Forum Discussion

Kester's avatar
Kester
Collaborator | Level 8
10 years ago
Solved

Windows 7 Event Viewer Error "Failed to connect to the driver: (-2147024894)"

Onthe last few startups of my Windows 7 desktop, the EventViewer has shown the following error  and subsequent information logs as the error is corrected by Windows:

 

Record Number: X 95916
Log Type: Application
Event Type: Error
Source: DbxSvc
Category: 3
Event ID: 320

Failed to connect to the driver: (-2147024894) The system cannot find the file specified.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Record Number: 95931
Log Type: Application
Event Type: Information
Source: ESENT
Category: 3
Event ID: 300

Windows (2500) Windows: The database engine is initiating recovery steps.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Record Number: 95932
Log Type: Application
Event Type: Information
Source: ESENT
Category: 3
Event ID: 301

Windows (2500) Windows: The database engine has begun replaying logfile C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Search\Data\Applications\Windows\MSS.log.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Record Number: 95933
Log Type: Application
Event Type: Information
Source: ESENT
Category: 3
Event ID: 302

Windows (2500) Windows: The database engine has successfully completed recovery steps.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Record Number: i 95915
Log Type: Application
Event Type: Information
Source: DbxSvc
Category: 2
Event ID: 258

Pipe server thread started.

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

It seems as if the Dropbox service may be trying to start too soon as, after the initial error, Windows seems to be able to correct the problem and everything works correctly.  This is a very recent happening and I cannot relate the change to any system changes.  Is there anything I can do to stop the error - if I didn't regularly check the Event Viewer I would be none the wiser so perhaps I'm being too sensitive.

 

Thanks.

Error Messages
  • bn's avatar
    bn
    9 years ago

    Hi everyone!

     

    Sorry for the delay here -- I usually hang out on the client builds forum and missed this.

     

    This error is expected and harmless. We are optimistically checking for features currently in development and logging an error when we don't find them enabled. We shouldn't be logging it as an error, however, perhaps as an Informational-level event and I'll make sure we clean this up in a future release.

     

    If you're suspicious that this has been causing instability -- this hasn't really changed since last summer so it's probably not the droids you are looking for (combined with the fact that the error is indicative of things not happening, rather than things happening that are potentially destabilizing).

     

    -Ben

  • Ross_S's avatar
    Ross_S
    9 years ago
    Hi all,
     
    First: Many apologies for the delay in jumping in here, I wanted to make sure I had a concrete update for you all.
     
    So, for context: What is Dbxsvc? :
     
    I've added a section to the help center article: https://help.dropbox.com/desktop-web/smart-sync (I say section, it's more of a note at the bottom under the driver FAQ).
     
    The file dbxsvc.exe is a file that we use to install the Smart Sync driver. Should you not be a business user, or not have Smart Sync, then this file will never start operating. It is, however, created at install for all users so if you are not a Smart Sync this file will still appear there.
     
    I see we have a number of pretty interesting, creative suggestions on how to disable, coupled with queries if it's safe to disable it. I'm of course not going to endorse a process that disables part of our software, should a feature or functionality cause user pain then we would want to know. Fixability and timeframes can vary depending on the in-depth technical nature of the problem.
    Should you decide to disable it with one of the solutions here, it will prevent the smart sync feature from working in some cases. We need the service to update the driver, as well as to establish new driver<->client connections. This is the services current functionality. Additional functionality could be added over time. My main concern around anyone disabling it is that in the future you may need this process, Smart Sync won't work correctly, you can reach out to support but this custom change you've made will be hard for us to diagnose as the root cause of whatever issue you experience.
     
     
    Why is it failing to connect / what's going wrong?:
     
    It should be failing to connect. This is by design, the actual issue you’re facing is due to the frequency we're writing to the logs. To address any concerns around error with the application, these errors are in no way indicative of a software issue and do not point to any issues with backing up you data. Because it fails to connect, Windows treats this as a trigger to write to the log. Your data is safe, this process is just used to install a driver. As covered in the above section we expect it to do what you are seeing.
     
    With that in mind, we understand that some of you do wish to see this behaviour.
     
     
    Why aren't we fixing this?:
     
    We are, we take our user feedback very seriously and we have spent many hours working on this. As fixes have many dependencies, and are just one components of a version release, I'm always reluctant to jump onto a thread and give a firm release date for a fix as these are regularly subject to change.
    You may have noticed that we took the original connection attempt frequency down from every 1 second to every minute. This was an improvement we took onboard based on the feedback you've supplied here and also via other channels. Our new release, 31.3.15, has further improved this, the process will run 3 times daily. This should reduce the errors written to the logs and not clutter the report.
     
    The new beta version is the first to include a fix:
     

254 Replies

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  • phetrungsrichu5's avatar
    phetrungsrichu5
    Explorer | Level 4
    9 years ago
    ActiveX/COM Issue InProcServer32\C:\Program Files (x86)\Dropbox\Update\1.3.27.37\psmachine.dll HKCR\CLSID\{88C53488-F54D-4BA3-AFAC-49E28CD76A8A}
    ActiveX/COM Issue InProcServer32\C:\Program Files (x86)\Dropbox\Update\1.3.51.1\psmachine.dll HKCR\CLSID\{A4E4530A-938F-48EA-887D-FDF5DD769CB0}
  • chrisyaren's avatar
    chrisyaren
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago

    Ok so this seems to be causing instability for me.

    I am on Windows 10...so I am not sure if there is a WIN1O forum for this issue...

     

    If I go into windows to upload files it can crash the application.

