hfs.exe 2.3 crashes multiple times a day

[rbarracca]

Greetings, 

First off let me say I love hfs and thank you for making such a great piece of software.

I have been running 2 serves with hfs on Windows 7 (64 bit) for quite a while with very few issues.  I have been on 2.3k for a bit and the process would crash once in a while, but it was not terribly inconvenient.  However, beginning March 24, 2020 the process has been crashing every day, sometimes multiple times a day, on both servers.  I upgraded to 2.3m on Friday but the problem persists.  I attached a screenshot that shows all the crashes on one of the servers - 1 in 2017, 4 in 2018 (3 on the same day), 1 in all of 2019, and then since March 24 there have been 9 crashes.  The other server shows a similar pattern.  The errors are either:

Faulting application name: hfs.exe, version: 2.3.0.0, time stamp: 0x2a425e19
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.1.7601.23915, time stamp: 0x59b94a16
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0002f048
Faulting process id: 0x960
Faulting application start time: 0x01d60b4ede595780
Faulting application path: C:\HFS\hfs.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll
Report Id: 93792a70-77ef-11ea-b208-2a41615dbe80

or

Faulting application name: hfs.exe, version: 2.3.0.0, time stamp: 0x2a425e19
Faulting module name: hfs.exe, version: 2.3.0.0, time stamp: 0x2a425e19
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000e801
Faulting process id: 0x11b0
Faulting application start time: 0x01d60a6f24cd3460
Faulting application path: C:\HFS\hfs.exe
Faulting module path: C:\HFS\hfs.exe
Report Id: e098e260-7681-11ea-b208-2a41615dbe80


The fault offset and time stamp are different each time, but it's always one of these 2 processes that fails and always exception code 0xc0000005

Thanks!
Bob

[Mars]

the problem may come from an incompatibility with a procedural call from the dll of your Seven 64bits

hfs is above all a 32 bit program which runs correctly on windows XP

right click on the program then choose properties, go to the compatibility tab, check compatibility mode, and select windows XP pack3

[danny]

You may need to make a new VFS (virtual file system). 

Also, you could leave the watchcat script running to automatically restart hfs as needed.

[rbarracca]

Thanks for the suggestions!  I have adjusted the compatibility setting and will monitor to see if things get better.  Will also look into watchcat script.

Thanks again!
Bob

[rbarracca]

Unfortunately adjusting the compatibility did not help.  hfs.exe is still crashing at least once a day.  The watchcat script is a huge help though as it restarts the service when it fails.  I would still like to get to the root cause of the issue so it stops crashing all the time

[Mars]

ntdll.dll is not directly used by hfs.exe, I drew lea dll in an XP system, then pasted it with hfs.exe to run everything on a windows 10, it is not the dll of the hfs directory which is used but directly that of the operating system

[danny]

I'm glad you liked the WatchCat script.  I did also make Throwback14 template, with much help from DJ. 

For now, you can try these:
1). Make a new vfs (virtual file system). 
2). Prevent overrun by setting (properties of the network card) server network speed to 100 megabits (or use netlimiter software). 
3). If the hfs automatic settings update sets external ip address, it may crash (instead, set it to the server's local LAN address, and save settings to file, before you start the WatchCat script).

Edit:  See also FixWin from the Windows Club.
Edit2:  Perhaps you'd need KB2718841 (network race-conditions hotfix for Windows 7 64)
Edit3:  If your problem is #3 above (auto-set external address can't forward, may cause loop), you can edit hfs.ini, change 'last-update-check' and 'ip-services-time' to 99999.99999 (far future date) to disable the remote settings-update featurebug; however, putting yourself back in the driver's seat costs no updates (except manual) and no ddns (use external program). 

[bmartino1]

Greetings, 

First off let me say I love hfs and thank you for making such a great piece of software.

I have been running 2 serves with hfs on Windows 7 (64 bit) for quite a while with very few issues.  I have been on 2.3k for a bit and the process would crash once in a while, but it was not terribly inconvenient.  However, beginning March 24, 2020 the process has been crashing every day, sometimes multiple times a day, on both servers.  I upgraded to 2.3m on Friday but the problem persists.  I attached a screenshot that shows all the crashes on one of the servers - 1 in 2017, 4 in 2018 (3 on the same day), 1 in all of 2019, and then since March 24 there have been 9 crashes.  The other server shows a similar pattern.  The errors are either:

Faulting application name: hfs.exe, version: 2.3.0.0, time stamp: 0x2a425e19
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.1.7601.23915, time stamp: 0x59b94a16
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0002f048
Faulting process id: 0x960
Faulting application start time: 0x01d60b4ede595780
Faulting application path: C:\HFS\hfs.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll
Report Id: 93792a70-77ef-11ea-b208-2a41615dbe80

or

Faulting application name: hfs.exe, version: 2.3.0.0, time stamp: 0x2a425e19
Faulting module name: hfs.exe, version: 2.3.0.0, time stamp: 0x2a425e19
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000e801
Faulting process id: 0x11b0
Faulting application start time: 0x01d60a6f24cd3460
Faulting application path: C:\HFS\hfs.exe
Faulting module path: C:\HFS\hfs.exe
Report Id: e098e260-7681-11ea-b208-2a41615dbe80


The fault offset and time stamp are different each time, but it's always one of these 2 processes that fails and always exception code 0xc0000005

Thanks!
Bob

https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2184972-ntdll-dll-crashing

First ntdll is a Windows system component and sounds like a component stroke issue

I recommend running CMD as administrator
Sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /restoreHealth
Sfc /scannow

.....

This also seems like a antivirus program stoping a http session
Looks like McAfee or Norton endpoint?

Either way I don't believe hfs is the culprit it is the is and setting you have set trying to over secure a machine.

[danny]

If HFS inbuilt DDNS updates to unexpected address (such as external which your router can't forward), you can disable that part, in trade for other means to update DDNS.  There are standalone programs for it.  And, you can use WGET (included with the WatchCat script).  The DDNS people usually have Linux examples using WGET, and it works in Windows too.

Code: [Select]

wget -qO- "$@" "http://update.dnsexit.com/RemoteUpdate.sv?login=USERNAME&password=PASSWORD&host=MYSITE.linkpc.net"An example for DNSexit.  Replace the all-caps items with your own.  This can be run from Windows Scheduled Tasks; such as, at startup, repeat in 12 hours, indefinitely, wake to run. 

However, if your PC server is using 'wake-on-link' power saving, it may be asleep during a change and then can't get link requests to wake it.   For that case, the DDNS updating should be relocated to the always-awake router, such as DD-WRT, FreshTomato, Gargoyle, Openwrt or any other small Linux utility.

Edit:  The timeframe isn't a match.  We had a round of it in January/February; and surely would notice it before March 24 (mentioned at Post#1).  So, perhaps the March 24th problem is not in HFS.   But, you could still use the WatchCat script to keep the server alive.  If you do menu > save settings > to file, then WatchCat can revert bad automatic settings (so long as the server was good when the script was started).