urgent: problems reading shared files

Hi!

On a server with MS Windows Server 2003 Standard with SP2 (additional
hotfixes installed) I made a transfer from ATA HDD to a RAID array.
I made it this way:

1. On the server mainboard (Supermicro X5DPL-8GM) I installed
Adaptec SATA II RAID 2420SA controller and connected two SATA2 HDDs
(WD2500YS) to the controller (the HDDs were previously checked with
WD Data Lifeguard Tools 11.2).
2. In Windows I installed drivers for the new controller (the newest
from the Adaptec web site) and Adaptec Storage Manager ver. 5.01.
3. In ASM I defined a logical device as RAID1 array with the two HDDs.
The write cache was disabled on the HDDs and on the controller.
4. With the Acronis True Image boot CD I cloned the existing ATA HDD
(with two NTFS partitions) to the new RAID array and then disconnected
the ATA HDD.
5. The server booted successfully from the RAID array.

The next day users reported that they had problems with reading files
on some file shares on that server. Other services in Windows (AD, MS
Exchange 2003, MS SQL DE 2000, print shares) worked fine. Backup of
the server data using NTbackup.exe was also successful.

For example when users (on MS Windows XP Pro. SP2) try to start a
shared application from a server's share the following error happens:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: (100)
Event ID: 1005
Date: 27.6.2007
Time: 8:50:41
Description:
Windows cannot access the file \\SERVER\Users\Infoline\HubInLine
\HUBINLINE.exe for one of the following reasons: there is a problem
with the network connection, the disk that the file is stored on, or
the storage drivers installed on this computer; or the disk is
missing. Windows closed the program HUB because of this error.

Program: HUB
File: \\dervdk\Users\Infoline\HubInLine\HUBINLINE.exe

The error value is listed in the Additional Data section.
User Action
1. Open the file again. This situation might be a temporary problem
that corrects itself when the program runs again.
2. If the file still cannot be accessed and
- It is on the network, your network administrator should verify
that there is not a problem with the network and that the server can
be contacted.
- It is on a removable disk, for example, a floppy disk or CD-ROM,
verify that the disk is fully inserted into the computer.
3. Check and repair the file system by running CHKDSK. To run CHKDSK,
click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the command
prompt, type CHKDSK /F, and then press ENTER.
4. If the problem persists, restore the file from a backup copy.
5. Determine whether other files on the same disk can be opened. If
not, the disk might be damaged. If it is a hard disk, contact your
administrator or computer hardware vendor for further assistance.
Additional Data
Error value: C000020C
Disk type: 4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Besides such errors there are no other messages in the Event Log of
users' Windows.

To solve the problem, I tried the actions suggested in the error
description and some more:
1. On various user computers (MS Windows XP Pro. SP2) I tried to copy
(using Windows Explorer or copy command in cmd.exe) some shared files
from the server to local drive and the result was the same at all of
them: some files were copied successfully but not all files (contained
in the same folder and having the same security permissions). I cannot
tell a pattern in this except that coping small files (< 100 kB)
usually succeeds.
2. On the other hand all files can be copied locally on the server.
Also files can be copied from the server to a user computer if the
copying is initiated from the server.
3. Double checked file and share permissions. Also, removed one of the
shares and defined it again.
4. I run chkdsk /r on all server partitions and no errors were found.
5. I reset the 100 Mb/s network switch that the server is connected
to.
6. Restored some of the problematic files from a backup that was made
before the transfer to the RAID.
7. Checked that I have the latest drivers for the server's NIC,
Intel PRO/1000 MT - E1000325.sys ver. 8.9.1.0 - the newest available
at the Intel web site.
8. Disabled antivirus software on both server and user computer.
9. Lowered the speed on the SATA HDDs used in the RAID to 150 MB/s.
10. Wrote a Tcl script to copy some problematic files from the network
share: a fixed part of the file was copied each time the script was
run and then a read error was reported. The position at which read
error occurs is not the same for various files.
11. No strange messages in the Event Log of the server.
12. Adaptec Storage Manager doesn't show any problems in its event
log.
13. Antivirus software (NOD32) doesn't report any viruses on the
server or at users.
14. ipconfig /all at the server says (sensitive data masked):
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : SERVER
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : mydomain.local
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : mydomain.local
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network
Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-30-48-29-B4-9C
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.111
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.111
192.168.33.113
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.111
Secondary WINS Server . . . . . . : 192.168.33.113

