{"id":10141,"date":"2020-12-28T00:51:05","date_gmt":"2020-12-28T08:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/?p=10141"},"modified":"2022-04-03T22:48:34","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T05:48:34","slug":"windows-service-unable-to-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/box-drive\/windows-service-unable-to-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Box Drive Version 2.18 Fails to Run in Session 0 (as a Windows Service)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Box<\/div>\n

Do you run Box Drive as a Windows Service<\/a>, to ensure that file synchronization starts as soon as your server boots? If so, please be aware that Box Drive version 2.18<\/a> may not start properly in the background!<\/p>\n

Version 2.18 was released in October 2020. We took it for a test drive with AlwaysUp and here is what we discovered.<\/p>\n

Box Drive starts but quickly exits<\/h2>\n

AlwaysUp started Box.exe several times. Each time, the process would run for a second and then shut down. After 5 attempts (as configured on the Restart tab<\/a>), AlwaysUp gave up.<\/p>\n

The activity report shows the back and forth:<\/p>\n

\"Box<\/a><\/div>\n

Unfortunately the Box.exe process exited with a generic return code, with no indication of what happened. Puzzled, we decided to investigate the logs.<\/p>\n

The log files report a strange problem<\/h2>\n

Box Drive spools its logs to a location in the AppData folder. You can find the files here:<\/p>\n

C:\\Users\\<YOUR-USER-NAME>\\AppData\\Local\\Box\\Box\\logs<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A file named “Box-2.18.117.log” records the program’s activities when it starts. We noticed these telltale lines inside:<\/p>\n

\n[36;49m2020-12-27 18:45:23.667 7596 INFO MainThread windows_sync_app_dele Calling start_application: [‘C:\\\\Program Files\\\\Box\\\\Box\\\\Box.exe’]
\n[36;49m2020-12-27 18:45:23.667 7596 INFO MainThread windows_sync_app_dele Current memory usage: 90279936 bytes
\n[36;49m2020-12-27 18:45:23.667 7596 INFO MainThread windows_sync_app_dele A Box Drive installation is in progress. Box Drive cannot continue to run<\/b>\n<\/div>\n

So for some bizarre reason, Box Drive thinks that an installation is in progress!<\/p>\n

Thinking that it may be causing a conflict, we stopped and disabled the Box Update Service (which is responsible for automatic updates):<\/p>\n

\"Box<\/a><\/div>\n

However, that didn’t make a difference. The “installation is in progress” error continued to thwart us.<\/p>\n

So clearly Box Drive is having trouble running with AlwaysUp. But was the problem caused by AlwaysUp? We decided to investigate with an independent, third-party utility.<\/p>\n

The problem isn’t limited to AlwaysUp — PsExec fails too<\/h2>\n

Microsoft’s free PsExec<\/a> utility can start any executable in Session 0<\/a> — the only session available when your machine boots. PsExec is useful when troubleshooting applications that have trouble running at boot.<\/p>\n

We ran this command line to launch Box as a specific user in Session 0:<\/p>\n

\nPsExec -i 0 -h -u "<USER-NAME>" -p "<PASSWORD>" -w "C:\\Program Files\\Box\\Box" "C:\\Program Files\\Box\\Box\\Box.exe"\n<\/div>\n

But the run ended with the same result in the logs as before.<\/p>\n

So the issue is not unique to AlwaysUp. For some strange reason, Box Drive version 2.18 simply refuses to run in the background, on the isolated Session 0.<\/p>\n

Box Drive starts properly in the current, interactive session<\/h2>\n

As it does when started normally on your desktop, Box Drive runs fine as a Windows Service outside of Session 0. <\/p>\n

If you select Start “Box Drive” in this session<\/b> from the Application<\/b> menu in AlwaysUp, Drive (and its familiar tray icon) will appear on your screen:<\/p>\n

\"Start<\/a><\/div>\n

Of course, that will not be possible unless you log in, which defeats the purpose of launching file synchronization automatically at boot! Fortunately, AlwaysUp can help you get around that.<\/p>\n

Configure automatic logon with AlwaysUp to start Box Drive at boot<\/h2>\n

Since Box needs a “normal” session to run at boot, you can:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Setup Windows autologon, to automatically sign in to Windows when your machine boots;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Have AlwaysUp launch Box Drive in that user’s session.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Setup<\/a><\/div>\n

    Please consult this FAQ entry<\/a> for the details.<\/p>\n

    Box support declined to investigate the problem<\/h2>\n

    A few weeks ago, our developers reported the problem to Box Support<\/a>. The detailed message documented all our key findings, including the log messages\/files and the two methods of easily reproducing the failure.<\/p>\n

    The response from the Box Customer Success team was blunt, though not entirely unexpected:<\/p>\n

    \"Response<\/a><\/div>\n

    Even so, it’s a bit short sighted of them to dismiss a problem that is impacting their paying customers!<\/p>\n

    Box Drive version 2.19 is “coming soon”<\/h2>\n

    Apparently version 2.19 of Box Drive<\/a> will be available very soon, probably in early 2021. Hopefully it will fix this “phantom installation” problem when running as a Windows Service.<\/p>\n

    Fingers crossed!<\/p>\n