Christopher (Drashna)

I think "RAW" is the wrong term here, or at least misleading. I beleive he means disk passthrough. That the whole disk is being passed through, it it's "raw state", basically. If you want SMART data in the VM, ESXi is the way to go. the ESX RDM passthrough does pass along the SMART data for the drive. HyperV does not pass along this data (I don't know why Microsoft doesn't.... it's actually kind of frustrating). So if you want to grab SMART data as well, you'd need to install Scanner on the Host OS, and disable the file checks for the passed through disks. The plus side is that there is $9.95 discount for additional licenses, and you can monitor the host OS's drive as well. Something you can't do with ESXi, as it's *NIX based, and we're a "Windows Outfit".

That last bit is definitely a legitimate concern. But that's only if you want to automatically unlock the rest of the drives. If you don't mind manually connecting into the server and unlocking the drives manually after every reboot.. but that's just a hassle. And Alex has said, he is working on implementing it. But we definitely understand if you don't want to wait. But we hope you come back once we've got TrueCrypt support added.

@TheRealJMC While we may not have TrueCrypt support yet, we do fully support BitLocker encrypted volumes. Though if you want them automatically unlocked, that would require encrypting the system disk as well (which means you'd need a password and/or a USB key to boot the system every time.

The dashboard looks for the specific user's access. Like for example, if you had a user "Mick", it would look for that account and it's privileges on the "share" in "Server Folder". You can verify that yourself, by checking the permissions (on lets say "Videos"). It will have "SYSTEM", "Administrators" and "Mick" listed for the users. If it doesn't have "Mick", then the dashboard would report "No Access". And if it has read access, well, "Read Only", and so on. As for making sure use access works 100% as expected. Delete the "users" and "Authenticated Users" on each share. Or do it to "ServerFolders" and "replace child entries". Just note, that until you add the specifically defined entries for each folder, you may not be able to access the files locally. Sorry if all of this is confusing... but NTFS security permissions *are* confusing and if you don't thoroughly understand them, it can be even more so. And as I said, the tool is meant to leave the pool in a 100% workable state (same permissions as if your formated, BTW).

Monty, We're glad to hear that you like them! The above fix should apply to the 3132 card as well. The email should list the computer in question, in the body of the email at least, But the serial number or some other unique identifier is a good idea. Glad that you like them. As for the UI, you'd have to ask Alex.

Technogod, I can definitely understand the desire to have it up and running and working. however, there are a few advanced settings for Scanner that may "tame" this behavior. http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_Advanced_Settings Namely these settings. DirectIOOverride SmartOverride Smart_NoWmi But I understand if you don't want to mess around with them.

Unfortunately, it looks like the app is crashing for some reason. Could grab the files from "C:\ProgramData\BitFlock.com" (you may need to type it in, or enable "Show Hidden Files" to see the folder). And then submit them to http://stablebit.com/Contact and use "Scanner" for the product.

Okay. And enjoy your trip!

That I can understand, but the surface scan is DEFINITELY read only. All it does is to make sure each sector is readable. If it detects any issues, it flags it for followup/repair/action, and lets you know. It doesn't write to it at all. As for chkdsk, unless you use /scan (windows 8) or /f (fix), it should never write either. But I'm sure there are utilities that do write as part of their testing. Scanner is not one of them.

Yup. I have two Seagate Backup Plus drives (USB3). Both connected, and True Image runs just fine, and is quite snappy. I don't have any other external enclosures, but can see about getting one, to see if that's the issue. If i had to guess, the issue may actually be your USB3 drivers. Since it's still pretty new, there have been a good number of people that have reported issues with them or their systems in general when using USB3. But I hate pointing fingers (even when it is somebody else's fault/issue). Which is why I asked for those dumps. That way we can be certain about where the issue lies. And you said the issue doesn't happen if Scanner is stopped. That would indicate a problem with Scanner, or with how it's querying data (it could be causing issues with the driver which could cause the instability.) And have you tried unplugging each of the enclosures to see if that isn't the cause as well?