    For example in chrome, navigating using windows explorer to upload a file to a website. It can crash chrome.

    In camtasia: after importing one file and trying another file, it will crash the app.

    those are just a few of the errors...

    Glad I found the problem was DropBox. After initial searching I thought my video drivers were out of date...

    I will move to amazon drive today and uninstall dropbox asap (even though I have paid for extra storage...it is WAY TOO ANNOYING)

    BTW amazon drive is free right now for prime members...and it offers unlimited storage in my region (Canada) for about USD 45/year which is about half of what i paid DrobBox for 2TB..

     

  • bob_clegg's avatar
    bob_clegg
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago

    Similar problem Windows 7. But it is continuous. i.e. Application Event log getting hit every second.

     

    I noticed that under services there are two 'Drop box' services. 

    dbupdate and dbupdateem

    dbupdate is set to Automatic and delayed start

    dbupdateem is manual.

     

    Both services won't stay started. i.e. They  start then stop again.

    Don't know if this is expected behaviour but I suspect not.

     

    The application log is rendered pretty much useless by being flooded with these events. I hope a solution is found soon. 

    Bob

     

  • JCoady's avatar
    JCoady
    Explorer | Level 4
    9 years ago

    Kester's solution (previous page) worked for me:

     

    "If you haven't already disabled DbxSvc, open the Windows Task Manager, open the Services tab, click the 'Services' button and then scroll down to 'DbxSvc' in the 'Services (Local) pane, right click 'DbxSvc', click 'Properties' and choose 'Disabled' in the 'Startup type' dropdown menu then click 'Apply'.

     

    You should still be able to use Dropbox but the Event Viewer continuous logging of the driver problem should cease."

  • bob_clegg's avatar
    bob_clegg
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago

    Just blundered onto a work around (hopefully) 

    After a normal system restart I was seeing two dropbox services in the service list, (Sorry didn't write the names down but they are in my reply post to Kester.) 

    Anyway went into task manager.

    Stopped all dropbox.exe (3 of)

    Started drop.exe from its folder in Prog Files x86/Dropbox/Client

     

    I now have DbxSvc listed as a running service and the other two entries have disappeared.

    The Application event log entries have stopped.

    I haven't yet tried to restart my machine but I am betting the problem is still there.

     

     

  • chrisyaren's avatar
    chrisyaren
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago

    Thanks for posting this Kester!

    Unfortunately, it didnt work for me.

    I plan to uninstall dropbox and move to amazon drive /google drive.

     

  • bob_clegg's avatar
    bob_clegg
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago

    Alas, after restarting was unable to replicate the sequence of actions that led to DbxSvc running without filling the application log.

    Have disabled DbxSvc andf put a Dropbox.exe short cut in StartUp Folder.

    Assuming that DbxSvc didn't do anything more than DropBox.exe this will have to do.

     

  • Ross_S's avatar
    Ross_S
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    9 years ago
    Hi all,
     
    First: Many apologies for the delay in jumping in here, I wanted to make sure I had a concrete update for you all.
     
    So, for context: What is Dbxsvc? :
     
    I've added a section to the help center article: https://help.dropbox.com/desktop-web/smart-sync (I say section, it's more of a note at the bottom under the driver FAQ).
     
    The file dbxsvc.exe is a file that we use to install the Smart Sync driver. Should you not be a business user, or not have Smart Sync, then this file will never start operating. It is, however, created at install for all users so if you are not a Smart Sync this file will still appear there.
     
    I see we have a number of pretty interesting, creative suggestions on how to disable, coupled with queries if it's safe to disable it. I'm of course not going to endorse a process that disables part of our software, should a feature or functionality cause user pain then we would want to know. Fixability and timeframes can vary depending on the in-depth technical nature of the problem.
    Should you decide to disable it with one of the solutions here, it will prevent the smart sync feature from working in some cases. We need the service to update the driver, as well as to establish new driver<->client connections. This is the services current functionality. Additional functionality could be added over time. My main concern around anyone disabling it is that in the future you may need this process, Smart Sync won't work correctly, you can reach out to support but this custom change you've made will be hard for us to diagnose as the root cause of whatever issue you experience.
     
     
    Why is it failing to connect / what's going wrong?:
     
    It should be failing to connect. This is by design, the actual issue you’re facing is due to the frequency we're writing to the logs. To address any concerns around error with the application, these errors are in no way indicative of a software issue and do not point to any issues with backing up you data. Because it fails to connect, Windows treats this as a trigger to write to the log. Your data is safe, this process is just used to install a driver. As covered in the above section we expect it to do what you are seeing.
     
    With that in mind, we understand that some of you do wish to see this behaviour.
     
     
    Why aren't we fixing this?:
     
    We are, we take our user feedback very seriously and we have spent many hours working on this. As fixes have many dependencies, and are just one components of a version release, I'm always reluctant to jump onto a thread and give a firm release date for a fix as these are regularly subject to change.
    You may have noticed that we took the original connection attempt frequency down from every 1 second to every minute. This was an improvement we took onboard based on the feedback you've supplied here and also via other channels. Our new release, 31.3.15, has further improved this, the process will run 3 times daily. This should reduce the errors written to the logs and not clutter the report.
     
    The new beta version is the first to include a fix:
     
  • mat-glock's avatar
    mat-glock
    Helpful | Level 5
    9 years ago

    Thanks for jumping in 7 months into the issue.  I've since moved on to another product, but maybe your "hours" of effort will help someone else.  Heck there have been days of effort burned by people who use your product.  

     

    Now that the beta is out, hopefully this will be fixed by January 2018.  

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