[3.00] Creating a report freezes OS

[Jermu]

Hello,

Tested the "Create Test Report" in "Send Test Report" Configuration window and HDSentinel just froze up almost immediately (printed out some lines before that). I could use Windows GUI for a while but everything failed to start and couldn't even shutdown properly. Tested again with "safe mode" ticked. Same thing.

Then after a while tried the "Save TXT Report" from "Report" menu and everything froze again. (for some reason I thought that that was a different feature than the "Send Test Report")

What gives?

I could run a special test build if you like to use verbose logging points in your code and try to catch the problem that way. (I'm a developer myself)

[hdsentinel]

Hi,

Interesting, the "safe mode" should be safe and not cause such issue.

Yes, the "Save TXT Report" is different compared to the "Send test report to developer".
The report created by "Save TXT Report" is a formatted one, containing disk and some hardware information but does not contain "raw" information detected about the system (for example drivers, raw response and buffers provided by the disks, etc.)

Maybe you can try to run "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT". This also should create a report file to the folder of the software, maybe it contains some details. Also I suggest to try making a report in Windows SAFE MODE if possible.

Also if possible, please send to info@hdsentinel.com any information about the system and/or screenshots about the software when it is running. This way at least I can check the detected and displayed details.

[Jermu]

Hi, sorry for the late reply, had to have some time to test this out.

So, "Save TXT Report" should not create any freezes/problems? (of course everything can but..)

Ran "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT" when HDSentinel was not running. HDSentinel.exe process starts but does absolutely "nothing" (Task Manager shows 0% CPU, though "hard disk activity light" is on, not flashing but on)! Except that it (this is how it looks to me) does something to the "filesystem access". Opening a "Windows Explorer" doesn't show drives/files/etc., opening a pure text document opens just the default app and hangs (can't stop process in any way) obviously trying to open the file... UNTIL after about 15 minutes, every hanged app (trying to read the filesystem) gets access to the filesystem and continue normally. HDSentinel.exe process still running, no CPU usage, no hard disk light constantly on, no HDSentinel window nor systray icon. BUT, the log file was created.

Here's the timeline:

15:36:33 - create report started (taken from the 3rd line of the log file)
15:36:35 - "The TempLog service was successfully sent a start control."
15:36:36 - the log file has reached the "Application Information" section where this new time is recorded. (Only relevant if the data in the final log is in the order it was fetched)
15:39:30 - "The Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) service was successfully sent a start control."
15:41:30 - "The server {A1F4E726-8CF1-11D1-BF92-0060081ED811} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout." (WIA service, because HDSentinel is "freezing" the system)
... - same event 5 times until:
15:53:16 - "HDSentinel_3.00_report.txt" file created in the app folder
15:53:17 - "The Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) service entered the running state."

After that everything works ok again.

So the system was "freezed" for about 17 minutes. Why? And why is the HDSentinel.exe process still running, no HDSentinel window nor systray icon? I'm not worried about the WIA error events, it just shows that the system was "freezed" for some reason.

Ran same in safe mode, same symptoms. Although this time HDSentinel systray icon appeared. So, I guess in normal boot, HDSentinel was running fine after creating the report but explorer failed to show the icon in systray because of the freeze (quite plausible, I've seen similar explorer problems before.. AND, I noticed in safe mode that a notepad window taskbar button text was not changed after the freeze (it should have shown/updated the filename it opened after the freeze was gone (I opened a txt document while the system was freezed)).

========================================

Is the "TempLog" "Non-Plug and Play Driver" from your software? If it is, why is the device status like below after starting a "create report"?

Code: Select all

Status: Started

This device is working properly.

The drivers for this device will be uninstalled when the machine is restarted. Any changes you make to this device will not be preserved.

Shouldn't it stop after the report is created? And it's not uninstalled after reboot.

========================================

BTW. The log file (created with "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT") does contain: "Raw information", "Driver Information", "IO information", "-- Hardware information --", etc., the log file has got 848 lines. Is this normal? (You wrote that the "Save TXT Report" doesn't get "raw" data.)

[hdsentinel]

Hi,

It is so interesting, there should be no such huge delays and other issues.
Yes, basically the TempLog driver is designed to detect hardware details which is included in the report (for example disk controllers, motherboard type and PCI device details) which can help to find out possible detection issues of hard disk details.
Somehow it seems it has problems with the current configuration, that's why it freezed temporarily your system and then it remains installed.

To disable it completely, I recommend to delete HDSentinel.sys file from the folder of Hard Disk Sentinel (or just rename/move it to prevent the software from accessing it) and let me know if you still encounter the issue this way.

Also please send me the text file. Any information saved to it (hardware configuration details, possible detection and/or other errors reported) can help to diagnose the issue.
Yes, 848 lines can be normal - it depends on the actual system. If you have high number of drives, this test report can have 1000's of lines.

[Jermu]

Hi again,

Renamed HDSentinel.sys, ran "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT", no freeze, but also no log.

Opened HDSentinel from systray, selected "Save TXT Report" from "Report" menu and everything froze again for about 15 minutes. Then a save file dialog popped up. I navigated to desktop (was in "My Documents" folder initially) and saved the log there: CD drive began to spin for a while (???), and freezing AGAIN!?!?! Same symptoms again, HD activity light ON, "no access to file system", etc.! Further investigation lead me to the explanation; the log WAS saved in HDSentinel folder about at the same time when the save file dialog popped up, so, first freeze: HDSentinel gathers info and saves it to a log in HDSentinel folder... second freeze: HDSentinel gathers info AGAIN and saves it to a log in user selected folder. A bit stupid don't you think. The log was created after about 15 minutes with freeze gone.