Okay, and I've looked through. It doesn't appear to be any issues that are standing out. So it may not be from the dashboard. If that is the case, then do this: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Log_Collection

Mick, that's the one service that *shouldn't* be running, except for at startup. And then it ends. So, that's all good from a service standpoint. And okay, I just wanted to make sure that it was rebooted. There is one more place to look for logs here... and I'm not entirely sure they'll be helpful though. On the server, head to "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Server\Logs", and zip up all of the longs there. Then PM me the zipped logs. Please don't post them here, as there can be somewhat sensitive data there. If the logs are too large to attach, then just upload them to a cloud storage location, and PM a link to them.

Well, since I'm assuming you're restarted the server like it recommends.... Run "services.msc" on the server, and check to see if any of the "Windows Server" services are not running (there should be a couple that aren't). Please list any that aren'. Also, have you checked the event viewer on the server for any errors related to users or WHS? Additionally, you can change things manually. Specifically, just add the user to the NTFS Permissions on the file. And as for the ntfs permission state, you are correct. But the settings used are to guarantee that the files are 100% accessible and that nothing should prevent you from accessing the files. After they've been put into this state, you change them as you see fit. But DO NOT mess with the SYSTEM account settings, as this is the account that DrivePool uses (for grabbing info, duplication and balancing). The "Users" and "Authenticated Users" entries can be deleted, if you wish.

Technogod, I can't seem to replicate the issue on my system. Either in a VM or on physical machines. Since this is the case, would you mind getting a couple of memory dumps? http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_Freeze But preferably this: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_System_Freeze This involves forcing a BSOD to dump the memory. But if you can duplicate the issue and do this, we can take a good look at what's going on.

If it's happening only when the Scanner service is running, then there would seem to be some interaction between the two programs. I'm going to see if I can duplicate this issue.

Ah, the drive being USB and not in the pool makes it a bit more complicated. But yes, moving it yourself is faster, IMO. Especially if you are using something like TeraCopy. Also, you could just copy the database, and then use regedit to just change the location that is being used (instead of using the dashboard to move it) This is more complicated, and definitely more on the "advanced" side, but it would make it much easier to test out if it's working, and no have to risk your data. And if you do this, please enable tracing logs, so that if/when it errors out, we can see if DrivePool is the cause of this (or where the cause may be).

Cool! And, just add onto my already long list of things to read.

Does this happen if the "StableBit Scanner Service" is stopped? Also, which OS are you using? Windows Home Server 2011? Windows 7? 8? This can make a difference too.

It should be enough to just added the Pool itself. But if you do wish to add the pool parts as well, there is no harm in that. (well, other than a larger search database, and memory usage when it indexes files, but aside from that.... )

Well, "C:\ProgramData\StableBit DrivePool\Service\Logs\Service" stores a list of all the errors like this. And, I'm pretty certain that DrivePool does keep on duplicating other files, and just reports the erroneous ones. (but I'll flag Alex, so he can confirm that, as well as because that's a nice suggestion, about listing the duplication errors).

If you're messing with the old "D:\shared" folder structure.... don't. Those are all the tombstones. Also, you are doing/have done this, correct? http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q5463715 This makes the migration process SUPER simple, easy and quick. (sorry that I overlooked/forgot to mention this sooner)

Yes, you should definitely add the the other folders. Click on the "Modify" button and make sure those folders are added. After doing that, then do the "rebuild" option.

Yes, please run the WSS Troubleshooter, and use the "Reset NTFS permissions on the pool" option. This will take a while, but it will reset the permissions into a "blank, usable" state that should not have any issues with accessing the files.

@otispresley The backups should not be compatible between WHS2011 and Server 2012 Essentials. You'd want to reset the database unfortunately. @dslabbekoorn, I have kind of lost my train of thought. Depending on where the backup is, there is a "quick trick" to add it to the pool. If the drive for the backups is added to the pool already... You could stop the client backup service, move the backup database into the hidden "PoolPart.xxxx" folder, and then restart the service. And then use the dashboard to "move" the folder. As for how the server knows where... Check out the registry. "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Server\Backup", and check the "DatabaseName" string. That's the value it uses to locate the database. IIRC.

Well, that may have been just a temporary glitch. If it comes back, then let us know. As for the duplication, it does check periodically to make sure that everything is duplicated (or not) properly. And if you reset the settings, it will need to recheck that. So that should be okay. If this takes an excessively long time (like a day or more), and you don't have a *lot* of files (like hundreds of thousands, of images for example), then something may definitely be "up". If this is the case, then you'll want to do this: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Log_Collection