TI 2016, NOT cloud version, fails saying Failed to retrieve the backup list from Acronis Cloud

DJK, please download the MVP Log Viewer from the Community Tools link (in my signature below) and use this to look at the logs.

You wrote: "I backup to 2 different external hard drives on alternate nights, with the backup scheduled to start at 10:40 pm. "

Does this mean that you have 2 different backup tasks that run on alternate nights, or does it mean that you are using just one task and switching between 2 different drives?  If it is the latter then this is not recommended and will cause problems because ATI is not designed to handle multiple drives for a single backup task.

I have 2 different external hard drives, and 2 different backup tasks, one for each external hard drive.

Thanks for the link to the log viewer, but it doesn't list all the logs - just the ones with a filename that start with "service".  So, it doesn't show the one where the filename starts with NSB, showing that the NSB was stopped.

Are you doing a Non Stop Backup as one of your two tasks?

In the Log Viewer, ensure that you have selected the correct Log Type from the list given.

No problem! Look at the Service logs for the times of your regular backup tasks and see what they are showing you in terms of messages.  I would suspect that the Cloud errors are possibly coming from a different source such as Sync Agent where you may have Acronis Services active that don't need to be active.

See KB 56697: Acronis True Image 2016: Services and Processes for more information - only the Acronis Scheduler2 Service is needed for the backup scenario you have described.

There is no service log for the times of my regular backup tasks since Sep 15th. There wouldn't be one for the 16th because I was away, and I think I left the computer shut down.  Perhaps this did something that caused the subsequent backups to not work?  In task manager, the nonstop backup service is currently running.  I know I can log in as administrator to stop it from running, but will that stop it from running permanently?

I just logged in as administrator, and I saw that there were more Acronis services running.  I changed Sync Agent Service and Nonstop Backup Service to disabled.  I assume I need Acronis Managed Machine Service Mini to be running? The only other service running is Scheduler2.

I would recommend stopping / disabling the NSB Service if you don't use this option, same for Sync Agent etc.

You Acronis backup tasks should be run as Administrator in order to have the required privileges needed by the application.

In the MVP User Tools and Tutorial linked page (on Google Drive) you will find some simple script files that can be used to turn off / on the Acronis Services in a quick & easy way.

I can think of no obvious reason why your backups should have stopped if all was working OK previously with the same setup unless other changes have occurred on your computer in the interim time since they last worked?

One change would be if there have been any Windows 10 upgrades, i.e. if you are on the Windows Insiders slow or fast track - this can change partition identifiers that then require the source data needs to be reselected to correct this, but would expect an error message if this was the case.

The other check point is to look at the Acronis Schedul2 logs at the times when your backup tasks should have been run to see if there are any clues there.  These logs are not particularly easy to read.

You could also download the Acronis Scheduler Manager program utility and clear all scheduled tasks using 'task zap' then reschedule the tasks via the main GUI again, in case something has screwed up the schedule configuration in some way?  (link in my signature).

Do the scheduled tasks run OK if ran manually instead of by schedule?

Yes, the scheduled tasks run just fine if I go into Acronis and tell them to run.  One other thing - I detach the external hard drives from the system before I start the computer in the morning.  Another security step, to not have them attached while browsing the internet.  I downloaded the Scheduler Manager program (thanks again), and did get list, and got the following:

inst=yes start=yes loc task=0-0 > get list
 Id ExecApp ExecCmd
--- ---------------
User 1 (DK1\djkel):
  1-2  ~*TrueImageHomeNotify* /dummy /script:"21FE48FD-51EB-412F-98BB-513F4AB1C672" /uuid:"21FE48FD-51EB-412F-98BB-513F4AB1C672" /run_mode:?RunMode?
  1-3  ~*TrueImageHomeNotify* /dummy /script:"F94EE780-D36C-4E38-8F57-8D6DE870BA6C" /uuid:"F94EE780-D36C-4E38-8F57-8D6DE870BA6C" /run_mode:?RunMode?
  1-4   C:\Program Files (x86)\Acronis\TrueImageHome\TrueImageMonitor.exe /shutup
User 2 (NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM):
  2-1   C:\Program Files (x86)\Acronis\TrueImageHome\prl_stat.exe for_scheduler
  2-3   *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-5   *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-7   *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-9   *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-11  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-13  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-15  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-17  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-19  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-21  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-23  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-25  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-27  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-29  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-31  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-33  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-35  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-37  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-39  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-41  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-43  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-45  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-47  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-49  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-51  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-53  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
  2-55  *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now
CurUser 3 (DK1\Admin):
  3-1   C:\Program Files (x86)\Acronis\TrueImageHome\TrueImageMonitor.exe /shutup
inst=yes start=yes loc task=0-0 >

Does this help explain anything?  Thanks very much for your quick responses!

