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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  • orion44's avatar
    orion44
    Helpful | Level 6
    10 years ago

    Everyone running a Windows PC is experiencing the error.  In my latest trip to the future, I saw myself using Google Drive.   Who'd thunk it?

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

    With more 'me too' posts being added to this thread (thanks posters), the guys at Dropbox must surely be convinced the problem is a bug in their software.  It is irritating but perhaps has not been given too much priority as it does not affect the running of the program - it would be nice though if we could get some acknowledgement of the issue on this thread by Dropbox.

     

    Time travelling Orion doesn't give us much hope that we'll ever see the removal of that little red icon in the Event Viewer after every startup - but is he really considering Google Drive?  Only the future can tell.

     

    I have no problems on my Puppy Linux system which is syncing well and allowing me to keep relevant files up to date with my Windows 7 system.

  • ambientcloud's avatar
    ambientcloud
    New member | Level 2
    10 years ago

    I am also seeing a DbxSvc error / Event ID 320: Failed to connect to the driver: (-2147024894) The system cannot find the file specified. 

     

    This happens with the newest Dropbox installed and also after I uninstall it.

  • rcarmich154's avatar
    rcarmich154
    Explorer | Level 3
    10 years ago

    I have the same problem, also starting around the end of October/beginning of November.  With the added bonus that when I uninstalled and reinstalled Dropbox, it now doesn't even show the program, shortcut or run at all no matter how long I wait after startup.

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

    Hi rcarmich154,

     

    Is the program in your Program Files folder which in Widows 7 is usually at C:\Program Files\Dropbox\Client\Dropbox.exe (or appropriate filepath for your system)?  If it is, does double clicking Dropbox.exe do anything?  If it is missing then it would seem not to have installed.  If it is there but has not installed correctly (and will not when you retry) then it is possible there may be a problem with your user account similar to that experienced by roberto l.1 - see his solution on page 4 of the thread.

  • rcarmich154's avatar
    rcarmich154
    Explorer | Level 3
    10 years ago

    Kester,

     

    Thanks -- I checked and the program exists.  I created another Administrator account, logged into that, uninstalled the version of Dropbox that was there, deleted all files I could find, re-download the Client app from the website, installed it - did not get prompts about adding a shortcut or even a screen to click "finish" on.  No shortcut appeared on the desktop, nothing in the tray.

     

    I went to the directory in ProgramFiles and manually attempted to run dropbox.exe (it has a date of 11/7/16 if that is helpful).  Program does not run.  I'm stumped.  It works perfectly on my laptop (Windows 10) but suddenly stopped working on my desktop (Windows 7).

     

    Not sure if it makes a difference that I have the personal version not the business (i.e. paid) version

     

    Rachel

  • jakrotseng's avatar
    jakrotseng
    New member | Level 2
    10 years ago
    I have the paid version, having the same problems on window7 64bit pro as others. This is on a DELL laptop, at work I have no problem on same windows, installed on a DELL workstation.
  • rcarmich154's avatar
    rcarmich154
    Explorer | Level 3
    10 years ago

    and mine is reversed -- Dell desktop doesn't work, Dell laptop does

     

    I can work around not having the client, but it adds steps to my process

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