Launcher Service refuses to run scheduled backups

[mkucenski]

I'm using 6.0 Pro on a Windows XP Pro host and I can't get the Launcher Service to keep running scheduled backups. If I uncheck 'Enable Launcher Service', reboot, then recheck 'Enable Launcher Service', I can then schedule a test backup and verify that the Launcher Service fires. Later that night, the normal scheduled backup runs and completes successfully. The next day no backups run. For some reason, it will only run one scheduled backup and then dies.

 

I tried recreating my backup script, thinking that maybe the script was corrupted and causing a problem at the very end. There is also only one user on the machine, an administrator account.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm pulling my hair out and none of the suggestions I have seen in the forums so far have helped. It is strange because the machine has run fine for months, now all of a sudden it refuses to keep running.

 

Thanks,

Matt

 

P.S. I am also using the stock retroeventhandler.bat file to email reports to myself if that makes a difference.

[awnews]

This sounded close enough to include under this 2-month old thread (even though RDU 4.4 wasn't out at that time).

 

I'm seeing a problem with Retrospect not reliably launching on schedule. I saw this a few times within the last week, when I would come in the morning and see the little red RP cube (script is waiting to run) in the taskbar. But the problem seemed to go away after a reboot and I thought it might be a fluke. But I'm seeing it fairly consistently, with RP working OK and on schedule for a "few" days, followed by the "little red cube" taskbar indicator. A reboot the "fixes" it for a "few" days. I'm not sure if it runs OK for a few days after the program is just manually started.

 

The Retrospect Launcher is enabled (in RP and can see it under the XP Task Manager) and set up to launch with the Local System account, and then the RP Security tab is set to allow RP to run with a local admin-level user, retroadm. The "SERVER" PC is on a workgroup and is backing up to a second harddrive in the same PC (no network privs required).

 

Obviously things change on PCs as OS patches are installed, other programs are installed and updated, etc. I could try reverting to RDU 4.3--what changed between 4.3 and 4.4? What would cause RP to put up a the "script is waiting to run" indicator in the taskbar and then not run the script?

 

Note that I do *not* regarded this as something discussed in the ReadMe/Help: "Retrospect Launcher service fails to start : If this happens go to Configure>Preferences and browse to the Execution Startup preferences. Uncheck the "Enable Retrospect Launcher service" checkbox and click OK. Go back to the Execution Startup preferences, check the "Enable Retrospect Launcher service" checkbox, and click OK." The launcher service *is* enabled and started, and seems to be "started" enough to spin a little red icon--it just isn't reliably launching the scripts after a few days of working OK.

 

Dell 2.3GHZ, 1G RAM, 60G HD

XP Pro SP1

Retrospect Pro 6.5.310

RDU 4.4.110

 

+ Retrospect version 6.5.319

Automatically launched at 10/11/2003 2:15 AM in user account SERVER\retroadm

+ Retrospect Driver Update, version 4.4.110

+ Normal backup using V_Data_Short at 10/11/2003 2:15 AM

To Backup Set V_Data_Short...

 

- 10/11/2003 2:15:07 AM: Copying Docs on Drive V (V:)

10/11/2003 2:24:18 AM: Snapshot stored, 42.9 MB

10/11/2003 2:24:20 AM: Comparing Docs on Drive V (V:)

10/11/2003 2:24:36 AM: Execution completed successfully

Completed: 74 files, 51.0 MB, with 57% compression

Performance: 169.6 MB/minute (152.7 copy, 190.9 compare)

Duration: 00:09:29 (00:08:52 idle/loading/preparing)

 

Quit at 10/11/2003 2:39 AM

 

-- note: red cube taskbar indicator flashing in taskbar, RP script started running as soon as I manually launched RP.

+ Retrospect version 6.5.319

Launched at 10/12/2003 3:25 PM

+ Retrospect Driver Update, version 4.4.110

+ Normal backup using V_Docs_to_NetDisk1 at 10/12/2003 3:25 PM

To Backup Set V_Projects...

 

- 10/12/2003 3:25:27 PM: Copying Projects on Drive V (V:)

10/12/2003 3:29:38 PM: Snapshot stored, 16.1 MB

10/12/2003 3:29:43 PM: Execution completed successfully

Completed: 1126 files, 480.3 MB, with 69% compression

Performance: 355.7 MB/minute

Duration: 00:04:11 (00:02:01 idle/loading/preparing)

 

[natew]

Hi

 

I'm not sure what else you have tried so far but we should start with the basics:

 

Try a complete uninstall/ Reboot/ Reinstall of Retrospect. Also rename/delete your preference files found at the following location:

C:\documents and settings\all users\application data (hidden)\retrospect\config60.dat and config 60.bak.

