# Syncthing keeps crashing
**URL:** https://forum.syncthing.net/t/syncthing-keeps-crashing/19817
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [February 18, 2023, 3:03am UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/syncthing-keeps-crashing/19817 "2023-02-18T03:03:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@InteXX](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/InteXX)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2023, 3:03am UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/syncthing-keeps-crashing/19817/1 "2023-02-18T03:03:48Z")
I have a rather large folder (2½TB) that I need to sync from a ReadyNAS to an RPi 3 (10TB USB drive on the RPi). Those devices are named `BACKUP` and `OFFSITE`, respectively.
This is an ongoing saga:
> [@Permission denied on USB drive](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/permission-denied-on-usb-drive/19769):
>
> I just provisioned a new Bullseye OS on my RPi 3, installed Syncthing as a service running under a new user admin that I created, and then plugged in an NTFS-formatted 10TB USB drive. The drive already has around 3TB of data, an old copy of the server folder that I wish to resync to the RPi/USB combo. Side note: the NTFS formatting is a requirement, as the drive serves as part of a disaster recovery plan for a Windows environment. When I attempt to add a folder from the drive, however, I’m get…
> [@Devices seem to not be syncing](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/devices-seem-to-not-be-syncing/19799):
>
> I have a folder that’s successfully synchronized between three devices. I now wish to add a fourth; a Raspberry Pi/10TB USB drive combo for offsite backup purposes. The problem is that the sync file count is stuck at zero. The sync folder count matches, but no files are reported copied. The USB drive is thrashing furiously (I’m running an onsite seed before I move the setup offsite). Also, the Syncthing service on the RPi keeps crashing every few hours. It’s been this way for four days. The se…
> [@Initial sync still deathly slow on the RPi](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/initial-sync-still-deathly-slow-on-the-rpi/19813):
>
> Well, it seems I’m a victim of my own success. For the full saga, see [here](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/permission-denied-on-usb-drive/19769) and [here](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/devices-seem-to-not-be-syncing/19799). Although the current issue involves the same project and devices, this is a new problem and so calls for a new topic. After much angst I finally got the initial sync to kick off and run. It did great for a bit, but then at about the 20% mark or so it ground to a screeching halt. The Web GUI became unresponsive, as did my VNC connection. The only fix was to pull the plug and power cycle the RPi. Ouch. One never…
With @gadget’s gracious assistance I made it through syncing my Dev folder, which contains tens upon tens of thousands of small 1-2 kilobytes files. That mountain has been scaled.
Next up is my Files folder, which contains more and larger files.
FYI here’s the GUI on `BACKUP`, as I now can’t get Syncthing to start at all on `OFFSITE`:
The long-term problem is that Syncthing keeps crashing every few minutes while in the state ‘Preparing to Sync.’ I’ve discovered some conversation surrounding this over [here](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/raspberry-pi3-keeps-crashing-while-syncing/13453), but I don’t know how to find out whether the issues discussed there apply to my own situation. And even if they do, I’m afraid the troubleshooting steps are a bit above my pay grade.
The reason it won’t start at all right now is because I’m attempting to move its configuration and database to the USB drive, as advised [here](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/devices-seem-to-not-be-syncing/19799/15).
Here’s the original `home` path from my service config:
```plaintext
ExecStart=/usr/bin/syncthing -no-browser -no-restart -logflags=0 -home=/home/admin/.config/syncthing
```
…and here’s what I changed it to, after running `sudo rsync -r /home/admin/.config /media/pi/Elements`:
```plaintext
ExecStart=/usr/bin/syncthing -no-browser -no-restart -logflags=0 -home=/media/pi/Elements/.config/syncthing
```
Here’s what `systemctl status` reports:
```plaintext
pi@OFFSITE:/media/pi/Elements $ sudo systemctl status syncthing@admin.service
* syncthing@admin.service - Syncthing service for admin
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/syncthing@admin.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Drop-In: /etc/systemd/system/syncthing@admin.service.d
`-override.conf
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Fri 2023-02-17 17:35:29 AKST; 1min 57s ago
Process: 64338 ExecStartPre=/home/pi/Documents/Scripts/mount-sync-drive.sh (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 64340 ExecStart=/usr/bin/syncthing -no-browser -no-restart -logflags=0 -home=/media/pi/Elements/.config/syncthing (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
Main PID: 64340 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
CPU: 74ms
Feb 17 17:35:29 OFFSITE systemd[1]: Starting Syncthing service for admin...
Feb 17 17:35:29 OFFSITE systemd[1]: Started Syncthing service for admin.
Feb 17 17:35:29 OFFSITE syncthing[64340]: WARNING: Failure on home directory: mkdir /media/pi/Elements/.config/syncthing: permission denied
Feb 17 17:35:29 OFFSITE systemd[1]: syncthing@admin.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Feb 17 17:35:29 OFFSITE systemd[1]: syncthing@admin.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
```
I’m not sure why it’s trying to create that `syncthing` directory, as the directory already exists. I’ve verified it manually, as well as checked its permissions against the original.
This whole thing sure is turning out to be a headache. I blame it on the skimpy resources of the RPi3.
Is there a way to tell Syncthing on the RPi to flush its memory buffers more often, so that it won’t crash every 5-10 minutes?
---
### Author:  [@tomasz86](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/tomasz86)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2023, 7:20am UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/syncthing-keeps-crashing/19817/2 "2023-02-18T07:20:45Z")
> [@InteXX](#):
>
> RPi3
You can try playing with the tweaks mentioned in [https://forum.syncthing.net/t/optimising-syncthing-for-low-end-hardware/14885](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/optimising-syncthing-for-low-end-hardware/14885), however honestly 1 GB is probably too little to sync this much data smoothly. This is speaking as someone who’s got quite a bit of experience running Syncthing on very low end hardware (like the phone mentioned in the other thread with just 380 MB of RAM usable).
---
### Author:  [@InteXX](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/InteXX)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2023, 8:21am UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/syncthing-keeps-crashing/19817/3 "2023-02-18T08:21:35Z")
> [@tomasz86](#):
>
> You can try playing with the tweaks mentioned in [https://forum.syncthing.net/t/optimising-syncthing-for-low-end-hardware/14885](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/optimising-syncthing-for-low-end-hardware/14885), however honestly 1 GB is probably too little to sync this much data smoothly. This is speaking as someone who’s got quite a bit of experience running Syncthing on very low end hardware (like the phone mentioned in the other thread with just 380 MB of RAM usable).
I’ll give those a try, thanks. I assume those are name/value pairs to be placed in `/etc/environment` before a reboot?
A thought: if I seed the data using `rsync`, might I expect Syncthing to at least stay running while it computes the hashes? Your opinion, please.
---
### Author:  [@InteXX](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/InteXX)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/syncthing-keeps-crashing/19817/4 "2023-02-18T15:37:30Z")
> [@InteXX](#):
>
> > [@tomasz86](#):
> >
> > You can try playing with the tweaks mentioned in [https://forum.syncthing.net/t/optimising-syncthing-for-low-end-hardware/14885](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/optimising-syncthing-for-low-end-hardware/14885)
>
> A thought: if I seed the data using `rsync`, might I expect Syncthing to at least stay running while it computes the hashes? Your opinion, please.
FYI just for fun, I started the `rsync` seed.
Interesting new development: I removed the `Files` folder from `OFFSITE`’s configuration and now Syncthing isn’t crashing anymore. Maybe there was some corruption in there somewhere.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://forum.syncthing.net/u/system)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://forum.syncthing.net/t/syncthing-keeps-crashing/19817/5 "2023-03-20T15:38:10Z")
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