You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.
Forum Discussion
Kester
9 years agoCollaborator | Level 8
Windows 7 Event Viewer Error "Failed to connect to the driver: (-2147024894)"
Onthe last few startups of my Windows 7 desktop, the EventViewer has shown the following error and subsequent information logs as the error is corrected by Windows: Record Number: X 95916 Log T...
- 8 years ago
Hi everyone!
Sorry for the delay here -- I usually hang out on the client builds forum and missed this.
This error is expected and harmless. We are optimistically checking for features currently in development and logging an error when we don't find them enabled. We shouldn't be logging it as an error, however, perhaps as an Informational-level event and I'll make sure we clean this up in a future release.
If you're suspicious that this has been causing instability -- this hasn't really changed since last summer so it's probably not the droids you are looking for (combined with the fact that the error is indicative of things not happening, rather than things happening that are potentially destabilizing).
-Ben
- 8 years agoHi all,First: Many apologies for the delay in jumping in here, I wanted to make sure I had a concrete update for you all.So, for context: What is Dbxsvc? :I've added a section to the help center article: https://help.dropbox.com/desktop-web/smart-sync (I say section, it's more of a note at the bottom under the driver FAQ).The file dbxsvc.exe is a file that we use to install the Smart Sync driver. Should you not be a business user, or not have Smart Sync, then this file will never start operating. It is, however, created at install for all users so if you are not a Smart Sync this file will still appear there.I see we have a number of pretty interesting, creative suggestions on how to disable, coupled with queries if it's safe to disable it. I'm of course not going to endorse a process that disables part of our software, should a feature or functionality cause user pain then we would want to know. Fixability and timeframes can vary depending on the in-depth technical nature of the problem.Should you decide to disable it with one of the solutions here, it will prevent the smart sync feature from working in some cases. We need the service to update the driver, as well as to establish new driver<->client connections. This is the services current functionality. Additional functionality could be added over time. My main concern around anyone disabling it is that in the future you may need this process, Smart Sync won't work correctly, you can reach out to support but this custom change you've made will be hard for us to diagnose as the root cause of whatever issue you experience.Why is it failing to connect / what's going wrong?:It should be failing to connect. This is by design, the actual issue you’re facing is due to the frequency we're writing to the logs. To address any concerns around error with the application, these errors are in no way indicative of a software issue and do not point to any issues with backing up you data. Because it fails to connect, Windows treats this as a trigger to write to the log. Your data is safe, this process is just used to install a driver. As covered in the above section we expect it to do what you are seeing.With that in mind, we understand that some of you do wish to see this behaviour.Why aren't we fixing this?:We are, we take our user feedback very seriously and we have spent many hours working on this. As fixes have many dependencies, and are just one components of a version release, I'm always reluctant to jump onto a thread and give a firm release date for a fix as these are regularly subject to change.You may have noticed that we took the original connection attempt frequency down from every 1 second to every minute. This was an improvement we took onboard based on the feedback you've supplied here and also via other channels. Our new release, 31.3.15, has further improved this, the process will run 3 times daily. This should reduce the errors written to the logs and not clutter the report.The new beta version is the first to include a fix:
bob_clegg
Explorer | Level 3
Alas, after restarting was unable to replicate the sequence of actions that led to DbxSvc running without filling the application log.
Have disabled DbxSvc andf put a Dropbox.exe short cut in StartUp Folder.
Assuming that DbxSvc didn't do anything more than DropBox.exe this will have to do.
Ross_S
8 years agoDropbox Staff
Hi all,
First: Many apologies for the delay in jumping in here, I wanted to make sure I had a concrete update for you all.
So, for context: What is Dbxsvc? :
I've added a section to the help center article: https://help.dropbox.com/desktop-web/smart-sync (I say section, it's more of a note at the bottom under the driver FAQ).
The file dbxsvc.exe is a file that we use to install the Smart Sync driver. Should you not be a business user, or not have Smart Sync, then this file will never start operating. It is, however, created at install for all users so if you are not a Smart Sync this file will still appear there.
I see we have a number of pretty interesting, creative suggestions on how to disable, coupled with queries if it's safe to disable it. I'm of course not going to endorse a process that disables part of our software, should a feature or functionality cause user pain then we would want to know. Fixability and timeframes can vary depending on the in-depth technical nature of the problem.
Should you decide to disable it with one of the solutions here, it will prevent the smart sync feature from working in some cases. We need the service to update the driver, as well as to establish new driver<->client connections. This is the services current functionality. Additional functionality could be added over time. My main concern around anyone disabling it is that in the future you may need this process, Smart Sync won't work correctly, you can reach out to support but this custom change you've made will be hard for us to diagnose as the root cause of whatever issue you experience.
Why is it failing to connect / what's going wrong?:
It should be failing to connect. This is by design, the actual issue you’re facing is due to the frequency we're writing to the logs. To address any concerns around error with the application, these errors are in no way indicative of a software issue and do not point to any issues with backing up you data. Because it fails to connect, Windows treats this as a trigger to write to the log. Your data is safe, this process is just used to install a driver. As covered in the above section we expect it to do what you are seeing.
With that in mind, we understand that some of you do wish to see this behaviour.
Why aren't we fixing this?:
We are, we take our user feedback very seriously and we have spent many hours working on this. As fixes have many dependencies, and are just one components of a version release, I'm always reluctant to jump onto a thread and give a firm release date for a fix as these are regularly subject to change.
You may have noticed that we took the original connection attempt frequency down from every 1 second to every minute. This was an improvement we took onboard based on the feedback you've supplied here and also via other channels. Our new release, 31.3.15, has further improved this, the process will run 3 times daily. This should reduce the errors written to the logs and not clutter the report.