So, clearly it's not the "TempLog" driver that has problems. As I see it, the "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT" tried to run but since it couldn't start the "TempLog" driver, it aborted before HDSentinel does something else that causes the freeze.

Now, when comparing the 2 different logs, I see that the "TempLog" part takes only about 3 seconds to complete (in retrospect, this info was at hand in my earlier "timeline").

Hmm, discovered that there's actually 3 different log files now!?!

1) 850 rows (created with "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT" (last time, not now))
2) 566 rows (created in the HDSentinel folder with "Save TXT Report" from "Report" menu!?!?! (created when the save dialog appears))
3) 290 rows (created in the user selected folder (save dialog) with "Save TXT Report" from "Report" menu)

This is a bit ridiculous.

The 1st and 2nd logs have the same 272 rows at the beginning. Then the 1st (full?) log continues with some motherboard info (temp, voltage, etc.) and with (what seems to be) PCI RAW information up until row 558 where both logs again continue in unison (+ this is where the 3rd log starts).

And it gets even more odd: you wrote that "TempLog driver is designed to detect hardware details", so how come the 2nd log has some of that info even when the "TempLog" driver can't run (renamed the sys file)?!?

Here's the 3rd (shortest) log (I censored comp/user name & mac addr):

Code: Select all

  -- General Information --

    Application Information
   -------------------------
    Installed Version  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hard Disk Sentinel 3.00
    Registered To  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unregistered version, please register.
    Current Date And Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 20.11.2009 16:35:53
    Health Calculation Method  . . . . . . . . . . . : Analyse data field (default)

    Computer Information
   ----------------------
    Computer Name  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ******
    User Name  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ******
    Computer Type  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Desktop
    IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
    MAC Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ******
    System Uptime  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 7 days, 10 hours, 46 minutes, 18 seconds
    System Up Since  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 13.11.2009 5:49:35
    CPU Usage  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 13 %
    Virtual Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2406 MB, Used: 407 MB (17 %)

    System Information
   --------------------
    Windows Version  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3
    CPU Type & Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz, 2799 MHz
    BIOS Manufacturer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : A M I  - 8000515 BIOS Date: 08/15/05 14:30:21 Ver: 08.00.09 BIOS Date: 08/15/05 14:30:21 Ver: 08.00.09  
    Physical Memory Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2559 MB, Used: 632 MB (25 %)
    Display Adapter  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : RADEON 9800 SERIES  
    Display Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1280 x 1024 (32 bit)
    Printer #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : hp psc 1200 series
    Printer #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft XPS Document Writer
    Network Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3Com Gigabit LOM (3C940)
    Optical Drive #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : E: HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8520B / 1.00 (CD-RW)
    Optical Drive #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : F: SONY    DVD RW DRU-530A / 2.1g (CD)
    Optical Drive #3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : G: Generic DVD-ROM / 1.0 (DVD, CD)

    PCI Device Information
   ------------------------
    PCI Bus 0; Device 0; Function 0  . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82865G/PE/P/GV/82848P Processor to I/O Controller - 2570
    PCI Bus 0; Device 1; Function 0  . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82865G/PE/P/GV/82848P Processor to AGP Controller - 2571
    PCI Bus 0; Device 29; Function 0 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D2
    PCI Bus 0; Device 29; Function 1 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D4
    PCI Bus 0; Device 29; Function 2 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24D7
    PCI Bus 0; Device 29; Function 3 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82801EB USB Universal Host Controller - 24DE
    PCI Bus 0; Device 29; Function 7 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82801EB USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 24DD
    PCI Bus 0; Device 30; Function 0 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82801 PCI Bridge - 244E
    PCI Bus 0; Device 31; Function 0 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82801EB LPC Interface Controller - 24D0
    PCI Bus 0; Device 31; Function 1 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers
    PCI Bus 0; Device 31; Function 3 . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82801EB SMBus Controller - 24D3
    PCI Bus 0; Device 31; Function 5 . . . . . . . . : SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio
    PCI Bus 1; Device 0; Function 0  . . . . . . . . : RADEON 9800 SERIES  
    PCI Bus 1; Device 0; Function 1  . . . . . . . . : RADEON 9800 SERIES - Secondary  
    PCI Bus 2; Device 5; Function 0  . . . . . . . . : 3Com Gigabit LOM (3C940)
    Unknown  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : D347PRT SCSI Controller



  -- Physical Disk Information - Disk: #0: Maxtor 6Y160P0 --

    Hard Disk Summary
   -------------------
    Hard Disk Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0
    Interface  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : IDE/ATA
    Disk Controller  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers (ATA)
    Disk Location  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0, Device: 0
    Hard Disk Model ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Maxtor 6Y160P0
    Firmware Revision  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : YAR41VW0
    Hard Disk Serial Number  . . . . . . . . . . . . : Y60E3VDE
    Total Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 156327 MB
    Power State  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Active
    Current Temperature  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 50 °C
    Power On Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1757 days, 16 hours, 51 minutes
    Estimated Remaining Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . : 89 days
    Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################--- 89 % (Fair)
    Performance  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ###################- 99 % (Excellent)

    There are 10 bad sectors on the disk surface. The contents of these sectors were moved to the spare area.
    At this point, warranty replacement of the disk is not yet possible, only if the health drops further.
    It is recommended to examine the log of the disk regularly. All new problems found will be logged there.
      It is recommended to continuously monitor the hard disk status.