 

Make sure you have the latest version of the Retrospect driver update installed.

 

What happens when Retrospect fails to launch? Do you get the red cube flashing in the taskbar? Have you added any software or updates to the machine lately? Are you configuring the launcher service to run as a specified user?

 

Thanks

Nate

[awnews]

 

>> Try a complete uninstall/ Reboot/ Reinstall of Retrospect. Also rename/delete your preference files found at the following location:

C:\documents and settings\all users\application data (hidden)\retrospect\config60.dat and config 60.bak.

 

Thanks. I'm not inclined to do a complete reinstall at the moment.

 

>> Make sure you have the latest version of the Retrospect driver update installed.

 

Lastest RP and RDU (as listed in my post).

 

>> What happens when Retrospect fails to launch? Do you get the red cube flashing in the taskbar? Have you added any software or updates to the machine lately? Are you configuring the launcher service to run as a specified user?

 

Yes, the red cube is flashing in the taskbar (as stated in my post). And yes, I have added and updated assorted software on the PC over time, some of which runs as as a service (as stated in my post).

 

No, the launcher service is not set to run as a specified user but rather LocalSystem (as stated in my post. A pattern seems to be forming...). Once launched, a RP is set to run using using a specific admin-level account, as set under the RP Security setting.

 

Aside from the full reinstall route, I think this covers "the basics."

 

 

[natew]

Hi GoAwest,

 

 

 

My post was in response to the person at the top of this thread - hence the redundant questions. Now that I check the date I see what a bonehead I am.

 

 

 

Nate

[natew]

Ok - on to the matter at hand

 

If you have the red Icon the launcher service is active but something is preventing Retrospect from opening in the current session.

 

What else is running on this machine? As a test can you set Retrospect to run as the logged in user? Does unticking the "disable removeable storage manager" preference make any difference? Do the backups run when no one is logged into the machine?

 

Thanks

 

Nate

 

 

 

 

[awnews]

 

> My post was in response to the person at the top of this thread - hence the redundant questions. Now that I check the date I see what a bonehead I am.

 

I apologize for getting a little "snippy." You hit a pet-peeve/nerve with your reply-->"tech support that doesn't read the email request but just fires off a canned reply." I guess this wasn't the case here, and it didn't occur to me that you might have been (re-)reading the 2-month old post that I piggy-backed my posting off of.

 

------------------------

> Ok - on to the matter at hand

 

> If you have the red Icon the launcher service is active but something is preventing Retrospect from opening in the current session.

 

But what...? Can you tell me anything that could/should prevent "Retrospect from opening in the current session?"

 

 

> What else is running on this machine?

 

Plenty of other programs (running, not just installed), many as services:

 

PeerSync 7.1.2 (www.peersoftware.com) [service] Runs daily sync with another server (4AM, well after 2AM RP runs)

Automate 5.5.1 (www.unisyn.com) [service]

Simple DNS Plus 3.50 (www.jhsoft.com) [service]

 

Serv-U 4.1 FTP Server [service]

FLexLM License Manager [service]

Norton AntiVirus 2003

NetDisk 2.1.4beta2

Acrobat Distiller 5

DU Meter 3.05 Build 148

FileBox Extender

WinTopMost

AllToTray

 

I separated the first three since they were updated recently. The Retrospect Launcher says that it has no dependencies on anything else. I can't easily tie an install/update of any of these other programs because, as noted, RP launches and runs fine for "several" days after a reboot, so I wouldn't/didn't notice the problem after updating one of these other programs (since the PC would have been rebooted after the install).

 

 

> As a test can you set Retrospect to run as the logged in user?

 

I *could*, but the normally logged in user (SERVER/retroadm) is the same as the specific Preferences->Security user, SERVER/retroadm, used by Retrospect. The main reason I have a RP Security user is to a) guarantee network privileges for RP and to deal with the situation when I occasionally log into the PC remotely (XP Remote Desktop) and log out, leaving *no* user logged in (http://forums.dantz.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=31898&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1). The later is *not* required for the RP Launcher to fail to launch Retrospect (red spinning icon in taskbar).

 

 

> Does unticking the "disable removable storage manager" preference make any difference?

 

Preferences->Handling->Stop Removable Service Manager

 

Was checked (default). I'll try running without it checked.

 

 

> Do the backups run when no one is logged into the machine?