15. ipconfig /all at a user computer says (sensitive data masked):
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : mypc
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : mydomain.local
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : mydomain.local
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family
Fast Ethernet
NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-21-30-1F-02
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.159
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.111
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.111
192.168.33.113
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.111
Secondary WINS Server . . . . . . : 192.168.33.113

Does anyone have another suggestion about solving this issue?
Is there some other test I could do to find the cause of the problem?

-- rpr. /Robert Premuz/

More info about the problem:

I've created a new folder on D:\ of the server, set the NTFS
permissions explicitly (without inheritance), copied various types of
files to it (files not from that server) and shared the folder.
When domain users try to read files from that new share, some files
can be read but the other cannot although they all have the same NTFS
permissions. The test script shows that files are accessible actually,
but after a portion of the file has been read, a read error occurs as
if the network connection has been broken.

On the other hand the domain users can write files on the share
without problems.

-- rpr.

I wrote:
>
> On a server with MS Windows Server 2003 Standard with SP2 (additional
> hotfixes installed) I made a transfer from ATA HDD to a RAID array.
> I made it this way:
>
> 1. On the server mainboard (Supermicro X5DPL-8GM) I installed
> Adaptec SATA II RAID 2420SA controller and connected two SATA2 HDDs
> (WD2500YS) to the controller (the HDDs were previously checked with
> WD Data Lifeguard Tools 11.2).
> 2. In Windows I installed drivers for the new controller (the newest
> from the Adaptec web site) and Adaptec Storage Manager ver. 5.01.
> 3. In ASM I defined a logical device as RAID1 array with the two HDDs.
> The write cache was disabled on the HDDs and on the controller.
> 4. With the Acronis True Image boot CD I cloned the existing ATA HDD
> (with two NTFS partitions) to the new RAID array and then disconnected
> the ATA HDD.
> 5. The server booted successfully from the RAID array.
>
> The next day users reported that they had problems with reading files
> on some file shares on that server. Other services in Windows (AD, MS
> Exchange 2003, MS SQL DE 2000, print shares) worked fine. Backup of
> the server data using NTbackup.exe was also successful.
>
> For example when users (on MS Windows XP Pro. SP2) try to start a
> shared application from a server's share the following error happens:
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Event Type: Error
> Event Source: Application Error
> Event Category: (100)
> Event ID: 1005
> Date: 27.6.2007
> Time: 8:50:41
> Description:
> Windows cannot access the file \\SERVER\Users\Infoline\HubInLine
> \HUBINLINE.exe for one of the following reasons: there is a problem
> with the network connection, the disk that the file is stored on, or
> the storage drivers installed on this computer; or the disk is
> missing. Windows closed the program HUB because of this error.
>
> Program: HUB
> File: \\dervdk\Users\Infoline\HubInLine\HUBINLINE.exe
>
> The error value is listed in the Additional Data section.
> User Action
> 1. Open the file again. This situation might be a temporary problem
> that corrects itself when the program runs again.
> 2. If the file still cannot be accessed and
> - It is on the network, your network administrator should verify
> that there is not a problem with the network and that the server can
> be contacted.
> - It is on a removable disk, for example, a floppy disk or CD-ROM,
> verify that the disk is fully inserted into the computer.
> 3. Check and repair the file system by running CHKDSK. To run CHKDSK,
> click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the command
> prompt, type CHKDSK /F, and then press ENTER.
> 4. If the problem persists, restore the file from a backup copy.
> 5. Determine whether other files on the same disk can be opened. If
> not, the disk might be damaged. If it is a hard disk, contact your
> administrator or computer hardware vendor for further assistance.
> Additional Data
> Error value: C000020C
> Disk type: 4
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Besides such errors there are no other messages in the Event Log of
> users' Windows.
>
> To solve the problem, I tried the actions suggested in the error
> description and some more:
> 1. On various user computers (MS Windows XP Pro. SP2) I tried to copy
> (using Windows Explorer or copy command in cmd.exe) some shared files
> from the server to local drive and the result was the same at all of
> them: some files were copied successfully but not all files (contained
> in the same folder and having the same security permissions). I cannot
> tell a pattern in this except that coping small files (< 100 kB)
> usually succeeds.
> 2. On the other hand all files can be copied locally on the server.
> Also files can be copied from the server to a user computer if the
> copying is initiated from the server.
> 3. Double checked file and share permissions. Also, removed one of the
> shares and defined it again.
> 4. I run chkdsk /r on all server partitions and no errors were found.
> 5. I reset the 100 Mb/s network switch that the server is connected
> to.
> 6. Restored some of the problematic files from a backup that was made
> before the transfer to the RAID.
> 7. Checked that I have the latest drivers for the server's NIC,
> Intel PRO/1000 MT - E1000325.sys ver. 8.9.1.0 - the newest available
> at the Intel web site.
> 8. Disabled antivirus software on both server and user computer.
> 9. Lowered the speed on the SATA HDDs used in the RAID to 150 MB/s.
> 10. Wrote a Tcl script to copy some problematic files from the network
> share: a fixed part of the file was copied each time the script was
> run and then a read error was reported. The position at which read
> error occurs is not the same for various files.
> 11. No strange messages in the Event Log of the server.
> 12. Adaptec Storage Manager doesn't show any problems in its event
> log.
> 13. Antivirus software (NOD32) doesn't report any viruses on the
> server or at users.
> 14. ipconfig /all at the server says (sensitive data masked):
> Windows IP Configuration
> Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : SERVER
> Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : mydomain.local
> Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
> IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
> WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
> DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : mydomain.local
> Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
> Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
> Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network
> Connection
> Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-30-48-29-B4-9C
> DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
> IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.111
> Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
> Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.1
> DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.111
> 192.168.33.113
> Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.111
> Secondary WINS Server . . . . . . : 192.168.33.113
>
> 15. ipconfig /all at a user computer says (sensitive data masked):
> Windows IP Configuration
> Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : mypc
> Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : mydomain.local
> Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
> IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
> WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
> DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : mydomain.local
> Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
> Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
> Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family
> Fast Ethernet
> NIC
> Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-21-30-1F-02
> DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
> Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
> IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.159
> Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
> Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.1
> DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.111
> DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.111
> 192.168.33.113
> Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.33.111
> Secondary WINS Server . . . . . . : 192.168.33.113
>
> Does anyone have another suggestion about solving this issue?
> Is there some other test I could do to find the cause of the problem?
>
> -- rpr. /Robert Premuz/

The problem with reading shared files disappeared when the SATA RAID
controller was moved to another PCI-X slot in the machine! I guess
that in the previous configuration there was a subtle hardware or
driver conflict between the RAID controller and the integrated NIC.
It is very strange that Windows Server 2003 does not issue any
warnings or errors regarding this.

