IFW 2.83 Stalls while Gathering Information

[engineerguy3809]

Follow up
I am running Image for WINDOWS. Did the suggestion you made in your earlier post assume I was running Linux?
I noticed you suggested "IMAGEL" and /LOGL:50.

I was able to find pdf manual notations for command-line switch for logging, but it did not have a switch parameter ending in :50 as you suggested.

[TeraByte Support]

Either adjust the short cut or right click command prompt, run as
administrator then type in:

"c:\program files\terabyte unlimited\image for windows\v2\imagew" /logl:50

to start it (if you're on x64 then)

"c:\program files (x86)\terabyte unlimited\image for windows\v2\imagew"
/logl:50


"engineerguy3809" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

Follow up
I am running Image for WINDOWS. Did the suggestion you made in your earlier
I noticed you suggested "IMAGEL" and /LOGL:50.

I was able to find pdf manual notations for command-line switch for logging,
but it did not have a switch parameter ending in :50 as you suggested.

[TeraByte Support]

Either adjust the short cut or right click command prompt, run as
administrator then type in:

"c:\program files\terabyte unlimited\image for windows\v2\imagew" /logl:50

to start it (if you're on x64 then)

"c:\program files (x86)\terabyte unlimited\image for windows\v2\imagew"
/logl:50


"engineerguy3809" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

Follow up
I am running Image for WINDOWS. Did the suggestion you made in your earlier
I noticed you suggested "IMAGEL" and /LOGL:50.

I was able to find pdf manual notations for command-line switch for logging,
but it did not have a switch parameter ending in :50 as you suggested.

[engineerguy3809]

OK, Now I'm REALLY confused and a bit embarrassed.
I've been using TB IFW & IFL for more than 5 years so I'm not unfamiliar with basic operation.
As you instructed, I ran a manual operation from an administrator command prompt. It ran without problems (Error/Exit Code 0)
I immediately created a duplicate image of the C drive (active OS partition) from my desktop icon (which points to the same imagew.exe file) without the /log/:50 switch at end).
Even though this operation has stalled on me WELL over 25 times . . . now, it is running as it always has.
PHYLock takes 30 seconds or so (as it always has on this PC) to wait for drive to stop activity, then the image creation begins

For what it's worth, I also checked the registry string noted in a Knowledge-Base article and my registry entry precisely notes what is listed.

I'm totally stumped as to what was happening . . . and what has cleared it up.
NOBODY touches this PC except me, so I'm positive no other changes have been made.
I guess I need to say "Consider the issue solved", but I'm at a complete loss to explain why.
Thanks for the assistance !
I'll log back in if it occurs again.

[engineerguy3809]

Original Poster back again.
My issue seems to have returned.
I was able to make a few successful images, but it is stalling again.
The only recent changes to machine have been Microsoft XP updates and AVAST (Free) updates.

I re-ran IFW using the Log file extension provided by Terabyte Support.
The log begins noting the it is waiting for PHYLock waiting for drive writing to stop . . ., then lists the following Checkpoints ONLY.

Check Point - DLD
Check Point - SCLN
Check Point - BSFN
Check Point - SFN:E:\PHYLOCK.SWP
Check Point - GNR

Then, the log file stops all entries.

If I look at older (successful) image logs there are a number of entries beyond "GNR".
Any suggestions to try from here?

[TeraByte Support]

1 - confirm you're using 2.83.

2 - confirm the dialog says waiting for drive writing to stop and not
"gathering information..." and is cancel button enabled or disabled.

3 - send the output of /L (open command prompt as administrator, then run
whichever version you're using and redirect to a file .. e.g. "c:\program
files\terabyte unlimited\image for windows\imagew.exe" /L > somefile.txt



"engineerguy3809" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

Original Poster back again.
My issue seems to have returned.
I was able to make a few successful images, but it is stalling again.
The only recent changes to machine have been Microsoft XP updates and AVAST
(Free) updates.

I re-ran IFW using the Log file extension provided by Terabyte Support.
The log begins noting the it is waiting for PHYLock waiting for drive
writing to stop . . ., then lists the following Checkpoints ONLY.

Check Point - DLD
Check Point - SCLN
Check Point - BSFN
Check Point - SFN:E:\PHYLOCK.SWP
Check Point - GNR

Then, the log file stops all entries.

If I look at older (successful) image logs there are a number of entries
beyond "GNR".
Any suggestions to try from here?

[TeraByte Support]

it doesn't do anything substantial (just assign a local automatic structure
some values) between output of that entry and the log and changing over to
saying gathering information. So I wonder if something is holding up the
process with the AV program, or there is some type of memory issue showing
up? what's your full log entry?

"TeraByte Support" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

1 - confirm you're using 2.83.

2 - confirm the dialog says waiting for drive writing to stop and not
"gathering information..." and is cancel button enabled or disabled.

3 - send the output of /L (open command prompt as administrator, then run
whichever version you're using and redirect to a file .. e.g. "c:\program
files\terabyte unlimited\image for windows\imagew.exe" /L > somefile.txt



"engineerguy3809" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

Original Poster back again.
My issue seems to have returned.
I was able to make a few successful images, but it is stalling again.
The only recent changes to machine have been Microsoft XP updates and AVAST
(Free) updates.

I re-ran IFW using the Log file extension provided by Terabyte Support.
The log begins noting the it is waiting for PHYLock waiting for drive
writing to stop . . ., then lists the following Checkpoints ONLY.

Check Point - DLD
Check Point - SCLN
Check Point - BSFN
Check Point - SFN:E:\PHYLOCK.SWP
Check Point - GNR

Then, the log file stops all entries.

