Never-ending "Backup failed" messages

zciph

Each time you modify the existing task, it usually resets the count for things like the version chain count (i.e let's say you're using a version chain with 1 full + 6 incrementals and you're on your 3rd incremental when you modify the task, incremental count will start with 1 again and will need 6  more to finish the chain).  I supsect the same may also be similar for things like the number of retries too.

However, even then, I'm not sure if this counts as a backup error in this case.  From what I read in the help file, an error seems to be only when a backup has started and failed for some reason like bad sectors.  In this case, Acronis probably isn't seeing this as an error in that regard, just that the backup file is not there at this time and is trying to repeat to make sure it catches it when it does come back online.  

In this case, you may be able to limit the popup warnings by going to the schedule tab and selecting the option to "run the backup only when the computer is idle) so that it is not showing these messages quite as much.  

I do see how this could be annoying and why someone would want to not see these messages.  However, from another standpoint, if someone did want the backup to run as soon as the files were moved back (for instance if the backup is on a removable disk that is  not always plugged in), they'd also want to make sure it backed up as soon as it was plugged in.  

I would definitely submit feedback through the app or your online account about how the settings could be modified to meet your specific needs as they could be useful for others as well.  With enough registered feedback, I could see this becoming more "manageable" in the future.

I've been having this same problem for years under various versions of Acronis backup software.  I recal when it wasn't a GUI driven program and all things worked great.

Anyway, so my issues are always not that it cannot create a backup but has specifically to do with the automatic cleanup and that every 5 minutes after a backup fails to cleanup that it will go ahead and create another backup.  The main problem with this is continuious backups will fill up my destination location.

Let me play out my scenario so I convey this properly:

I'm running Acronis 2015 and have 3 routine backups created.  All backups are set to retain 90 days before automatic cleanup.

1) Boot Drive Backup - Run once every week (Saturday) , 3 Differentials before 1 Full backup every month.

2) Data Drive Backup - Run once every week (Sunday), 3 Differentials before 1 Full backup every month.

3) Q Drive Backup - Run twice a day (7AM & 7PM), 10 Differentials before 1 Full backup.

I had temporarily created a new backup for the Q Drive (different file name) to a seperate NAS drive and let it run for a few weeks to obtain duplicate data.  2 weeks later I turned off my original Q Drive backup automation and then shut down my main NAS for a hardware upgrade.  All is good.  I place the rebuilt NAS back online after being offline for about 2 weeks (no data loss at all) and then I delete the temporary backup I was using for the Q Drive data.  I turned off the temporary NAS as that device is rarely used.  ~90 days later I start getting error messages that my Q Drive backups were failing and it is becasue Acronis cannot find the files on the temporary NAS.  Now keep in mind that I have already deleted that one temporary backup I had set up but for some lame reason, Acronis is still trying to delete it.  Note: I did create temporary backups for the Boot and Data drives as well and deleted those once done.

But it gets better, it doesn't matter which backup is running, it can be the Boot Drive and Acronis is still failing because it cannot find and delete the Q Drive temporary backup file.

The only fix for this is to turn on my old NAS unit and let it delete the file.  If my NAS unit was broken then I'm not sure how I'd get out of this becasue of the way Acronis is directly addressing the NAS unit (the way I set it up).  If it had been a mapped drive then I could just create a new mapped location and create a file with the name it's looking for so it could delete it.

As far as I can tell, there is no way to clean up this type of issue, or none that I've found so far.  Acronis has it's good points but it also falls short on others.

If there are any idea on why this is happening or how this can be fixed, I'm all ears.

Cheers,

-Mark

Mark, you said "then I delete the temporary backup I was using for the Q Drive data.  I turned off the temporary NAS as that device is rarely used."

How did you delete the temporary backup and was the temporary NAS still available when you deleted the temporary backup?

When deleting backup tasks you are offered two options, delete settings only or delete full backup.  The first of these just deletes the task configuration data but leaves all backup images alone, the second will delete both (configuration data and backup images).

If the temporary NAS was not online when you deleted the full backup then Acronis would still hold information on the undeleted backup images stored on that NAS in its database files and may also have related information held by the Acronis Scheduler task for when these should be cleaned up by the prior task settings.

If you deleted the backup images on the NAS using Explorer in Windows, then that too will leave behind information about the deleted files in the Acronis Database files.

To resolve this situation you would either need to run a Validation if the backup task still exists, or else you may need to force the database to be rebuilt by renaming the Database folder.  To do the latter you will need to stop all Acronis Services and Processes to release all locks held on the database files, then rename the Database folder to Database,OLD

The path to the Database folder is C:\ProgramDatat\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Database - this may be a hidden folder path - if so, change the Explorer View settings to show hidden files & folders.

Note: that renaming the Database folder will also affect any other backup tasks you have, in that these will lose their activity history information that is stored in the database folders.  The task configuration will remain untouched as this is held in the Scripts folder, not the database.  You will either need to run each of your tasks or perform a validation of them to pick up some of the lost information.  Version chains may be restarted as a result of these actions too.

Mark,

I believe your issue is caused by how True Image manages it's Scheduled Backup database.  The database tracks all tasks and backup file information.  If you setup a backup task and then later delete that task in the GUI you have two choices, delete settings only or delete whole backup. 

