Troubleshooting Tool

Topics in this Section

• What is the Troubleshooting Tool?
• When should you use the Troubleshooting Tool?
• What does it mean for a file to be Hydrated vs. Non-Hydrated
• Using the Troubleshooting Tool
• Action Needed Workflows
  • Workflow Scenario 1
  • Workflow Scenario 2
• Troubleshooting Tool Videos

What is the Troubleshooting Tool?

This feature is intended to identify unsynced files and help you "kick start" syncing activity between your local desktop and the cloud. You can check for any unsynced changes in your workspace, and verify if there are any updates from the cloud that have not been applied to your workspace yet.

When should you use the Troubleshooting Tool?

You could get value from this tool in the following situations:

1. You see an error on the Home Screen where a file has failed to Upload.
2. You have files listed as Sync Pending in File Explorer but no active or queued jobs in the home screen.
3. You suspect you could have added or modified data in the Desktop Connector workspace while Desktop Connector was not open or running.
4. You see updates in the cloud that are not reflected on your desktop.

What does it mean for a file to be Hydrated vs. Non-Hydrated

A hydrated file is one that is fully downloaded and available for use, whereas a non-hydrated file is not fully downloaded and is only available when online.

Using the Troubleshooting Tool

1. You can access the tool through the gear icon in the Home Screen and select Troubleshooting.

   

2. A project selection dialog will be displayed. Select the project that contains the files or folders you are concerned about.

   

3. Desktop Connector will scan the project you selected. It may take a few moments before a list populates.

   

4. Once the Troubleshooting Tool has finished scanning your environment, you will see the following display. In this dialog you will see a list of unsynced files that require your attention. There are two tabs in this tool, My Unsynced Changes and Unsynced Cloud Updates.

   

   • My Unsynced Changes reflects files on your desktop with changes that have not yet been synced to the cloud. This issue could occur if the attempts were made when the Desktop Connector was not active and running.

     • The Operation column lists the type of action that has not gone through – for example: Move, Delete, or Add. Selecting Fix all on this tab will generate jobs that correspond to all the files listed. Currently, granular selection of files is not available.

   • Unsynced Cloud Updates refers to changes in the cloud that have not yet been applied to your Desktop Connector workspace. Unlike the previous tab, there are many different types of errors possible:

   Under the details section you have three categories to view: File, Issue Details, and Operation

   

   • Missing Job: This situation occurs when you add or modify content in your Desktop Connector workspace when the application is not running. When it Desktop Connector is opened again, it does not always catch these updates. Running the Troubleshooting Tool and selecting Fix all will push these updates into the home screen as jobs.
   • Invalid Name: This error occurs when the project name has an extra space at the end of the name. This can cause issues with updating files contained within the project. This error will need to be resolved by someone with admin rights Removing the Additional Space from the end of the Project Name in Autodesk Docs.
   • File In Use: The file cannot be updated to the cloud version because it is open on your machine. You will need to close the file and possibly go through the Conflict Management Process through the Home Screen.
   • Unexpected Error: This can be generated by anomalous events in the system. This may indicate that Removing and Re-adding the Project in the project selection dialog would be beneficial.
   • Not Attempted: Represents the condition where an update is unable to be applied because it follows another pending cloud update.
   • Unresolved Changes: The cloud cannot update the file because you have local updates that haven’t run yet. Typically, these errors go away upon selecting Fix all in the My Unsynced Changes tab and allowing the jobs to complete in the Home Screen.

1. Once you have reviewed all issues, it is best practice to go back to the My Unsynced Changes tab and select Fix all .

   

2. Once you select Fix All you should see the following dialog notifying you that the fixing process has started. It will automatically dismiss itself after 10 seconds.

   

3. You can then monitor the progress of your job on the Home Screen.

4. Any issues updating your files will be reflected in the Home Screen, and you can resolve any prompts through that interface. For example, if you need to resolve a conflict or confirm any deletions.

5. Should there be activity within a selected project, the tool will halt the scanning process

   

Action Needed Workflows

For troubleshooting purposes, we've incorporated an Action Needed column. This is designed to address a few specific workflows that could not be managed otherwise. See the following image under Issue Details

Workflow Scenario 1

Step 1: Verify the status of the Desktop Connector.

• If it's currently active and you need to move a file, you'll first have to deactivate it. Note, the file to be moved should have the status Available when online.

Step 2: Unable to move a file between projects?

• Direct transfer of files between projects is not permitted by Autodesk. However, you can copy the file from the source project and then paste it into the destination one.

  

When a file is moved, it is perceived as a deletion by the original project and as an addition by the new project. However, the Desktop Connector is unable to recognize the original project, which prevents it from downloading the file for upload to the new project

To fix this, the user needs to determine which project the file originated from and apply the Troubleshooting tool to that project. Since the file movement appears as a deletion in the original project, it will be reported as such

At this point, the user should select Fix All. This action will initiate the delete job and trigger a confirmation prompt for deletion. To avoid loss of file content, they should then choose the Restore option

Once these steps are done, the user can copy the file from the original project and paste it into the target project. If prompted, they can choose to overwrite the file that hasn't been fully downloaded (unhydrated) in the target project.

Workflow Scenario 2

The second scenario addresses the issue of cyclically renaming existing cloud files or folders while the Desktop Connector is offline.

To address this, in the simplest case of renaming 'A' to 'B' and 'B' to 'A', the user should take the following steps:

1. Rename 'A' to 'temp'
2. Rename 'B' to 'A'
3. Rename 'temp' to 'B'

This method works for any sequence, no matter how long.

To resolve this before selecting Fix All, do the following:

Rename any one item in the loop to (name)temp or (name)temp.extension or something similar. When renaming files, the file extension must remain the same.

1. Run or refresh Troubleshooting, and select Fix All

2. Allow the jobs to run

3. Rename temp back to the desired name

   

If you select Fix All prior to making the necessary alterations, the system will attempt to relocate files or folders, but this action will not succeed.

To rectify this, locate the file or folder in the first failed job and rename it to (name)temp or (name)temp.extension. This action should enable all other tasks to proceed correctly. Once all tasks have been completed, you can then change (name)temp back to its original name.

Troubleshooting Tool Videos

Related Concepts:

• Desktop Connector is Not Running.
• "Autodesk Desktop Connector isn't running" when accessing the Start Tab in Civil 3D