Tag: Windows 8

KB2990170 – MPIO Identifies Different Disks As The Same Disk

Microsoft posted a fix for Windows Server 2012, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2 for when multipath I/O identifies different disks as the same disk in Windows.

Symptoms

The code in Microsoft Windows that converts a hexadecimal device ID to an ASCII string may drop the most significant nibble in each byte if the byte is less than 0x10. (The most significant nibble is 0.) This causes different disks to be identified as the same disk by Multipath I/O (MPIO). At the very least, this may cause problems in mounting affected disks. And architecturally, this could cause data corruption.

Resolution

When you apply this hotfix, the conversion algorithm is fixed. Disks that were masked by this issue before you installed the hotfix may be raw disks that still have to be partitioned and formatted for use. After you apply this hotfix, check in Disk Management or Diskpart for previously hidden disks.

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft Support.

An Old Post Of Mine On Ballmer That Makes Interesting Reading

I’ve just re-read a post I wrote in 2010 about the future of Steve Ballmer. My two topics of focus were Windows Phone 7 (released that day) and the lack of a Windows tablet at the time.

I thought WinPho would struggle behind iOS and Android, mainly because of apps. I was not wrong. Things have improved, but there’s still issues with app quality and availability.

We now know that Ballmer bought into the Sinofsky plan (sounds like some dodgy French plan to keep out invading forces, and we know how those tend to work out). Windows 8 came, Windows 8.1 came, Windows 8.1 Update 1 came, and still Microsoft struggles in the tablet market. I thought (and I was not along) that, despite everything, Microsoft should get WinPho working on tablet devices. Instead we got the confusing and failed Windows RT, which is now being killed off through a merger with Windows Phone for ARM devices.

Fun times!

Oh yeah, I completely underestimated the impact of smartphones and tablets on the consumer market.

Microsoft News Summary – 26 August 2014

I know very few businesses deployed Windows 8, but any "upgrade" that requires a wipe & replace is not a service pack. However, that’s what Microsoft now thinks, and that’s had an impact on the Windows 8 support policy. Someone in Redmond needs a quick kick in the nether region, because coffee clearly won’t be strong enough.

And in other news on this slow morning, Steve Ballmer binged on a TV show featuring one of Hollyweird’s plastic surgery victims. Yeah; it’s always a slow period in the build up to big announcements.

Microsoft Fraks Up Patches AGAIN

I’m sick of this BS.

Microsoft is investigating behavior in which systems may crash with a 0x50 Stop error message (bugcheck) after any of the following updates are installed:

2982791 MS14-045: Description of the security update for kernel-mode drivers: August 12, 2014
2970228 Update to support the new currency symbol for the Russian ruble in Windows
2975719 August 2014 update rollup for Windows RT 8.1, Windows 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2
2975331 August 2014 update rollup for Windows RT, Windows 8, and Windows Server 2012

This condition may be persistent and may prevent the system from starting correctly.

If you are affected by any of the above then the repair process (see Known Issue 3) is an ungodly nightmare.

This is exactly why I tell people to delay deploying updates for 1 month. That’s easy using SCCM (an approval rule will do the delaying and supersede for you). WSUS – not so easy and that requires manual approval, which sadly we know almost never works.

Feedback, private and public from MVPs hasn’t worked. Negative press from the tech media hasn’t worked. What will, Microsoft? Nadella oversaw this clusterfrak of un-testing before he was promoted. Is sh1te quality the rule from now on across all of Microsoft? Should we tell our customers to remain un-patched, because catching malware is cheaper than being secure and up-to-date? Really? Does Microsoft need to be the defendant of a class action suit to wake up and smell the coffee? Microsoft has already lost the consumer war to Android. They’re doing their damndest to lose the cloud and enterprise market to their competition with this bolloxology.

Microsoft News Summary – 17 July 2014

This week’s Microsoft news has been dominated by the cryptic letter by Satya Nadella and the pending (and obviously required) layoffs after the completion Nokia acquisition. Let’s stick to the techie stuff:

KB2927313–Hyper- VM Won’t Start Because The Security ID Structure Is invalid (0x80070539)

Microsoft posted a new support article for when a virtual machine cannot start – The security ID structure is invalid (0x80070539). This affects Hyper-V on WS2012, WS2012 R2, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.

Symptoms

Starting an imported virtual machine under Hyper-V sometimes fails with an error message that states “The security ID structure is invalid (0x80070539)”.

Cause

This issue is caused when a virtual machine is moved from one environment to another, and Hyper-V cannot remove an invalid security ID from the virtual machine configuration as part of the import operation.

