Rclone is crashing uploading very large files

General
1

I’m a new user of Rclone View and Rclone but very experienced with backup software in general and IT related work. My system is pretty powerful with 64GB memory, multiple fast SSD drives, Intel Core i9 with 10 cores and 6GB Nvidia display card.

BUT…I’m getting crashes on long-running backups involving a lot of large files (over 2GB). Most of these are video files although there are a few database files in there as well. I’ve tried a bunch of flags to manage memory and such to no avail. When I backup a project drive with virtually NO files over 2GB, it runs for hours and completes with no issues.

When I say crash, I mean the entire computer just reboots. I’m unable to get a usable log file from Rclone, I’m guessing because of this spontaneous reboot. I HAVE had an issue like this when working with VERY LARGE After Effects projects so this could be a computer/memory hardware issue. But After Effects is the only other program that has ever done this and it’s using a LOT more memory than Rclone is, typically up to 90% of available memory. Rclone rarely uses more than 10-12% of that memory.

Any thoughts, suggestions, tips for flags that might help manage this? It’s happened regardless of the number of simultaneously uploads, threads, checkers etc. on these large file backups.

Thanks in advance and I really like Rclone and Rclone View compared to the other backup apps I’ve used. Hopefully can get this solved or narrowed down to either an app or hardware issue.

I’m running some memory diagnostics this weekend so will know more then.

Chris Blair

2

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the detailed breakdown. Given your IT experience, you’re already on the right track by connecting this to your After Effects usage.

To be candid, what you are describing is almost certainly not a bug within Rclone or Rclone View, but a hardware or low-level OS issue. Standard application crashes—even severe ones—will simply kill the process or throw an “Out of Memory” error. When a system completely and spontaneously reboots, it means a hardware protection mechanism was triggered or a kernel-level panic (BSOD) occurred.

The fact that Rclone is only using 10-12% of your memory further confirms this isn’t a simple memory leak or an issue that Rclone’s memory flags can fix.

Here is a breakdown of why this is happening specifically with large files, along with the most likely culprits:

Why Large Files Trigger the Crash

Transferring thousands of small files creates intermittent loads—there are micro-pauses in I/O and CPU usage between each file. However, processing multiple 2GB+ video files places a sustained, continuous maximum load on your SSD controllers, CPU (for hashing and encryption), and Network Interface Card (NIC).

This sustained load is exactly what heavy After Effects rendering does, which is why you are seeing the exact same symptom in both scenarios.

The Top 3 Suspects

1. Power Supply Unit (PSU) Failing Under Sustained Load (Most Likely)
An Intel i9 processor, multiple fast SSDs, and a 6GB GPU draw massive amounts of power. During sustained I/O and CPU load, if your PSU is aging, slightly under-specced, or struggling with peak power transients, it will trigger its Over Current Protection (OCP) or Over Power Protection (OPP). This results in an instant, ungraceful reboot with no log files generated.

2. Thermal Shutdown (VRMs, CPU, or NVMe SSDs)
High-speed NVMe SSDs get incredibly hot during continuous read operations. If the SSD controller, your motherboard VRMs (power delivery components), or the CPU hit critical thermal limits during these long transfers, the system will forcefully shut down to prevent physical damage.

3. Hidden Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)
Windows is configured by default to “Automatically restart” upon a system failure. It is entirely possible that a storage controller or network adapter driver is crashing under the heavy load. Because of the automatic restart setting, it looks like a spontaneous reboot rather than a crash.

Suggested Next Steps

Since you are already running memory diagnostics this weekend (which is a great idea to rule out a bad RAM sector), here are a few other things you can do to narrow this down:

  • Disable Automatic Restart: Go to Advanced System Settings > Startup and Recovery, and uncheck “Automatically restart.” If it’s a driver issue, it will hang on a Blue Screen with an error code instead of rebooting, which will tell us exactly what failed.
  • Check the Event Viewer: Look under Windows Logs > System for Event ID 41 (Kernel-Power) right around the time of the crashes. This confirms an unexpected power loss.
  • Monitor Hardware Under Load: Run a tool like HWiNFO64 in the background and log the sensor data to a file while running the large-file Rclone backup. Watch the temperatures on your NVMe drives and motherboard VRMs, as well as the voltage dips on your 12V rail.

It’s very likely your memory test will pass, and the root cause will point toward the PSU or thermals.

Best,
RcloneView Team