If I look at older (successful) image logs there are a number of entries
beyond "GNR".
Any suggestions to try from here?

[engineerguy3809]

It stalls with the top of the window stating
Gathering Information
and below that, it states that PHYLock is waiting for drive writing to stop

The output log is:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[9/27/2013 8:25:43 PM] Image for Windows 2.83 (GUI)
[9/27/2013 8:25:43 PM] Starting ...
imagew.exe /b /base:"I:\ABIT\2013\D0_BASELINE_Backup-w0-2013-09-01-$~HHMM" /f:"I:\ABIT\2013\D2_Differential_Backup-w0-chg-$~YYYY$-$~MM$-$~DD$-$~HHMM$"
[9/27/2013 8:25:44 PM] PHYLock is waiting for drive writing to stop ...
[9/27/2013 8:25:44 PM] PHYLOCK: Check Point - DLD
[9/27/2013 8:25:44 PM] PHYLOCK: Check Point - SCLN
[9/27/2013 8:25:44 PM] PHYLOCK: Check Point - BSFN
[9/27/2013 8:25:44 PM] PHYLOCK: Check Point - SFN:E:\PHYLOCK.SWP
[9/27/2013 8:25:44 PM] PHYLOCK: Check Point - GNR

To create the above LOG, I was attempting to do a Differential Image. However, it hangs in the same spot even when I attempt a full image.
I have disabled my AV (Avast Free) and turned OFF just about everything in the tray that I can before attempting an image creation.
Also, if it makes any difference, I need to invoke Task Manager to force IFW to stop when it hangs.
Even the Windows red X in upper-right corner will not stop IFW.
I have also searched Task Manager for background applications, and there are none.
I do not see any obvious "unusual" services running.
I have recently run two different Malware applications (Malwarebytes and Super Anti-Spyware) with nothing found.

I have also attempted to tell IFW to NOT use PHYLock and use Windows VSS instead.
IFW also tells me that VSS cannot get a lock on the drive.
I believe SOMETHING is appearing like it is using the drive but i cannot figure out what it is.
My machine is pretty "vanilla". XP Pro SP3 with no other OS on machine and no fancy HD drivers.
Is there a method I can use to find what is hanging PHYLock?

[TeraByte Support]

Ok, that's the point it's going off and reading all the stuff from the drive
gartering information (it's not going to honor any cancel request until that
is done). Is your drive light flickering or on solid or off? Look in the
Windows Event Log, do you see any errors being logged about the disk ? If
you leave it for a long time (hours), does it eventually go on?

"engineerguy3809" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

It stalls with the top of the window stating
Gathering Information
and below that, it states that PHYLock is waiting for drive writing to stop

The output log is:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[9/27/2013 8:25:43 PM] Image for Windows 2.83 (GUI)
[9/27/2013 8:25:43 PM] Starting ...
imagew.exe /b /base:"I:\ABIT\2013\D0_BASELINE_Backup-w0-2013-09-01-$~HHMM"
/f:"I:\ABIT\2013\D2_Differential_Backup-w0-chg-$~YYYY$-$~MM$-$~DD$-$~HHMM$"
[9/27/2013 8:25:44 PM] PHYLock is waiting for drive writing to stop ...
[9/27/2013 8:25:44 PM] PHYLOCK: Check Point - DLD
[9/27/2013 8:25:44 PM] PHYLOCK: Check Point - SCLN
[9/27/2013 8:25:44 PM] PHYLOCK: Check Point - BSFN
[9/27/2013 8:25:44 PM] PHYLOCK: Check Point - SFN:E:\PHYLOCK.SWP
[9/27/2013 8:25:44 PM] PHYLOCK: Check Point - GNR

To create the above LOG, I was attempting to do a Differential Image.
However, it hangs in the same spot even when I attempt a full image.
I have disabled my AV (Avast Free) and turned OFF just about everything in
the tray that I can before attempting an image creation.
Also, if it makes any difference, I need to invoke Task Manager to force IFW
to stop when it hangs.
Even the Windows red X in upper-right corner will not stop IFW.
I have also searched Task Manager for background applications, and there are
none.
I do not see any obvious "unusual" services running.
I have recently run two different Malware applications (Malwarebytes and
Super Anti-Spyware) with nothing found.

I have also attempted to tell IFW to NOT use PHYLock and use Windows VSS
instead.
IFW also tells me that VSS cannot get a lock on the drive.
I believe SOMETHING is appearing like it is using the drive but i cannot
figure out what it is.
My machine is pretty "vanilla". XP Pro SP3 with no other OS on machine and
no fancy HD drivers.
Is there a method I can use to find what is hanging PHYLock?

[engineerguy3809]

Thanks for the reply. EVENTUALLY, PHYLock was satisfied and TBW successfully created an image. However, it took more than 90 minutes before it started; and THEN it took an unusually long time to complete (about 3.5 hours instead of the 30 minutes or so it usually takes).

Before starting TBW, I disabled everything I could without crashing the computer. I disabled all AV, all email & all non-critical tray apps. Task Manager "Applications" tab listed only TBW and Task Manager "Services" tab did not indicate any obvious strange/new/unusual services were running. The Drive activity light occasionally would flicker while waiting, but only about once every 30 seconds or so. Obviously, SOMETHNG is still "active" that needs to finish or quit before PHYLock gets its lock.

As a test, I've even manually stopped a few select services that I thought might be conflicting (expecting I might also crash the PC, but at least possibly identify the cause).
So far, no luck.
I've uninstalled/reinstalled both TBW and PHYLock, both together and separately.
I've also verified the Registry string mentioned in another posting is correct. I'm out of ideas.

I guess I can default to my Win-PE build as my primary imaging method.