For Scheduled Backups Only

If you choose to delete settings only this removes the task configuration that shows in the GUI only and leaves the backup file intact.

If you choose to delete whole backup this removes the task configuration and the backup file. (Note: backup file removal dependent on file availablity)

Reference the Note: above.  If you choose to delete whole backup and the backup file itself is not available you should see, after some time has passed, an information box saying that "The backup file is unavailable" and offering two choices, they are RETRY TO DELETE (backup filename), Make sure the backup location is available first., and REMOVE (backup filename) FROM THE LIST.

If you then choose to REMOVE (backup filename) FROM THE LIST, that action removes the backup task from the GUI backup list but leaves the backup file, filename and associated task configuration in the backup database.  So when the next scheduled time for that backup arrives the user gets the error messages you discuss above.

The reason for the above is because each backup task created is saved as a script and is directly tied to the backup file created by the scheduled task.  This script will attempt to run the backup as configured and complain when the backup file cannot be found even though the task has been removed from the list in the application GUI.

So the solution to the issue is to remeber that the application GUI not only manages backups but also a schedule database for such backups.  It therefore is necessary, to avoid corruption of the schedule database, that all backup files be deleted using the application to do so.  This insures that when a backup task and associated backup script are deleted that all entries are removed thus eliminating the error messages about cannot find backup file.

If circumstances arise that necessitate the removal/deletion of a backup file outside of the application then a cleanup of the associated task and task script has to be done manually to avoid the errors.  Aconis has developed a tool, Schedule Manager which I have provided link to below that will assist the user in this cleanup.  The tool is a bit criptic as it is a command line tool but it does allow the user to delete only the specific task in question rather than all scheduled tasks although the tool allows for that also.  The provided link provides instructions on usage of the tool.  Hopefully this all will assist you in the future with your use of the product.

https://kb.acronis.com/content/1859

Steve,

  Thanks for the prompt response.  I deleted just the backup job, not the data files.  I wanted to retain the data in case something went wrong with my upgraded NAS.  I would think that if you deleted the backup job, the files which were created by it would no longer be part of the clean up process but that doesn't appear to be the case.

So I ended up fixing my problem just a few minutes ago but it was less than ideal and I honestly didn't expect it to work.  I changed the Q Drive backup to cleanup and retain only the last 20 days of backups.  When I ran the Q Drive backup, it cleaned off all of the old files from the old NAS.  These "should" not be related but for some reason they are.  The only thing common between the two backup schedules were the source files.   Also, this cleaned up the Boot Drive and Data Drive backups which is a completely unrelated backup schedule.  Very odd behaviour and definately not desired.  I do wish I had seen this posting by you before I tried my thing, I'd like to have seen if deleting the database would have fixed it, but next time this happens, I'll hopefully remember this thread and try to rename the database.  I may rename the database folder anyway just to see what happens but likely not today.

@Enchantech

  Thanks for the feedback.  So I downloaded the Schedule Manager and it lists five tasks even though I only have 3 known tasks.  The tasks are identified as 1-10, 1-12, 1-13, 1-18, and 1-19.  I ran each one and 1-12 = Boot Drive, 1-13 = Data Drive, 1-18 = Q Drive, and 1-19 = Q Drive.  Task 1-10 appears to do nothing.

So here are a few questions...

I have two tasks which run my Q Drive, is this becasue I have it scheduled to run twice a day or is one a duplicate?

How would I figure out what task 1-10 is for?  I didn't see a command which would tell me any human readable data on what this is for.

I guess the simple way to work on this is to just delete all my backups and then run the Schedule Manager and clean it all up.  It will take a little time to do this but it's just a pain if I have to do this periodically.  I will hold out on doing anything just yet even though I want to clean everything up now, until I hear back.

Thanks,

-Mark

Mark, in the information shown by the Scheduler Manager you should see the script name for the task each entry relates to.

You may have an additional task if you have selected to Validate your backup.

You don't need to delete all your backup tasks here, you can just run the task zap command from the Scheduler Manager window prompt and it will remove all the listed entries, then just run each of your backups to pick up the required schedule entries again.

Alternatively, once you identify which entry matches which of your task script names, you can zap the individual task in the Scheduler manager instead of all of them.

Thanks Steve.  I will take the simple approach and zap them all and then manually run each backup again, and hopefully I'll only have a few tasks.  Thanks both of you for the information you have provided me.  I have a buddy who also is having some issues with Acronis 2016, sounds like similar issues I am having but I'll have to find out before I assist him.

EDIT: I'm down to only 3 tasks now.  Not sure why I had two tasks for the Q Drive but I'll check it again tomorrow to see if I still have 3 tasks.

Cheers,

-Mark

We have experienced similar issue with backup retry / repeat attempt limit not working correctly, have posted details here: https://forum.acronis.com/forum/118362

aCRONIS HAS  begun pestering me whenever I turn my computer on.... every 10 minutes or so. I like to back up myself and I find it very intrusive.  What can i do?

Peter,

If you're manually running backups, don't set a backup schedule.  It should not try to backup on its own if no schedule is set.  Make sure you have the latest version installed too.