    ATA Information
   -----------------
    Hard Disk Cylinders  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 317632
    Hard Disk Heads  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16
    Hard Disk Sectors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 63
    Total Sectors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 320173056
    ATA Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ATA/ATAPI-7 T13 1532D version 0
    Bytes Per Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 512
    Buffer Size  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 7936 KB
    Multiple Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16
    Error Correction Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 57
    Unformatted Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 156334 MB
    Maximum PIO Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4
    Maximum Multiword DMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . : 2
    Maximum UDMA Mode  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 133 MB/s (6)
    Active UDMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 133 MB/s (6)
    Minimum Multiword DMA Transfer Time  . . . . . . : 120 ns
    Recommended Multiword DMA Transfer Time  . . . . : 120 ns
    Minimum PIO Transfer Time Without IORDY  . . . . : 120 ns
    Minimum PIO Transfer Time With IORDY . . . . . . : 120 ns
    ATA Control Byte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid
    ATA Checksum Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid

    Acoustic Management Configuration
   -----------------------------------
    Acoustic Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Acoustic Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Enabled
    Current Acoustic Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Max performance and volume (FEh)
    Recommended Acoustic Level . . . . . . . . . . . : Balanced performance and volume (C0h)

    ATA Features
   --------------
    Read Ahead Buffer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled
    DMA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Ultra DMA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    S.M.A.R.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Write Cache  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Host Protected Area  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Advanced Power Management  . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Power Up In Standby  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    48-B8-bit LBA Addressing . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Device Configuration Overlay . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    IORDY Support  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Read/Write DMA Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    NOP Command  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Trusted Computing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    64-B4-bit World Wide ID  . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Streaming  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Media Card Pass Through  . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    General Purpose Logging  . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Error Logging  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    CFA Feature Set  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    CFast Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Long Physical Sectors (1)  . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Long Logical Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Write-Read-Verify  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    NV Cache Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    NV Cache Power Mode  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    NV Cache Size  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Free-fall Control  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Free-fall Control Sensitivity  . . . . . . . . . : Not supported

    SSD Features
   --------------
    Data Set Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    TRIM Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Deterministic Read After TRIM  . . . . . . . . . : Not supported

    S.M.A.R.T. Details
   --------------------
    Off-line Data Collection Status  . . . . . . . . : Successfully Completed
    Self Test Execution Status . . . . . . . . . . . : Successfully Completed
    Total Time To Complete Off-line Data Collection  : 303 seconds
    Execute Off-line Immediate . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Abort/restart Off-line By Host . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Off-line Read Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Short Self-test  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Extended Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Conveyance Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Selective Self-Test  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Save Data Before/After Power Saving Mode . . . . : Supported
    Enable/Disable Attribute Autosave  . . . . . . . : Supported
    Error Logging Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Short Self-test Estimated Time . . . . . . . . . : 2 minutes
    Extended Self-test Estimated Time  . . . . . . . : 73 minutes
    Last Short Self-test Result  . . . . . . . . . . : Successfully Completed
    Last Short Self-test Date  . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.11.2009 9:52:46
    Last Short Self-test Duration  . . . . . . . . . : 1 minutes
    Last Extended Self-test Result . . . . . . . . . : Never Started
    Last Extended Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . . : Never Started

    Security Mode
   ---------------
    Security Mode  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
    Security Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Security Erase Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Security Enhanced Erase Feature  . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Security Enhanced Erase Time . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Security Enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
    Security Locked  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
    Security Frozen  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
    Security Counter Expired . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
    Security Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : High

    Serial ATA Features
   ---------------------
    S-ATA Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
    S-ATA I Signaling Speed (1.5 Gps)  . . . . . . . : Not supported
    S-ATA II Signaling Speed (3 Gps) . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    S-ATA Gen3 Signaling Speed (6 Gps) . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Receipt Of Power Management Requests From Host . : Not supported
    PHY Event Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Non-Zero Buffer Offsets In DMA Setup FIS . . . . : Not supported
    DMA Setup Auto-Activate Optimization . . . . . . : Not supported
    Device Initiating Interface Power Management . . : Not supported
    In-Order Data Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Asynchronous Notification  . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Software Settings Preservation . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Native Command Queuing (NCQ) . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
    Queue Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported

    Disk Information
   ------------------
    Disk Family  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : DiamondMax Plus 9
    Form Factor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3.5" 
    Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 160 GB (160 x 1 000 000 000 bytes)
    Number Of Disks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2
    Number Of Heads  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4
    Rotational Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 7200 RPM
    Rotation Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 8,33 ms
    Average Rotational Latency . . . . . . . . . . . : 4,17 ms
    Disk Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Ultra-ATA/133
    Buffer-Host Max. Rate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 133 MB/seconds
    Buffer Size  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 8192 KB
    Drive Ready Time (Typical) . . . . . . . . . . . : ? seconds
    Average Seek Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms
    Track To Track Seek Time . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms
    Full Stroke Seek Time  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms
    Width  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 101,6 mm (4,0 inch)
    Depth  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 146,1 mm (5,8 inch)
    Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 26,1 mm (1,0 inch)
    Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 630 grams (1,4 pounds)
    Acoustic (Idle)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3,5 Bel
    Acoustic (Min Performance And Volume)  . . . . . : 2,7 Bel
    Acoustic (Max Performance And Volume)  . . . . . : 2,7 Bel
    Required Power For Spinup  . . . . . . . . . . . : 1 520 mA
    Power Required (Seek)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 12,2 W
    Power Required (Idle)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 7,3 W
    Power Required (Standby) . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0,9 W
    Manufacturer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Seagate Corporation
    Manufacturer Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : http://www.seagate.com/maxtor/

