Bad SnapAPI drivers - BSOD and unable to reinstall properly

A few days ago I sent this error report to Acronis customer support but so far no response. I did not get any "support ticket confirmation" so I do not have any kind of request ID. So I am posting the problem description here:

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I recently had a problem with my Acronis True Image 9 - I was unable to create a full backup and whenever I did so, I was getting this error message:

"E00070021 Cannot access drive. Cannot create the image of the logical drive D: because it is currently in use by running applications or the logical drive contains bad sectors."

I was not aware of any problem with the D: drive, it's in perfect condition too. So I found a recommendation on your company forums, to upgrade the SnapAPI drivers, so I did so. I used a file named snapapi_updater.zip and installed the drivers. That was a *very* bad idea. Since then whenever I tried to run the backup, I got a very nasty BSOD error saying something about "a Device driver tried to access hardware in a dangerous way, the system stopped to prevent damage to hardware" - the wording is not exact.

So I thought the problem may be caused by some incompatibility with TI9 + Vista, so I bought a TI11 upgrade. I first uninstalled the old TI9 version from my PC and then restarted. Another *very* bad idea. Then my PC was unable to boot at all, the Windows just started booting and then crashed (when still in the "text mode"). Safe mode didn't work either but fortunately, the "Last Working Configuration" option worked so I was able to boot the PC.

OK, then I finally installed the new True Image 11. I created a backup task and started it. Right after checking the partitions and "touching" the backup-to USB drive, it crashed again with the same nasty BSOD as the TI9 did after I installed the SnapAPI drivers. No difference at all.

So I installed yet another version of the SnapAPI drivers, using a link mentioned at this forum thread:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=216994

This didn't help at all, the same BSOD was still present. So I thought it would be a good idea to first uninstall the SnapAPI drivers and install a new set of them. I followed the "Removing Acronis SnapAPI Drivers" instructions as described at http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/support/kb/articles/576/ . This indeed allowed me to get rid of the BSOD crash but as expected, the TI11 stopped working with this error:

"E000101F4 Unable to open (initialize) computer
Unable to initialize snapshot library"

This was expected since the SnapAPI drivers were uninstalled. So I installed the new drivers again. Unfortunately, for some reason the re-installation of the drivers did not probably properly register the new drivers. Reinstallation of the TI11 application did not help either. So the problem I am having now is that my TI11 is not working at all, and I am afraid that it I reregister the SnapAPI drivers manually again, I will start getting the BSOD error again.

I checked the Windows minidump file with a debugging tool and while there was not much usable information because the "symbols could not be loaded", at the very bottom of the debug info there is this line:

"Probably caused by : snapman.sys ( snapman+126ae )"

Your SnapAPI drivers are seriously faulty as I see it, although it may be just the one version I may have used. I wasted several hours trying to solve the problem or at least return my PC back to working state. And while my PC works now, my Acronis True Image 11 does not.

Please advise how to install new *functional* SnapAPI drivers.


My PC configuration:

CPU: Intel E8400 @3.0Ghz
MB: MSI NEO, chipset Intel P35
RAM: 4GB DDR2 (3.25GB usable)
Internal HDD: Samsung 753LJ - 750GB SATA II
External HDD: Samsung 753LJ - 750GB SATA II connected via USB
OS: MS Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit, UAC disabled, Admin account
Acronis True Image version: 11, build #8101

 

latest snapapi is 359 ask for it.

 

I see you are not a NOOB to handle a dump.

OK, but you didn't post the content of the BSOD (the hex numbers).

And: A minidump is not enough to review it. At least you need a Kernelmemory-dump (I don't know the right expression. In German it is "Kernelspeicherabbild") to investigate it correctly.

The next you can do is to check your HDDs with the Samsung-Check-Tool.
Hardware errors can crash the snapapi drivers.

 

Well, right now the problem is actually not the BSOD but that I am unable to reinstall the SnapAPI drivers. I will try the newest version - 359 as was mentioned. I tried version 337 which may be buggy, who knows. I am just wondering why is it so difficult to find the newest SnapAPI drivers. They do not seem to be available for public download.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the HDD itself, with either the internal or external one. They both seem to be working perfectly and I have just recently run a full surface test on the internal one - with no errors reported. The S.M.A.R.T. data looks OK too.

It's not possible to read the S.M.A.R.T. data from the USB connected external drive but I expect it has no serious problems either. After all, it was working before I installed the newer SnapAPI drivers and I was able to use the Win Vista built-in full PC backup feature.

Tomas

 

Hello tomfra,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please notice that Acronis True Image 9.0 Home does not support Windows Vista.

Please also notice that snapapi drivers provided for Acronis True Image 9.0 Home and earlier are different than the ones provided for later versions. As you found, using the drivers for later versions of Acronis True Image with earlier versions of Acronis True Image may prevent proper functionality of the software. Please make sure that the drivers are provided for your version of Acronis True Image before installing them.