-- rpr. /Robert Premuz/

On Jun 27, 3:31 pm, I wrote:
>
> On a server with MS Windows Server 2003 Standard with SP2 (additional
> hotfixes installed) I made a transfer from ATA HDD to a RAID array.
> I made it this way:
>
> 1. On the server mainboard (Supermicro X5DPL-8GM) I installed
> Adaptec SATA II RAID 2420SA controller and connected two SATA2 HDDs
> (WD2500YS) to the controller (the HDDs were previously checked with
> WD Data Lifeguard Tools 11.2).
> 2. In Windows I installed drivers for the new controller (the newest
> from the Adaptec web site) and Adaptec Storage Manager ver. 5.01.
> 3. In ASM I defined a logical device as RAID1 array with the two HDDs.
> The write cache was disabled on the HDDs and on the controller.
> 4. With the Acronis True Image boot CD I cloned the existing ATA HDD
> (with two NTFS partitions) to the new RAID array and then disconnected
> the ATA HDD.
> 5. The server booted successfully from the RAID array.
>
> The next day users reported that they had problems with reading files
> on some file shares on that server. Other services in Windows (AD, MS
> Exchange 2003, MS SQL DE 2000, print shares) worked fine. Backup of
> the server data using NTbackup.exe was also successful.
>
> For example when users (on MS Windows XP Pro. SP2) try to start a
> shared application from a server's share the following error happens:
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Event Type: Error
> Event Source: Application Error
> Event Category: (100)
> Event ID: 1005
> Date: 27.6.2007
> Time: 8:50:41
> Description:
> Windows cannot access the file \\SERVER\Users\Infoline\HubInLine
> \HUBINLINE.exe for one of the following reasons: there is a problem
> with the network connection, the disk that the file is stored on, or
> the storage drivers installed on this computer; or the disk is
> missing. Windows closed the program HUB because of this error.
>
> Program: HUB
> File: \\dervdk\Users\Infoline\HubInLine\HUBINLINE.exe
>
> The error value is listed in the Additional Data section.
> User Action
> 1. Open the file again. This situation might be a temporary problem
> that corrects itself when the program runs again.
> 2. If the file still cannot be accessed and
> - It is on the network, your network administrator should verify
> that there is not a problem with the network and that the server can
> be contacted.
> - It is on a removable disk, for example, a floppy disk or CD-ROM,
> verify that the disk is fully inserted into the computer.
> 3. Check and repair the file system by running CHKDSK. To run CHKDSK,
> click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the command
> prompt, type CHKDSK /F, and then press ENTER.
> 4. If the problem persists, restore the file from a backup copy.
> 5. Determine whether other files on the same disk can be opened. If
> not, the disk might be damaged. If it is a hard disk, contact your
> administrator or computer hardware vendor for further assistance.
> Additional Data
> Error value: C000020C
> Disk type: 4
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Besides such errors there are no other messages in the Event Log of
> users' Windows.
>
> To solve the problem, I tried the actions suggested in the error
> description and some more:
> 1. On various user computers (MS Windows XP Pro. SP2) I tried to copy
> (using Windows Explorer or copy command in cmd.exe) some shared files
> from the server to local drive and the result was the same at all of
> them: some files were copied successfully but not all files (contained
> in the same folder and having the same security permissions). I cannot
> tell a pattern in this except that coping small files (< 100 kB)
> usually succeeds.
> 2. On the other hand all files can be copied locally on the server.
> Also files can be copied from the server to a user computer if the
> copying is initiated from the server.
> 3. Double checked file and share permissions. Also, removed one of the
> shares and defined it again.
> 4. I run chkdsk /r on all server partitions and no errors were found.
> 5. I reset the 100 Mb/s network switch that the server is connected
> to.
> 6. Restored some of the problematic files from a backup that was made
> before the transfer to the RAID.
> 7. Checked that I have the latest drivers for the server's NIC,
> Intel PRO/1000 MT - E1000325.sys ver. 8.9.1.0 - the newest available
> at the Intel web site.
> 8. Disabled antivirus software on both server and user computer.
> 9. Lowered the speed on the SATA HDDs used in the RAID to 150 MB/s.
> 10. Wrote a Tcl script to copy some problematic files from the network
> share: a fixed part of the file was copied each time the script was
> run and then a read error was reported. The position at which read
> error occurs is not the same for various files.
> 11. No strange messages in the Event Log of the server.
> 12. Adaptec Storage Manager doesn't show any problems in its event
> log.
> 13. Antivirus software (NOD32) doesn't report any viruses on the
> server or at users.