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WHS 2011 Dashboard Users and Add-ins Tabs Empty


WHS2011user

Question

My new WHS 2011 system worked for a week or so then the Dashboard's Users and Add-ins tabs went empty. I'm using Stablebit's Drivepool. Drivepool is exactly what I needed to make WHS 2011 work the way I wanted it to (i.e. like WHS V1). I'm 99.9999% sure that Drivepool hasn't caused the problem. The reason I'm submitting this post here is because I couldn't find an answer to my problem on Google, several MS forums, some server forums, and more... The one person I found that had similar symptoms used an external HDD that caused the problem. I'm different in that the system doesn't have any external HDDs, only internal HDDs *NOT* in RAID. The only change I know of between the time WHS worked and not are the typical weekly MS updates. I hope that a WHS 2011 expert will be able to identify the problem and suggest a cure. I don't want to reinstall WHS 2011 with a potential risk to data if there is an easier, safer fix.

 

Symptoms:

  • Dashboard Users tab empty with a note saying "This list contains no items." The list formerly had several users.
  • Dashboard Computers and Backup tab says backed computers are offline, but they really are online. Curiously, backups are still being performed.
  • Dashboard Add-ins tab empty with a note saying "No add-ins are installed". However, Stablebit Drivepool is installed and working.
  • Dashboard Drivepool tab working normally
  • I get an error message when I try to install StableBit's Scanner
  • Client computers can't sign into Dashboard or Launchpad
  • I uninstalled the WHS client software on one computer and I can't properly reinstall it as I get a warning message from the connector app.
  • The necessary services appear to be running
  • No relevant WHS event errors in event viewer. As an aside, I've got some annoying errors. One is about printers on the network that I didn't bother with WHS-wise (duh!) the other error is about the lack of a CD drive that I temporarily used to install WHS. I removed the CD/DVD drive after WHS was installed since I'm using it in another system.
  • Otherwise, WHS appears to be working normally

I have to fix the problem since I can't backup one system, I can't add more systems, I can't add more users, and I can't add StableBit's Scanner addin.

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First thing to do is check the event viewer for any errors.  But you've already done that.

 

Also, there are log files in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Server\Logs.

If you want to upload those to somewhere, and post a link, I can look through them.

 

Also, does uninstalling DrivePool fix this issue?

 

And does "http://servername/connect/" and "http://servername:55000/connect/" work?

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I uploaded WHSlogs.zip with the password "StableBitDrivePool" to https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4971216/WHSlogs.zip

 

I can connect to http://{servername}/connect and http://{servername}:{portnumber}/connect OK. I already checked that the WHS web server was working since MS suggested that might be a poblem.

 

I'm in the process of copying my files elsewhere before I uninstall DrivePool. I'll uninstall it and let you know the results when the copying is done. However, since DrivePool worked for a week without any changes I doubt that is the problem. Also, I have more faith in StableBit putting together a relatively small application with a team that is dedicated to what they do compared to MS supporting a large and dead product.

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I appreciated that you took a look at the logs and recommended reinstalling the O/S.

I reinstalled DrivePool and am putting the files back onto it. I'll add Scanner after that's done.

 

Funny you should bring up backup. I'm using the WHS machine both for backup as well as a fileserver holding documents and media. Therefore there are 3 classes of files to potentially backup. The O/S, the other machines' backups, and the fileserver files. The fileserver files are protected using DrivePools duplication feature. I'm not too concerned about the other machines' backups since the other machines' are working, and I can use DrivePool's duplication feature to cover that as well. Finally, I can always reinstall the O/S if that crashes. That said, the usefulness of backing up a WHS machine is somewhat limited, especially since the WHS backup is to a single drive. Is what I just wrote true, or am I mistaken?

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You are pretty much spot on. However, if you have multiple "server backup" drives attached when you set up Server Backup, you can set up multiple drives. This way you can cycle them, and even store one or more offsite. However, you do have to have *all* of them attached when you set it up initially. (this is not a well documented "feature", unfortunately, because it's a VERY VERY important one)

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