The new beta version is the first to include a fix:
- mat-glock8 years agoHelpful | Level 5
Thanks for jumping in 7 months into the issue. I've since moved on to another product, but maybe your "hours" of effort will help someone else. Heck there have been days of effort burned by people who use your product.
Now that the beta is out, hopefully this will be fixed by January 2018.
- Rylos8 years agoHelpful | Level 5
I've been having this issue for a while now. I found the fix on my own of disabling the dbx service but it eventually comes back to life because the dbupdate service will kick on and clean up the fact that the dbx service is disabled. I've found that my PC randomly blue screens with the service enabled and after disabled, it's fine. I'm pretty frustrated at the lack of attention this issue has gotten as it's been going on for quite some time.
- Rylos8 years agoHelpful | Level 5
Also, the problem is not the frequency you write this error to the event log. The problem is that it installs this when it doesn't need to be installed. It also is causing stability issues on many users computers so it's not a benign error that we can just look past.
- joex8 years agoHelpful | Level 5
I agree with the stability issues. I've now uninstalled the application to avoid them. I'll probably come back in say 6 months time and see if this isue has been fixed.
- HappyChap8 years agoExplorer | Level 4
I noticed the problem because my computer makes the USB connect/disconnect sound every time it happens. It seems that it happens every second for a while then it resets to try in an hour so there is a gap before more multiple attempts. I am using an HP Spectre with Windows 10 Pro, fully updated. Looks like I also need to disable this service as a temporary workaround. I will flag re-enabling it in 3 months in case Dropbox have fixed it by then. It only started for me about a week ago.
- Kester8 years agoCollaborator | Level 8
Hi Ross,
Thanks for your belated input.
I am glad Dropbox is looking at the issue but, when you consider how long it has been going on, surely there should have been some sort of resolution by now.
Really it is not good enough to say that "It should be failing to connect. This is by design, the actual issue you’re facing is due to the frequency we're writing to the logs". If it is "by design" then it is pretty poor design that the repetitive logging is taking place throughout a computer session - the key to good design is that function is achieved effectively; other aspects, including aesthetics etc. are subordinate so if the main function is impaired, then the design is flawed. That is the case with Dropbox at present - expecting users to use a beta version is not the answer; yes, users prepared to explore a beta version to feedback to Dropbox is one thing but to expect all users to do that for very limited improvement is not acceptable.
You can see that many users are 'voting with their feet' and dropping Dropbox. You should not experiment with your main body of users if you want to keep them on board but restrict all such experimentation within the beta test versions and only releasing the changes into the everyday versions once all snags have been resolved. Your disregard for your users is an unhealthy and disrespectful approach that is not good for Dropbox - it is sad to say that, what was a a good, effective facility, is now tainted and developing a quite negative reputation.
For the moment I will keep Dropbox but only with dbxsvc disabled (I don't particularly require 'Smart Sync' and neither will I update to a beta version for little gain) - I have to say, however, that I am trialling a competitor, namely Box, which gives me five times more storage space (in the free personal version) and, so far, has run very smoothly.
- joex8 years agoHelpful | Level 5
OMG! I've been getting that sound too for the past few weeks at sporadic times. I thought it was my PC playing up, and it might still be. Now that I've uninstalled DropBox today I'll see if the sound is gone for good or not.
UPDATE: Well after removing DropBox I've had no intermittent beeping as though a USB device was unplugged. It was happening at least once a day before the removal. A few times over the past couple of months my keyboard and mouse (both wired) also froze after the beeps so I wonder if those events were caused by DropBox as well. Time will tell.
- HappyChap8 years agoExplorer | Level 4
I posted earlier today that I have the USB connect and disconnect sounds coming up and thought it might be connected with the Dropbox messages - reckon I was wrong - I am seeing a system event log information message that says it is to do with 'nhi' - whatever 'nhi' is. I have the Dropbox messagess as others describe but it is not casuing me grief so I will let that one go for the time being.
- TGellan8 years agoNew member | Level 2
Same problem, entry to eventlog EVERY SECOND!!!
Coupled with another problem (selective sync not working) I'm seriously considering dropping Dropbox after multiple years of usage :-(
- amfm848 years agoExplorer | Level 4
I had this same issue on a Windows 7 desktop and 8.1 laptop. I disabled dbxsvc on each system (via task manager on 8.1, via "services" on 7). That stopped the event logging every second. On 7/13 Dropbox was updated to version 30.4.22 on both computers and the event logging issue reappeared, likely due to dbxsvc restarting with the Dropbox app restarted. So, on 7/13 I disabled dbxsvc on both computers again to prevent this "failed to connect to driver" error from flooding event viewer every second.
However, just now I've noticed that sync is not working correctly between the two systems. For example, there's a file I update almost every day mainly from my desktop (most recently 7/20/2017). Yet, the last version uploaded from the desktop in the file history on the Dropbox website is 7/14/2017), with the last version from the laptop uploaded on 7/15/2017. In addition the file properties on my laptop for this spreadsheet file show a last modified date of 7/15/2017 - the newer version of this file from my desktop PC has not been synced to my laptop for 5-6 days.
So, it seems that disabling Dbxsvc might have screwed up my sync. As far as I can tell files from my Windows 7 desktop PC are not uploading properly to the cloud or syncing to my Win 8.1 laptop. No other settings have since been changed on either PC, no other programs recently installed, etc. I just have a personal Dropbox account (non-business).Has anyone else noticed this behavior/issue after disabling Dbxsvc?
About Apps and Installations
Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.
Need more support
If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.
For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.
If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!