The second NTFS boot sector is unwriteable
From some days ATI 2015 (bootable rescue CD) fails to backup my computer (composed by SSD + HD).
Even if it can create the backup ("The following backups have been successfully created") then it fails the validation ("Validate Backup Archive" ... "The backup is corrupted, but you can still try to recover data from it" ... "Backup operation failed").
What does it mean? why can it complete the backup creation but it fails its validation? how can I have more details on error?
FYI I performed chkdsk /r /f on both my drives (SSD and HD) and got an error message in the end of the HD one (The second NTFS boot sector is unwriteable).. could it be the cause? how to fix?
Are you using Intel SSD caching mechanism by any chance?What is it? I only backup my computer (SSD+HD inside).
Where do you store the backup file? The failed validation will not originate from a disk problem on the source disk.
The backup file is stored on external HD (connectet by USB). Also I tried to change that (destination) HD with others (USB, NAS, etc) but the validation still fails, so I deduce it shouldn't depend on the destination storage..
I suspect that the validation fails when it arrives to the end of the backup file, where it finds the "second NTFS boot sector" of the source HD..
I suspect that the validation fails when it arrives to the end of the backup file, where it finds the "second NTFS boot sector" of the source HD..
On the other hand ATI2015 says "The backup is corrupted, but you can still try to recover data from it" that seems like the problem is inside the backup file, not on the destination storage..
It's so strange that ATI2015 can't give more detail on the error type.
The backup you created is corrupted because of the issue discussed in the thread I provided on your source disk. Until that issue is corrected your backup will not validate but probably could be restored or mounted and data retrieved from the archive.
In that 3d they solved like this:
a) shrank Win7Pro partition by 1gb
b) allocated new dummy partition 1gb
c) CHKDSK on both partitions clean
d) delete dummy partition
e) extended original partition back to full size
f) CHKDSK clean
I could try it, but from my point of view it's so strange that ATI (bootable CD) doesn't give more details about the problem.. only a generic message ("The backup is corrupted, but you can still try to recover data from it"). I'd like to have the confirm by ATI that "The second NTFS boot sector is unwriteable" is really the cause (in fact sometimes the validation finishes successfully, sometimes not.. very strange)
That's fine, not a problem at all, validation is designed to check data integrity so I believe that it can pass or fail and disk image could still be recovered or mounted and explored. Acronis support does not visit the pages of this Forum very often so your issue might not be seen by them.
The link below contains a corrupt backup troubleshooting guide that you can review if you would like.
I think that the disk error and the validation error are separate problems. Neither the backup process nor the validation process checks or knows about the inconsistency in the sector information on the disk that chkdsk has found.
I am happy to be proven wrong.
I copied all the data from the "suspected" HD into another HD and tried the backup again: this time it finished successfully, which should mean that the hardware issue of the first HD ("The second NTFS boot sector is unwriteable") was the problem..
That's good. Now if you create a small partition on the first HDD as suggested in supplied link and perform the other steps outlined in the link you should be able to fix that drive.
That's incredible: the backup has started to fail again!
As said, I substituted the hard disk that was the suspected cause ("The second NTFS boot sector is unwriteable") and the backup seemed to go good.. but now, after some days, the 2 last backups failed even if:
- both (HDD and SSD) inside my computer haven't issues (check disk ok)
- RAM test ok
- changing destination USB drive the backup fails again
ATI 2015 bootable CD doesn't give info about the problem, it only says: "The backup is corrupted, but you can still try to recover data from it." See the attachment, it seems to fail in validation phase.. but why?
HOW CAN I DISCOVER THE PROBLEM? :(
Your log indicates that you are using version 6055 of True Image 2015. The latest version is 6525. Although you are the only user whom has posted with your particular validation error you should upgrade to the latest version to see if that will fix the issue.
I recommend that you uninstall the old version of the app, then run the cleanup utility (link below), then install the new version
But I use the bootable CD, so no need to uninstall the Windows application.. only need to download the new ISO, where can I find it?
Does the backup complete when you don't run validation just after the backup?
Can you then validate the backup manually separately?
Yes, I can validate with success the backup separately, that is after the backup+validation (even if this validation fails).
That's so strange: why does the validation immediately after backup fail and that performed separately not?!
I really suspect that my ATI2015 version (6055) isn't so good: is there anyone using it or has feedback about it? has it some bug maybe fixed in the following version?
As suggested by Enchantech, I backuped my computer with the last (bootable CD) version but the validation still failed!
Now I really don't know what to do: the backup finished successfully but the validation failed (not always: sometimes yes, sometimes no).
How can I discover what's the cause if ATI doesn't give more detail about the error?!
P.S. chkdsk of my SSD reports "Cleaning up 12 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9", I don't know if it could affect the validation error
Nah... Validation just recalculates the check sums embedded at creation time and compare with the originals. This also verifies that all files necessary for restoration are present.
We have seen several cases where validation after backup fails, while separate validation works. THat was happening with previous versions of ATI. Not sure why, could be networking/access issues. I am surprised the problem happens also with the recovery medium. I was suspecting some Windows process locking issue, but that wouldn't apply to the recovery CD case.
Nah... Validation just recalculates the check sums embedded at creation time and compare with the originals. This also verifies that all files necessary for restoration are present.
So.. is the validation after backup different or totally equal to the separate one?
In other words: if I could unplug my destination storage during validation (after backup), would it work again? that is, does validation only work on backup file or access the source, too? (I think the first case, becuase the separate validation isn't connected to source..)
The process of the validation after backup is identical to the separate operation. What I know is that you can validate the archives created by computer A using computer B, so that would indicate you can validate without the source, yes.