Compressor to submit a job, but once submitted you can quit the application. A Compressor process (to compress/encode) will be launced on each Service Mac as it is needed without your intervention.

You may have already encountered some of the following...

"FCP is needed on each machine if you are submitting an unrendered sequence directly from FCP to Compressor using the File>Export>Using Compressor... menu. Only then is FCP needed on each Mac. Each FCP on each Mac will be started by Qmaster to render the frames of the unrendered sequence before it can send them to Compressor. So if you want Macs to render the movie AND compress it using the cluster, the answer is yes, FCP needs to be on each Mac in the cluster." -- yep, I bought extra RAM just so I could run FCP on each G4. Then, the light went on. I do save a bit of time Exporting direct ... but I could have saved money.

"You can submit 'clean' rendered movies to Compressor without FCP. Using reference movies, QT Movies with Flash tracks, unusual audio codecs, etc. can cause failures, usually QT -50 failures. Corrupt source movies can result in QT -2048 failures." -- I don't know how many times I submitted the same corrupted movie... each time cursing the cluster. Duh? The file became corrupted as it was copied over a PC based server. When I moved the file over using a firewire drive, it worked.

As for the cluster setup...

"1. All Macs must be in the same IP subnet. For example: 192.168.XX.XXX
2. Qmaster 2 and Compressor 2.0.1 installed on all machines.
3. Each Mac should have a different name to identify it.
4. Set the G5 as the "QuickCluster with services" then Start Sharing.
5. Set each Mac to "Services only" then Start Sharing. Do this only after step 4.
6. If any Mac name is changed, IP changed, Cluster parameter change - such as the location of Cluster Storage, you may need to "Reset Services" to re-establish the connection to the QuickCluster." -- I changed my QuickCluster name and then none of the services wanted to connect to it. I had to do the Option-Click method ShowStopper mentioned above to restore the path.

"Start Compressor. Switch the Cluster: from "This Computer" to the name of your QuickCluster. Drag and drop a rendered movie into the batch window. Pick the compression formats you need and Submit." -- funny how only the Mac that was compressing the batch was on "This Computer" while the other Macs sat idle.

"If you can, use a separate hard drive attached to the "QuickCluster" since the folder that you use for the "Cluster Storage" needs to have full read/write priviledges. (You can't specify a network volume for this storage area either.) Each Mac accesses the "Cluster Storage" over the network in the background. Firewalls can interfere with this communication." -- I had the built-in firewall running on the QuickCluster Mac and couldn't get the Service Macs to be seen by the cluster.

Hope these cut-and-paste tips help. As you can tell, I've run into all of these gotchas - so I kept them in a file. I haven't used managed services yet. Little steps first.

Let us know how it goes.

BTW. FCP won't install on my Mac Mini. Says the video card is too whimpy. Is there a version of the Mini where it will install?

AV

Could you launch the Apple Qadministrator application on the G5 while your setup is running? It should show you the clusters that are available and the services (Minis) looking for a cluster. At a minimum, the name of the G5 Quickcluster you created should appear because its on the same machine.

This is the app that allows you to manually configure your system, rather than making a QuickCluster. I haven't got this far myself. And your cluster computer isn't listed with the Minis at the bottom of the screen in the Qmaster Service Browser? nor in the Cluster list panel above?