Media Collector has not run on one of my PCs since April 25 (it is set to run hourly). Is there a way to force it to run manually? The test Connection works fine.

Before you delve into restarting services, you might want to check the logfile on the client pc.

For XP :-
C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data\Hewlett-Packard\HP MediaSmart Server\

For Vista:
C:\Users\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data\Hewlett-Packard\HP MediaSmart Server\

That should give you some more indication of when it ran and what it did. By all means post your results here.

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Thanks - log file below


<?xml version="1.0" ?>
- <MediaSmartServer_Status>
- <LastRun>
<Date>25/04/2009 9:12:05 PM</Date>
<Status>Success</Status>
- <MessageList>
<Message>Started collecting media as user Tim Jackson at 25/04/2009 9:13:01 PM.</Message>
<Message>0 Photo files were copied to the MediaSmart Server</Message>
<Message>0 PhotoVid files were copied to the MediaSmart Server</Message>
<Message>0 Music files were copied to the MediaSmart Server</Message>
<Message>0 Playlist files were copied to the MediaSmart Server</Message>
<Message>Finished collecting media: Success</Message>
</MessageList>
- <ExtraInfo>
<PhotoCount>0</PhotoCount>
<PhotoVidCount>0</PhotoVidCount>
<MusicCount>0</MusicCount>
<PlaylistCount>0</PlaylistCount>
</ExtraInfo>
</LastRun>
- <LastError>
<Error>None</Error>
<ErrMessage>Cleared</ErrMessage>
</LastError>
- <LastSuccess>
<Date>25/04/2009 9:12:05 PM</Date>
</LastSuccess>
</MediaSmartServer_Status>

Thanks. Nothing untoward there.

Now check your eventlog (Start, run, eventvwr) on your client PC. In the Application log you should see entries with a source of MediaCollector. These will show you an entry for each time the Media Collector has run. First when it starts a collection, then one for each area you have selected for aggregating. Finally an entry with the overall status.

Is it running when it should be?
Is it running but not finding content?

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Thank you for the continued assistance.

On both client computers I see one instance:
The following is from the eventlog (application - source Media Collector)

Started collecting media as user Tim Jackson at 25/04/2009 9:13:01 PM.
0 Playlist files were copied to the MediaSmart Server
(same for photo, video etc)
Finished collecting media: Success

So it appears to have run once but not again.

I added another computer to see if MC would run on it and it does not - shows as "Enabled, No status available". Leads me to believe the problem is with the server not the clients.

Is there a way to force the collector to run?

There are 2 factors involved in the aggregation, 1 is the service on the server. So; make sure that is running OK. Personally, I would check on the server that all "Automatic" tasks are running. The second is a scheduled task that runs on the client (found in Control Panel). I've not delved too much into what that's doing, but it runs every 5 minutes so I assume it also polls for updated tasks, reading the config file from c:\inetpub\wwwroot.

You can start the scheduled task by right clicking it, and choosing Run Now.

Check the eventlog on both the client and server for any errors in System and Application.

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Sorry to be a bit clueless but how do I "check on the server that all "Automatic" tasks are running."

Thank you

Thanks for all the assistance. I have solved it - configured the task directly on the client - seems to be working now.

Thanks

What program did you use to create the task? I am having the same issues. My system hasn't collected since 5/3.

I also have the same issue. You can force it to run by going into windows task scheduler on your clent pc and manually running the schahedule task.

when you checked the scheduled task, did it say disabled or never ran?
if so, i would delete the task and reconfigure the collector and this should start a new task

The scheduled task was set as one time run even from some strange reason. Resetting to daily event seems to have fixed it.

I believe I know the cause of this behavior, it appears to be a bug and I have documented the fix in the Wiki.

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Alex Kuretz
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thanks that may help. i am running manually for now.