Unable to create a backup job. Path not valid, Backup now greyed out

Adding a comment to activate the "notify me.." setting

What version OS are you running?

Sorry, i thought i had included that! It's running windows XP SP3.

I'm thinking somewhere, Acronis is still looking for the (now invalid) K: drive (the old drive that I replaced).

I may just try using SUBST command to see if I can get over this issue.

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you

hsb

Stop using the old task or remove the task from the task list.

Then, create a new task pointing to the correct path.
If the target is an external disk, you should consider re-lettering the drive to a drive letter such as x or y or z so the drive letter does not change on future backups.

Another example of how to create a backup is llisted in my signature link #11 below.

thank you for the thorough answer, much appreciated. But I actually deleted everything completely and started over. I'll try the SUBST command, and if that doesn't work, will try uninstalling and reinstalling it. I rooted around the registry and didn't see any obvious pointers that I could delete.

I don't understand this. Why can't you just edit the backup task?

Is there a general issue in 2014 Premium that stops you changing the path? Not one specific here, but a problem that applies to everyone?

I am thinking of upgrading to 2014 premium, from 2010 Home edition, and I'm increasingly suspicious about these seemingly simple issues.

Michael,
While the program will allow edits. the results produced by the edits are usually not what is expected plus there is no published indication of what can be expected from the edits. In most instances I have seen, the user has no idea whether the program will start over or what.
I have found the quickest solution to be start over with a new task which has the correrct settings as the edits usually are not as expected. For my own use, after the task has been used, I will NOT perform any edits. If the task needs correction, I start over with new and correct settings and stop using the old task--or even delete it if not needed. Task scheduling is an excepton to changes but that can be performed from the main menu listing without using the "Settings" option.

You can edit the job all you want. But the schedule/run button is greyed out so you can't save anything. I've narrowed this down to an interaction between Promise TX2300 SATA controller and the 2TB WD disks. On one computer, it's working just fine. On this computer, it won't allow me to save a job if the target is the 2TB disk. Ironically, it worked just fine if I chose the working computer's 2TB HDD. In other words, if I choose the local 2TB disk, it won't let me save the job. If I choose the 2TB disk on the other computer - over the network - it works just fine.

So now I have to figure out what permutation is not making this work.
TX 2300 driver, Bios, connection to TX2300 vs Motherboards built-in SATA etc.

Both computers are using the identical disk, TX2300 controller and (I think) the driver. I'll check all of it and report back.

Oh well.

You mention using on 2 different computers with different results on each.

Is the same operating system on both?

It is XP SP3 .. but there are other permutations to consider as I mentioned.

I'm pretty sure both drives connected to the TX2300, but need to double check that. The one that's *not* working is for sure on the TX2300.

and I need to rule out BIOS on the TX2300 and driver version. Finally, although both PCs use the premium version and can therefore support dynamic disks, that shouldn't matter. But I need to check that as well. I'm pretty sure I converted both to basic, but I could be wrong. 2TB is the limit for not having to use GPT, if I recall.

It is possible to split the 3 into two partitions such as 1.5T + 1.5T
or 2. T + 1.T and to be partioned as MBR.

I suppose I could, but I shouldn't have to. That's why I paid the extra $19.99 for the premium version.

I'll get to the bottom of it. For now, it can backup over the network so it's not a crisis.

I have 2 questions, did you initialize the new drive after formating? I F:/ drive a new drive?

Yes to both. But I can even "Browse" to it when setting up the new backup job...it just won't let me save the job when I use this particular disk.

How is this drive attached to your machine, Spare SATA port or something else? If a spare SATA or PATA port is being used is that port controlled by an onboard controller such as Sillicon or Marvell? If so, how is that controller setup in the bios?

Bob, it's TBD. I can't remember as I'm not onsite. I'll have to head back out next weekend (not this weekend) and troubleshoot this. As I said, since the backup is happening, I'm not in imminent "crisis" mode. I'll be back in the store in a week or so. I'll report back.

Referring to the attachment error, if you see the same error again, use the browse option and browse anywhere else and if the path is truly valid, come back to the same path again. Also, if the "backup up" or the "backup later" option is greyed out, that is usually an indication that the program is awaiting a user action--such as to supply a source or a target, etc.

