How to Fix Crynux Node Stuck Downloading Models + Initial Validation Failed

If your Crynux node gets stuck while downloading models, hangs on step 3/3, or later fails with “The initial validation task failed”, this guide covers the exact fixes that worked.

Step 1 — Move Crynux to a shorter folder path

Long Windows paths can sometimes cause issues. Move the node to a shorter folder, for example:

F:\CrynuxNode

Then run Crynux from that folder as Administrator.

Step 2 — Fix stuck model downloads

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

setx HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET 1
setx HF_HUB_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT 300

What this does:

• HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET=1 disables the Hugging Face Xet downloader, which can stall on large model files.
• HF_HUB_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT=300 increases the timeout to 300 seconds for big downloads.

Step 3 — Launch Crynux the right way

Use this command so Crynux starts from the correct folder and can find its config properly:

$env:HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET = "1"
$env:HF_HUB_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT = "300"

Start-Process `
  -FilePath "F:\CrynuxNode\Crynux Node.exe" `
  -WorkingDirectory "F:\CrynuxNode" `
  -Verb RunAs

Replace F:\CrynuxNode with your actual install path if needed.

Step 4 — Watch the download logs

To monitor the model download progress, run:

Get-Content "F:\CrynuxNode\data\logs\crynux_worker_prefetch.log" -Tail 100 -Wait

To monitor the local evaluation / inference log, run:

Get-Content "F:\CrynuxNode\data\logs\crynux_worker_inference.log" -Tail 80 -Wait

If the model download is working, you should start seeing network activity in Task Manager and the Hugging Face model size should keep increasing.

Step 5 — Fix “The initial validation task failed”

If your node gets past the download stage but then fails during local evaluation, the issue may be Windows virtual memory. The error may look like this:

The paging file is too small for this operation to complete. (os error 1455)
MemoryError
Node manager init error: ValueError('The initial validation task failed')

To fix it:

1. Press Windows + R
2. Type sysdm.cpl
3. Go to Advanced → Performance Settings → Advanced → Virtual Memory → Change
4. Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives
5. Select a drive with enough free space
6. Choose Custom size
7. Set:
   • Initial size: 32768 MB
   • Maximum size: 65536 MB
8. Click Set
9. Click OK and reboot Windows

Step 6 — Optional page file verification

After rebooting, you can verify the page file size with:

Get-CimInstance Win32_PageFileUsage | Select-Object Name, AllocatedBaseSize, CurrentUsage, PeakUsage

How to know it worked

• The node finishes downloading all models
• The local evaluation task completes
• The interface shows a green checkmark
• The node status changes to Idle
• Your CNX Staked field fills in
• Pause and Stop buttons appear

setx HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET 1
setx HF_HUB_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT 300

$env:HF_HUB_DISABLE_XET = "1"
$env:HF_HUB_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT = "300"

Start-Process `
  -FilePath "F:\CrynuxNode\Crynux Node.exe" `
  -WorkingDirectory "F:\CrynuxNode" `
  -Verb RunAs

Note: Your install path may be different. Replace F:\CrynuxNode with your own Crynux folder path if needed.