    S.M.A.R.T.
   ------------
No.  Attribute                Thre.. Value  Worst  Data                Status                   Flags                                                  
3    Spin Up Time             63     174    174    22669               OK                       Self Preserving, Performance, Statistical, Critical    
4    Start/Stop Count         0      252    252    2420                OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              
5    Reallocated Sectors Co.. 63     253    252    10                  OK                       Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical, Critical    
6    Read Channel Margin      100    253    253    0                   OK                       Critical                                               
7    Seek Error Rate          0      253    252    0                   OK (Always passing)      Error-Rate, Statistical                                
8    Seek Time Performance    187    251    237    40819               OK                       Self Preserving, Performance, Statistical, Critical    
9    Power On Time Count      0      138    138    40723               OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              
10   Spin Retry Count         157    253    252    0                   OK                       Self Preserving, Error-Rate, Statistical, Critical     
11   Drive Calibration Retr.. 223    253    252    0                   OK                       Self Preserving, Error-Rate, Statistical, Critical     
12   Drive Power Cycle Count  0      247    247    2477                OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              
192  Power off Retract Cycle  0      253    253    0                   OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              
193  Load/Unload Cycle Count  0      253    253    0                   OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              
194  Disk Temperature         0      253    253    50                  OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical              
195  Hardware ECC Recovered   0      253    252    4363                OK (Always passing)      Error-Rate, Statistical                                
196  Reallocation Event Count 0      252    252    1                   OK (Always passing)      Error-Rate                                             
197  Current Pending Sector.. 0      253    253    0                   OK (Always passing)      Error-Rate                                             
198  Off-Line Uncorrectable.. 0      253    252    0                   OK (Always passing)      Error-Rate                                             
199  Ultra ATA CRC Error Co.. 0      199    199    0                   OK (Always passing)      Error-Rate                                             
200  Write Error Rate         0      253    252    0                   OK (Always passing)      Error-Rate, Statistical                                
201  Soft Read Error Rate     0      253    233    21                  OK (Always passing)      Error-Rate, Statistical                                
202  Data Address Mark Errors 0      253    238    0                   OK (Always passing)      Error-Rate, Statistical                                
203  Run Out Cancel           180    253    252    8                   OK                       Error-Rate, Statistical, Critical                      
204  Soft ECC Correction      0      253    252    0                   OK (Always passing)      Error-Rate, Statistical                                
205  Thermal Asperity Rate    0      253    252    0                   OK (Always passing)      Error-Rate, Statistical                                
207  Spin High Current        0      253    252    0                   OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Error-Rate, Statistical               
208  Spin Buzz                0      253    252    0                   OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Error-Rate, Statistical               
209  Offline Seek Performance 0      204    201    0                   OK (Always passing)      Self Preserving, Performance                           
99   Vendor-specific          0      253    253    0                   OK (Always passing)      Performance                                            
100  Vendor-specific          0      253    253    0                   OK (Always passing)      Performance                                            
101  Vendor-specific          0      253    253    0                   OK (Always passing)      Performance                                            

    Transfer Rate Information
   ---------------------------
    Total Data Read  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 76,38 GB,  496,14 GB since installation  (13.10.2009)
    Total Data Write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 53,45 GB,  275,69 GB since installation
    Average Reads Per Day  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 13,06 GB
    Average Writes Per Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 7,26 GB
    Current Transfer Rate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
    Maximum Transfer Rate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 59606 KB/s
    Current Read Rate  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
    Current Write Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
    Current Disk Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 %



  -- Partition Information --

Logical Drive                           Total Space         Free Space          Free Space               Used Space
C: System (Disk: #0)                    24,4 GB             8,0 GB               33 %                    #############-------
D: Misc (Disk: #0)                      128,3 GB            1,4 GB                1 % (Low)              ###################-

Hope this helps.


P.S. Is your downloadable files correct:

hdsentinel_pro_setup.zip -> hdsentinel_pro_setup.exe (7 759 873 bytes)
hdsentinel_free_setup.zip -> hdsentinel_pro_setup.exe (7 759 873 bytes)


P.P.S. What is the difference between HDSentinel (not registered) and HDSentinel Free? Previously you had only "normal" and PRO versions. Feels a bit odd to me since I can't see any difference (other than that the normal version nags sometimes if not registered?).

[hdsentinel]

> Renamed HDSentinel.sys, ran "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT", no freeze, but also no log.
> Opened HDSentinel from systray, selected "Save TXT Report" from "Report" menu and everything froze again for about 15 minutes.

I suspect the report is created that time, during the "frozen" period.

> Then a save file dialog popped up. I navigated to desktop (was in "My Documents" folder initially) and saved
> the log there: CD drive began to spin for a while (???),

This is normal: the software saves other hardware information to the report, for example, the optical drive types and features
to help administrators. This may cause CD drive spinning.

> and freezing AGAIN!?!?!

A new report is created during that time.
It is now important to see which part(s) of the report creation is sooo slow on your system because usually full reports are created
much quickly (question of some seconds or even under one second).

> Same symptoms again, HD activity light ON, "no access to file system", etc.!

I suspect the hardware detection causes the big delay, when the software tries to collect information
about hard disk controllers, driver versions and so OR when it tries to detect the optical drive type (as wrote before).
The RAW report (which was saved by /REPORT switch) contains information about detection times of the different codes so it could help to diagnose this issue. The "Report" -> "Save TXT report" is a formatted report, which contains all information in a formatted way, but nothing to help in this situation (as you could see, no debug information, code execution times, returned information are saved inside).

> Further investigation lead me to the explanation; the log WAS saved in HDSentinel folder

Yes it is true. I wrote it:
"... Please try to run "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT". This should create a report file to the folder of the software"

> about at the same time when the save file dialog popped up, so, first freeze: HDSentinel gathers info
> and saves it to a log in HDSentinel folder...

Yes.

> second freeze: HDSentinel gathers info AGAIN and saves it to a log in user selected folder.

Yes.

> A bit stupid don't you think.

I do not really think. By the command line and by the action on the UI, you saved two different reports.
You'd expect that when you make a report, it should be "fresh", with all details.