If I browse elsewhere, I can save the job. I can even navigate in the "non saveable/non-working" harddisk. It's not matter of wrong directory, it's a matter of disk not being usable. Remember, I can navigate within the drive but it's not usable - as far as being able to save the job definition.

It's not about user interaction either, because the instant the job location is changed to another drive, I have the option of saving the job.

You can navigate into and around this HDD but can you save or edit any other files in there?
Is this problem specific to Acronis or to your system?
Are there applications that can access it and others that can not access it?

I have a similar problem with one of my HDDs, it's faulty and difficult to access one partition. It still appears on my system but not easy to access.

Are you have such issues with it?

Michael,
Only Acronis is having an issue. Other apps can see and write to the disk just fine. And you're correct, I can navigate around subdirectories from within Acronis. Remember, the crux of the problem is that I can't save the backup job if I select this disk. I can see other folders etc., but I can't save the backup job/task if I select this drive. As soon as I select another disk, the save/schedule button is accessible (not greyed out).

Depending upon the condition of the disk (F). you might want to consider checking the disk for file errors
or, if strong enough, check the disk for disk errors.

Have you tried replacing the data cable or connecting to a different motherboard port?

All part of my troubleshooting. I'll swap the cable with the known good cable (from the working computer) etc. But I'll rule out the most likely suspects first. Of course, since other apps are using the drive just fine, I wouldn't bet on the disk/cable/controller being faulty.

i'll know soon enough (within a week or two)

Just curious, what brand and type of drive are we talking about here? Also IDE, SATA, SCSI? To your knowledge was the drive ever part of a RAID array?

Promise Tech TX2300 Sata controller
WD Green 2 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, SATA III, 64 MB Cache - WD20EZRX

And no RAID is involved.

I am of the opinion that there are errors on this disk and TI recognizing these errors is blocking any attempt to backup to it because of these errors. Just because other apps read and write to the drive fine means nothing as few apps look for disk integrity.

Check the disk for errors, won't hurt and if there are none then this theory is proved wrong.

It won't hurt to check. I have another PC using Acronis to backup to the same drive in question. Of course, it's over the network and it's possible that Acronis checks for different things when it's a network share. But I had other issues that I didn't bring up (not user error) so I'm inclined to chalk it up to some corner case issue with Acronis.

As soon as I get back to the store, I'll have time to troubleshoot it.

I actually had to pay the $20 for support because their KB that I found was incorrect (not related to this issue). When the support guy told me to "please refer to KB xyz..." I chimed in with "you know, the downside of having your customers pay for support is that you're on the hook to deliver the solution. So if there is a KB, you're going to have to read it to me...since I'm paying for this."

I have no expectation of SLA on a public forum (and thank you all for contributing). But if I have to pay for a product support due to lacking documentation, I'm going to get my money's worth.

The KB in question was using the recovery disk to mirror the HDD. they forgot to mention in some of the KBs that after you specify the VGA resolution, you need to launch the "semi-GUI" with /bin/products

I wasn't mean about it, but I wasn't about to pay $20 so I can go dig up more KBs that may or may not solve my problem.

Hear ya there!

Interesting side note. I was cloning my laptop (smaller SSD to bigger one) and noticed that the clone job would bomb immediately. It referred me to the log. When I looked at it, it said that the drive may have errors. I checked the new SSD and no errors were found. Tried again and it bombed again with the same message. On a whim, I checked my existing source drive and chkdk found some errors. After that, the cloning was successful.

So it looks like if there is a chkdsk related issue, it will throw up an error message (at least for the cloning job). In my original post, no such errors were thrown.

More to follow after an onsite visit.

Yes, I believe disk errors wil always result in a failed attempt. I also believe that those errors do not necessarily in all cases result in the errors on disk message. This I have found true in many cases not involving Acronis TI.

Watching for your results.

OK, mystery solved. Even though the Premium version is supposed to support dynamic disks, it clearly does not. At least not when it comes to trying to save a backup job to it.

The problem was that the 2TB disk's volume was created in dynamic mode. I missed that when creating the volume. I destroyed the volume and recreated it as basic disk. Viola, problem solved. W/O changing anything else, by deleting the dynamic disk and recreating it as basic disk, I was able to save and run the backup jobs.

Of course, the working PC's disk was created as basic.