ATTENTION: Desktop Manager Has stopped working - SOLVED

Question

Hey everyone!
I've finally, finally solved a
problem I've been dealing with for the past month (since updating DM to the
latest version 6.x.35)
I have a BB Bold 9700 with OS 6.0.0.600 ( by the
way the issue is not related to the OS as I had the error prior to getting this
version).
The problem is that when opening DM, everything is fine AS
LONG as I don't connect my phone. As soon as I do, DM crashes with the dreaded
"DM has stopped working" message. I tried literally everything... Browsed many
forums and found onyl questions without answers... Turns out hundreds of BB
users faced the same problem on various BB models. Out of these I can honestly
say, only 2 managed to fix the issue they were facing.
To start with and
to help people identify if my issue is similar to the one they are facing, I'll
paste the issue as shown in :
Rim.Desktop.Exception.log
14:47:54.860|FATAL|10|Exception|0|Fatal
Error
System.IO.IOException: The directory name is invalid.
at
System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
at
System.IO.Directory.InternalGetFileDirectoryNames( String path, String
userPathOriginal, String searchPattern, Boolean includeFiles, Boolean
includeDirs, SearchOption searchOption)
at
System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(String path, String searchPattern, SearchOption
searchOption)
at System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(String path)
at
Rim.Common.Filesystem.Win32FileSystem.<GetFiles>d_ _7.MoveNext()
at
Rim.Common.Filesystem.FolderPath.<GetChildren>d__3 `1.MoveNext()
at
Rim.Common.Filesystem.FolderPathExtensions.<GetChi
ldFiles>d__6.MoveNext()
at
Rim.Media.Common.LibraryIdVersionManager.UpgradeWm sFilesForWmp(IFolderPath
settingsFolder)
at Rim.Media.Common.LibraryIdVersionManager.UpgradeTr
ansactionFiles(IFolderPath settingsFolder)
at
Rim.Media.Device.BlackBerryInfo.CreateDriveInfo(Me diaPaths mediaPaths,
MediaDestinationType destinationType, IInterruptibleFileSystem fileSystem,
Boolean isContentStore)
at Rim.Media.Device.BlackBerryInfo.RefreshDriveInfo(B
oolean isDftpMode, Object token)
at
Rim.Media.Device.DeviceService.OnDeviceAcquired(ID evice device, Object token,
DeviceAcquireResult result)
at
Rim.Desktop.Services.DeviceManager.Device.Internal Login(List`1 loginActions,
Boolean isPrivate)
at Rim.Desktop.Services.DeviceManager.DeviceManager.P
rocessDeviceLoginRequest(Device device)
at
Rim.Desktop.Services.DeviceManager.DeviceManager.<
LoginCurrentDevice>b__11()
at
Rim.Desktop.Services.Tasks.Task.RunOneOperation()
at
Rim.Desktop.Services.Tasks.Task.Run()
at
Rim.Desktop.Services.DeviceManager.DeviceManager.h andleWork(DeviceManagerWork
work)
at Rim.Common.Utilities.QueueWorkThread`1.ThreadProc( )
at
System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart_Context( Object state)
at
System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionCon text executionContext,
ContextCallback callback, Object state)
at
System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart()
Now my problem is
that unlike other error logs posted by users on various forums, mine didn't show
what the issue was... There is a gap between the 1st and 2nd lines in the log.
In all error logs I saw, that missing line was supposed to hold details on the
issue. In my case, the "invalid directory name".
I tried
reinstalling DM without success and after seeing that so many people on the web
had given up considering RIM was not taking any action, I joined the club and
even made the decision not to buy the 9900 once it is released.
Finally
today, for some reason while working on resolving an issue in an application I
use at work, I decided to use a tool for trying to solve the DM crash... The
tool is Process Monitor (procmon.exe) and is an AMAZING tool to see exactly what
happens when you run any process (executable or others).
Granted it's
not very accessible and users who don't work in IT might not be familiar with
many terms/features in this tool, but I honestly don't think there is any other
way to identify the problem you're facing in DM.
In my case I noticed in
the captured activity of Process Monitor that there were two "path not found"
issues just before the activity related to writing into the error log started.
The 2 paths were :
F:\BlackBerry\system\Media Sync\xxxxx.system
C:\Users\Nicolas\AppData\Roaming\Research In Motion\BlackBerry Media
Sync\<mypin>.settings
First path is on the blackberry itself
and in my case I had a file named "media sync" but no folder. I renamed that
file and created the folder with that name.
For the 2nd path, which was
very strange, I could not find a file matching my BB pin... There was another
one matching my wife's pin. I just took a copy of it and renamed it to my pin
number.
After these 2 adjustments I reopened DM and I got a message
that a new device had been detected. I did a few settings and my BB connected
successfully... No crash... I tried syncing, backup and everything seems to be
working fine now.
I hope this helps others in investigating the
issues they are facing. By the way in Process Monitor be sure to first access
the Filter options and select process name as : "rim.destop.exe"
This will
monitor ONLY the activity related to DM.

Answer 1

Hi Nicolas81...
Thanks for the detail here.  just to let you know, we have logged a bug with the Desktop Manager development team to have this fixed for the next version.
Cheers
M
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