> The log was created after about 15 minutes with freeze gone.

Yes. So it is important to know what caused the 15 minutes delay during the creation of the report.

> So, clearly it's not the "TempLog" driver that has problems.
> As I see it, the "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT" tried to run but since it couldn't start
> the "TempLog" driver, it aborted before HDSentinel does something else that causes the freeze.

Ok, I see, so the problem is related to an other detection part.

> Now, when comparing the 2 different logs, I see that the "TempLog" part takes only
> about 3 seconds to complete (in retrospect, this info was at hand in my earlier "timeline").

Yes I see: so that detection could not cause the huge delay.

> Hmm, discovered that there's actually 3 different log files now!?!
> 1) 850 rows (created with "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT" (last time, not now))
> 2) 566 rows (created in the HDSentinel folder with "Save TXT Report" from "Report" menu!?!?! (created when the save dialog appears))
> 3) 290 rows (created in the user selected folder (save dialog) with "Save TXT Report" from "Report" menu)

Not surprising
1) was the most complete DEBUG report - with all information
2) after you disabled some detection (by removing the SYS file) you received a shorter DEBUG report with fewer details
3) then you saved a full formatted report (which contains less information than the DEBUG report)
The #1 and #2 would be the most important files to see. If you can send me these by email to info (at) hdsentinel (dot) com, I can examine the situation.

> The 1st and 2nd logs have the same 272 rows at the beginning.

Yes, not surprising

> Then the 1st (full?) log continues with some motherboard info (temp, voltage, etc.)
> and with (what seems to be) PCI RAW information up until row 558 where
> both logs again continue in unison (+ this is where the 3rd log starts).

Yes, again not surprising
Now you can clearly see which information the TempLog tried to detect (temp, voltage, PCI RAW device information)

> And it gets even more odd: you wrote that "TempLog driver is designed to detect hardware details",
> so how come the 2nd log has some of that info even when
> the "TempLog" driver can't run (renamed the sys file)?!?

See above. I did not say the driver detects everything, just other kind of information which may
not be required but can help in diagnosing issues with certain disk controllers and motherboards.

> Here's the 3rd (shortest) log (I censored comp/user name & mac addr):
> Hope this helps.

Thanks. As I see, there are no fancy hardware installed and used, but as I wrote, the other DEBUG reports
may help better.
What is interesting for me is the optical drive detection:

> Optical Drive #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : E: HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8520B / 1.00 (CD-RW)
> Optical Drive #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : F: SONY DVD RW DRU-530A / 2.1g (CD)
> Optical Drive #3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : G: Generic DVD-ROM / 1.0 (DVD, CD)

It is weird that the SONY DVD-RW is identified only as a CD-ROM device.
If you have the opportunity, please try to remove this (or all) optical devices from the system
(or just disable it by the Device Manager of Windows). This should not cause problems but maybe -
and then we will have less parts to diagnose.

> P.S. Is your downloadable files correct:
> hdsentinel_pro_setup.zip -> hdsentinel_pro_setup.exe (7 759 873 bytes)
> hdsentinel_free_setup.zip -> hdsentinel_pro_setup.exe (7 759 873 bytes)

Yes, these are correct: these two files are 100% identical.

> P.P.S. What is the difference between HDSentinel (not registered)
> and HDSentinel Free? Previously you had only "normal" and PRO versions.
> Feels a bit odd to me since I can't see any difference (other than that the normal
> version nags sometimes if not registered?).

There is no real difference as you can see on the page of the Free version:
http://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_sentinel_free.php
"Both Hard Disk Sentinel and Hard Disk Sentinel Professional can be downloaded
for free and can be used freely - but with some functions are not available.
The displayed FREE version is the same as the unregistered version
of Hard Disk Sentinel Professional."

Sorry for the confusion, I did this way because I received mails about users
who wrote it was confusing that I offer FREE, Standard and Pro versions on
the Store page ( http://www.hdsentinel.com/store.php ) but they cannot find
where they can download the FREE version. Because both versions are free to use
(yes, it nags sometimes and the PRO version has more functions even in its
unregistered stage, I decided to allow users searching for FREE versions to
download it for free.

Sorry if it caused problems, now I think it is better solution than offering
Free, Standard, Pro - but users may not really sure which file they should download
if they just want to check the HDD status by the free version.

[Jermu]

Hello again, time time time, where does it go? Or where one could acquire more of it to do everything?

I'm not sure if you understood my loooong post like I meant it, I'll try to make a short post and more to the point. And again, I'm testing while writing this, so the text is in chronological order (mostly).

I do not really think. By the command line and by the action on the UI, you saved two different reports.

This is what happened:

1) launched "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT" -> no freeze, no log!
2) opened HDSentinel, ran "Save TXT Report" -> 15 min freeze
3) after 15 mins, save dialog appeared, and a log file was created in the app folder (found the file later and put 2&2 together by comparing file creation time & log file times).. i.e. log saved while save dialog was still open!
4) selected where to save the report (desktop) -> another 15 min freeze
5) after 15 mins, a log appeared on desktop

So, it was 2 freezes & 2 different length/type of logs created just by selecting the "Save TXT Report"! That is what I commented as being stupid. Tried to reproduce in VirtualBox, clean WinXPSP3 install, no dice, couldn't produce 2 logs like above. Even went through all my "non-plug & play drivers" and installed every app to the virtual OS that had those, no bugs, every log creating was just seconds.

It is weird that the SONY DVD-RW is identified only as a CD-ROM device.

