Perplexed by Need to Mount Image in ATIH 2017
I am currently using ATIH 2017 on my Windows 10 computer, and I am trying to view the contents of a backup image (.tib file).
If I use File Explorer and go to the external drive containing my ATIH backup image, I can see the large .tib file listed. But when I double-click on the file to view the contents, it shows that the folder is empty. Then I have to right click on the file and select ATI>Mount to see the disks and partitions. From there I can select the disk and partition that I want to view.
I don't remember having to do this in ATIH 2016.....I thought a double click of the .tib file opened it up for viewing. Am I just remembering incorrectly, or did things change in 2017?
Thanks in advance...........
Durago, I can also recreate this behaviour on some, but not all, of my .TIB files. I had forgotten about it with having recently performed a clean install of ATIH 2017 but tried again and some backup images show an empty panel when I double-click, but others show the contents as expected, but the empty ones show correctly when mounted as a drive letter.
Unless anyone can advise a fix, then I guess it is time to submit this as a bug via a support ticket!
@ Tom - Are you using ATIH 2017? A double click on any of my .tib files won't open them up. I have to mount the drive to see the image comtents; I don't remember having to do that in 2016 version.
@ Steve - As mentioned above, I can't open any of my .tib files by double clicking within File Explorer. I have to mount the drive. I know my old memory is not what it use to be, but I don't remember having to mount the drive in 2016. If required, I assume you will submit a support ticket (not in my job description, lol).
It is possible that there is a problem with the ATI 2017 installation. Try doing a repair insallation and see if that fixes the problem. You can do this either by running the ATI installation file or through the Windows Program + Features in the Windows control panel.
Ian
Durago, understand that your problem affects all your .tib files, whereas mine only affects some of them, not all.
I tried to open a Live Chat with Acronis on this but never got connected - seems to be an issue there tonight as had another user tell me the same earlier.
I have submitted Feedback for this issue plus submitted a ticket to Acronis via email including a System Report with both - case number 02857707 for the support ticket by email.
Ian, just to clarify, I did a clean install of ATIH 2017 just a few days ago and I can recreate this issue with double-clicking on certain .TIB files in Explorer. I have opened a support case for this via email.
Steve, I wonder if this is related to my not being able to asign a drive letter when trying to mount a tib? I will test and see what happens; will report back.
Ian
Steve, are the problem tibs local or on a NAS? On my NAS backups, I can reproduce this issue, but not local ones. I am thinking it could be the NAS authentication bug in the current version of 2017 preventing the double click feature (just a guess) from working correctly on the NAS stored backups.
If it is just the NAS ones, we could try the patch files and see if that helps. I have not applied the patches to my system at this time though so have not tested yet.
https://kb.acronis.com/node/59051
If that isn't the problem/solution (and it's not related to just NAS backups, but local as well), you could try clearing out the temporary .tib mount cache, reboot and see if that helps at all.
https://forum.acronis.com/forum/117232#comment-359062
Steve, I wonder if this is related to my not being able to asign a drive letter when trying to mount a tib? I will test and see what happens; will report back.
Ian
Just tied again and was able to mount tib and assign drive letters!
Ian
Rob, all the problem .tib files were local - I haven't tried to do the same with any stored on my NAS - but more to the point here, you were correct about clearing the tibmounter cache files as per the advice from Slava to:
try deleting all the files in C:\Users\[your_username]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Database
I was thinking, incorrectly it seems, that running the Acronis Cleanup Tool would have cleared that data too - not that I ran it for this particular issue. I cleared the cache files this morning and the .tib files that showed blank now show correctly without needing to mount to a drive letter!
It does raise the question as to why the Cleanup Tool doesn't do a thorough job here?
Durago, please would you try doing as above to clear the cache files from the path shown in your AppData path. There was just three files in my Database folder (archives.db archives.db-shm and temp) that now reside in my recycle bin.
I have sent an update for my case number 02857707 to Acronis Support advising the above resolution to the issue for my system, but expressing concern that a) the Cleanup Tool didn't clear this cache data and b) that there is no way of clearing this type of temporary data from with the application without making users jump through lots of hoops, including trying reinstalls etc.
Durago, I'm running 2017 build 5554 on my laptop and desktop. The tib files on the laptop are stored on an external hard drive while the desktop files are stored on a local disk. I have not tried double clicking on the desktop tib files. I will do this later and report back.
I am able to successfully double click on the tib files on my desktop machine. I even opended some from July.
PROBLEM SOLVED!
Steve said: Durago, please would you try doing as above to clear the cache files from the path shown in your AppData path. There was just three files in my Database folder (archives.db archives.db-shm and temp) that now reside in my recycle bin.
Steve, I also had a 4th file - archives.db-wal. I deleted all four files and now I can double click on any tib file and open it up. This applies to local files and files on my external drive. I don't have any NAS tib files.
