Note: This is a topic brought over from DameWare Forums which has been closed. If you wish to engage in this discussion, just comment here.
Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:03 pm
Does the new version use more Desktop Heap? Ever since I upgraded I have an NT box giving me User32.dll Init errors?
Roger
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:56 pm
After uninstalling MRC from the box I no longer get errors, so it does appear there are resource leaks or something causing excessive Desktop Heap usage. I just saw there was an update too...was this fixed in the new version? I cannot install this again until it is as this machine services 4000+.
Roger
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by bryan on Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:55 am
This really isn't an uncommon error within the O/S itself, and it shouldn't have anything to do with our software.
Please refer to the following Microsoft KB article:
Overcoming User32.dll Initialization Failure Errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/142676
Howerver, you might also want to try the most current version as well, because we did make a small change on how the current desktop stated is checked in this current release (6.7.0.3).
Your feedback is appreciated.
Bryan Brinkman
Support Engineer
DameWare Development, LLC.
http://www.dameware.com
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:46 am
Yes, I am aware of that page. I made those changes and the error still came back. When I removed MRC it has been 4 days now without error. Speaking of changes...any chance we can get a list of changes for the last 2 versions in the Announcements? It sounds like this Desktop Change Check may have been a possible cause. Is all of this tested on NT machines after they are made? I may try the current version or the next...I'm a little worried so far since it caused so many issues before (When this error occurs 90% of the windows open and immediatly close with the error, so it is very difficult to fix).
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by bryan on Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:04 pm
Hey Roger,
Thanks very much for the feedback on this, and for your assistance elsewhere in the forum as well. It's very much appreciated.
Please try out this current version of the software that was just released yesterday (v6.7.0.4), because we believe you are right on with regard to the check desktop state function. We were able to find a small flaw in that code, and we should now be back where we were before this change.
Also, we definitely understand your cautiousness about doing this on a production server. Hopefully you have somewhere else where you can test this out first, before implementing it in your production environment.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Bryan Brinkman
Support Engineer
DameWare Development, LLC.
http://www.dameware.com
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:54 pm
Thanks Bryan, I've been using .0-.4 on the Win2K boxes since it/they came out...For some reason the issue never bothered them and in fact it seems quicker. The release notes in the announcements seem to be 1-2 versions behind all the time though, so I never know what is fixed. Might be good to put it in the download section too. I'll try it out on the NT Box and see how it does. It might be a good idea when flaws are found to make it a forced upgrade too. I noticed .4 doesn't upgrade if at the proper level...I don't think it even asked or notified.
Roger
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:46 pm
So far I haven't seen the error. The last time I connected though I got a Dameware error that was also occuring when the last issue was going on:
Upon connecting when the Negotiating Version, etc is in the status bar right before the screen shows, Dameware pops up a message saying "uncompress error" or "compress error" or something like that. Just a plain messagebox with no icons or anything. It didn't do it when I went back in though. Just kinda weird since it only happens on the NT box.
Roger
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by bryan on Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:41 am
Hi Roger,
Many thanks for your feedback on this.
Honestly, based upon this specific error it makes me think that perhaps there may be other issues on this NT box.
We only have this error in one specific place in the Mini Remote Control software, only when “Encrypt Images” is enabled for this connection. Therefore, if this machine is already within a secure network (i.e. LAN) then you may want to try turning off Encryption for this connection, because it sounds like this machine is about maxed out.
Perhaps you can even try adjusting some of the other performance settings as well? In other words, try turning off compression, increase Scan Blocks, etc... in an attempt to use less memory.
If you haven’t already done please feel free to take a look at our performance KB article on our website. Because there are a variety of settings that can be tweaked within the software to reduce bandwidth or to find performance settings that are optimal for any environment.
Mini Remote Control Performance Settings
http://www.dameware.com/support/kb/article.aspx?ID=201028
I hope this helps.
