Help, my Odrive starts multiple instances of itself (Windows)

[postruderal]

It always starts with two instances on Windows startup. Now today it added additional instances while running (first 2 more, then 1 more again). What can I do to debug this?

[Tony]

Hi @postruderal,
The additional instance can happen during an auto-update, so it isn’t unexpected, though it is something we plan to address.

Starting up two instances at the same time is definitely unusual. Can you exit all instances, then start odrive normally and take a screenshot of the odrive processes in task manager for me?

Thanks!

[postruderal]

Hello. Thank you for assistance. I did the steps. Here is the screenshot.

[Tony]

Thanks. Can you add another column to that view?

Depending on the version of OS you have, this can be done in two ways:

Option 1 (Older Windows versions)

• While on the Processes tab, click on “View” from the top menu and click “Select Columns”
• Choose “Command Line” and click “OK”.
• There should be a new “Command Line” column. Expand that column so we can see the full line and then take another screenshot

Option 2 (Newer Windows versions)

• While on the Details tab, right-click on one of the column headers, and click click on “Select Columns”
• Choose “Command Line” and click “OK”.
• There should be a new “Command Line” column. Expand that column so we can see the full line and then take another screenshot

If you navigate to C:\Program Files\odrive and double-click on odrive.exe, does it still launch two processes?

What about if you run this command from a command prompt?

powershell -command "&{$bin=$(ls -Dir \"$HOME\.odrive\bin\" | sort Name -desc | select -f 1).FullName; Start-Process -NoNewWindow \"$($bin)\odriveapp.exe\";}"

[postruderal]

Please find the screenshot attached:

Doubleclicking on C:\Program Files\odrive\odrive.exe starts two instances as well.

Running the command powershell -command “&{$bin=$(ls -Dir “$HOME.odrive\bin” | sort Name -desc | select -f 1).FullName; Start-Process -NoNewWindow “$($bin)\odriveapp.exe”;}” results in an error message. Please find it attached as well:

[Tony]

Thanks @postruderal.

Man, this is strange. Okay here are two alternate commands to run. These should work where the other failed.

powershell -command "&{& \"$env:programfiles\odrive\odrive.exe\" \"-v\" 2>&1 | echo;}"

This will spit out some debug info while it is launching. It may tell us why it is launching odriveapp twice.

powershell -command "&{$bin=$(ls \"$HOME\.odrive\bin\" | sort Name -desc | select -f 1).FullName; Start-Process \"$($bin)\odriveapp.exe\";}"

This is launching odriveapp directly, which should guarantee it only launches once, but I want to make sure.

[postruderal]

The first command started two instances:

The second command started only one instance of odrive as intended:

[Tony]

Thanks. I think I may know what the issue is. Can you grab a file for me at C:\Users\Teo.odrive\odrive.log and post it here, when you get a chance?

Thanks!

[postruderal]

There is no file odrive.log in C:\Users\Teo\odrive\

[Tony]

Sorry, the slash was eaten in my previous post. The path is: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\odrive.log

The “.odrive” folder is a hidden folder, so you may need to enable showing hidden files/folders in Explorer.

[postruderal]

I’m using a different machine now, but still got this problem. The content of odrive.log on the new machine is:

[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:29,474: Product home path: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:29,482: Verifying misc.tar.gz
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:29,642: Moving misc.tar.gz into C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\common\misc
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:29,683: Dropping version file into C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\common\misc\version with version 15
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:29,684: name: app.tar.gz, url: local, sha256: c685d312e4440432d6916262e3187d6ff382bcd0c9bf550aec6db7df92643426, destination: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive, version: 5997, deleteIfExist: [u'C:\\Users\\Teo\\.odrive\\bin\\5997'], miscExtractionPoint: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\bin\5997, noExtract: False
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:29,686: Verifying app.tar.gz
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:29,778: Extracting app.tar.gz into C:\Users\Teo\.odrive
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:30,881: Extracting misc for bundle app.tar.gz
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:33,486: Dropping version file into C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\version with version 5997
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:33,486: name: common.tar.gz, url: local, sha256: 9a1a7eba1fd6500c1619d364e34fe45c10b0fc024d4d42c582627158ddb770fd, destination: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\common\bin, version: 5997, deleteIfExist: [u'C:\\Users\\Teo\\.odrive\\common\\bin'], miscExtractionPoint: None, noExtract: False
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:33,486: Verifying common.tar.gz
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:33,486: Extracting common.tar.gz into C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\common\bin
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:33,493: Dropping version file into C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\common\bin\version with version 5997
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:34,118: Product home path: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:34,125: name: app.tar.gz, url: local, sha256: c685d312e4440432d6916262e3187d6ff382bcd0c9bf550aec6db7df92643426, destination: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive, version: 5997, deleteIfExist: [u'C:\\Users\\Teo\\.odrive\\bin\\5997'], miscExtractionPoint: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\bin\5997, noExtract: False
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:34,125: name: common.tar.gz, url: local, sha256: 9a1a7eba1fd6500c1619d364e34fe45c10b0fc024d4d42c582627158ddb770fd, destination: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\common\bin, version: 5997, deleteIfExist: [u'C:\\Users\\Teo\\.odrive\\common\\bin'], miscExtractionPoint: None, noExtract: False
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:34,127: Launching C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\bin\5997\odriveapp.exe
[INFO] 2016-11-08 21:54:36,236: Launch failed trying backup method
[ERROR] 2016-11-08 21:54:38,275: Failed to launch C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\bin\5997\odriveapp.exe