The snapapi drivers available for public download are the latest confirmed stable version. More recent versions are provided by our Expert Team depending on the problem encountered, when necessary.

We recommend you to use Acronis CleanUp Utility to completely remove Acronis True Image 11 Home from your system. The utility will guide you through the process. Please also clear Windows temporarily folders. Then install Acronis True Image 11 Home again.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov

 

OK, I'll try it. Actually, True Image 9 does work with Vista although there were some problems when UAC was enabled. The problem that I was unable to create a full backup was strange because before I was able to create a full backup after I upgraded to Vista.

I'll try the cleanup utility now...

Tomas

 

OK, that didn't help. I removed TI11 using the cleanup utility and then, just as before, got an error message. See tha attached TI11_Error2.jpg snapshot. The part of the error message that's not in English (it's Czech) says "The system cannot find the specified file". Or something like that.

This problem has been apparently caused by the manual removal of the SnapAPI driver references described at: http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/support/kb/articles/576/ that I had done before. Reinstalling the TI11 or the SnapAPI drivers separately (using the "Repair" option in installer) does not, for some reason, re-register the registry keys properly.

So I added the registry keys back manually, again following the http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/support/kb/articles/576/ article, this time in the opposite direction.

Then I restarted the PC. During Windows start-up, I got a nasty BSOD. See the attached TI11_BSOD1.JPG snapshot taken with my digital camera. I had to start Windows using the "Last working configuration" option which made the system to boot up but TI11 is now once again experiencing the TI11_Error2.jpg error.

I had a similar problem before when installing/reinstalling TI and the SnapAPI drivers. As I see it, there is something seriously wrong with the SnapAPI drivers.

Please advice how to solve the problem.

Tomas

P.S. I also have the Disk Director Suite which I did not uninstall with the cleanup utility but I suppose this should be a problem.

 

Small correction: in the P.S. it should say "...but I suppose this should NOT be a problem" of course...

 

Are you using a Czech language version of Windows?

I'm not sure if there is a Czech version of TI, but it has been known for example, for TI to play up when German language versions of Windows, have the English version of TI installed.



Does this MS knowledge base article help at all?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324103/en-us

Oops of course you are using Vista, so I would check in registry to see what value is in UPPER FILTERS - it may be that TI has not removed it's entry as it might have been in use when TI was uninstalled, or the wrong version is now in registry that TI installer can't cope with.

Colin

 

I was able to properly uninstall TI and the SnapAPI drivers (although that led to the BSOD problem initially), the keys have been removed from the registry. However, when I reinstall TI and/or the SnapAPI drivers, the keys are not created again so I have to put them back by hand - using the knowledge base article I mentioned - just in the opposite direction.

But when I do so, the PC does not start - it results in the very nasty BSOD you can see on the digital camera snapshot. So it appears it indeed attempts to load the drivers but fails badly.

Based on the behaviour, I suppose there is a serious problem with the driver files themselves. They are physically there, I checked that (at least the most obvious snapapi.* and snapman.sys files - don't remember their exact names).

It's very complicated to test different configs as every reboot takes like 8 minutes on my Vista PC due to several programs that are loaded (and due to the fact that Vista is a serious crap) - e.g. antivirus, firewall etc. A truly frustrating experience...

Tomas

 

disconnect from the internet and disable the firewall and A/V, see if that makes a difference, also check in Windows Defender to see if there is anything blocked there.

I did have problems with Image Agent once (for Echo) when AVG Business decided to block parts of Echo from loading.

Colin

 

I have Windows Defender disabled on my PC because I am using COMODO Firewall Pro which has antispyware features built-in and AVG antivirus. But I doubt these programs have anything to do with this problem. When the TI-related keys are in the registry, the BSOD appears right when Vista begins to start (like a second or two after it begins) which is well before the Firewall and antivirus programs begin to load.

Of course, AVG could have some boot sector protection or something similar but I doubt it would cause any troubles either. It's a common software application so more people would have to report a similar problem if it indeed was causing this complication.

Tomas

 

The only reason I suggested checking the Firewall and A/V, is that they are often among the first services to be started, even before the GUI of Windows appears, if the A/V checks files as they are opened, then it would be possible that they could prevent Windows starting correctly if they are clashing.

Only way to find out is disable them in Services, and if the problem disappears re-enable them one at a time.

I'm out of ideas I'm afraid.

Colin

 

Colin,

thank you for your ideas! I may try what you suggest although this testing is not as simple because I'll first have to manually "re-add" the TI registry keys which makes testing somewhat complicated. And it's pretty dangerous too - the "last working configuration" option from the Windows boot menu "solved" the problem before but there is no guarantee it will work always. I tend not to trust MS Windows in any version and Vista is no better, unfortunately.