Bryan Brinkman
Support Engineer
DameWare Development, LLC.
http://www.dameware.com
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Wed Feb 06, 2008 2:23 pm
Turned off all Encryption options and haven't seen that error now. The actual machine side hardware/OS/Network is supposed to be controlled by another area, but it is somewhat lacking. In searching for issues I noticed in the Event Logs there are some processes actually failing because of a fragmented drive too. NT didn't have defrag built in, but NT 4 has the API available, so I installed Diskeeper Lite and defragmented both drives. About 50% of the files on C: were fragmented. E: had 60% free space, but you couldn't tell because the entire drive was full of red/fragmented files. I shuffled the Page files around and got them in continuous files too. Now it runs much nicer. I haven't seen the user32.dll errors either, so it looks like we are good until something else breaks on this old thing.
One nice improvement is it appears the new Mirror Driver finally detects that it isn't supported on NT and doesn't log messages saying it can't load in the logs anymore when I connect, so the Event Logs are much cleaner. There is also a lot more nice info in the log on connecting too. Things are looking pretty good so far with only an issue when transfering a file this morning it didn't indicate it had started and no progress showed, yet it wouldn't let me start another and warned on disconnect it was in the middle of transfer...but no network activity. I ended up just disconnecting and reconnecting, but there may be a few more loose ends there to tie up.
Roger
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:54 am
Well...I spoke too soon. Got a user32.dll init error this morning. Appears all the maint just made it take longer to occur. I'm going to leave Dameware off it for a week now to see if the error returns without it and confirm as to what is the cause...
Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Mon Feb 11, 2008 10:01 am
Not looking good for MRC...Usually if anything happens on this box it happens on Monday when everything kicks back in for the week. Its been Thr, Fri, Sat, Sun, and now Monday morning without User32.dll init errors. Before, it couldn't even make it 2 days... Might want to have them recheck all code that changed for 6.7.x.x. It never did this before the 6.7 release.
Roger
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by bryan on Tue Feb 12, 2008 4:12 pm
Hey Roger,
Thanks for all your feedback.
Our software doesn't directly allocate space on the Heap, it's all done by the O/S itself, and the code for NT/2000 really hasn't changed in any of these versions, except for one environment block setting (see below).
Also, all the new desktop functionality, including checking the Desktop State, is only executed in Windows XP and above. There is also no SysTray icon present (DWRCST.EXE) when the remote machine is not logged in (i.e. sitting at the logon desktop). So if this machine is just sitting there with nobody connected to it and nobody logged in, then there is absolutely nothing going on with our software at this time.
However, please also try adding the following code to the DWRCS.INI file on the remote machine, under the [Settings] section, either during the initial install of the Service or after. Just keep in mind if it’s after you will need to stop & restart the MRC Client Agent Service on the machine if you make these changes while the Service is already installed & running.
[Settings]
Create Environment Block = 0
Check Named Desktop = 0
We're definitely willing to work with you on this, but it really sounds like this machine is right on the edge and still has some issues.
Your feedback is appreciated.
Bryan Brinkman
Support Engineer
DameWare Development, LLC.
http://www.dameware.com
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:17 pm
So, what exactly is the Environment block doing/what values is it storing? The Heap is for various desktops visible and invisible too. It appears to be for actual object such as windows and/or GDI objects, brushes, fonts, etc. Could be something not getting released or anything. The service is set to interact with the desktop too which I'm assuming is to enable functionality with the tray icon when a user connects and to read the screen. Since it is a service it really doesn't need "windows", but to process any messages (which any useful application must do) there must be some type of window. One neat trick I learned was creating a message window by setting the parent to HWND_MESSAGE when creating the window which really helped my Service's resources and streamlined message handling.
Roger
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:36 am
I have some Win2K boxes complaining about Virtual Memory now too that have the latest 6.7.x.x versions and no others are having issues. I keep pretty good maint on these too, so something is eating the memory...
Roger
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:19 am
Just letting you know I did a 3 day test.
Day 1 had MRC Installed and used up all 522MB of RAM and the 2GB Swap File.
Day 2 had NO MRC and ran fine with min swap file size.
Day 3 had MRC on and it did the same thing as Day 1.