Yeah, noticed that too myself back when I read the logs for the first time. Weird, but I thought that it's nothing to worry about (and then forgot it when posting here). Aaaaannnnnddd, just in, it turned out to be the culprit!! Disabled that drive from Computer Management as you suggested and a log file was created in seconds with the "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT" method. So, that's it. Thanks for the tip! Can't believe how I neglected to focus on that.. I'm usually very "pro" (trying not to brag ) when it comes to testing/debugging (I always say that give me an app and I'll show you at least 1 bug within 15 minutes).

Any insights if that drive could cause more trouble for my rig? Or what does it mean that it behaves/is detected so oddly? Haven't actually noticed any other problems so far (got that old Sony drive for free some time ago and since I had no DVD drive (almost no use to me), hooked that on and flashed it to the latest firmware). And before you mention it; it is jumpered and cabled correctly (though I know that some/sometimes optical drives can't operate in same channel).

Any chance of reducing the time of the "freeze" at your end? (and possibly writing an error line in the log?) Or does HDSentinel only call/poll/whatever the drive once and the system just goes to its knees?

the PRO version has more functions even in its unregistered stage

Now, that's a bit confusing. I've used/tested hundreds and hundreds of software and I've never ever heard/read/seen anything like this. Care to elaborate? What functions? The PRO in non-regged state is the same as the Standard and "Free" (as in it "nags" the same) BUT it has more features available?!

I'm sorry but if people download the free version and find out that the setup file is named as hdsentinel_pro_setup.exe, it is bound to cause lots of head scratching.. even I was surprised and I consider myself as a power user (years and years of experience with computers, soft./web developer, etc.). I do understand the benefit of offering a free app with limited features, "nagger" , and upgrade to paid versions without downloading another setup file. Still, maybe you should make it more clear on the website how it works. My 2c's.

Though, just realized, you state that: "Hard Disk Sentinel application is shareware. The free version can be used to evaluate the application and test its functionality and hardware compatibility. If you like this software, please register it to use all features and to get full support." in your store page.. a bit confusing.. word play.. and no link to download free version. BTW, noticed that the 3.00 & 2.90 changelogs has at least 2 same changes listed.

[hdsentinel]

I completely agree, it would be nice if a day may be 48 hours long

I tried to break your posts to smaller parts and answer them that way, just to make sure I respond everything.
Now I do the same, I hope it is not a big problem.

> This is what happened:
> 1) launched "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT" -> no freeze, no log!
> 2) opened HDSentinel, ran "Save TXT Report" -> 15 min freeze
> 3) after 15 mins, save dialog appeared, and a log file was created in
> the app folder (found the file later and put 2&2 together by comparing file
> creation time & log file times).. i.e. log saved while save dialog was still open!
> 4) selected where to save the report (desktop) -> another 15 min freeze
> 5) after 15 mins, a log appeared on desktop
> So, it was 2 freezes & 2 different length/type of logs created just by selecting the "Save TXT Report"!

Even if this is the chronological order, everything happened as I wrote.
When you started with /REPORT, the software started and then (not immediately, but after all detection is completed and the UI appears and everything settled down) it started creating the report and saving it to the folder of the application. What could be confusing that you could already click on the "Save TXT Report" item during this process and this caused that you thought that the report is created by selecting this item and saved to the folder of the software.
But the /REPORT triggered the report creation (and the delay) and that was saved to the folder before you actually closed the dialog.

If you want to verify this, just try to delete report from the folder of the software and start HDSentinel as-is, without the command line parameter and then select "Save TXT Report" from the menu. You may notice that this way no report will be created to the folder of the software (if you select an other folder for the report) and no temporary freeze should happen while the dialog is open (just after you close it).


> Tried to reproduce in VirtualBox, clean WinXPSP3 install,
> no dice, couldn't produce 2 logs like above. Even went through all my "non-plug & play drivers"
> and installed every app to the virtual OS that had those, no bugs, every log creating was just seconds.

Yes, this is how it should work


> Aaaaannnnnddd, just in, it turned out to be the culprit!! Disabled that drive from Computer Management
> as you suggested and a log file was created in seconds with the "HDSentinel.exe /REPORT" method.
> So, that's it. Thanks for the tip! Can't believe how I neglected to focus on that..
> I'm usually very "pro" (trying not to brag ) when it comes to testing/debugging
> (I always say that give me an app and I'll show you at least 1 bug within 15 minutes).

Thanks, so this confirms that the issue is caused by that optical device. Still weird but I'm investigating it and improve
the situation to prevent this issue happening in the later versions.


> Any insights if that drive could cause more trouble for my rig?
> Or what does it mean that it behaves/is detected so oddly?

Hard Disk Sentinel uses standard SPTI method to detect optical device parameters so I suspect other software which does
the same may have problems. This may include any software which tries to access the optical device and obtain its
type, features and so. Some software (for example DVD Decrypter) may allow the configuration of used I/O method
so it is possible that other type of access (eg. ASPI) has no problems.


> Haven't actually noticed any other problems so far (got that old Sony drive for
> free some time ago and since I had no DVD drive (almost no use to me), hooked that on
> and flashed it to the latest firmware). And before you mention it; it is jumpered and cabled
> correctly (though I know that some/sometimes optical drives can't operate in same channel).

They should work if they are configured as slave (if there is a hard disk on the same cable, the
HDD should be master in all cases). But for performance reasons (prevent sharing bandwidth between
the devices) it may better to connect the optical drive alone to an other cable.


> Any chance of reducing the time of the "freeze" at your end? (and possibly
> writing an error line in the log?) Or does HDSentinel only call/poll/whatever
> the drive once and the system just goes to its knees?

I'm finding the best way to fix this issue. If you agree, I'll send a quick test tool which outputs
the errors during detection which lead to the longer "freeze". This information helps to improve
the software to prevent this long delay.


