Offline folders - lots of synchronization errors

jayrock

Hello,

I'm using a Win7 64 bit client, and I'm used to work with offline folders. There's a problem when using a pooled folder offline: The Synchronization Center gives an error on each and every file, claiming that the respective file cannot be accessed because another process is using it. ("Der Prozess kann nicht auf die Datei zugreifen, da sie von einem anderen Prozess verwendet wird."). 

When making a non-pooled folder available offline, this error does not occur. It's even possible to move a folder to and from the pool, and when the folder is in the pool, the error shows up, when it's outside the pool, the error is gone.

For a start, can someone confirm this behaviour?

Thanks,

jayrock

jayrock

Sorry, this was supposed to go into the DrivePool discussion obviously. Pls. move the post.

EDIT: Noticed I can move it myself.

schlas

Hi there,

I can confirm these errors (Win7 64b client, 4074) trying to use my music offline. I also use my documents offline (on a different machine) outside the pool and the error doesn't come up. I haven't tried moving the folder out of the pool though.

schlas

jayrock

Is it only me thinking this is a severe problem? 

Alex

I am aware of this and did confirm it. It is being addressed in M4 with the rest of the issues.

jayrock

Excellent, thanks!

garym999

I'm new to all this but wanted to consolidate all my storage in one place so opted for WHS 2011.

Can across this and it seems great.

I have a laptop that I take out and about and use offline folders on my old server. Could not get it to work for the life of me on WHS. I assumed it was the new server and came across loads of stuff regarding "oppertunistic file locking" but nothing worked. Then the penny dropped, DrivePool.

So I'd also backup the need.

Using SyncToy for now... hope it is stable after a quick google it does not fill me with hope.

Shane

Please correct me if I have misunderstood: in summary, the Offline Folders feature of your laptop is not working with the Drivepool shares on your server?

As he notes above, Alex is working on issues related to Offline Folders. I'd try the M4 milestone when it comes out. If the problem persists, it would be great if you could submit a log report.

garym999

That's right. The folder I want to offline sync with is in the DrivePool. Client is a W7 64bit laptop. When I try and configure offline syncs all goes well until windows starts the sync. Once complete every file has the following error  “The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process“.

As I say I had put this down to the transition from my XP Pro PC (used as server) to WHS2011. To confirm I have just connected to a non DrivePool share and set that to "always available offline" and it has worked.

garym999

FYI Upgraded to M4 and tested this again, unfortunatly the situation has not changed. I'm guessing it is because windows cannot interact with the covefs presentation of the share.

Unfortunatly SyncToy has not proved to be that reliable or intuitive and needs a lot of hand holding where as I ran with offline files on my XP server without any hassle. It would be good to get back to this situation.

What log files or data do you need from me to help progress?

Shane

Log files, how to obtain them and how to send them can be found here: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool#Troubleshooting_and_reporting_bugs

The problems with offline syncing would probably fall under the header of "I/O Errors".

Since it's only just been released for testing, the M4 beta is probably going to go through a lot of build numbers in the next week or two.

garym999

I have submitted the logs, I think. I realise that this will be a low priority but I'd just thought I'd mention it as Alex was on its trail.

garym999

Can anyone recommend any alternatives to offline files? The bit I really like is the fact that my drive effectively remains mapped on the laptop even when offline.

I have looked a couple of sync products like synctoy etc. but then I have two different folders to manage. I like the way this is hidden with offline files

Paaland

I use DropBox to keep folders in sync between machines. I've had issues with offline folders (also without DP) so I stopped using it. My problem was that it often did not "detect" when the share was available (online) and kept showing only the offline files. Had to disconnect and reconnect the share in order to see all files.

garym999

I see that support has now been added for this :-) in one of the latest builds. So I have enabled the facility in the .config file and started testing. The laptop I'm using starts the sync and then after a few files bombs saying "the specified network name is no longer available" the net result is that I only get a partial sync .

Are there any other settings I need to tweak for this to work reliably?

Shane

Garym999, how are the offline files with the latest builds?