Qmaster & Network Rendering

A quick description of my "farm:"
- 2 Dual 2.5 G5's with raids 8GB Ram & 2 Dual Core 2.0 G5's with 1.5GB with second internal HD
- The latest version of Qmaster/Shake/Qadministrator/ dedicates switch /
- All drives with media/scripts are networked/mount on each machine

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1) When I start a network render from one of these machines, all 4 will start to render. The issue: One of them, at random, will not pickup it's next pack of 10 once it completes it's first pack of 10. I need to open Qmaster preferences, stop sharing & then start it again in order for that machine to resume rendering.
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2) The machines will continue to render if the monitors go to sleep but the computer does not. Right?
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3) Several scripts fail in a network render with this message: 4x HOST [Shake-Render-2.local] Error: this is null!
4x HOST - I'll also get 2x & 3x depending on what machine joins the render.
Shake-Render-2.local - It's not machine specific as all my machines have been named in this tag.
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4) Renders just hang...
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I know there are endless possibilities, but is their something obvious?
Thanks,
Pete

I cant really help you with details but I can tell you that after trying to set up qmaster at two seperate facilities, I have decided that it isnt stable or reliable enough to use in production. There are always stupid bugs such as you described.

Thanks,
Some scripts simply crap out Qmaster. The only thing I can think of is that the two machines, that work consistantly, are on the same switch. The other 2 are on another switch but it's setup as if they're on the same.

When it does work it's a huge time-saver.

Best,
Pete