ATI 2011 entering sleep during scheduled backup
Hi.
I've seen some reference to this problem with older versions of ATI but not with 2011.
All was working perfectly for me with 2010 but now, with 2011, all my PCs are re-entering sleep during overnight scheduled backups. Running "powercfg -requests" it is clear that ATI 2011 is no longer making the appropriate power management process request to defer sleep. Can this please be fixed as a matter of some urgency. Some of my backups take a couple of hours to complete (over the network). It is impractical to have to keep waking the PCs to continue the backup task.
Note there is no problem starting the backups; Due to earlier problems with ATI not waking PCs to run tasks I have a manually scheduled task which wakes the PCs in time for the backup to commence (no idea if this is still needed). However the PC re-enters sleep before the backups can complete.
I'm like you, Jon. TI2010 used to keep the machine awake until the backups finished. Now, with 2011 (build 5519), it falls asleep. I reported it as a problem to customer support and they tell me that it is not a program fault, but a problem with my power settings. I must disable sleep mode!
They cannot/will not explain why 2010 worked with sleep mode on this machine but 2011 won't and that it is a Windows problem, not an Acronis problem.
Customer support will not acknowledge that TI 2011 has a problem, much less suggest that they will fix it.
This is not something that I can tolerate long-term. I am wondering if Acronis has gotten too successful and is becoming like all the other large software firms... unhelpful customer support, chasing bells and whistles while ignoring the basics, and refusing to admit flaws and bugs.
It is NOT a windows problem it is an Acronis problem.
They are lying and trying to cover up a software screw-up.
TI2010 worked fine and TI2011 doesn't on EXACTLY the same version of windows.
How can that possibly be a windows issue?
I am having the same problem running Win 7 Pro 64bit with running a scheduled backup within TIH 2011. It will run fine without error or going back to sleep if I use the Windows Task Manager as we had to do in TIH 2010. After screwing around with the level 1 techs for a month, I finally was able to contact someone who knows what they are doing. It took a phone call to the home office in MA and a call from them to the head of tech support in India. That person called me and connected me with the folks in Moscow. I am now working with the softwear engineers in Moscow to resolve this problem.
When they first tested it, they tried it on 3 different platforms and the backups completed and the computer did not go to sleep. They could not recreate the issue. The person I am working with then requested they try it on 10 different platforms. On two of those the computer went to sleep after two minutes (the Windows idle timer is 2 minutes). To avoid this, the computer must be informed thru the SetThreadExecutionState function in Windows to keep the computer awake during the backup. From the beginning this is where I told them the problem was probably occurring. The idle timer only looks for keyboard, mouse, and network activity. It does not look for CPU or disk read/write activity. That is why the computer goes back to sleep.
You may or may not know that Vista was made more aggressive in its power management than previous versions of Windows, and Win 7 was made even more aggressive than that. I am not sure at this point if it is an error in the SetThreadExecutionState function within the TIH scheduler or it is something else. I do believe it is a combination of the function within Win 7 64bit.
The first major step was finally getting to someone who would listen to me and then testing the program until the error occurred. Those level 1 techs with any company are not smart enough to deal with anything other than a simple issue, but they continued to mess with it instead of elevating the problem. When I complained about this to the correct person, things happened and they hapened quickly. I am sure some heads rolled over the fact that they screwed around for a month without elevating the issue. The point is that they now know that on certain platforms this will occur, and they are now working to resolve this issue. Hopefully I will know something in a few days. That was the second major step - having them acknowledge the problem existed. Now, the third major step is in the works as to getting it fixed.
I am sure they will post something on this site when it is fixed. If not, I will post again when I get the fix from Moscow.
Hello all,
Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience. I will definitely assist you with this.
We are aware of this issue in our software and we are working on a fix. As soon as I have any additional information I will let you know.
Please let me know if you have additional questions or any other problems.
Thank you.
Anton,
That is great that a moderator has finally acknowledged the problem actually exists! Where were you 5 weeks ago when I was screwing around with the level 1 techs??? They were not listening to me and not elevating the issue as it should have been. As a retired IT guy, I have forgotten more than any level 1 or level 2 tech with any company will ever know - 45 years working with computers and building them for almost 30 years.