Took it off again and it is running fine. XP+ may be more forgiving on whatever is eating RAM, but NT and 2K don't like it...
Roger
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by bryan on Thu Feb 21, 2008 7:38 pm
Hey Roger,
This really doesn't make any sense at all. We've been trying to duplicate this since you first reported it, and we still haven't had any luck whatsoever on any of our test or production machines. We also haven't had any other customers from around the world report this behavior either, in any version of the software.
Also, just FYI, some of the things we talked about eariler in this post like checking the desktop state, or even the environment block, didn't apply to NT4 or 2000 only to XP and above. The code for NT/2000 has pretty much remained static for quite some time now, so many of your previous assumptions are incorrect. It also makes absolutely no sense with regard to the behavior you're seeing in your environment, and frankly we wouldn't have much of a product if this is how the software behaved. So I personally have to believe there is something else in your environment that's causing this behavior to occur.
However, even though you're the only person reporting this behavior, we're still interested in helping you determine the source of these issues in your environment. Therefore, let's take this offline and we will see what we can do to assist you in resolving this behavior (debug code, etc...). Please contact support@dameare.com at your earliest convenience so we can get things started. Hopefully you have some type of test environment where you can reproduce this behavior, so it doesn't interfere with your production machines.
Best Regards,
Bryan Brinkman
Support Engineer
DameWare Development, LLC.
http://www.dameware.com
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by MichaelH on Wed Feb 27, 2008 12:54 pm
We are having a similar problem. We have a number of W2K machines that are experiencing strange memory leaks. All of this started around the time we upgraded to v6. I have stopped the service on a number of the affected machines to see if the problem continues or not. We also logged some strange dameware errors in the event log.
eventid 110
Error: DameWare Mini Remote Control
System Error: 1450
Tray Icon Error. (1.4)
Unable to execute DWRCST.EXE.
Make sure DWRCST.exe is in the same folder as DWRCS.EXE. (srv)
This starts in the middle of the night when no one is here.
MichaelH
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by bryan on Wed Feb 27, 2008 1:07 pm
Even though we could not reproduce the exact outcome reported here, we believe we may have found something that could have potentially caused this strange behavior to occur under certain rare scenarios on Operating Systems prior to XP.
Therefore, please download & install the most current version of the software which was just placed out on the website late yesterday evening (v6.7.0.8), and then update the MRC Client Agent Servie on the remote machine to this current version as well.
However, this may or may not also require an initial reboot of the machine to free any of these resources, since they don't appear to be assigned to our process by the O/S.
Bryan Brinkman
Support Engineer
DameWare Development, LLC.
http://www.dameware.com
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Thu Feb 28, 2008 1:33 am
Just giving a status update on this. Installed the new version on 2 Win2K Boxes (Ones that give Virt Memory errors) and an NT Box (One that gives Heap Errors) at around 9am today. So far the Win2K boxes use around the same or lower memory than this morning, and no Heap errors on the NT Box. Looking good so far. The morning will tell more though...if I get a 3am-6am call that something failed, I'll be sure to let you know while I'm up.
Roger
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:22 am
Got through 2 mornings now still keeping the same memory usage. Looks like you guys found the issue. Great work! Any hints on what the cause was? Being a programmer myself it is always good to know possible issues with older OS when using certain API, etc. If just a user mistake, you don't have to post... We all make those.
Re: Desktop Heap??
by coffeyshop on Mon Apr 28, 2008 1:04 pm
Hello everyone,
I have just recently upgraded to v6.7.0.9 from version 5 and have been getting this same error described earlier on every server that I have installed the new client. Any chance the old problem has been re-introduced that was fixed in v6.7.0.8?
I too get loads of event messages about "Unable o execute DWRCST.EXE" starting after-hours and lasting several more before the server gets to a state that I can't even logon anymore.
Any help is appreciated.
coffeyshop
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Re: Desktop Heap??
by Roger on Mon Apr 28, 2008 4:13 pm
No Memory or Heap errors on my end, both NT and 2000.