I would again recommend using 'task zap' to clean out the schedule entries after seeing all the duplicate *TrueImageHomeNotify* /shutdown_now entries that I wouldn't expect to be there.  Just reschedule your two tasks after doing this.

Thanks again Steve - I'll do that.  Question - will the new tasks automatically provide incremental backups on top of the existing backups that are on the hard drive?

You should just be resetting the task schedule on the first Schedule page tab, with no need to change any settings on the Backup scheme page tab, so all should remain as normal with respect to your incremental backups.

So task zap doesn't actually delete the backup schemes?  After I do it, the backup schemes will still be there and I'll just have to go in and set up the schedule in them, instead of recreating the backup schemes entirely?

Correct, it just removes the entries from the Acronis Scheduler (akin to removing an entry from the Windows Task Scheduler list).  If you want to protect your backup schemes (tasks) then save a copy of the C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts folder contents where these are held in individual .tib.tis files (XML data files).

Thanks Steve.  I did the task zap last night, then reset the schedules for the 2 backups.  Last night's backup ran just fine, so hopefully all is well again.  I appreciate your help!

Glad to hear that the zap has helped, thanks for giving the feedback.

Well, that worked for a few backups, and then on the 24th the backup again failed to run.  I ran the backup manually yesterday morning, and again this morning. Get List shows:

inst=den start=yes loc task=0-0 > get list
 Id ExecApp ExecCmd
--- ---------------
CurUser 1 (DK1\djkel):
  1-1   C:\Program Files (x86)\Acronis\TrueImageHome\TrueImageMonitor.exe /shutup
inst=den start=yes loc task=0-0 >

The Scheduler2 log is very long, so I'm just pasting here the part around 10:40 pm on the 24th, when the backup should have started.  There is no entry for the same time on the 25th.

9/24/17 10:02:57 PM: OnServiceSessionChange: wtsID=1 event=8 (SESSION_UNLOCK)
9/24/17 10:02:57 PM: Session 1 state is 0 (WTSActive)
9/24/17 10:02:57 PM: Session 1 flags is 1 - unlocked
9/24/17 10:40:01 PM: OnServiceMainWake: begin
9/24/17 10:40:01 PM: OnServiceMainWake: next time = 25.09.2017 22:40:00
9/24/17 11:11:09 PM: OnServiceSessionChange: wtsID=1 event=7 (SESSION_LOCK)
9/24/17 11:11:09 PM: Session 1 state is 0 (WTSActive)
9/24/17 11:11:09 PM: Session 1 flags is 0 - locked
9/24/17 11:11:09 PM: Runner wait for 4294967295 ms
9/24/17 11:11:09 PM: OnServiceEvent(SE_POWER)
9/24/17 11:11:09 PM: power event 0x4 (PBT_APMSUSPEND) received
9/24/17 11:11:10 PM: PowerRegisterSuspendResumeNotification callback: Type = 0x4 (PBT_APMSUSPEND)
9/25/17 2:11:13 AM: OnServiceTimeChange: suspend
9/25/17 2:11:13 AM: Time zone: UTC-7.00 (Pacific Daylight Time)
9/25/17 2:11:14 AM: PowerRegisterSuspendResumeNotification callback: Type = 0x7 (PBT_APMRESUMESUSPEND)
9/25/17 2:11:14 AM: OnServiceMainWake: begin
9/25/17 2:11:14 AM: OnServiceMainWake: next time = 25.09.2017 22:40:00
9/25/17 2:11:14 AM: OnServiceEvent(SE_POWER)

I've again done the task zap, but the scheduled tasks weren't eliminated, I guess because they didn't even show with the get list?

I'm guessing the backup won't work again tonight.  At least on this new computer with a solid state drive and USB 3.0, the backup is extremely fast when I have to run it manually.  I think I'll change the time of the backup to a little earlier, so that I'll know if it's worked before I head to bed.

Do you have any suggestions for troubleshooting this?

If your backup task(s) are not showing in the Scheduler Manager 'get list' output then nothing is going to run on schedule and won't be shown in the Schedul2 log information.

I would suggest changing your task schedule to be not scheduled then back to being scheduled at your preferred day and time to see if this gives you the expected get list output.

I did that, and get list still showed no scheduled tasks.  At the time I didn't have the external hard drives plugged in, so I changed the backups to not scheduled, rebooted, plugged in the external hard drives, then went in and scheduled the 2 backup tasks.  Get list still shows nothing.  I guess I'll just do the backups manually.

Is the Scheduler2 Service running as shown in the Services control panel?

Yes, just checked it, and I also checked it earlier.

I would guess that the next step should be to try a Repair install in case there is something more fundamental wrong in the application.  This just means reinstalling over the top of the existing software without uninstalling first.  Download the full installer from your Acronis account.

Oddly enough, the backup worked last night!  If the problem comes back I'll do the repair install.  Thanks!