Resolution

A user can reset the state of security IDs in the virtual machine configuration by adding a new, valid user ID. To do this, you will need to:

  1. Open an administrative PowerShell command window
  2. Run: Grant-VMConnectAccess -VMName "Name of VM that is not starting" -UserName "Domain and username of the current user"

The virtual machine should now be able to start successfully.

 

KB2918371 – Scheduled Backup Of Hyper-V Fails With Event ID 517 & Error 0x80780049

This new article from Microsoft refers to “Windows Server Backup running on the host operating system”, but I cannot say if this issue affects third party backup tools, DPM or not. REPEAT: DO NOT ASK ME – ASK MICROSOFT. Very often Microsoft has a bad habit of stating that a backup fix is for a scenario featuring a Microsoft backup product, but it really affects any tool backing up Hyper-V.

Symptoms

Consider the following scenario:

  • You have a Windows Server 2012 hyper-v host and a Windows Server 2012 guest virtual machine (VM).
  • You start Windows Server Backup on the host operating system.
  • You click Backup Schedule to start the backup schedule wizard and then click Next.
  • You select Custom on the Select Backup Configuration tab and then click Next.
  • You click Add Items, select host component and the guest VM, and then complete the wizard.
  • You restart the host operating system.

In this scenario, scheduled backup fails with event backup ID 517 and error 0x80780049.

“The Update” fixes this issue for Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V and Windows 8.1 Client Hyper-V. A hotfix is available for Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V and Windows 8 Hyper-V.

If the problem is limited to Windows Server Backup then it will typically affect just small installations (1 or maybe even 2 hosts) and labs.

KB2908783 – Data Corruption Occurs On iSCSI LUNs In Windows

Another niche scenario bug is fixed in this update by Microsoft, affecting the following Windows versions/editions:

  • Windows 8 & Windows Server 2012
  • Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2

Symptoms

Consider the following scenario:

  • You have a computer that is running Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.
  • You create iSCSI connections to multiple iSCSI targets which are storage arrays.
  • There are frequent iSCSI session connections and disconnections, such as logical unit number (LUN) arrivals and removals.

In this scenario, a silent read/write data corruption can occur on an iSCSI LUN.

There is a bunch of links for downloading updates to resolve the issue, depending on your OS and architecture. See the original post by Microsoft for links.

KB2928127 – Supported File Paths For Hyper-V Virtual Machine Storage

I am pretty particular about where I store virtual machine files. I STRONGLY DISLIKE the default storage paths of Hyper-V. I use 3 options:

  • Local storage: Virtual hard disks and virtual machine files go into D:Virtual Machines<VM Name>
  • CSV: Virtual hard disks and virtual machine files go into C:ClusterStorage<CSV Mount Name><VM Name>
  • SMB 3.0: Virtual hard disks and virtual machine files go into \<SMB 3.0 Server Name><Share Name><VM Name>

Each VM gets its own folder. All files for that VM, including virtual hard disks, go into that folder. I NEVER use the default VM file locations on the C: of the management OS. Using those locations is STUPID. And if you cannot see why … please put down the mouse and hand in your resignation now.

Microsoft has published a KB article to reinforce the fact that there are supported file share path formats. The wording is a bit iffy – see my above examples to see what is supported. Long story short: Place the VM files into a dedicated subfolder for that VM.

KB2846340 – Duplicate Friendly Names Of NICs Displayed In Windows

This KB applies to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 up to Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. There’s no mention of Hyper-V, but considering that hosts have lots of NICs, it seemed relevant to me. The scenario is when duplicate friendly names of network adapters are displayed in Windows.

Symptoms

Consider the following scenario:

  • You have one or more network adapters installed on a computer that is running one of the following operating systems:
    • Windows Vista
    • Windows Server 2008
    • Windows 7
    • Windows Server 2008 R2
    • Windows 8
    • Windows Server 2012
  • The display names of the network adapters are changed. For example, the device driver is updated.
  • You add new network adapters to the computer. The new network adapters are of the same make and model as the original network adapters.

In this scenario, duplicate friendly names of the original network adapters are displayed in Device Manager.
For example, you have two network adapters installed on a computer. Before you update the driver, Device Manager shows the following:

  • <Network adapter name>
  • <Network adapter name> #2

After the driver is updated, the names of the network adapters are changed to the following in Device Manager:

  • <Network adapter new name>
  • <Network adapter new name> #2

After you add new network adapters that are of the same make and model, Device Manager shows the following:

  • <Network adapter new name>
  • <Network adapter new name> #2
  • <Network adapter new name> #3
  • <Network adapter new name> #4
  • <Network adapter new name> #5
  • <Network adapter new name> #6
  • <Network adapter new name>
  • <Network adapter new name> #2

In this scenario, Device Manager displays duplicate friendly names of the original network adapters.

A hotfix is available to resolve this issue.