I'm not sure why clearing these cache files worked, but it did.......thanks to all.
P.S. Sorry for the delay in doing what Steve requested.....I had a doctor appointment in a city far away.
I've experienced this same issue. It seems that there is some kind of issue in ATI which causes the database/cache to become corrupted. What I've found is that clearing those files temporarily solves the issue, but the problem returns soon thereafter.
I'd be interested to know if any of you on this thread encounter the issue again after a few backup cycles have elapsed as that has been my experience.
I believe, although cannot prove, that this same issue may be at the root of the problems some have with mounting images.
Best regards,
Philip
Hi Philip,
I've had to reapply this fix from time to time for various .tib issues (can't double click - can't find version 1, opens as a blank disk, etc.). Normally, it's good to go until the next update or upgrade is applied to Acornis so I supsect that it may be something left over from a previous install as I did upgrade 2016 a few times over, then to the 2017 beta 1, beta 2 and up to the current version. I'm really not sure why the behavior exists, but this is something we should all submit feedback on as it does appear to happen to some of us from time to time.
Steve,
I'd like to see this be part of the cleanup tool as well. I suspect it is not because this appears to be a local users temporary directory and the cleanup tool would have to scan all of the user accounts and clean all of them - something that might not work directly - even with a local admin account, as Windows would have to take ownership of the directory first for each user before it could clean them out. If this is really a .tib mount caching issue though, it would almost make more sense for Acronis to automatically purge this directory at specified intervals like at logon, shutdown, Acronis launch, or before an Acronis upgrade.
As an MVP "fix" (work-a-round) - and I just tested this with a regular user account and it worked great... we could create a very small .bat file to clear the contents of the folder at login by adding it to the users startup path. Copy the attached .txt file into one of these folders and rename from .txt to .bat. Should clear this particular folder automatically, making sure that each new logon session starts "clean" and hopefully avoids this issue forever :)
%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
or even the all users startup folder so it applies to anyone logging into the system...
%programdata\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
I agree that this should be part of the cleanup tools actions.
Rob, thanks for the small batch file which will be useful to use when needed - I don't see the need to have this run on every start etc, but definitely save having to remember the convoluted path to the folder.
P.s. Seems like we should have another 'sticky' post / topic to store the various small batch files, i.e. this one, the ones you've produced to start / stop all services etc.
Thanks Rob for the batch file - good idea. At a minimum I'll keep a copy handy so I can run it before I try to mount images, etc. Will save some time and frustration.
I also agree with Steve's idea of an "MVP utilities" sticky with these types of tools available.
Perhaps you guys are able to flag this with Acronis development? There is clearly something going wrong with the cache. The cache itself is apparently redundant as the .TIB files themselves appear to have embedded references to their dependencies. Maybe the easy answer for the dev team is to just avoid using the cache at all for the purpose of accessing/mounting archives. Maybe as simple as commenting out a cache check in the applicable code.
Philip.
Update on my case submitted for this issue. Received the following response:
Thank you for contacting Acronis Customer Central, My name is Faraheem.
If I understand you correctly you are facing the issue, Empty backup when exploring TIB in Windows
Explorer. I assure you that we will do best to assist you with the issue.
Please note that the issue which you have reported is a known issue and our developers are working on it.
At the moment we do not have any ETA on this, however, I would request you to please sign up for the
Acronis News Letter so that you are updated regarding the same.
Please refer to the mentioned link to subscribe our Newsletter :-
https://kb.acronis.com/content/1658
I have replied advising that the problem is resolved by clearing the tibmounter cache files and asking that this be passed on to the developers, and that they consider clearing this data regularly to prevent this problem from being encountered in the first place.
As to the Acronis Newsletter, I have never received any updates on known issues via that means despite having been subscribed for as long as I can remember!
I've made some changes to the script (just in case the folder doesn't exist). I've started a script repository in the MVP Google Drive (available to everyone) as well.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8uZDIFmupY7TE1QU2VoZ01ZaFE
Hello Everyone,
Just wanted to let you know that the issue with empty backups has been investigated and changes were made in the product to prevent it from occurring in the future.
Owners of Acronis True Image 2017 (one-time purchase, also called a "perpetual" license) and those who purchased Acronis True Image 2017 Standard Subscription on January 18th or later will receive the fixed version in about a month in form of an update, distributed through live update.
Users who bought Acronis True Image 2017 Subscription license before January 18th are eligible for a free upgrade to Acronis True Image 2017 New Generation product (Premium Subscription), released on January 18th and where the fix has been implemented already.
Customers who acquired and started using the Premium Subscription on January 18th or later have the fixed version from the beginning.
Regards,
Slava
Thank you Slava for taking the time to come back to this thread and post the update. It's great to hear that the problem has been located and fixed.
Thanks,
Philip.