> Now, that's a bit confusing. I've used/tested hundreds and hundreds
> of software and I've never ever heard/read/seen anything like this.
> Care to elaborate? What functions? The PRO in non-regged state is the same
> as the Standard and "Free" (as in it "nags" the same) BUT it has more features available?!

The registered PRO version has more functions than the registered standard.
For evaluation purposes, the unregistered PRO version has some functions which can be tested by the users.
So basically the unregistered PRO version has more functions than the unregistered standard version.
So if users prefer to have a FREE version which does not need to be registered, it is better to have as
much functions as possible, that's why I offer the unregistered PRO version as FREE.

> experience with computers, soft./web developer, etc.). I do understand the benefit
> of offering a free app with limited features, "nagger" , and upgrade to paid
> versions without downloading another setup file.

Yes, this is the idea.
For users looking FREE software -> they can immediately find it in the Product line, download and use it for Free.
Anyway, if they prefer to register it to use more functions, they can do it any time, without the need
of downloading an other version (unless they prefer the standard one).

Previously users if they were looking for a free solution to verify disk health status, they needed
to decide to download and use the unregistered standard OR Pro version at the time of the download.
That was really confusing I agree - because they could not find the "Free" solution.

And because the unregistered Pro version has most functions, I think it is best to offer this as Free.

> Though, just realized, you state that: "Hard Disk Sentinel application is shareware.
> The free version can be used to evaluate the application and test its
> functionality and hardware compatibility. If you like this software, please register
> it to use all features and to get full support." in your store page..
> a bit confusing.. word play.. and no link to download free version.

Sorry, I can't understand why it is confusing.
I wrote this because one of the reasons I offer the FREE version to test compatibility issues, to verify if things are properly working before registration.
Because the Free version has no time limit/expiration, users may use it as long as they want if they do not require the
functions which are "unlocked" by the registration. But if they are interested or if they have other feature requests
or just simply like the software, they may register it

The "Store" page (as its name reflects) is the Store of the registered versions.
As you see, there is no link to any downloads on this page The different products can be downloaded on the global downloads page
( http://www.hdsentinel.com/download_hard ... ntinel.php ) or from the page of the corresponding product.

> BTW, noticed that the 3.00 & 2.90 changelogs has at least 2 same changes listed.

If you mean "various minor bug fixes and improvements", this is listed for almost all versions, however these are of course different fixes / improvements

[hdsentinel]

Now, that's a bit confusing. I've used/tested hundreds and hundreds of software and I've never ever heard/read/seen anything like this. Care to elaborate? What functions? The PRO in non-regged state is the same as the Standard and "Free" (as in it "nags" the same) BUT it has more features available?!

The PRO has "Operations" page on Configuration window and some of the backup projects can be configured and tested even if it is not registered. This is what is more compared to the (unregistered) standard version, I hope it is not a big problem

[Jermu]

When you started with /REPORT, the software started and then (not immediately, but after all detection is completed and the UI appears and everything settled down) it started creating the report and saving it to the folder of the application. What could be confusing that you could already click on the "Save TXT Report" item during this process

I'm not into pissing contents but you're (partly) wrong here. There was no freeze after I ran the cmd line report, if there would have been, the HDS GUI wouldn't have appeared (reproducible) until the freeze (=detection/report creation) was gone! Now, for some reason, that very first time I ran that test which I reported (*), there was no freeze at all and it seems that HDS "delayed" (put it on queue/hold) the detection/report creation and started it ONLY after I clicked the "Save TXT Report" item. So I'm not confused, it was HDS which was confused for some reason that 1st time I ran the test.

(*) Can't reproduce.. same test makes HDS freeze right after the cmd and shows the GUI only after the freeze is over/report created.

If you agree, I'll send a quick test tool which outputs the errors during detection which lead to the longer "freeze".

Yes, that is what I was actually proposing in my 1st post.

Sorry, I can't understand why [HDS versions are] confusing.

Well, this is IMHO, you're playing with words in order to sell your app (which is understandable of course ), e.g. writing about evaluating, testing, shareware and at the same time you write (in some places) about free version. Looking at Softpedia, CNET download, Softonic, Fileforum (Betanews) & SnapFiles, just to name a few, all state that your app license is either free trial (free to try), shareware or evaluation. No mention of free version. Some people which download from your site, could be (and are.. I know), noobs that are going to be confused about the "pro" in the filename when they are trying to download the "free" version (quoted because technically there's no separate free version). Anyways, I just wanted to give feedback, take it anyway you like. Very few people actually send feedback like this (instead they usually go away).. it's almost always a tragedy how devs (if the message reaches that far in a big company) actually receive it (talking about this in general now ). No need to reply. I already have written all that I wanted to say about this (+more ). (back to tending my own apps userbase )
l

If you mean "various minor bug fixes and improvements"

No, I actually meant at least the "right click over list of logical drives to hide drives or select button sizes" item.. can't find the 2nd one I wrote about, multitasking made my brain fart? (maybe it was a 3.0 listed feature that I remembered seeing in the 2.9 version already (not in the log)) Sorry about that.

I hope it is not a big problem

No no, not at all, not for me.


My humble thanks for the answers.

[Jermu]

How's the test tool coming along?

[hdsentinel]

How's the test tool coming along?

I sent both e-mail and private message with link to the test tool. I'm waiting for the results

[Jermu]

Hi, sorry for the late response, busy busy with the "real life", plus had a twist on the problem case which slowed down getting back.

For some reason both tests were done in seconds using your tool, had to dig up and find the cause: AnyDVD (version: 6.5.8.2 (Trial)) I had uninstalled several weeks ago. It seems that it has this "pass-through filter" called ElbyCDIO.sys (found it from "Device Manager -> Non-Plug and Play Drivers") which, with "cooperation" of this drive/firmware/driver being slightly faulty *, causes the long ~15 minutes "freeze" while running your (old) detection procedure.