 

I don't know at the moment. I tend to leave the SERVER/retroadm user logged in all the time and the machine is screen-saver locked (CTRL-ALT-DEL to log back in). But I know that it worked at one time since I could Remote Desktop in and RP would launch on schedule afterwards.

 

 

For now:

 

1) I've rebooted the PC today (with the Stop Removable Service Manager option unchecked), and will watch it to see if/when it fails.

 

2) I've set up a timer-based launch in AutoMate (disabled at the moment). With this I can launch RP at a set time, e.g. 12:00AM *if* it's not already running. This is equivalent to manually launching the program, so it means that RP stays up and running (rather than quitting) after the backups are done. But at least it runs...

 

Reminds me of a comment by Zarniwoop:

 

"I quit trying, long ago, to figure out why backups only fired off reliably if Retrospect was open and running. I now let my server login automatically (can be done via registry edit or tweakui), and I put the Retrospect icon in the Startup. My server is in a secure location so this isn't much of a risk in my situation.

 

Retrospect is fickle and moody, and I deal with it with patience and constant monitoring. After much twiddling, I have it working quite reliably. But I wouldn't turn my back on it for even a day, not a chance..."

 

http://forums.dantz.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Server&Number=31502&Forum=All_Forums&Words=secure&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=6months&Main=29787&Search=true#Post31502

 

 

Thanks

GoAWest

 

[awnews]

Just to make sure I'm up to date, I installed the just released 10/13/03 updates:

 

RP 6.5.336

RDU 4.5

 

and rebooted. I just did an Update, not an Uninstall/Reinstall. I'll report back the results wrt whether RP launches and runs over the next several days.

 

[natew]

Hi

 

No worries about that post. That kind of thing would bug me too.

 

I'm not sure what could be "holding down" Retrosepect. I'm curious to see if it will fully autolauch at all (hence all the what if questions). If it does then we can start removing variables til we sort it out.

 

Let us know what you find.

 

Nate

 

 

[awnews]

It's been the better part of two weeks and I haven't seen a (pure) repeat of the Launcher problem. I have rebooted my PC a few times since then, which previously seemed to "restart" the period of the Launcher working OK, but haven't rebooted since 10/16.

 

The Launcher has successfully started RP6.5 (6.5.336, RDU 4.5) every night since then at 2:15AM. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have Automate set to launch RP at 2:17AM if it's not already running, but it hasn't done so all week (I would know based on the 2:17AM "manual" launch time in the RP log instead of the RP Launcher time of 2:15AM).

 

The reason I mentioned "pure" above is that, on one occasion, I came in to find the red square cube in the task bar. I thought "here we go again" but it also seemed odd since, with a "manual" RP launch from Automate, RP should have skipped past this. But when I waved the mouse over the red cube icon it went away *and* the RP logs showed that the Launcher had started RP at the expected time (2:15AM). So I'm not sure what to make of this.

 

I'll obviously report any other odd behavior in this area.

 

[awnews]

Grrr...

 

Well, it took exactly one day after I reported that RP was looking pretty good for the Launcher to fail at 2:15AM. I came in this morning to find RP up and all jobs completed *but* only because my "fail-safe" Automate config had "manually" launched RP at 2:17AM (iff RP wasn't running), as shown in the RP log. The little red cube was sitting in the taskbar indicating that RP scripts were waiting, but it vanished as soon as I waved the mouse over it ("normal" behavior if RP is manually launched and scripts are run after the launcher is unable/unwilling to run scripts).

[awnews]

I left things alone for the next couple of days (no reboots or changes). On the first day (Sun. AM) the RP Launcher failed to launch RP (little red cube in taskbar) but Automate bailed me out by launching RP. On the next day (Mon. AM) RP ran because it was just left running all the next day so the Launcher didn't have to do anything.

 

I rebooted the PC on Monday and the Launcher failed again (spinning red cube in taskbar), on the "first try" after the reboot, on Tues. AM. And again, the Automate "fail-safe" "manually" launched RP since it wasn't running at the expected time and RP then ran the scripts.

 

I will point out that I own and use RP (6.5) on a few other PCs (XP SP1, W2K SP4) and the Launcher sevice seems to be able to launch RP. So (for me) it's just a problem on this one PC. Note that I (or Automate) can *always* "manually" launch RP with no errors or warnings. I wonder if Dantz has any ideas as to what would prevent the Launcher service from starting RP (with the same admin-level account that I'm logged in with) when I and other programs can run it without a problem.

 

 

[natew]

Hi

 

I haven't been ignoring this I swear! I just have not been able to find any useful information on what could be keeping Retrospect down like that.

