ELK RP Crashes When Clicking "Rules"

[SteveInNorCal]

Aaaarrgghhh...Starting today, Elk RP works fine on everything EXCEPT Rules. When I click "Rules," It freezes. Every single time.
 
I'm at the very end of a year-long process to get Elk installed, configured, connected to Alarm Relay, use IP and GSM comms, etc. Last weekend, I finished the very last task -- configuring all of my UPB switches in UpStart, get them working in Elk RP, and writing rules to have the lights go on and off while the system is armed.
 
So naturally, today, at the very end of this long journey, RP starts crashing and I cannot modify or add any rules.
 
I've seen a few threads on RP instability on rules, particularly when you add comments to the rules. Every one of my rules has a comment to help me figure out what I'm doing. I noticed the database was starting to get flaky last weekend with some comments showing up in the wrong place and the order of some rules seeming to change by themselves. I also got a strange error about RP software failure and telling me to contact the programmer (!!).
 
I found some threads on RP flakiness, database corruption, rules comments causing problems, etc going back 10 or 12 years. It seems as though Elk had addressed these problems with some subsequent releases and I thought I could live with what was happening. But today I am now dead in the water. After big money outlays and a huge investment of time in this system, this is now frustrating beyond belief.
 
Now what? Is there any way to rebuild the Access database that Elk RP uses? 
 
Would appreciate any help you can provide. Can Elk offer any assistance on this?
 
Thanks.

Steve

 

[Del91574]

RP is generally very stable and usually the issues I've found relate to the computer and it's image. I have many M1's out there and a bunch of laptops and PC's with multiple DB's and synchronization across them and very large rule DB's and haven't experienced the issues you're describing (the text notes for rules are only on the local DB and not the M1)
 
The first items I'd look at is which version of RP you're running and your PC itself. I'd try another PC or fresh install of RP to try to rectify this. Blow out everything RP related down to the registry. You can export your entire RP DB as it exists (with multiple accounts) and re-import it to a fresh install.
 
If you believe your DB is the issue, then you can drag a copy from the panel itself into a fresh copy of RP and be the same as you were prior to the issue appearing.
 
What's the PC? OS? M1 FW?

 

[SteveInNorCal]

RP is generally very stable and usually the issues I've found relate to the computer and it's image. I have many M1's out there and a bunch of laptops and PC's with multiple DB's and synchronization across them and very large rule DB's and haven't experienced the issues you're describing (the text notes for rules are only on the local DB and not the M1)
 
The first items I'd look at is which version of RP you're running and your PC itself. I'd try another PC or fresh install of RP to try to rectify this. Blow out everything RP related down to the registry. You can export your entire RP DB as it exists (with multiple accounts) and re-import it to a fresh install.
 
If you believe your DB is the issue, then you can drag a copy from the panel itself into a fresh copy of RP and be the same as you were prior to the issue appearing.
 
What's the PC? OS? M1 FW?

 
DEL...I'm on a Dell Latitude (about 3 years old), Windows 7 Enterprise, SP1, 8 GB RAM, 250 GB SSD, 160 GB Free

HW          Boot      FW
M1G         3.3.6     5.2.4
M1KP2       3.0.14    2.1.54
M1XRFTW     1.0.5     1.2.34
M1XIN       3.0.5     1.3.7
M1XSP       1.0.1     1.0.48
M1XEP       1.2.0     1.3.28

 

[SteveInNorCal]

 
DEL...I'm on a Dell Latitude (about 3 years old), Windows 7 Enterprise, SP1, 8 GB RAM, 250 GB SSD, 160 GB Free

HW          Boot      FW
M1G         3.3.6     5.2.4
M1KP2       3.0.14    2.1.54
M1XRFTW     1.0.5     1.2.34
M1XIN       3.0.5     1.3.7
M1XSP       1.0.1     1.0.48
M1XEP       1.2.0     1.3.28

 
DEL...no joy. I uninstalled RP, did a reg clean, installed new RP. The "RP" folder at C:\ProgramData\RP was empty except for one file (can't remember which). Strangely, when I launched the newly installed program, my household account came right up. I had stored a backup of "RP" folder on the desktop. Not sure how Elk found all my files upon startup.
 
Anyway, same behavior as before. Everything works except "Rules." When I click "Rules" the program freezes.
 
BTW, I'm not sure if the above list is the FW actually in use. I took that from a screencap of downloaded files which I may have not yet installed.

Steve

 

[drvnbysound]

When you perform an uninstall of ElkRP, all of the registry settings are still saved - which is why your household account came up. In DEL's post above he stated, "Blow out everything RP related down to the registry."
 
The only thing that I've found to be an issue was when I had FIPS enabled.

 

[mikefamig]

I had trouble with RP2 hanging.Running RP2 in XP compatibility mode cured it.
 
Mike.

 

[mikefamig]

I would also try creating a new customer account and receiving all settings from the M1 into that new account.
 
Miie.

 

[SteveInNorCal]

When you perform an uninstall of ElkRP, all of the registry settings are still saved - which is why your household account came up. In DEL's post above he stated, "Blow out everything RP related down to the registry."
 
The only thing that I've found to be an issue was when I had FIPS enabled.

 
Does the Win 7 "uninstall" feature clear out registry entries? I searched the registry and couldn't find any Elk entries after doing the Uninstall. What's the best way to make sure all RP reg entries are wiped?
 
FIPS is disabled on my machine.

 

[SteveInNorCal]

I would also try creating a new customer account and receiving all settings from the M1 into that new account.
 
Miie.

 
Good idea. I'll try that tonight.
 
FWIW, I was also getting constant error messages that the RP Text and Rules did not match Text and Rules on the M1. I'd sync them (copy RP to System), but on next startup of RP, would get the same error message.

 

[Del91574]

Does the Win 7 "uninstall" feature clear out registry entries? I searched the registry and couldn't find any Elk entries after doing the Uninstall. What's the best way to make sure all RP reg entries are wiped?
 
FIPS is disabled on my machine.

No, folders and some files still remain. I can't remember if they're hidden folders or not because I have all those turned on on the machines I have running.
 
I just looked at this machine and it's a hidden folder in my C:> program data>RP, but the path should be close for your machine.
 
You should be able to export the .MDB file (make sure you know or have the PW for the DB security) and blow out RP completely. Then after reinstalling, you can drag a copy of your panel in or import the .MDB files and be back.
 
Texts are typically not saved on the .MDB from what I've experienced, nor are notes in rules; They are typically local to the single machine and usually it's just as easy to ignore the flags for those items.