Ed took care of that for me - not any tech, but the head guy. Also, where were you when this thread started 3 weeks ago???
One hour after calling Ed, I received a call from India and was told Moscow would call me in two hours. In two hours they called as promised. He listened (speaks and writes perfect English) and gave me the respect that no level 1 or level 2 tech had given me for five weeks. He is the reason this is getting fixed. So, unless you are part of the development team that I am working with, please don't say 'we' when saying 'we are working on a fix'. They are working on a fix.
Yes Acronis does now know of the problem because of my efforts , and it is not because of anything anyone at Acronis did on their own. From my work history, I know how to get to the right people, raise some hell, and finally get to the right person who listened to me and has the brains to figure it out. Ahmad is the one every one should be thanking!!!
Well here it is 12-18-2010 and the problem still exist. I am using a Toshiba Satillite A200 ST2043 laptop running Windows 7 Home Premium. Support worked on my comuter remotely after I explained the problem. He worked with a Schedule and said it should work and then set the program to start at 6:00am the following morning. When I open my laptop at 8:33 Am the acronis icon on the system trey showed 0% and running. ( this why I called support in the first place) I opened the program log and it showed the program started - Operations My Partition on 12/17/2010 at 6:00:03 AM and analyzing partition until 6:00:06 Am. Pending Operation 147 started 12/17/2010 6:00:10 AM - Locking Partition 12/17/2010 6:00:10 - that is the last entry and where the computer must have reentered the sleep mode and the acronis software stopped running. I open the laptop lid at 8:33 AM which awakened the computer from the sleep mode and program continued the backup. The log showed Pending Operation 147 restarting at 12/17/2010 8:33:01 AM and completed the BU - Operation has succeeded 12/17/2010 8:51:44 AM. I explain this in my reply to supports email but have as yet recived no answer.
mrud
I have been communicating with the engineers in Moscow that are working on the problem. As I understand it, the patch is now written but they could not get it into this last update, build 6597. It will be in the next build in late Jan. or Feb.
The level 1 and level 2 techs are not equiped to handle this problem, so don't waste your time. I got to the right people to get the problem fixed.
Until then, use the Windows Task Scheduler to run the backup and it will work fine.
In the scheduler, under General set to run with highest priveledges, set your time trigger(s), under Conditions check to wake computer to run task, under Actions set the program as: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Acronis\TrueImageHome\TrueImageHomeService.exe" Then set the argument as: /script:"C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts\625379C5-4AA1-44DA-9D1F-4975CD04D769.tib.tis" with the 625397C........ being the name of your script file. You can obtain that number by going to C:/ProgramData/Acronis/TrueImageHome/Scripts.
This will work fine, the computer will awaken, run the backup, and then go back to sleep or shutdown if you have it set within the Acronis scheduler to shut down.
Hope this helps.
@Merlin,
In your post you say 'When I open my laptop', could you just clarify, when you say open, are you referring to physically opening the laptop lid?
If you are, what power settings do you have set for the on lid closure event in Windows?
Yes, I leave my laptop plugged-in and the just close the lid when I am finished using the computer. I have it set to sleep when I close the lid. One thing I found working with support was that if "Allow Hybred Sleep" was not checked in the Power Settings the "check box Wakeup Computer to run program" would not display in Acronis 2011 Home under Advanced Settings which was my first problem. It was there one day and then it disapeared without me making any changes to my Power settings.
mrud
I came across a free program called StayAwake that suspositly allows you to download a program that will keep your Vista or Win 7 computer from going back to sleep after it wakes up to start a task. You can set the stay awake time for whatever period of time you want. See -http://www.808.dk/?code-csharp-stay-awake I am not that computer savy so I am not quite sure how to run the software after it is downloaded. If it works this would be the problem solver.
Another workaround: download "Insomnia.exe" off the net, a small freeware program that keeps Windows 7 awake as long as it's running. Set it up in Windows Task Scheduler to run 1 minute before you want True Image to do the backup. Make sure the option in Task Scheduler to wake the computer up is checked.