 

Do you have this computer setup to check for automatic updates of any kind? This would include windows updates as well.

 

You mentioned it happend right after a reboot. Have you tried turing off startup programs with the MSconfig utility?

 

This is a bit risky by how about hitting ctrl+shift+esc when the icon is flashing and then killing "suspicious" processes one by one. Thoretically retrospect should launch after you kill the process that is causing the problem.

 

Nate

[awnews]

Windows Updates is turned off. Norton AntiVirus (as part of Norton Systemworks Pro 2003) VirusDef updates are turn on (but Auto-Protect is disabled).

 

"it happened right after a reboot" is probably misstating things a bit. The RP Launcher failure was "normally" happening after RP Launcher was working for several days, so it seemed to be an "accumulated" behavior of RP Launcher & the system. I was just reporting that it had *also* happened (this time) the *first* time RP Launcher tried to start RP after the PC had been rebooted. I have tried the "Prefs->Turn off the Launcher option," Rebooot, "Turn on the Launcher option," Reboot, and will see what happens for a few days.

 

I took a look at things with MSConfig and Mike Lin's Control Panel startup util. This PC has a bunch of stuff running, at startup (N different ways), as Services, etc., as I already listed in a previous post. I could start poking around and shutting things off, but I need most of this stuff running. And there's still the puzzling issue of the fact that RP has *no* problem being launched when I launch it manually or when I let Automate launch it (if RP isn't running at the expected time)--its just the RP launcher that seems to be unable to do so (at least beyond the spinning red cube). At the moment my "solution" is to let Automate start RP if needed or just leave RP running so I'm not relying on the apparently unreliable RP Launcher.

 

I *may* try the "risky" idea of killing processes with the TM the next time RP is stuck in a waiting state (need to stop my Automate backup launch so the fail-safe backup launch doesn't happen) and see if I can learn anything.

[awnews]

Well, the RP Launcher has given up any pretense of working, regardless of reboots or anything else I do. It launches at the scheduled time, but only to the red cube in the taskbar. The only thing allowing RP to work is launching it another way (e.g. Automate) or leaving the program running.

 

This morning I set up a (one-time) script launch time and watched the red cube appear and RP Launcher just wait. Moving the cursor over the red cube icon showed "Retrospect: Script 'Testscript' waiting nowhoa" where "nowhoa" was really "nowh followed by an umlaut 'o' and a superscript & odd 'a'." I'm not sure what to make of this, but it suggests that the RP Launcher (description) is in an unusual state (buffer overflow?).

 

After that I manually shut down every program I could and then started shutting down running processes up to the point where the machine became unusable. RP Launcher never launched the script until after the reboot, at which point it launched the pending script and I stopped it.

[awnews]

I now have a second machine (XP SP1) where the Retrospect Launcher (and RP6.5.319, RDU4.8) is no longer reliably launching the program where it had been working OK (more or less...) before. A month+ ago I found that this machine hadn't run a backup in over a week. After a reboot it again started working. But last night I found that it hadn't run a backup in several days. As soon as I manually started RP the backup(s) ran.

 

I've updated RP on that machine to the latest RP (.343, and still RDU4.8) and rebooted.

 

So I feel very confident in saying there's an (ongoing) issue with the Retro Launcher. As someone said, "don't turn you back on it." On my more critical machines, I'm starting to either leave Retro running *or* installing a backup launcher app to launch Retro a few minutes after the normal start (e.g. 2:02AM) if the program isn't already running.

[AmyJ]

Hi -

 

How often are these machines normally rebooted? I've seen issues on machines when they are not rebooted for weeks or months at a time. How long does it usually auto-launch before it begins to fail again? Does this machine go into standby or sleep mode?

 

The red cube blinking in the SysTray indicates that Retrospect is trying to luanch, but that something is preventing it - usually another program or lack of system resources.

 

Amy

[awnews]

The (workgroup) PC that failed this morning had gone at least a month between reboots. There was no RL red spinning icon on the taskbar which is why nobody noticed that RP wasn't launching regularly. It if it repeats the prior pattern, it's going to work for "a while" before it fails again.

 

The other RP PC mentioned in previous emails is *intended* to go a long time between reboots, but it had (has) been rebooted several times esp. when I was trying to figure out this problem. It would often fail within a day or two (e.g. the next RP launch or shortly thereafter) of a reboot. As an interesting note, it hasn't failed in the last week (whereas before it was failing regularly) after being converted from a workgroup to a domain PC.