I guess I'll try the TI 2009 beta version to see if the problem is in there as well. I suppose it comes with a new version of the SnapAPI drivers too.

Tomas

 

OK, I've just installed the TI 2009 Beta and so far it seems to be working. The backup is in progress right now, I'll report when it's done. Now the question is whether I will be entitled for a free upgrade from TI 11 when I ordered the TI 11 upgrade just two weeks ago. I'll contact the Acronis support anyway.

Tomas

 

Hello tomfra,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please be aware that Acronis True Image and Acronis Disk Director share some of components (including Snapapi drivers), so choosing to not remove the latter is most likely the cause of problems with installation of the former. Please try doing the following:

- Uninstall beta version of Acronis True Image 2009 Home using Windows "Add&Remove programs" tool;
- Remove all traces of Acronis True Image 11 Home and Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0 using Acronis CleanUp Utility;
- Download Windows Installer CleanUp Utility and install it;
- Run Windows Installer CleanUp Utility and remove all present entries for Acronis products (insluding Snapapi drivers entries, if any);
- Reboot the computer;
- Clear Windows temporarily folders (accessible by clicking Vista logo/Start button and entering "%temp%");
- Install Acronis True Image 11 Home (reboot the computer when prompted).

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov

 

This time I was able to install TI 11 when following the mentioned steps, didn't get a BSOD. But when I created a scheduled full backup task and then attempted to start it, the OS froze almost immediately - after checking C and D partitions. Replicated the problem twice.

It crashed at the same point at which I was getting a BSOD with the TI 9 and TI 11 after installing the SnapAPI drivers separately so I bet the slight change in behaviour is caused by slightly different version of the SnapAPI drivers present in the standard TI 11 installation because this time I didn't install them separately.

So there is a good chance that when I install them separately now, I will get that very same BSOD at the very same point instead of the system froze. Not much of a difference... I will try this now though.

Tomas

 

No, the OS still gets frozen with or without the SnapAPI drivers v 337 installed separately. No BSOD this time, but a complete system freeze is not much of a difference.

I will not be testing this any further. It's extremely time consuming and I have wasted a *LOT* of time on this problem already. For one reason or another, TI 11 and the SnapAPI drivers distributed with it simply do not play well with my computer. It may be because of many reasons but I cannot think of anything that should cause such serious problems because I have quite standard hardware components (no overclocking etc.) and software installed.

And to be honest, I do not see many differences between TI 9 and TI 11 in terms of features... except that TI 9 worked on my Vista OS, although not without problems. From what I have seen so far, I'd say that TI 9 -> TI 11 is more like an "update" than a major "upgrade".

The good news is that the TI 2009 Beta works on my PC and it has some nice important new features such as backup archive encryption and a more intuitive GUI. It's a step forward for sure. But it's a beta version still and for example it was eating around 50% of my C2D E8400 @ 3Ghz (Penryn core) resources even when not doing anything - just when TrueImage.exe was running. But once this and other bugs get fixed, I can imagine it will be a big success.

Tomas

 

Hello tomfra,

We are sorry for delayed response.

If you still would like us to try to find out, what causes the problem with running Acronis True Image 11 Home on your computer, and provide you with a possible solution, could you please collect some information to let us investigate it thoroughly?

Please create Acronis Report and Windows System Information as it is described in Acronis Help Post.

- Reinstall Acronis drivers with enabled logging (from this package, if you used a different one before);
- Reproduce the issue and collect the log file without closing any application windows (including the error message windows if there are any), if possible. The log file will be created at C:\ . The name of the log file will be snapapi [date-time].log

Then submit a request for technical support. Attach all the collected files and information to your request along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken before the problem appears and the link to this thread. To expedite the resolution I recommend you to use our Live Chat service after that. We will do our best to investigate the problem and provide you with a solution.

I would also like to note that while Acronis True Image 9.0 Home may indeed sometimes work under Windows Vista, it's not guaranteed to do so properly at any time. Windows Vista has significantly different structure from Windows XP, and the earliest version of Acronis True Image to be made compatible with that is Acronis True Image 10.0 Home.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov

 

Sorry, but I am not going to test TI 11 any further. It's extremely time consuming and very dangerous. I was left with a system that almost didn't even boot properly. I really cannot afford that right now.

I have done most of the steps you describe already, to no avail. If I should count all the time I spent/wasted trying to get TI 11 to work on my machine, we would be talking about at least 20 hours and that's a very moderate estimate. And that's not counting the time Vista needs to finish the file system check via "chkdsk -f".

TI 2009 Beta works OK on my PC so I plan to stay with that and then get the stable version.

Tomas