[postruderal]

Is there something you should know about my machines? Oh yes, C:\Users\Teo is actually located on D:. It has been moved there by
cmd> mklink /J C:\users\%username% d:\%username%
Can that be the source of the problem?

[Tony]

Yes, that could be the problem. There may be an issue detecting the process via a junction like that. There could be other problems there too.

Is D: a local drive, or an external drive?

We should be able to fix this by moving the odrive folder via official means. Make sure there is only one odrive process running and then select “Move odrive folder” from the odrive tray menu. Now select a location on D: drive, so it has a “real” path.

This will leave your current odrive folder the way it is, as a backup, and create a new odrive folder in the location you have chosen. Everything in the new odrive folder will start out as placeholders, since it is a new, freshly initialized location.

[postruderal]

D: is a local drive. I changed the odrive folder path to D:\users\Teo\odrive, but this didn’t solve the problem.

The new odrive-log contents are:

[INFO] 2016-11-09 10:31:48,016: Product home path: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive [INFO] 2016-11-09 10:31:48,023: name: app.tar.gz, url: local, sha256: c685d312e4440432d6916262e3187d6ff382bcd0c9bf550aec6db7df92643426, destination: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive, version: 5997, deleteIfExist: [u'C:\\Users\\Teo\\.odrive\\bin\\5997'], miscExtractionPoint: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\bin\5997, noExtract: False [INFO] 2016-11-09 10:31:48,023: name: common.tar.gz, url: local, sha256: 9a1a7eba1fd6500c1619d364e34fe45c10b0fc024d4d42c582627158ddb770fd, destination: C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\common\bin, version: 5997, deleteIfExist: [u'C:\\Users\\Teo\\.odrive\\common\\bin'], miscExtractionPoint: None, noExtract: False [INFO] 2016-11-09 10:31:48,025: Launching C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\bin\6014\odriveapp.exe [INFO] 2016-11-09 10:31:50,096: Launch failed trying backup method [ERROR] 2016-11-09 10:31:52,137: Failed to launch C:\Users\Teo\.odrive\bin\6014\odriveapp.exe

So if we think on this way, than the problem may be that the .odrive-folder as well lies in the linked c:\users\Teo folder?

[Tony]

Uggh… sorry. Yes of course.

I wasn’t thinking clearly when I wrote that earlier. Its the binary folder that is potentially causing the dual processes issue, not the odrive folder. Although having the odrive folder inside a symlink is an unsupported configuration, so I recommend leaving it in a non-symlinked location, which you have now done. More about that here:

Syncing symlinks/hardlinks/junctions/etc.. - how does it work?

Hi, Good questions. We don’t officially support user-created junctions/symlinks/hardlinks for a number of reasons. The short of it is that the behavior can be unpredictable and users can get into some disastrous situations in certain circumstances, especially with certain types of storage sources. I saw a case during my testing where the entire source folder was destroyed after a remote rename of a symlinked directory. It also complicates sync substantially and can create issues with reflectio…

So, back to the symlink on your user profile. I know that relocating the user profile to another partition/disk than the one the OS is running (the default location) is something that Microsoft strongly discourages and isn’t supported. The suggested approach is to move the folders within the user profile, instead. So folders like Documents, Videos, Desktop, Downloads, Music, and Pictures. This keeps your user profile in the default location, but moves the folders that are most likely where the bulk of your data is to a larger disk. I’m not sure this is an option for you, but it would ensure that you are working within a supported environment.

[postruderal]

I reverted the relocation of the user profile and now odrive seems to be running only one instance.

[Tony]

Thanks for the update! I’m glad to hear that you’ve got it sorted now.