FreeFileSync doens't see source files

[therealwheely]

I'm using FreeFileSync for some time now on different PC's and it never gave me any problems up till now.
It's a very strange problem.

I added some folderpairs for mirroring.
The first time after comparison and when the destination folder is empty syncing goes well.
When I do a second comparison FreeFileSync says that the left side folders are empty and it wants to delete the files in the destination folder to match the folders again.

But when I check the source folders with the Windows explorer all original files are still available in the source folders just as it should be.

After syncing the destination folders are empty again.
When I do a third comparison FreeFileSync sees the files in the source folders again and mirrors everything again to the destination folders.

And so on...

Also when I browse on the left side to add a source FreeFileSync doesn't see any files in the folders but in the Windows explorer the files are just there.

See screenshot:
[404, Invalid URL: http://www.dhs.nl/NoFilesInFreeFilesync.jpg]

There is nothing special with the source folders or the files. They are not hidden or anything. The filters in FreeFileSync are default. I used 'Run as Administrator' to start FreeFileSync.

I have tried FreeFileSync 6.4 & 6.5 and they work correctly on another server.

The only difference is that the other server has Windows Server 2008 and the server with the problems is Windows Server 2012. Also the source drive of this server uses GPT as a partition table. The destination drive uses MBR.

Anyone any suggestions what can course this problem?

[Zenju]

Can you try to simplify the problem, e.g. construct a setup where FFS should find a single file in a folder but does not find it? Then we can try to analyze what's going on, probably a Process Monitor trace will be the first step.

[therealwheely]

Can you try to simplify the problem, e.g. construct a setup where FFS should find a single file in a folder but does not find it? Then we can try to analyze what's going on, probably a Process Monitor trace will be the first step.

I did some experimenting. I created a new source and destination folder and a simple textfile in de source folder. Everything seemed to work fine.

Then I copied the ZIP-files to the new source folder. I updated the permissions on the files to be the same as the folder for the source and for the destination.

Mirroring seems to work now except for an error message with the trash bin. See the attached screendump.

[Zenju]

> error message with the trash bin

What OS are you running exactly? Have you applied all the latest patches to it?

[therealwheely]

> error message with the trash bin

What OS are you running exactly? Have you applied all the latest patches to it?

We are running Windows Server 2012 x64
De server has all the latest patches

At this point FreeFileSync doesn't sync anymore. The following error is being displayed:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: FreeFileSync_x64.exe
Application Version: 6.5.0.0
Application Timestamp: 536226f3
Fault Module Name: SHELL32.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.2.9200.16807
Fault Module Timestamp: 52e0560a
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0000000000466fbd
OS Version: 6.2.9200.2.0.0.400.8
Locale ID: 1043
Additional Information 1: 0b13
Additional Information 2: 0b132bd6856444fdf593e66b711e342f
Additional Information 3: cb65
Additional Information 4: cb65b12f01104d1eb4bf6e091561d4f6

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[Zenju]

Alright, you mention many different problems, let's add some structure and tackle them one by one:

> `1`. When I do a second comparison FreeFileSync says that the left side folders are empty and it wants to delete the files in the destination folder to match the folders again.

Is this problem still reproducible? The essence of the issue seems to be the second step, i.e. failure to see files on the source side? If reproducible, this is the angle for further analysis.

> `2`. when I browse on the left side to add a source FreeFileSync doesn't see any files in the folders but in the Windows explorer the files are just there.

On your screenshot there are only .zip file, but the FFS folder picker obviously selects folders only, that's why the selection screen is empty.

> `3`. Mirroring seems to work now except for an error message with the trash bin. See the attached screendump.

This is an error message from Windows Server 2008 R2. Are you able to reproduce the problem? Can you send me a copy of your version of shell32.dll where the fault occurs?

> `4`. At this point FreeFileSync doesn't sync anymore. The following error is being displayed:

This is a crash on Windows Server 2012. Are you able to reproduce the problem? Can you send me a copy of your version of shell32.dll where the fault occurs?