Set up your True Image backup to run one minute after that, checking the option to shut the computer down after the backup is complete.
Result: Insomnia wakes the computer and gives it a minute to make sure associated external disk drives, etc are recognized, then keeps the computer from falling back asleep while True Image kicks in and does its thing. When True Image is finished, it shuts the computer down.
Your post was nearly two years ago - are you still working on a fix?
Why do I have to find the answer here, the product should be updated to indicate the scheduler doesn't work with Windows sleep to save people like me wasting their time!
Thank you for this information, I hope a fix is available soon!
Is this situation with the sleep mode ever going to be resolved? I just recently discussed this with your online techs and they assured me that you can not backup with a shared network hard drive. Im not sure why this hasn't been resolved I know I would like to be able to backup to a network drive. If anybody knows what is going on with this issue please respond, I think Its a big issue and why did it work on ti2010 and not with ti2011?
I received a phone call and followup email this week from one of the engineers in Moscow. Update 2 is scheduled to be released around late May and it will include the fix for the problem of the computer going to sleep. The problem has been in the way Acronis handles the SetThreadExecutionState. After I wrote the original post back in mid December, I also discovered the Insomnia freeware program that Lawrence mentions in late December, and its function is to reset the SetThreadExecutionState so that Windows will not go to sleep. It works fine as he describes and is a valuable tool. It was written by an software engineer with Microsoft. I have Windows Scheduler set to wake and run Insomnia at 12:00AM, at 12:01AM True Home Image runs an email backup, and at 12:05AM True Home Image runs a complete backup. I have had some problems with True Home Image shutting down the computer though, so I just schedule a shutdown in Windows Scheduler at 1:20AM. My backup and verification takes about 70 minutes and is finished at about 1:15AM. I have used this method since the end of December without it failing one time.
Insomnia is very handy when you have a long running program with no keyboard or mouse input. I have a family tree developed in Excel that is 237 pages long. When it converts to a pdf file and because of all the graphics (lines) it takes about 60 minutes to complete. Insomnia keeps the computer awake so the task can finish.
In the scheduler, under General set to run with highest priveledges, set your time trigger(s), under Conditions check to wake computer to run task, under Actions set the program as: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Acronis\TrueImageHome\TrueImageHomeService.exe" Then set the argument as: /script:"C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts\625379C5-4AA1-44DA-9D1F-4975CD04D769.tib.tis" with the 625397C........ being the name of your script file. You can obtain that number by going to C:/ProgramData/Acronis/TrueImageHome/Scripts.
i have a question about the argument as in the scripts folder i have two .tib.tis file for one backup which one do i use
In the scheduler, under General set to run with highest priveledges, set your time trigger(s), under Conditions check to wake computer to run task, under Actions set the program as: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Acronis\TrueImageHome\TrueImageHomeService.exe" Then set the argument as: /script:"C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts\625379C5-4AA1-44DA-9D1F-4975CD04D769.tib.tis" with the 625397C........ being the name of your script file. You can obtain that number by going to C:/ProgramData/Acronis/TrueImageHome/Scripts.
i have a question about the argument as in the scripts folder i have two .tib.tis file for one backup which one do i use
In the scheduler, under General set to run with highest priveledges, set your time trigger(s), under Conditions check to wake computer to run task, under Actions set the program as: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Acronis\TrueImageHome\TrueImageHomeService.exe" Then set the argument as: /script:"C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts\625379C5-4AA1-44DA-9D1F-4975CD04D769.tib.tis" with the 625397C........ being the name of your script file. You can obtain that number by going to C:/ProgramData/Acronis/TrueImageHome/Scripts.
i have a question about the argument as in the scripts folder i have two .tib.tis file for one backup which one do i use
Mark,
Rather than use this method, use the one I suggested in April as it is much easier. That method uses Insomnia to keep the computer awake. I switched to that method as the one you refer to was also going to sleep after one of the minor updates.
