RPC server error

[Techtron]

I'm working with Andover Continuum1.73 on a site that regularly (couple times a week at least) pops up an error message that the RPC server is unavailable. The system is running fine and then suddenly this window pops up. I can manually shut down all Continuum processes in Task Manager and restart but this gets old real quick. Any ideas to resolve the cause of the RPC server error?
Thanks for constructive input in advance.

[Techtron]

Multiple instances of mfc42.dll seems to be one cause.

[crab master]

Thanks for the update. I don't deal with that line hardly at all, but I did try searching the lessons learned website and didn't find anything there.

[AutoPilot]

Wow I don't think Andover, TAC, Schneider, or Whomever it is now even knows that. The RPC error has been a problem for Continuum since day one. I only seem to see it on workstation with network dailups. How did you go about determining the mfc42.dll is the cause?

[yroy]

This will probably not help....

This message is basically saying that application A tried to invoke a procedure in application B, and application B failed to respond in a timely fashion.

Application B in this case is considered the RPC server (Remote Procedure Call).

I know absolutely nothing about Andover Continuum. But I know about Windows.

When all is working fine, start the task manager and note down tasks that are running. As soon as the error message comes up, note down the tasks that are running again. The idea being... trying to identify which task has died. Once you know the task name, you can look in the windows event viewer to see if you have a descriptive error message just prior to, or at the exact moment you got the error message.

Post it here, then we will see. If no tasks disappear, it is still worthwhile looking at error message in the event viewer that happened just before the error message showed up.

[SkyIsBlue]

RPC error is a Windows issue, however I have only seen this error pop up when using Continuum.
Instead of going to Task Manager or turning the computer off, there is an easier way to deal with this in order to reset Continuum.

1) Find the file C:\Program Files\Continuum\ContinuumProcesses.exe and double click on it
2) The Continuum Applications window will open.
3) Close this window. Ignore any warning messages
4) Continuum has now shut down and you can now restart Continuum.

For future RPC errors I would recommend putting a shortcut to "ContinuumProcesses.exe" on the desktop

[jam2k5]

Check the network , switches configuration , maybe some delay in TCP message can cause the problem. Check switch logs. Maybe Vlan configuration or something about Hiper ring or another fault tolerant configuration .

HAve some problems with RPC in other aplications and after lots of probes the fault whas in the switches . Hard to find cause its a random behavior ....

[yroy]

If the Andover application that fails happens to be written as a windows service, then I suggest you go to:
control panel
administrative tools
services
- locate the andover continuum service in the list
- double-click on it
- click on the recovery tab
- make sure that first failure, second failure, subsequent failures are all set to 'restart the service'.
- reset fail count after 365 days (you want to keep stats of how often it fails)
- restart service after 2 minutes

Again, this is useless unless the andover continuum app that fails is written as a windows service. I maintain my claim that I know nothing about this product :-)

[MichaelK]

I concur with:

RPC error is a Windows issue, however I have only seen this error pop up when using Continuum.
Instead of going to Task Manager or turning the computer off, there is an easier way to deal with this in order to reset Continuum.

1) Find the file C:\Program Files\Continuum\ContinuumProcesses.exe and double click on it
2) The Continuum Applications window will open.
3) Close this window. Ignore any warning messages
4) Continuum has now shut down and you can now restart Continuum.

For future RPC errors I would recommend putting a shortcut to "ContinuumProcesses.exe" on the desktop

I only would add, you might to run C:\ProgramFiles\Continuum\ContinuumProcesses.exe a second time and allow to close on its own. I have seen issues with icons left on the task bar when you override the shutdown process.

[fatboy9]

If it is a stand-alone system, best bet would be to re-install Continuum again. Sometimes windows updates will play havoc on Continuum. If it is a LAN version, check for dropped SQL connections.