Here's the rundown with the test tool (shaved off hours from the timestamps):

1st with AnyDVD installed:

New test: start time: 14:23:234, end time: 14:23:828, runtime: ~half a second
Old test: start time: 14:29:593, end time: 31:09:718, runtime: ~17 minutes

Nothing really worth mentioning when comparing the two logs, except the place where the freeze occurs +couple of lines before and after:

Code: Select all

14:29:843  -- Drive: F, init
14:29:843     Handle: 520
14:29:843     Inquiry
14:29:843     ModelID: SONY    DVD RW DRU-530A
14:29:843     S/N    : Oct19 ,2004
14:29:843     FW rev.: 2.1g
31:09:609  -- Device: F: SONY    DVD RW DRU-530A / 2.1g (CD)
31:09:609       0000 05 80 00 21 33 00 00 00 53 4F 4E 59 20 20 20 20    ...!3...SONY    
31:09:609       0010 44 56 44 20 52 57 20 44 52 55 2D 35 33 30 41 20    DVD RW DRU-530A 
31:09:609       0020 32 2E 31 67 20 4F 63 74 31 39 20 2C 32 30 30 34    2.1g Oct19 ,2004
31:09:609       0030 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00            ........

2nd without AnyDVD:

New test: start time: 07:38:640, end time: 07:39:125, runtime: ~half a second
Old test: start time: 07:43:812, end time: 07:45:843, runtime: ~2 seconds

Again, nothing really worth mentioning when comparing the two logs, or comparing these with the AnyDVD installed logs. The slightly longer runtime occurs at the same position where the long freeze occurs with AnyDVD installed.. this time it's just ~1.6 seconds long.


* Here's a shortened event log I get every time (AnyDVD installed or not) when I run "HDSentinel /REPORT":

Code: Select all

Event Type:	Error
Event Source:	atapi
Event ID:	9
The device, \Device\Ide\IdePort1, did not respond within the timeout period.

Logged at the same time when the report is saved.


Hope this is enough information. Let me know if this is the case so I can stop "monitoring" this topic. Thanks.

Hopefully somebody benefits from this (other than you ). Personally I don't use the report feature. Glad that I could help.. maybe in exchange of you looking into the "Tray icon font" problem I posted here a while ago..?

[hdsentinel]

Thanks!

I thought the issue may not be related to this type of optical device as I received many reports
about systems with this DVD and other users did not report any such problems.

Yes I agree that it was an incompatibility issue between ElbyCDIO.sys and your device.
However, I feel there is still some kind of compatibility: the drive sometimes do not respond to software (this is what you can see in the system event log). Maybe using different data cable for this optical device and/or if you can modify the configuration of the IDE devices (includng this optical drive) it may help. For example, if you have other HDD or optical drive on the same cable, please try to remove it and configure this IDE DVD as master and connect to the "shorter" end of the IDE cable while the other end should be connected to the motherboard. It is also better to avoid "cable select" jumper settings (this was default for many drives) and manually configure the device as master or slave if required.

I sent you a private message and e-mail about the tray icon issue

[Jermu]

I thought the issue may not be related to this type of optical device as I received many reports
about systems with this DVD and other users did not report any such problems.

Same firmware? Before I connected this "free gift" to my PC, I checked internet and found that there's lots of problems with different firmwares for this drive. Also, maybe other users of this drive do not have AnyDVD installed.

I've set up jumpers properly, I've never have used CS btw, cable is good (AFAICT), all I could do is to remove the other CD-RW drive (currently using it as the primary drive) and try to put it to the other cable with the HD, but I'm not going to do that; like I've told already, I've not seen any other problems with this combo. I'm using this DVD drive very rarely, and it has worked ok this far. And your new detection code also works.. if I ever need the report feature. Thanks for the tips though.

[hdsentinel]

I just verified, no, the report from other users show that their DVD have older firmware (1.0d). Yes, they also did not say that AnyDVD is installed.

Thanks for the info
I wrote the tips because I suspect they may help other users also. Many cases the 80 conductor IDE cable is not connected properly and this may reduce performance, cause incompatibility issues. I receive lots of reports about HDDs which jumpered improperly or the cable is wrongly connected (for example shorter end is on the motherboard, middle end is on master device or HDD is configured as slave after an optical device) and these all can prevent disk monitoring also (no HDD temperature/health information displayed). So I always recommend to check the IDE cables and jumpers if any incompatibility happens.

[btwaries]

I have some problems involving windows. eg. windows 7. There are lots of "bot" hacks that I'd experienced and I hate bots. I love games, pc games but all has cheats and bugs. Good thing I call for my friend about this issue.

[smallvolume]

the "Save TXT Report" is different compared to the "Send test report to developer".
I have some problems of it.

[hdsentinel]

Yes, these functions are very different.

The "Save TXT Report" saves a report about your system for your reference. It contains the current status of the hard disks and system. It may be used by the local administrator to investigate any issues or even he can keep track of such reports to verify the changes in the system.

In contrast, the "Send test report to developer" contains the above information and other values (test-information, "raw" buffers reported by the disk controllers, error codes reported by the operating system, hardware and driver related information etc.)
These help to find out possible detection problems, any incompatibility issues and if we can check the developer report, it is possible to recommend some changes to improve performance, reliability and general health of the drives.

Excuse me if these were confusing,
Can you please describe your problem with them?

[philandrew22]

i think it has been partly clear in the discussion what are the functions and purpose of the system, but not with what the problem's solution, i think. just my 2 cents.