Each task requires two script numbers, but only one of those is the correct number needed for the first method. If you want to use the method you refer to, open C:\Program Data\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Logs. Open one of the logs. On the second line, scan across and there will be a script number followed by the task name, i.e. the C drive name in my case is Windows_7_Professional. That is the script number you want to use.
I am expecting the fix to be coming shortly in update 2.
Keep Computer Awake During Backup.PDF
For those users of Windows7 having trouble with the computer going to sleep during backup or not performing a backup with validation before shutdown or shutdown issues after backup,here is one solution which works for me and is very very easy to implement.
I have written a PDF illustration how to use the power management tools to keep Windows awake during backup. This works for me and if your computer is a laptop, you can use it with the power on or from battery.
This PDF assumes that the computer is awake or awakened when the scheduled backup times arrives.
http://forum.acronis.com/sites/default/files/forum/2009/11/5940/keep_wi…
It looks like we finally have a fix!!!! Update 2 was released today which addresses this problem, and it does seem to work. There is one little catch though. For the newest version to work correctly, you must create a new image task as the scripts for your previous task default to the problem of the computer going to sleep. By default, when you creat a new task and it writes 2 new scripts for it, it will default to the new settings which will keep the computer awake during the backup. They are not obvious as the screens to create a new task are identical to the old version, so just editing a current task will not work. There is nothing visible - it is in the background.
I did try it this afternoon, and after creating a new task, it worked perfectly. When I first installed the new version, I did not create a new task and it did not work - still went to sleep. So, just create a new task - it only take a few minutes.
This has taken since last August to get it done, but it does look like it is finally fixed.
Its designated as a trial version though...so still more to come.
The new 6857 build for 2011 has this as a new option.
Having a checkbox to prevent a computer from entering sleep mode during task execution is a really silly User Interface design. Why would anybody want their PC to enter sleep while a backup was being made?
This does not need to be a setting. The program should be hard-coded to always prevent a PC from entering sleep mode during a backup operation. Or am I missing something?
I agree with Mark.
I do agree with Mark that it should be hard-coded and it may well be. I honestly missed that new option, did not have it checked, and the computer did not go to sleep during the trial backup I did yesterday afternoon after installing the update nor during the night last night at its scheduled time of 12:00 AM. Puzzling?? I think so.
Perhaps it should read and function as, - 'Allow PC to sleep during task execution'.
On my system with a 'green' motherboard I found that both TIH2010/11 and ABR10 would continue whilst the PC was in hybrid sleep mode albeit at a very slow pace. Of course that may well be OS and chipset reliant.
More annoying is when the scheduler gets confused and prevents the machine going to sleep when no taks is running. Though this isn't solely an Acronis caused problem, other programs seem to come into play.
Mark and others.
RE: post 25.
Initially, I had the same reaction as Mark but the more I thought about it, maybe Acronis is tired of hearing from some of their customers about the need for user choices and decided to make this new feature into a user choice. It seems there are always a few (not being critical) that can find a situation whereby hard coding would be wrong and the user wants the ability to change. The new option provides answers for both situations.
Most certainly, the feature "monthly validation" is a feature which needs to reworked and the user should be able to turn off monthly validation and have the "turn off" to be a default choice. Here hard coding the monthly validation as the default choice and not allowing the user to change the default is wrong.
Colin,
My post #21 could be adapted as you describe. My solution would allow the user to work from power or battery and the lid could be closed--if that is the preference.
It looks as if solving this problem is beyond Acronis's capability. I am still running Win 7 Ultimate on a Toshiba A200 laptop. I turned off the Require Password on Wakeup on my laptop and downloaded the free program "WakeupOnStandby". I set it to wakeup my computer a few minutes before the Acronis scheduled run time (4:00AM) and to stay awake for 4hours then return to Sleep. I have scheduled a weekly backup w/ validation for every Saturday at 4:05AM and it has backed up perfectly for the passed month. WakeupOnstandby lets you schedule Every Week, Every Second Week, Every Third week or Every Forth Week. If it is so simple for a free program to wakeup and keep a computer from going to sleep Acronis should buy their software.
mrud