Windows Services Error: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion
This error occurs whenever a windows service fails to start, or takes too long to start. It is normally reported to the user via a message box after attempting to start the service, and is also recorded in the Event Logs. This error has been more commonly reported involving Web Configurator, but could occur with other TopView services. There are multiple potential causes of this error.
Service Fails to Run Interactively
If the service fails to start when run interactively (i.e. as a "foreground" process), then the same issue is likely the cause of its failure to run as a service. Check to make sure that the application can run interactively in case there are any issues such as corrupted/missing program files, network issues, or configuration errors.
Addressing issues which would cause an application to fail to run in interactive mode is outside the scope of this article.
How to Run Interactively
TopView Engine
Open the engine's configuration file in the TopView Configurator and click the Launch button at the Top-Left of the application.
Web Configurator
Run the TopView Configurator and open the Web Configurator settings from the navigation menu (Other Applications > Web Configurator). Click on the button labeled "Start the web server interactively", which will launch a Command Window. (Note: closing the command window will shut down the web server)
Insufficient Permissions
If the service does not have permission to access the TopView Data Path, it will fail to start. The Web Configurator, specifically, will display this error if run as a service while not able to access the Data Path. (TopView Engine Services will typically just fail to exit startup state). Services use a specific user account to "Log-In" when they start (most often the LocalSystem account, which is a built-in account specifically for services that has full access to the local machine's data). This account determines what permissions the service has. Because of this, permissions issues can arise even if the application runs fine interactively because oftentimes a service is running as a different user than the logged-in user.
Most common cause of this issue is when the data path is located on a remote file system, and the service was installed to run as the LocalSystem account. The LocalSystem account typically cannot access remote file systems, even if the Data Path folder is set to be accessed by "Everyone".
Side note: The "Everyone" group only includes Guests and Authenticated Users. LocalSystem is neither of these. Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/ad-ds/manage/understand-special-identities-groups.
Make sure that the service's Log-On account has permission to access the Data Path. You can change the log-on account of the service using the TopView Configurator to uninstall and re-install the service under the correct account, or using the Windows Services Manager (Right-click service > Properties > Log On).
Slow Startup Time
If the environment has low resources or heavy workload, the service may actually be timing out due to slow startup time. Attempting to start the service multiple times may resolve the issue.
If the startup time is consistently slower than the time the system allows, the timeout period can be extended. (Requires editing the Registry)
Instructions taken from this article: https://www.codetwo.com/kb/how-to-extend-the-timeout-for-services-if-they-do-fail-to-start/
- Open the Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
- Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
- Create the key ServicesPipeTimeout if it does not exist.
- Right-Click the Control key, and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value
- Change the name of this new value to ServicesPipeTimeout
- Right-Click ServicesPipeTimeout and select Modify.
- Change Base to Decimal.
- Enter the number of milliseconds allowed for a service to start in the Value data field (6000 = one minute; two to five minutes should be enough).
- Click OK
- Restart the machine.
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